Social Housing FAQs

Sussex Homemove (also known as the Housing Register) is the choice based lettings scheme that Hastings Borough Council uses to advertise social housing properties available in Hastings.

You will need to complete an online pre-assessment to see if you are eligible for social housing.  If you are eligible you will then be asked to complete an online application form.

At the end of the online application form you will also be asked to upload or bring in supporting documents. Your application will be assessed once we have received all your supporting documents. This will take up to four weeks.

If your application is accepted, we will let you know and then you can bid for properties on Sussex Homemove.

More information and how to apply can be found on our Sussex Homemove Scheme page.

The choice based lettings scheme in Hastings is known as Sussex Homemove (also known as the Housing Register). It allows you to bid for social housing properties that are available once your application is accepted.

There is more information on our Sussex Homemove scheme page which explains the process from applying to the scheme to choosing and bidding for a new home.

This is a list of all the people who are eligible to rent social housing or who want to transfer from an existing social housing property.

Hastings Borough Council does not own any council housing. Social housing in Hastings is provided by registered providers through the Sussex Homemove Scheme.

The terms social housing and registered provider are defined in the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008.

Social housing includes low cost rental (such as affordable rent properties) and low-cost home ownership.

Registered providers include local authority landlords and private registered providers (such as not-for-profit housing associations and for-profit organisations).

To be eligible you will need to:

• be at least 16 years old
• have lived in Hastings or St Leonards for at least 3 out of the last 5 years or 5 out of the last 10 years
• have an identified housing need
• be seeking housing for older persons/sheltered accommodation.

The following people are not eligible for social housing and join Sussex Homemove:

• anyone under the age of 16
• households subject to immigration control who are ineligible for assistance
• other persons from abroad who are ineligible for assistance
• households living outside the UK 
• households currently in prison
• households with significant rent arrears still outstanding to any former landlord
• households considered by the local authority to have caused anti-social behaviour
• households considered to have sufficient financial resources in order to meet their own housing needs
• those without a local residency connection (with limited exceptions)
• any household seeking general needs accommodation not considered to have a housing need
• households giving false or misleading information or withholding information that has been reasonably requested.

For further information see our Homemove allocation scheme 2018 page.

A household may have a housing need if any of the following apply:

• under-occupation of a social housing property 
• unhygienic or overcrowded housing 
• lacking bedrooms
• medical conditions
• risk of personal harm
• the need for works to be carried out on existing social housing properties
• bedroom requirements for fostering and adoption
• the need for adaptations
• the need of applicants who have served recently in the armed forces
• welfare and social needs
• exceptional circumstances.

You will need to complete an online pre-assessment to see if you are eligible for social housing.  If you are eligible you will then be asked to complete an online application form.

For more information on how to apply go to our Sussex Homemove scheme page.

At the end of the application form you will also be asked to upload or bring in supporting documents. Your application will be assessed once we have received all your supporting documents. This will take up to four weeks.

If your application is accepted, we will let you know and then you can bid for properties on Sussex Homemove.

If you are eligible to join Sussex Homemove, you must provide the documents listed below for all members of your household:

• Formal identification documents such as birth certificates or passports
• Proof of address history for the last 5 or 10 years if needed
• Proof of income
• National Insurance numbers
• Dates of birth / pregnancy due date
• For any medical conditions evidence from a medical professional detailing the nature of a diagnosed medical condition AND evidence that this makes your current housing unsuitable.

You can upload all your documents at the end of your application before you submit the form or bring them into the Community Contact Centre.

Your application will not be assessed until you have provided all your documents.

Each case will be considered on your current housing situation and the medical information that you provide.

Some people with a serious medical condition or disability may be given medical priority, although this is very rare. This only happens where a move to different property would really improve the health or quality of life of yourself or a member of your household.

We will not make decisions based on the medical conditions of household members alone.

For some people with serious medical conditions, moving home will not improve their health as they are already living in the most suitable accommodation that can be provided.

There are some conditions that are not considered to be a medical priority. Examples are:

• those with mild to moderate asthma (or other similar ailment) made worse by damp housing conditions
• those with mild to moderate arthritis (or other similar ailment) made worse by their current housing conditions
• those with mild to moderate depression/anxiety (or other similar ailment) made worse by their current housing conditions.
  

Please supply evidence from a medical professional detailing the nature of a diagnosed medical condition AND evidence that this makes your current housing unsuitable.

If we need any further information, we will let you know.

To join the Sussex Homemove Scheme you must meet the criteria as set out in the Homemove Allocations Scheme 2018.pdf.

If you disagree with a decision that you are not eligible to join please email us at homemove@hastings.gov.uk with:

• the reasons why you do not agree with the decision
• as much information about your housing situation as possible.
  

Antisocial behaviour is any aggressive, intimidating or destructive activity that damages or destroys another person's quality of life (Home Office 2013). Anti-social behaviour can be committed by an individual or a group of individuals.

Anti-social behaviour could be:

• Being threatening or intimidating
• Verbal abuse
• Criminal damage, vandalism or graffiti
• Persistent nuisance behaviour
• Drunken behaviour
• Fly tipping
• Noise nuisance.

If you or anyone in your household has committed acts of antisocial behaviour, within the last 5 years, that has resulted in intervention and/or action by the Police, Local Authority or previous landlord, you may not be able to join Sussex Homemove.

We will assess your application if you or member of your households can prove that the antisocial behaviour has changed and action has been taken to address this.

You will not be able to join Sussex Homemove if you or any member of your household owes 8 weeks or more rent to:

• a former landlord
• a mortgage provider
• a freeholder

from any tenancy, mortgage agreement or leasehold agreement in the last 5 years.

Households that can evidence that their circumstances have changed and they are reducing their arrears through regular payments, however small, with an arrangement in place to continue to pay, may be eligible.  These applications will be considered on a case by case basis.

If you are accepted onto Sussex Homemove Scheme, you will receive an email confirming your Homemove reference number and your banding, which you will need to bid on available properties. 

Properties are advertised every two weeks on www.sussexhomemove.org.uk/choice. Or you can set up a 'property alert' through your Sussex Homemove account to send you alerts to any suitable properties for you.

You can make bids on this website. You can make up to three bids at a time and although it's called 'bidding', no money changes hands - you're just letting us know you're interested in the property.

There are computers available at the library or at the Hastings Community Contact Centre where you can access the Sussex Homemove website.

The adverts on www.sussexhomemove.org.uk/choice will tell you about the size, type and location of the property, usually with a photo of a similar property type.

You need to carefully read the whole advert to check that the property is suitable for your needs.

Please ensure you look at the symbols to ensure that it is a property that you are able to bid on as some properties are only available to certain types of households, e.g. transfer tenants. 

An explanation of the symbols is available on at www.sussexhomemove.org.uk/choice/content.aspx?pageid=73. You can also look at the feedback to see who was successful in earlier bid rounds. This will show you which properties and areas are the most popular.

All eligible bids for each property are placed into priority order called the 'shortlist'. Priority is then determined by priority band.

If more than one person in a band applies, people will then get prioritised in date order from the time they went into that band.

If you bid and are successful for a property, you will be contacted by the registered provider to complete their assessment forms and then offered a viewing of the property.

Currently, this can take several weeks before the registered provider will be in a position to contact you about a property.

When you submit your online Sussex Homemove application, you will be given a reference number. 

Please keep a note of this number as this will be your bidding number if your application is accepted. You will also be given your bidding number when we let you know if you have been accepted.

Alternatively, you can find out your bidding number by calling us on 01424 451100 or by going to the Community Contact Centre.

You can go to the Community Contact Centre where we will show you how to bid or you can call us on 01424 451100.

If you cannot put bids on for yourself and do not have friends or family to support you to do this, you can email homemove@hastings.gov.uk, go to the Community Contact Centre or call us on 01424 451100.

We may refer you to another organisation to help and support you. If you are over 60 years you can get support from Steps.

This could be due to a number of reasons, for example, major works being carried out to the property from when the previous tenants left.

You can only bid on the properties that are advertised at www.sussexhomemove.org.uk/choice.

The waiting time for social housing depends on the type and availability of property. You can view the current waiting times for Social Housing here.
We cannot tell you exactly how long it will take as the waiting times for properties are always changing.

You will need to email us at homemove@hastings.gov.uk giving all of your reasons and any supporting information. We will then review your application.

It will take 56 days to make this decision. 

If your circumstances have changed you must update the details on your Sussex Homemove account.

Login to your account on the www.sussexhomemove.org.uk/choice. Click on 'Have your circumstances changed?' You can complete a new application form, updating any information which may have changed and submitting it at the end. Failure to do so may affect any future nominations or offers of accommodation.

Change of circumstances could be:

• new address, if different to the one is currently on your application
• new medical conditions that we are not already aware of
• started or left work
• household income has changed
• a new addition to the household
• someone has left your household
• anything else that you think is relevant to your application.

If your telephone number, mobile number or email address has changed, you can also update these details yourself by logging into your www.sussexhomemove.org.uk/choice account and click on edit.

We will review any information that you have provided.

If your telephone number, mobile number or email address has changed, you can update these details yourself by logging into your www.sussexhomemove.org.uk/choice account and click on edit.

It is important that you keep your details up to date as the Registered Providers will contact you either by the telephone numbers or email address that you have provided, for any viewings on properties that you have bid for.

If you are homeless or worried about becoming homeless we can help and support you. The Council has a range of legal duties to help people. This may involve giving advice and information or finding longer term housing.

You should be aware that emergency accommodation and social housing is not always available to people facing homelessness, particularly single people. We will encourage you to try and stay with family and friends in the short term whilst looking for private rented accommodation, which is the quickest way to find a new home in Hastings.

For more information, please go to our Homelessness page.

You may be at risk of losing your home, for more information, please go to our Homelessness page.

You may also want to look at the following Money Advice Services Pages, which has some helpful advice and tips.

Mortgage Arrears and payment Problems.

Rent Arrears and Payment Problems.

If you are a Registered Provider tenant, please contact your Registered Provider's Housing Officer for assistance.

If you are renting privately, contact your landlord/letting agent and report the issues to them.

You can also contact the Hastings and Rother Mediation Service for help to arrange a mediation meeting.

If you are in immediate danger, please contact the Police on 999, or you can also use 101 to give information to the police or make an enquiry. Or report it on to Sussex Police.

For information and advice about issues you may be having as a landlord, please visit our Landlord information page.

For information and advice about issues you may be having as a Tenant, please visit our Tenant information page.

For information about disrepair issues, please go to our Disrepair Page.

For more information about help to buy please go to https://www.helptobuy.gov.uk/