Apply for social housing

Housing Associations with housing in East Staffordshire are registered as charitable organisations and can therefore only offer tenancies to qualifying applicants including:

• People of pensionable age
• People registered as disabled
• People with chronic physical or mental health problems
• Households with a net annual income of less than around £31,000
• Most people aged 16+ are eligible and qualify to join the East Staffordshire Housing Register. However, you are likely to be excluded if you have a recent history of rent arrears or antisocial behaviour.

You cannot legally hold a tenancy until you become 18. If your are under 18 you will only be allocated rented social housing if someone suitable will act as your trustee, and housing associations may also require a guarantor.

• Social housing is unfurnished. This means tenants have to provide themselves with all furnishings including white goods, curtains and often floor coverings
• Different housing associations offer different types of tenancy e.g. starter tenancies, fixed term tenancies and assured tenancies
• Different housing associations also charge different types of rent - 'social rent' or 'affordable rent', and there may be service charges to pay as well

The way to apply for the vast majority of rented social housing in East Staffordshire is by applying to join the East Staffordshire Housing Register:

• The only rented social housing in the borough available to new tenants who are not on the East Staffordshire Housing Register is supported housing and some sheltered housing
• If you are an existing housing association tenant and you want to move to/ within East Staffordshire, you can join the housing register and/or register through your landlord for a mutual exchange

To be added to the East Staffordshire Housing Register, you will need to apply online.

You may need to provide further information for the East Staffordshire Housing Register.  You will be notified what else is needed once you have applied.  

rent and Dove Housing will review your application form.

If your application is successful, you will be added to the East Staffordshire Housing Register and placed in to one of four bands to reflect your level of need and housing circumstances.

Band 1 is the highest priority band, and Band 4 is the lowest.  The following is a very short summary of the specific Bands with some criteria within each Band.  Please see the Allocations Policy for full details.

• Band 1 is the highest band and refers to the most urgent and pressing needs, for example homelessness or very high medical needs, or short of 3 bedrooms
• Band 2 refers to a clear housing need but not of the most pressing nature, such as moving for work reasons, owed a lesser homelessness duty by the Council or short of 2 bedrooms
• Band 3: applicant does not currently have their own home or tenancy, needing to move to smaller home, or shortage of 1 bedroom
• Band 4: applicant does not meet the criteria for a higher Band, has worsened their circumstances, or has sufficient capital to buy their own property.

If you are added to the East Staffordshire Housing Register, you will also be told how many bedrooms you are entitled to and for what size and type of property you are eligible.

Most available properties are advertised and applicants registered on the housing register are invited to express their interest in them. This is known as Choice Based Letting.

The likelihood of you being offered a property depends on how many suitable properties become available, which properties you express interest in, the popularity of those properties, your Band and how long you have been in the Band, hence on where you come on the rank list compared to others, and whether an applicant above you accepts the property.

Rented social housing is almost never an immediate option.  

Thousands of applicants are on the East Staffordshire Housing Register seeking social housing but the number of homes that become available each year can be measured in the hundreds.  

The likelihood of being offered a property depends on how many suitable properties become available, which properties you express interest in, the popularity of those properties, your Band and how long you have been in the Band, hence on where you come on the rank list compared to others, and whether an applicant above you accepts the property.

If you are at risk of losing your current home, or are homeless already, please see homelessness or contact the Housing Options team.

For alternative housing options see private renting and find a room.