Devon Home Choice

How to apply

Anyone over 16 years old can register with Devon Home Choice via www.devonhomechoice.com.

How to register with Devon Home Choice

The easiest way to register with Devon Home Choice is by completing the online application form.

It should take about 30 minutes to complete the online form. Please ensure that you make a note of your unique login reference number, password and memorable date.

Your application will be saved each time you complete a Section and click 'Next Section' or 'Previous Section'. You can return to a part-completed application by clicking 'Log In/My Account' and entering your reference number, memorable date and password.

Please note that you may be asked to provide further information once your online application form has been assessed.

Your online application must be completed within 28 days of initial registration. Any incomplete application forms will be cancelled after this time.

If you are not able to apply online please contact the local housing team in the area of Devon where you live.

For your application to be processed and accepted you need to:

• Complete the application form fully, ensuring you answer all of the mandatory questions. These are marked with an *
• Provide any extra information requested on the application form or by the local housing team in the area of Devon where you would like to live once they have received your application

Please contact the local housing team in the area of Devon where you live if you:

• Have any questions about the application form
• Would like help filling the form in
• Need the form in another language, in large print, on audio tape or in other formats
• Require further support, such as translation services to help with your application

We aim to provide confirmation of your Devon Home Choice application within 20 working days of you providing all of the required information.

When your application to the Devon Home Choice is accepted we will write to you to confirm:

• What band your application has been placed in, and the reason for this
• Your band start date
• The size of home that you are eligible to bid for
• Whether you need a certain type, or an adapted, home because of your mobility needs
• Whether you need older persons housing

You must tell us if there are any changes in your circumstances. Any change may affect your housing need and the priority your application should be awarded. We will then reassess your application. If necessary we will change your band and band start date.

Failure to notify us of any changes in your circumstances could lead to you not being made an offer even if your bid is successful.

How we prioritise applications

Your application will be placed into 1 of 5 housing need bands. This will be based on our assessment of your housing need, and whether or not you have a local connection to Devon.

The 5 housing need bands are as follows:

Band A - Emergency Housing Need

Your application will only be placed in the Emergency housing need band (A) if your need for housing is assessed as so exceptional that you must take priority over all other applicants. Substantial evidence must exist to award this priority.

The following are examples of the type of situations that may qualify:

• You have been assessed as having an Urgent health/wellbeing need
• You live in a home assessed as being in a state of emergency disrepair - Please see flyer below
• You need to move to escape violence or threat of violence or harassment and there is an assessed immediate and serious risk

Band B: High Housing Need

Your application will be placed in the High housing need band (B) if you:

• Have been accepted as statutorily homeless by a Devon local authority, and where it is assessed that it is not possible and appropriate to find you private rented accommodation
• You are homeless, or are threatened with homelessness, and have been placed in the 'Homelessness Reduction Act - Qualifying Applicants' category by a Devon local authority and it is assessed that it is not possible and appropriate for you to find private rented accommodation
• Are severely overcrowded (e.g. you lack 2 or more bedrooms, or have 2 children who lack a bedroom, such as a single parent with 2 children under 10 in a 1 bed home)
• Are a tenant of a Devon Home Choice partner landlord and are seeking to move to a home with fewer bedrooms
• Have been assessed as having a high health/wellbeing need
• Live in a home assessed as being in a state of High disrepair - Please see flyer below
• Have been assessed as ready to move on from supported housing and meet the criteria detailed in the Devon Home Choice Policy          

You may also be awarded this priority if it is assessed that doing so:

• Meets a social need or supports the delivery of another service
• Leads to effective management of social housing within Devon

Band C: Medium Housing Need

Your application will be placed in the Medium Housing Needs Band (C) if you:

• Lack of one bedroom
• Have been assessed as having a medium health/wellbeing need
• I have served in the UK armed forces and would otherwise have had your application placed in Band D
• You need to move for work, where you would otherwise have to travel more than 25 miles (each way) from home to work

Band D: Low Housing Need

Your application will be placed in the Low Housing Needs Band (D) if you:

• Have been assessed as not having a permanent home or at risk of becoming homeless. This may include people who are rough sleeping, have no fixed abode, or are 'sofa surfing', as well as households accepted as statutorily homeless but where it is assessed as possible and appropriate to find private rented accommodation, or those assessed as not being of priority need or are intentionally homeless. Please see the policy for further information.
• Have been assessed as having a low health/wellbeing need
• Share facilities, such as a toilet, bath, shower or kitchen
• I have a housing need but have no local connection to Devon
• You have been assessed as having deliberately worsened your circumstances
• Meet a local priority agreed by the local authority managing your application

Band E: No Housing Need

Your application will be placed in the No Housing Needs Band (E) if it is assessed that you live in a home that is adequate to meet your housing needs or that you have income or capital that would enable you to resolve your own housing needs.

Exeter City Council, Teignbridge District Council, and Torbay Council will not register applicants that they assess to have no housing need and who would otherwise have had their application placed in Band E.

Applicants living in the Exeter, Teignbridge, and Torbay council areas who have been assessed as having no housing need will not be able to register with another Devon local authority unless they have a local connection to that area.

How homes are advertised

Council and housing association homes available to let are advertised each week on the Devon Home Choice website.

Homes will be advertised from 12:00 on Wednesday to 11:59 the following Monday. You can bid for up to 3 homes during this time. No homes are advertised (except shared ownership properties), and no bids can be placed on a Tuesday.

How to bid for homes

You can tell us which homes you would like to be considered for. This is called bidding.

Bidding does not mean that you will part with any money. You can only bid for homes if your application has been accepted onto the Devon Home Choice register. You can only bid for homes where you match what the advertisement asks for. For example, if the advertisement states the home has 1 bedroom, you will not be able to bid for it if you need more than 1 bedroom.

Homes are advertised from 12:00 on Wednesday to 11:59 the following Monday. You can bid for up to 3 homes during this time. No homes are advertised (except shared ownership properties), and no bids can be placed on a Tuesday.

• What size of homes you be able to bid for
• Bidding for homes in other parts of Devon
• How to bid

When are you able to bid for homes?

You can only bid for homes once your application has been accepted onto the Devon Home Choice register.

You can continue to bid for homes until you have been shortlisted for a home (e.g., the landlord is considering you for a home).

What size of home are you able to bid for?

You are only able to bid for homes that match your household needs. For example, if you only need 2 bedrooms, you will not usually be able to bid for 3 or 4 bedroom homes.

Under Devon Home Choice, a separate bedroom is allocated to each:

• Married or cohabiting couple
• person aged 16 years or more
• pair of adolescents aged 10-15 of the same sex
• Pair of children aged under 10 years, regardless of sex.

Any unpaired person aged 10 to 15 years is paired, if possible, with a child aged under ten years of the same sex or, if that is not possible, given a separate bedroom. The same applies to any unpaired child aged less than ten years.

Bidding for homes in other parts of Devon

A key aim of Devon Home Choice is to provide people seeking housing with choice and the ability to move within Devon. For example, to access work or move closer to support networks.

In order to ensure that moves between local authorities do not adversely impact one or more local authority areas, we will regularly monitor the number of people moving into and out of each local authority area.

In particular, we will monitor the number of people moving into a local authority area who do not have a local connection to that area and the number of people who move out of that local authority area and do not have a local connection to their new local authority area. Where the balance of these figures accounts for 2% or more of the homes let within that area, homes in that local authority area may be labelled so as to provide preference to applicants with a local connection to that particular local authority.

If no applicants with a local connection to the local authority bid for a home, applicants from other areas will be considered.

When the number of people moving out of the local authority area is again the same as the number of people moving into the area, properties in that local authority area will again be advertised without being labelled as having a preference for applicants with a local connection. 

The aim of Devon Home Choice is to gradually increase the limits on cross-border mobility. This will ensure that people can move within Devon to take up work, support an older relative, etc. A timetable will be developed for the review of the cross-border limit. This will be informed by careful monitoring of moves between local authorities.

How to bid

You can bid:

• On the Devon Home Choice website.
• In person at Council offices

In order to bid on the website, you will need your user ID and password (9-digit number).

Bidding on the website

Find out how to place and check bids

How the successful applicant is selected

At the end of each advertising cycle, a list of eligible bids for each advertised home will be produced. The list will order applicants by:

• Firstly, by their band. For example, those applicants in the High housing need band (Band B) will be listed above applicants in the Medium housing need band (Band C), and
• Secondly, within each band, in order of their band start date, with the applicant with the earliest band start date at the top.

At the end of each advertising cycle, you can find out your position on the list of people who have bid for a home. To do this, logon to your Devon Home Choice account and then click 'My Bids'. This will show you any 'active' bids for homes still being advertised, as well as any bids you have made for homes that have previously been advertised. While the position will show your priority by band and band start date, this will not take into account any preferences that have been stated on the advertisement. The landlord will check if you meet any preferences stated on the advertisement as appropriate and may skip your bid if you do not meet the preference in the first instance.

Once the advertising cycle has ended, the landlord of the home will then carry out a number of checks on the top applicant. This may include checking:

• Your circumstances have not changed from the information we hold for you
• Your rent payments are up-to-date
• Any anti-social behaviour
• Medical history
• Whether you match any requirements for the property (e.g. whether you have a local connection to the local area or whether you have a need for a home that has been adapted),

If you have been selected, you will normally be invited to view the home, unless the landlord discovers reasons why you shouldn't be offered the home. For example, if you have rent arrears or have been guilty of anti-social behaviour,. If the landlord is unable to offer the home to you, they will move it to the next applicant on the list, and so on.

You will not be notified if a landlord does not accept your bid (this is referred to as 'skipping'). However, you can find out if you have been skipped and the reason for this by logging on to your Devon Home Choice account and clicking 'My Bids'.

Please contact the landlord of the property if you have any queries about shortlisting a home.

If you decide to refuse the home, it will be offered to the next applicant on the list.

If you have been accepted as homeless by a Devon local authority, you should always seek advice before refusing a home, as this could end any duty to provide you with a home.

When the home is ready, you will be contacted to arrange to sign the tenancy agreement and collect the keys.

Is the information correct?

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