How to Apply for Priority Passes

elha.com
elha
east lothian housing association
Your guide to
homehunt® ELHA
If you would like this information
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our office.
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Telephone 01620 828415 or visit us at www.elha.com or www.homehunt.info
Contents
How to Apply for Properties
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Priority Passes Explained
5
How to Apply for Priority Passes
6
What Limiting Priority Passes Means
7
Why Priority Passes Expire or are Withdrawn
8
How We Decide Who Gets An Offer
9
Why Your Registration Might be Withdrawn or Put “On Hold”
10
Why You Must Tell Us if Your Circumstances Change
11
What Happens if You Provide False Information
12
How We Report Allocations
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Telephone 01620 828415 or visit us at www.elha.com or www.homehunt.info
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Welcome to homehunt®
This Guide contains important information which you must read carefully so that you
understand how homehunt works and do not do anything that might prevent you getting
a home. Once you have read this Guide, if there is anything you don’t understand or you need
more advice or information, please contact us.
East Lothian Housing Association (ELHA) and Homes for Life Housing Partnership (HfLHP)
share our homehunt register. Now that you have registered with homehunt, you can apply
for all properties advertised whether they belong to ELHA or HfLHP. There will usually be
a lot of people applying for the same property and so there are some simple rules to decide
as fairly as possible who will be offered the property. The rules are explained in this booklet.
Because rented accommodation is in very short supply in East Lothian, we strongly
recommend that you apply to other housing providers such as East Lothian Council or other
Housing Associations.
Chairman
Data Protection Notice
East Lothian Housing Association and Homes for Life Housing Partnership will hold the information you provide on this form
or other additional related information you may provide together with any that is obtained by the Association or Partnership
from a third party in accordance with our Allocations Policy and Openness and Confidentiality Policy. The Association or
Partnership will use this information solely for the purpose of operating our homehunt service and for administrative and
statistical purposes. The Association and Partnership will not disclose any information without your written consent unless
it is required to do so by law or by its regulators.
By returning this form to East Lothian Housing Association you consent to our processing sensitive personal data about you
from one or more of the following classes of data: Racial or ethnic origin, Physical condition, Mental health or mental
condition, Sexual life, Commission or alleged commission of an offence, Proceedings for any offence committed or alleged
to have been committed or the sentence in court proceedings. We shall process sensitive personal data for the purposes
of making a decision about whether to offer you a place to stay and throughout any subsequent tenancy with East Lothian
Housing Association or Homes for Life Housing Partnership
ELHA - Scottish Charity Number SC028900
Homes for Life – Scottish Charity Number SC028542
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Telephone 01620 828415 or visit us at www.elha.com or www.homehunt.info
How to Apply for Properties
Properties are advertised every week on both our websites (www.elha.com and
www.homesforlife.co.uk) and the homehunt website (www.homehunt.info); in the
East Lothian News or Musselburgh News; in both our offices and East Lothian Council
offices and in local libraries and Citizens Advice Bureaux. You can also phone
01620 828415 to hear a recorded message describing the properties available and leave a
message to apply for any property you are interested in.
All property adverts give information about the properties, including rent, and state a closing
date and time. If you want to apply for a property you must do so before the closing date.
To apply for a property you need to tell us your registration number and the
property’s address.
You can apply for as many advertised properties as you want at any one time but it is
important that you apply for the one you want most first, your next choice second etc. This
is because if you come top of the list for more than one property, we will assume that the
property you applied for first is your first choice, and so on, in the order you chose to apply.
If you are offered the first house you applied for, your application for the second will be
disregarded, so the order in which you apply could be very important to you.
If you have a Priority Pass it is important that you apply for all suitable properties in the areas
your pass covers, otherwise you risk losing your Priority Pass (see page 8 Why Priority Passes
Expire or are Withdrawn).
Telephone 01620 828415 or visit us at www.elha.com or www.homehunt.info
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Priority Passes Explained
One of the ways that we decide who, out of everyone who applies, is offered a property is
by looking at who has the highest level of Priority Pass. Priority Passes are awarded to reflect
seven categories of housing need, as shown in the table below, and are awarded on four
levels, Gold Plus, Gold, Silver and Bronze. More information about Priority Passes is provided
in the individual Pass Application Forms enclosed with this Guide.
There are seven categories of Pass that you can apply for, as shown in the table below.
Priority Pass Level
Priority Type
Homelessness
Harassment
Medical
Unsuitable Housing
Overcrowding/Underoccupation
Need to be in the Community
First Affordable Home
Gold Plus
Gold
Silver
Bronze
To find out which properties are
available see our ads every Friday
in The East Lothian News or
Musselburgh News or call us on
01620 828415 or visit us online at
www.homehunt.info
www.elha.com
www.homesforlife.co.uk
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Telephone 01620 828415 or visit us at www.elha.com or www.homehunt.info
How to Apply for Priority Passes
Priority Passes are awarded to registered applicants who have a ‘significant housing need’.
This means that the majority of applicants won’t be eligible for a Pass.
However, if your current housing situation means that you think you are entitled to a Priority
Pass, you should apply straight away.
It is important that you provide as much information as possible to help us decide whether
you are eligible for a Priority Pass.
Please note that you cannot apply for a Pass and use it for any properties that are advertised
at the time of your application.
Applying for a Pass is straightforward (although if you need any help or advice at any time,
please ask!). To apply, just follow the following three steps:
Step One – decide if you fall into one of the priority groups?
• Are you homeless or suffering harassment?
• Is your health affected by your current housing situation?
• Are you overcrowded or is your house too big?
• Is your housing unsuitable because of its condition or lack of amenities?
• Do you need to move to a specific community?
• Are you looking for your first affordable home?
Step Two – if you think you do fall into one or more of these groups, read the
information provided in the Priority Pass application form for that group.
Step Three – if you still feel that you qualify for a Pass, complete the pass
application form (taking care to complete all sections of the form and sign it), then
return it to our office.
Please note: You only need to complete the application forms for Passes that you feel you
may qualify for – there is no need to return any of the other forms.
If you think that you qualify for more than one Pass, please complete all the forms that you
think apply.
If you qualify for 3 or more Bronze Passes, you will be awarded a Silver Pass, if you qualify
for 3 or more Silver Passes you will be awarded a Gold Pass.
Telephone 01620 828415 or visit us at www.elha.com or www.homehunt.info
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What We Mean by Limiting Priority Passes
Gold Plus and Gold Passes are valid for 6 months, Silver and Bronze Passes are valid for 12
months. If you don’t use your pass to apply for all properties of the size you need in the
areas covered by the pass then, at the end of the 6 or 12 months, we will withdraw the pass.
If no suitable properties have been advertised then the pass will automatically be renewed.
When you apply for a Priority Pass, in most cases you can choose to limit the Pass to specific
towns or villages, or types of property. Some Passes are limited by us. The table below shows
how Passes can be limited, and by whom.
Who can limit passes to property features
Priority Feature
Applicant
hh ELHA*
Ground Floor Accommodation
Wheelchair Accessible
Sheltered/Amenity Housing
House/Flat
*limited only as part of a medical assessment
Who can limit passes to areas
Priority Type
Homelessness
Harassment
Medical
Unsuitable Housing
Overcrowding/Underoccupation
Applicant
Need to be in the Community
First Affordable Home
hh ELHA*
Applicant 2nd
Applicant 2nd means the applicant can limit the pass after ELHA has considered any limitations first.
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Telephone 01620 828415 or visit us at www.elha.com or www.homehunt.info
If your Pass is ‘limited’ (whether by us or by you), it means that it is only valid for properties
that meet the, ‘limited’ criteria. You can still apply for properties that do not meet the
‘limited’ criteria but your pass is not recognised and you are applying as a registered applicant
with no Priority Pass.
So, for example, if your Pass was limited to properties in Haddington, then you could only
use it to apply for properties in Haddington. If we advertised properties of a suitable size in
Haddington and you decided not to apply for them then your Pass would be withdrawn at
the end of 6 or 12 months – but equally in this example, your Priority Pass would be renewed
if no suitable properties had been advertised in Haddington even if there had been suitable
properties advertised in other places.
One of the ways that we decide who, out of everyone who applies, is offered a property is
by looking at who has the highest level of priority pass. If you do limit your pass, you can
always change the limits you have put on it if you want, but the new limits wouldn’t apply to
any properties advertised at the time you asked for the change.
Why Priority Passes Expire or Are Withdrawn
If you have a priority pass and you do not apply for all suitable properties (i.e. properties that
are the right size and type in the areas your pass covers), your Pass will be withdrawn. Once
a pass is withdrawn, it will not be awarded for the same circumstances for 6 months for
Gold Plus or Gold or 12 months for Silver and Bronze (although if your circumstances change,
you might qualify for a different type of pass).
If you use a Priority Pass to apply for an advertised property then refuse the offer without
having reasonable cause for refusing, your Priority Pass will be withdrawn for a period of 2
years. It is your responsibility to re-apply for priority at the end of this period.
If you do lose your Pass, you are entitled to appeal if you wish. Even if you lose your Priority
Pass you can still apply for houses as a registered applicant.
Telephone 01620 828415 or visit us at www.elha.com or www.homehunt.info
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Where Priority Passes are Not Awarded
If you decide to move from one property that you had the legal right to live in, to another
property where your housing situation is worse, and you would normally qualify for a Priority
Pass in your new home, the Pass will not be awarded for a period of two years because you
will have ‘worsened your circumstances’. Where this happens, you will only be entitled to a
Pass if you would have received one at your previous address.
How We Decide Who Gets Offered a Property
We will usually contact the successful applicant on the same day as the closing date for
application.
Once the closing date has been reached, we will look at everyone who has applied for each
property, and will normally make an offer according to the following steps:
1. Who would make the ‘best use’ of the property – for example, by using disabled
adaptations, or by using all of the bedrooms.
2. If there is more than one applicant who would make ‘best use’ of the property, we
will offer it to the person with the highest level of Priority Pass.
3. If there is more than one person with the same level of Priority Pass, or no Priority
Passes are used, then we will offer it to the person who registered first unless one
of our tenants has applied, in which case we will offer it to them.
Because of the high number of people who apply for properties, we will normally only
contact the successful applicant. If you haven’t heard from us by the day after the closing
date then, unfortunately, you have been unsuccessful.
There may be exceptional circumstances when this will not apply – if you would like more
information about this, we can give you full details of our homehunt® ELHA policy.
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Telephone 01620 828415 or visit us at www.elha.com or www.homehunt.info
Why Your Registration May be Withdrawn
(Cancelled) or Put “On Hold” (Suspended)
When you completed your registration form you were asked to sign several statements to
confirm that you are eligible for housing with us (see also page 12 False Information). In
some circumstances, your registration will be put ‘On Hold’ until you can demonstrate to us
that the ‘Hold’ status no longer applies. Examples of when registrations are put ‘On Hold’
include:
• If you have rent arrears or outstanding chargeable repair bills either with us, HfLHP
or another landlord, and you haven’t made an arrangement to pay them off and
made regular payments for at least three months
• If you have any history of anti-social behaviour or criminal activity (subject to the
Rehabilitation of Offenders Act) – when action has been taken (or is about to be
taken) by the Police, Local Authority, Landlord etc. Your registration will be kept
on hold until we are satisfied that any such behaviour is unlikely to happen again.
• If you supply false or misleading information – see below.
• If we need more information to fully assess your application.
If you would like more information about whether or not you may be put on hold, please
contact us. If you are not eligible for housing at this time, we will advise you what action you
need to take before you can apply through our normal system. All enquiries are dealt with
confidentially.
Your registration will be withdrawn if you:
• buy a house or are re-housed by us or another Housing Association or Council
• do not apply for any properties for a year, and do not respond to our letter asking
if you still want to be on our register
• do not respond to letters or letters are returned because you have moved house
and haven’t told us
Telephone 01620 828415 or visit us at www.elha.com or www.homehunt.info
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Why You Must Tell Us if Your Circumstances Change
If you successfully apply for a property we will make you a conditional offer, then we will
check all of the information you have given us. If we find out that any of the information is
wrong or your circumstances have changed and you haven't told up then we will withdraw
the conditional offer.
So it is really important that you tell us about any change in your circumstances which may
affect your registration or any Priority Pass awarded.
Examples of this include:
• If you have changed your address.
• If there has been a change to the members of your household (e.g. a new baby or
a member of your family no longer to be re-housed with you).
• If you have received a Priority Pass due to a need to be in a specific community and
that need no longer exists.
• If you have received a Priority Pass for unsuitable housing and the condition of your
property has improved.
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Telephone 01620 828415 or visit us at www.elha.com or www.homehunt.info
What Happens if You Provide False Information
If we make you a conditional offer of a property, we will check all the information you have
given us in support of your application. If you have given false or misleading information or
have left out information in your registration or Priority Pass application forms, whether
deliberately of carelessly, we will immediately withdraw any Priority Pass you have, and put
your registration 'On Hold' for 2 years. If we find out after a tenancy has started, we will
immediately take steps to recover the property.
Reporting Allocations
Details of how all allocations were made are available on the homehunt website
www.homehunt.info.
And Finally….
If you need any help or advice at any time, or you have comments you would like to make,
please contact us at the address or phone number below, or through our website,
www.elha.com
The information requested by the Association and Partnership in connection with any registration,
application for a priority pass, or allocation will be used solely in connection with the assessment of
applications, and the allocation of the Association and Partnership’s properties. Details will only be shared
with third parties where it is necessary for the Association or Partnership to do so in the normal operation
of the Association’s homehunt® policy. The Association and Partnership may also use information contained
within applications for statistical purposes. To promote choice the Association and Partnership will give a
public report on each house allocation. This is anonymous but would state whether or not ‘best use’ was
achieved and the date of registration of the successful applicant.
elha.com
elha
east lothian housing association
East Lothian Housing Association, 18-20 Market Street, Haddington, East Lothian EH41 3JL.
Tel: 01620 825032 Fax: 01620 826596 Email: [email protected] www.elha.com
homehunt® is the Registered trademark of homehunt® Limited, a company incorporated in Scotland under number Sc 230439