UK Life Advice

Council Housing Applications & Allocations

Registering for Social Housing - To secure a support for council house or flat, initiate the application process through the council housing department. Our guide throughout the meeting with you could provide insights into council housing, and the waiting lists and outlines the various tenancy options available.

Exchanging your council home - If you wish to exchange your council or housing association home with another tenant, you can do so by adhering to specific rules and obtaining permission from your landlord. This process is commonly referred to as 'mutual exchange.' If you are a housing association tenant and interested in swapping homes, please reach out to your landlord for further guidance.
 
HomeSwapper stands as the United Kingdom's premier mutual exchange service, boasting a community of over 500,000 tenants actively seeking exchanges for Council and Housing Association homes.

Sheltered Housing - Apply for sheltered or supported housing through your local council. Primarily designed for disabled individuals, the elderly, or those most vulnerable, sheltered housing provides a secure and supportive living environment.

Registering for Social Housing

To access Council or Registered Provider Housing will require you to register with your local authority. The registration process wil usually involve completing either a paper or online application in which you will be required to provide address history, details of your current home such as bedrooms, living rooms, etc.., general details regarding all members in your household including medical conditons or needs, support needs, income details, etc.

This information will used to determine how your application is prioritized and what level of points or banding that would be assigned to your application, examples include households that have a homeless application with the local authority or a household with significant medical needs are likely to have more of priority and therefore a shorter wait on the housing register. Applications with no or very low priority are unlikely ever going to get an offer of housing.

Since the introduction of the Localism Act 2011, most local authorities will also have a residency criteria that require households to have lived consectutively in the area between 3 to 7 years dependent on the local authorities' 'Social Allocation Policy'. Those households that do not meet that criteria are unlikely to able to access the register, however most policies will have exemptions that can explored

Also households that do not have eligible immigration statuses in accordancve with the eligibility criertia defined in Part 6 of the housing act will not be able to access the register. For eg. those on student visa wil not be able to apply for council housing

Exchanging your council home ('Mutual Exchange')

If you secure a council or registered provider home but wish to exchange for another home ther are several options in which UK Life Advice can assist you to make that transtition into a new home. These options give you access to 1,000 of other secure tenants all around the United Kingdom looking to exhange their homes

The process will involve you finding a tenant whom wishes to exchange, going through a verification process with your current landlord includes ensuring that thier are no outstanding rent arrears and other property checks and completing the legally required paperwork to finalise the exchange. UK Life Advice wil asisst and guide you through the correct process as penalties could include eviction from your home

UK Life Advice wlil ensure that you are able access a full catalogue of avaliable homes by assisting in register to all mutual exchange registers at HomeSwapper, Exchange Locata and House Exchange.

Sheltered and 'Extra Care' Sheltered Housing

Sheltered housing is council or registered accommodation that is available for elderly or disabled people. Sheltered Housing will usually require you to register with your local authority or through directly to the registered provider through a paper or online appllcation. The majority of Sheltered accommodation will include provisions such as alarms and scheme managers (or warden), who are able to assist residents and manage the communal areas.

Sheltered housing aims to provide a safe and supportive environment with access to communal facilities with thehe majority of schemes being available to single people or couples aged over 60 or single people or couples over 55 with medium support needs.

Similar to council properties some sheltered scchemes give you the 'right to buy' option to own your sheltered housing property as you would a normal leasehold property. Some 20% of retirement homes are bought, most of which are sold on a leasehold basis. This means that a freeholder owns the actual building and is responsible for the structure, exterior and communal areas.

For elderly singles or couples with higher care needs there may be the option of 'Extra Care Sheltered'. which offers more care and support for those who require more high level assistance with daily personal care. 'Extra Care Sheltered' homes will usually have a 24 hour support presence and have faciltiies specific for the high level care needs of the household.

UK Life Advice will be able to assist you in accessing these schemes and navigating through the application process and also the process if you intend to purchase your sheltered home.

To ensure you recieve the best advice, guidance and provide assistance. Please call us on +44 (020) 7187 6467 or +44 7379 409 232 or click here to book a consultation with our specialists advisors