Apply for social housing

You apply for social housing through your local council.

Each council has its own eligibility criteria and process, and these are available through their website.

You’ll usually have to join a waiting list and you’re not guaranteed to get a property. You can ask your council how long you’re likely to have to wait, depending on your circumstances.

How we let our homes

Most councils have a choice-based letting (CBL) scheme. This lets you tell your council which properties you’re interested in. We advertise most of our homes via Choice based schemes and applicants are prioritised based on housing need. For example, you’re likely to be offered housing first if you:

• are homeless
• live in cramped conditions
• have a medical condition made worse by your current home

What about properties on your website?

A small proportion of our homes are advertised on our website and/or Rightmove. These are allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis, but the steps in the process from Contact from Riverside lettings team onwards are the same.

Once you’ve been accepted onto the CBL waiting list, the basic steps are:

• Find a property: Logging into the CBL system and searching through advertised homes to find any you’re interested in
• Check you can apply for it: some properties are only suitable for single people, families, or disabled people.
• Apply: this is known as ‘bidding’, but it does not involve money. You can bid online, by phone or by text.

Waiting times can vary greatly and this depends on factors such as demand for specific areas, the type of home you apply for, the housing need you have and the number of homes that come available that suit your needs.

Once you’re high enough on the list and your bid has been successful you will be contacted by our Lettings Team. Our Lettings Officers will usually contact you within 24-48 hours of an advert closing and this will be via telephone or email. We will aim to share the full details of the home with you so we can make sure it is suitable for you. 

Before being made an offer you will need to complete some pre-tenancy and affordability checks with the Lettings Officer. The purpose of this is to ensure the home is an ideal match for you, that you are eligible for rehousing and that you can afford the rent and other associated household costs. You will be required to provide us with some for yourself and your household and these usually include:

• Proof of ID: such as a passport, driving licence or birth certificate
• Proof of address: such as a bank statement, utility bill or bank statement dated within the last 3 months
• Proof of income: such as your wage slips or welfare benefit award notification
• A landlord or character reference: this would usually be from your current landlord and any previous landlord you have had in the last 12 months. If this is the first time you have rented a home, a character reference from somebody not related to you who knows you in a professional capacity may be suitable, for example, your employer.

The checks will be completed either over the telephone or via our digital sign-up app.  We will go over the key details of your application to make sure we have got accurate information about you and those moving in with you.

We will provide you with ongoing updates on any repair work being undertaken at the home and once we have a confirmed date for these works to be completed, we will invite you to meet with a Housing Officer to carry out an accompanied viewing.  During the viewing you will have the chance to ask us questions, look around your home and you might want to bring along a tape measure to take any measurements that you need! 

Once you have accepted an offer, we’ll ask you to sign your tenancy agreement and complete come additional paperwork.  This can be done online via our digital sign-up portal, or at your new home with your Housing Officer. Once complete your Housing officer will confirm arrangements to provide you with the keys to your new home.