Registering with Wychavon Home Choice

• Who is eligible to join the Wychavon Home Choice Register
• Who is NOT eligible to join the Wychavon Home Choice Register
• How to register with Wychavon Home Choice
• What we do when we receive your Application  
• Your responsibilities once accepted onto the Wychavon Home Choice Register
• Allocations Policy  
• Removal from Wychavon Home Choice Register

Who is eligible to join Wychavon Home Choice Register

Anyone can join Wychavon Home Choice, but you may be excluded if you have a history of serious rent arrears or anti-social behaviour.

You must be over the age of 16 to apply to join Wychavon Home Choice.  However, applicants who are aged under 18 years would normally need to be referred by a recognised social welfare or health agency.  If you are under 18 years of age at the time of receiving an offer, you will be asked to provide a guarantor for the tenancy until your 18^th birthday.

However, if you are under the age of 18, please contact Housing Services at Wychavon District Council to discuss your need further.

Who is NOT eligible to join the Wychavon Home Choice Register

Some people travelling to the United Kingdom are not entitled to housing by the Local Authority on the basis of their immigration status as detailed in Section 160A of the Housing Act 1996 as amended.  Where an application form indicates that this may be an issue, Wychavon Home Choice will investigate to determine whether the applicant is eligible.

The following will not be eligible: -

• Asylum seekers who are waiting for a decision;
• People whose immigration status does not allow them to apply to services which depend on public funds and
• People who have previously been guilty of unacceptable behaviour. This could include anti-social behaviour or neighbourhood nuisance.

What we do when we receive your Application

When we receive your application, provided that it is complete and we do not need any further information we will:

• Send you an acknowledgement letter, with your personal registration number and the banding you have been placed in. It is important that you keep this number safe, as you will require it when making a bid for a property.
• We will also send you a leaflet explaining to you how to make your bids.

If your application is incomplete or you have indicated that you may have a priority we will:

• Send you the relevant paperwork to either complete your application or clarify your priority status by asking for further information.
• Once we have completed your application we will send you an acknowledgement letter, with your personal registration number and the banding you have been placed in.

Your responsibilities once accepted onto the Wychavon Home Choice Register

• Tell us if there are any changes in your circumstances, these may include: -
• A change of address
• Birth of a child
• Medical reasons
• Someone moves into/out of your household

Deliberately Worsening Circumstances

Where there is evidence that an applicant has deliberately worsened their circumstances in order to qualify for higher priority with Wychavon Home Choice, no additional priority will be given.  Applicants will retain any priority they held before worsening their circumstances.

Examples of where someone may have deliberately worsened their circumstances would include: -

• Selling a property that is affordable and suitable for the applicant’s need in order to qualify for Gold and Silver Bands of Wychavon Home Choice.  In this event the customer would remain in Bronze Band.
• Moving from an assured tenancy to insecure, overcrowded accommodation with family or friends in order to qualify for a priority card.  
• For an applicant to have deliberately worsened their circumstances there must be evidence that it would have been reasonable for the applicant to have remained in their original accommodation.

Allocations Policy

Details of the Allocations Policy can be downloaded here  (103.84 KB).

Removal from Wychavon Home Choice Register

We will remove you from the Wychavon Home Choice Register if you:

• Are, or become, not entitled to be allocated housing;
• Ask to be removed;  
• Change your address and do not tell us;
• Do not get in touch with us when we ask you (in writing) to do so;
• Do not make a bid within two years of applying to the scheme – a new application will have to be made.