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Surrey
Heath Borough Council Surrey Police Woking Area
Primary Care Trust Surrey County
Council |
NEWS
RELEASE |
Surrey Heath
Home Choice is Launched
Surrey Heath Borough Council is working in partnership with Peerless Housing
Group Ltd. to introduce Surrey Heath ‘Home Choice’ in the
New Year – putting customers in the driving seat when it comes to
looking for a new home.
Surrey Heath Home Choice is a choice based lettings scheme – this
means that instead of the Council deciding what property a customer on
the Housing Register will be offered, customers themselves will be able
to choose which properties they would like to be considered for.
From Wednesday 4th January 2006 available housing association homes will be marketed by the Council and Peerless Housing Association to people on the Housing Register in much the same way as an estate agent advertises. The adverts will include information such as location, rent and type of property and will say who is eligible to be considered. For example, if it is a three bedroom family home, single people will not be able to register an interest and if it is a bedsit people with children will not be eligible.
Adverts will be published every Wednesday on the Council’s website, mailed to those at the top of the Housing Register and displayed at the Council Offices, Peerless Housing Group’s Offices and at the Old Dean Advice Centre.
Customers can then register their interest for advertised properties by ‘bidding’. Bids must be made by the closing date shown on the advert and can be made by calling the Surrey Heath Home Choice Hotline on 01276 707500, e-mailing homechoice@surreyheath.gov.uk, directly from the Surrey Heath website www.surreyheath.gov.uk, in person at the Council Offices or by post.
The property will then be offered to the bidder with the most ‘points’. If they change their mind it will be offered to the person with the next highest points. Points are calculated based on each customer’s housing circumstances. Customers will be able to find out what points they have and their relative priority on the Joint Housing Register by calling the Council, or if they are a Peerless tenant, by calling the Customer Advisory Team at Peerless Housing Group offices.
While the new system does not make any more homes available than usual, or guarantee people will get the home they bid for, it does mean people will have more say about where they live.
Cllr. Vivienne Chapman Surrey Heath’s Customer Care Portfolio Holder said, “The new scheme is good news for our customers, it will ensure that people have much more choice and control over the housing allocations process. As a Council, we are committed to providing modern solutions by offering residents more information and accessible services. Home Choice will mean that all available housing association properties will be advertised on the Internet and by judging the number of points, will be able to work out whether they will be successful in being rehoused. This will also ensure that customers on the waiting list can access details about the size, location and features of properties and make informed choices about where they would like to live. Additionally, by giving people more choice about where they live, they should be more settled and less likely to move on, so creating more sustainable communities.”
For further information about
Housing please visit the Surrey Heath website www.surreyheath.gov.uk –
look under ‘Community’ and then ‘Housing’. Alternatively
please contact the Housing Needs Team 01276 707127 or housing@surreyheath.gov.uk
for information or to obtain the information in another format or language.
For further information or photographs contact:
Amanda Gow, Press & Communications Officer 01276 707312
Jenni Wheller, Communications Assistant 01276 707415
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