Contents
- Exclusion from the Housing Register
- Qualifying persons
- Housing Act 1996 Section 160ZA
- Suspension from the Housing Register
- Anti-social behaviour
- Satisfactory Conduct of a Current Tenancy
- Anti-social behaviour (ASB)
- Keeping a Bassetlaw District Council Property in Satisfactory Condition
- Right to Buy Applications
- Refusal of a Suitable Property
- Restrictions
- Inappropriate rehousing
In making an assessment to exclude or suspend an applicant from the Housing Register, Bassetlaw District Council will fully consider all factors of the case.
Exclusion from the Housing Register
Applicants can be excluded from the Housing Register under the Housing Act 1996 and the Localism Act 2011. An exclusion from the Housing Register is where Bassetlaw District Council decides that it should not re-house the applicant. In this case the applicant is removed from the Housing Register and will not be considered for re-housing.
Qualifying Persons
Bassetlaw District Council will meet the obligations under the current statutory provisions to ensure only “qualifying persons” are accepted onto the housing register. Applications cannot be accepted from persons who are not "qualifying persons" as defined under Section 160ZA of the Housing Act 1996.
People who are subject to immigration control within the meaning of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1996 are not a qualifying person and cannot be registered.
Housing Act 1996 Section 160ZA
Bassetlaw District Council reserve the right to refuse to register a housing application, cancel an application or re-house an applicant under the Housing Act 1996 Section 160ZA.
This can include but will not be restricted to:
- Bassetlaw District Council or other tenants evicted for a breach of their conditions of tenancy (whether by them or a member of their household)
- Applicants or a member of their household convicted of a serious criminal offence that would be in substantial breach of Bassetlaw District Council’s tenancy conditions if they were a Council tenant
Examples of unacceptable behaviour will include but will not be restricted to:
- Malicious damage to or neglect of a property
- Using or allowing the use of a property for illegal or immoral purposes
Violence or aggression towards staff or agents of Bassetlaw District Council.
Anti-Social behaviour
Any applicant, or a member of his/her household, will be excluded from the Housing Register, if they have:-
- Received an anti-social behaviour warning or an acceptable behaviour contract; and/or
- Have been made subject to an anti-social behaviour order, criminal behaviour order and an anti-social behaviour injunction or civil injunction relating to anti-social behaviour: and/or
- Where possession proceedings have been commenced and a possession order whether outright, suspended or demoted has been made.
- have a Police record for public order Incidents or anti-social behaviour
- An applicant’s right to a review is set out in section 9.
Suspension from the Housing Register
A suspension from the Housing Register is where an applicant retains their presence on the register but is not offered re-housing.
Satisfactory Conduct of a Current Tenancy
Applicants who are tenants of Bassetlaw District Council, another Local Authority, an ALMO or a Registered Social Landlord or other Not For Profit Organisation are expected to conduct their tenancy satisfactorily in accordance with their Tenancy Conditions.
Bassetlaw District Council will check this once an application form for the Housing Register has been received. Checks will be repeated before allocation of a property.
Applicants who have recently left a tenancy with Bassetlaw District Council, another Local Authority, an ALMO or a Registered Social Landlord or other Not for Profit Organisation will also have the conduct of their tenancy checked.
Debts and arrears
Debts and arrears owed to Bassetlaw District Council, another Local Authority, an ALMO or a Registered Social Landlord or other Not for Profit Organisation, or to a private landlord who is a registered member of East Midlands Landlord Accreditation scheme in respect of a housing tenancy must normally be cleared before an offer can be made.
Bassetlaw District Council expects current or former tenants to have a clear payment record in respect of their rent account and any other housing related debts. This will include but not be restricted to:
- Current tenant rent accounts for dwellings or other properties
- Former tenant rent accounts for dwellings or other properties
- Outstanding debts for Court Costs
- Outstanding debts for rechargeable repairs
It will be the applicant’s responsibility to provide any proof of a clear account requested by Bassetlaw District Council in respect of their application for re-housing.
Bassetlaw District Council will take into account the payment history of the applicant(s) on the Housing Application. Where the application is in a sole name, account will also be taken of the applicant’s spouse or partner’s payment history. An application cannot be registered in a sole name to avoid the spouse or partner taking responsibility for their current or former debts or arrears.
Applicants who owe debts will have their application suspended from the Housing Register.
Applicants who feel they have special and unusual circumstances that Bassetlaw District Council should take into account can make a special debt application.
Applicants will have to explain:
- What their special circumstances are
- What is unusual about their case
- What efforts they have made to pay the debt
- How they intend to clear the debt and ensure their rent is paid in future.
A special debt application is unlikely to be approved unless the applicant has already made a repayment arrangement and have started to comply with it.
Following receipt of a special debt application the Voids and Allocation Manager of Bassetlaw District Council will consider this. The applicant will be informed in writing of the decision and this will include:
- If the special debt application is rejected what the applicant needs to do in the future to lift the suspension
If the special debt application is agreed what the applicant needs to do for them to be considered for re-housing. Where an agreement to lift the suspension is in place Bassetlaw District Council will check that this has been adhered to before any allocation takes place. If an applicant has failed to meet the Terms of the Agreement then the application will again be suspended.
Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB)
Any applicant, or member of their household, against whom legal or other enforcement action is currently being taken for anti-social behaviour will have their application suspended and will not be eligible for an offer of accommodation.
Legal or other enforcement action will include but not be restricted to:
- Damage to a property which has been provided by Bassetlaw District Council, another Local Authority, an ALMO or a Registered Social Landlord or other Not For Profit Organisation
- Action taken under the Terms of a Tenancy agreement at Notice of Seeking Possession, Notice of Possession Proceedings or Notice To Quit or equivalent and above
- An Anti-Social Behaviour Order, Criminal Behaviour Order, Injunction or other legal proceedings
- Conviction for an indictable offence affecting the well-being of their current neighbourhood
Where an application has been suspended Bassetlaw District Council may subsequently consider whether to exclude the applicant from the Housing Register.
Keeping a Bassetlaw District Council Property in Satisfactory Condition
An existing Bassetlaw District Council tenant must keep their current property in a satisfactory condition before Bassetlaw District Council will offer the tenant another property.
The application may be suspended where the property is in an unsatisfactory condition.
Right To Buy Applications
Where an applicant who is a current tenant of Bassetlaw District Council applies to purchase their property under the Right to Buy Scheme (“RTB”) their Housing Register application will be immediately suspended. The application will continue to build up time on the waiting list but will not be considered for allocation whilst ever the RTB is still current.
Where an applicant cancels their RTB the Housing Register application will be returned to the active Housing Register.
If the applicant purchases their property all existing Housing Register applications will be cancelled.
Applicants may subsequently re-apply to go on the Housing Register following the purchase of their property. Applicants will be re-assessed in accordance with this Choice Based Lettings Policy and their current housing circumstances.
Where an applicant has been suspended they will be informed in writing and advised of the conditions that must apply for the suspension to be lifted.
An applicant’s right to a review is set out in section 9.
Refusal of a Suitable Property
Applicants in bands C & D who have refused 3 offers of suitable accommodation, having ‘bid’ for the property and refused the property without good reason will have their application suspended for 6 months. During this time applicants will not be allowed to place any ‘bids’ for advertised properties.
Restrictions
A restriction is where a decision is made that it is inappropriate to offer a particular type of property or area, for example if there is concern that this may expose other people or the applicant to unacceptable risk or a property is determined is not affordable to the applicant.
Inappropriate re-housing
Bassetlaw District Council reserves the right not to offer a particular area, type of property or a specific property requested by the applicant where this is considered not to be in the interest of the applicant, the local community or Bassetlaw District Council.
Examples of circumstances where this will apply will include, but not be restricted to, if the applicant:
- Requests an area where they may be unable to sustain a tenancy from lack of support
- Requests a property that is too small for their family circumstances and this would lead to an unacceptable overcrowding or cramped living conditions of the property including non-statutory overcrowding
- Has specific needs for disability adaptations and the property does not meet these requirements
- Has previously been involved in a breach of tenancy conditions in an area
- Has been involved in anti-social or criminal behaviour in an area
- Has been involved in actions that, if they were a Council tenant, would have been a breach of Bassetlaw District Council’s conditions of tenancy
- The applicant is unable to afford the property following a financial assessment
This list is not exhaustive and all cases will be assessed on an individual basis
Bassetlaw District Council may also decide that it is in the best interests of the applicant that they only be offered a particular area, type of property or a specific property. Where this applies the applicant will be advised in writing of the reasons for this decision.
An applicant’s right to a review of this decision is set out in section 9.
Last Updated on Wednesday, May 8, 2024