CroydonHousingAllocationsScheme 2019 003.pdf

Version 8
Approved October 2019

1. INTRODUCTION AND SCHEME OVERVIEW
What is the housing allocation scheme?
1.  The housing allocations scheme describes how the council assesses
applications for housing, prioritises each application and decides which
applicant will be offered (“allocated”) a council and housing association
home.

2.  The housing allocations scheme covers housing in Croydon owned by the
council or by housing associations that have entered into a nominations
agreement with the council. We call this social housing1. It also includes
accommodation the council has secured access to in the private rented
sector offered to applicants on the housing register.

3.  The demand for social housing in Croydon is greater than the number of
homes available, and the main purpose of this scheme is, therefore ,to
explain who will be allocated social housing and why. We have tried to
keep the scheme as easy to read and understand as possible.

4.  We have provided footnotes at the bottom of the page so that you can
look up information or legislation relevant to that section of the scheme.
You can find all the legislation referenced in the scheme on the
government’s web site www.legislation.gov.uk.

What is the purpose of the scheme?
5.  The purpose of the scheme is to ensure that the council delivers its legal
responsibilities2 and to support communities in Croydon by protecting the
vulnerable and supporting working people and employment initiatives
when deciding who will be offered social housing.

6.  The scheme clearly sets out how we assess whether someone applying
for social housing is eligible for housing, sets out how their needs will be
assessed and the likelihood of them being offered social housing or
accommodation with a private landlord.

7.  As a registered provider of social housing we are required to meet the
standards set by the social housing regulator, the Homes and
Communities Agency (HCA)3. The regulator expects us to let our homes
in a fair, transparent and efficient way. We must take into account the
housing needs and aspirations of our existing and potential tenants. We
are also required to demonstrate how our allocations scheme makes the
best use of available housing, is compatible with the purpose of our
housing, and contributes to our strategic housing function and developing

1 Social housing – this includes low-cost rented housing (including Affordable Rent properties), low-
cost home ownership and “legacy” stock owned by social landlords that were registered prior to 1
April 2010 (social housing is defined in sections 68 to 77 of the 2008 Act).
2 The council’s legal obligations around housing allocations are set out in Part VI of the Housing Act
1996 (as amended) and in statutory guidance issued by the Secretary of State in June 2012.
3 www.homesandcommunities.co.uk

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and maintaining sustainable communities. Our scheme should have clear
application, decision-making and appeals processes.

8.  We intend this scheme to encourage and reward positive behaviour in
people that apply for social housing in Croydon. We want to use our
housing allocations scheme, together with our tenancy, homelessness
and housing strategies, to make social housing a springboard that helps
people achieve their ambitions and aspirations – to get back into work, to
get on the property ladder, to build up skills and experience as a
youngster, to move to pursue employment or other opportunities, and to
downsize and enjoy a quieter pace of life in later years.

9.  The scheme helps us to achieve the long-term aims we are working
towards through our housing strategy4, which are:

  To provide a choice of housing for people at all stages of life, and to meet
housing need by providing good quality social housing for those that need
it, for as long as they need it.
  To ensure social housing is used to benefit society, to encourage
independence and positive behaviour, rather than entrench dependency
and despondence.
  To ensure we contribute to giving children and young people a good start
in life.
  To create and maintain strong, active, thriving communities; and to
reduce concentrations of social, economic and environmental deprivation.
  To make the best use of our existing housing and reduce carbon dioxide
emissions through effective maintenance, improvements and adaptations.
  To enable older and vulnerable people to achieve and maintain
independence for as long as possible.
  To contribute towards improving the health and well-being of Croydon’s
residents and enabling them to achieve their potential, rather than holding
them back.
10.  Through working towards these long-term housing aims we are
contributing to achieving Croydon’s vision to be London’s most
enterprising borough by 2040: a city that fosters ideas, innovation and
learning, and provides skills, opportunity and a sense of belonging to all5.
What housing offers does the scheme apply to?
11. The scheme only applies to allocations of accommodation, which includes
the following6:

  Selecting someone to be a new secure or flexible council tenant from the
housing register
  Nominating someone on the housing register to be an assured tenant or a
fixed term assured shorthold tenant of a housing association under a
nominations agreement with the council

4 Housing Strategy 2011-15
5 We are Croydon, this is our vision (2009)
6 Section 159, Housing Act 1996

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  Offering an existing council or housing association tenant a “transfer”
where the tenant has requested it (including Council management
transfers) and they have a reasonable preference for housing
  Granting a new tenancy to applicants that do not have a statutory right to
succeed (see Section 11 on Discretionary Succession).

What is not included in the scheme?
12. The following are not allocations under this scheme7:

  The council allocating housing to an applicant that does not have reasonable
preference for housing except where the applicant has been given
priority under the allocation scheme (see paragraph 166 above)
because:
-  they are vacating social housing which is in short supply,
-  they need to move urgently to allow development, modernisation,
conversion or repair works to go ahead
-  moving them provides the opportunity to make the best use of our
social housing stock
-  they are due to leave armed forces accommodation within 6 months
and have no other accommodation to occupy, or
-  there are exceptional circumstances
  Succeeding to a tenancy under the provisions of the Housing Act 19858
  A mutual exchange with another tenant
  Assigning a tenancy to someone qualified to succeed to the tenancy on
the tenants death
  Transferring a tenancy in accordance with a court order under family law
provisions or under the Civil Partnership Act 2004
  An introductory tenant becoming a secure tenant
  A management transfer initiated by the landlord in order to move a tenant
for a pressing housing management reason, for example a neighbour
dispute or other housing management reason
  A person being granted a family intervention tenancy
  Provision of non-secure temporary accommodation in discharge of any
homelessness duty or power
  Offering applicants (including those accepted as homeless with the full
homelessness duty) a tenancy with a private landlord (a ”PRSO” – see
section 13 Offers of Accommodation below)
The law – your rights, our responsibilities
13. Every council with housing responsibilities is required to publish a housing
allocations scheme under the 1996 Housing Act (as amended) describing
how it will assess applications for housing and select people to offer social
housing to from its register 9. Each allocation of social housing must be
made according to the scheme, apart from those housing decisions that
are not regarded as allocations set out in paragraph 12 above.

7 Section 160, Housing Act 1996
8 The Housing Act 1985 was amended by the Localism Act 2011 to restrict succession to tenancies
that commenced after 2 April 2012 to a spouse or civil partner only, unless otherwise specified in the
tenancy agreement.
9 Section 166A, Housing Act 1996

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How can I get a copy of the scheme?
14. You are entitled to a summary of the housing allocations scheme free of
charge10. You can ask for a copy of the summary at Croydon council
offices or you can download a copy from the council’s website
www.croydon.gov.uk.

15. You can ask to examine a copy of the full scheme at the council’s housing
office: Access Croydon, Bernard Weatherill House, 8 Mint Walk
Croydon, CR0 1EA

16. You can obtain a hard copy of the full scheme for £10.00 (payable by
cheque) at the above address11.

17. You can also download a copy of the full scheme from the council’s web
site free of charge – www.croydon.gov.uk
What are the council’s legal responsibilities?
18. Our legal responsibilities are set out in Part VI of the Housing Act 1996
(as amended), the Localism Act 2011 and in statutory guidance on
allocations published by the Secretary of State in June 2012, “Allocation
of accommodation: guidance for local housing authorities in England”
(DCLG, 2012).

19. We believe this scheme complies with the responsibilities set out in the
current legislation and guidance and is consistent with our homelessness
strategy, tenancy strategy and housing strategy as required by law12.
Reasonable preference
20. We are required to give reasonable preference13 in the scheme to people
with high levels of assessed housing need, for example:

  people who need to move on welfare or medical grounds (including
grounds relating to a disability),
  people who need to move to a particular area of the borough to avoid
hardship to themselves or others,
  people living in unsanitary, unsatisfactory or overcrowded housing, and
  people who are homeless within the meaning of the Housing Act 1996,
and people who are owed a particular statutory duty by any local housing
authority under section 190(2), 193(2) or 195(2) (or under section 65(2) or
68(2) of the Housing Act 1985 or who are occupying accommodation
secured by any such authority under section 192(3).

21. We can allocate properties to people who do not fall within the reasonable
preference groups (for example tenants who are underoccupying their
current homes); however, we must ensure we provide a reasonable
proportion of allocations to the different reasonable preference groups on

10 Section 168(1), Housing Act 1996
11 Section 168(2), Housing At 1996
12 Section 166A(12), Housing Act 1996
13 Section 166A(3), Housing Act 1996

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the housing register, and ensure that one group does not dominate the
scheme.

22. To achieve this and to make sure we strike the right balance of allocations
between reasonable preference groups we draw up an annual lettings
plan, known as the Target Allocation Policy, and the allocations we make
are monitored against this plan.

23. The Target Allocations Policy is monitored and reviewed regularly. If
monitoring shows that we are not achieving the allocation targets set out
in the policy, we reserve the right to implement a quota system until we
get back on track.

24. We publish the Target Allocation Plan on the council’s website
www.croydon.gov.uk

Our policy on choice
25. The council operates a choice based lettings scheme. This means that
you are free to choose a property that suits your family’s need in terms of
the location and property type. Choice based lettings is a method of
letting homes by advertising them so that you can bid for them. This way
everyone can see the homes that are available each advert cycle and
decide whether they want to apply for them. You therefore have a choice
over:

  the type of property you place a bid on, for example a house, bungalow,
flat, maisonette or bedsit
  the area of the borough you choose to live in, and
  whether you prefer to be a tenant of the council or a housing association

26. In some circumstances, we will need to restrict choice, for example if you:

  have been accepted as homeless
  have applied for discretionary succession to the tenancy of a recently
deceased successor tenant
  need a type of property that is in extremely short supply (for example a
very large home or an adapted property)
  need to move urgently to escape violence, severe harassment or
domestic violence, or you are acting as a witness and are being subjected
to severe intimidation, or have applied for a Council management transfer

27. If you need a type of property that is in extremely short supply, such as a
very large home or a home specially adapted for a disability, then we will
have very few properties available, and if you wish to exercise choice we
may not be able to rehouse you. If this situation arises we will discuss
your options with you. This could apply, for example, if our medical
advisor recommends that certain types of housing are unsuitable for you

28. The council provides access to free wifi and computer terminals at Access
Croydon and in local libraries; this will enable housing applicants without
their own means of accessing the website, to do so.

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29. If for any reason you cannot live in certain areas of Croydon due to a well-
founded fear of violence, harassment or domestic abuse, or because you
are a court witness, you must tell us so that we can investigate and
ensure we do not offer you a property in these areas.

The effect of choices on waiting times
30. The length of time you have to wait before you get an offer is affected by
the choices you make in bidding for property. If you choose not to bid for
properties in certain areas, or on certain property types (e.g. flats) then
you will face a much longer wait than an applicant who is prepared to bid
on a broad range of areas and types of property.

31. We will assist you in making an informed choice by providing information
on property availability, bids received on each property type and average
waiting times. This information is published on the council’s website

http://www.croydon.gov.uk/housing/councilhousing/registering/lettings

Choosing a smaller property than you need (overcrowded
households)
32. Your application will be provisionally registered on the housing register for
the size of property that meets your household’s needs based on the
information in your application. However, if you are overcrowded in your
current accommodation and face a very long wait for a property which
meets your needs, you can choose a property which is slightly smaller
than your assessed needs in order to alleviate your overcrowding more
quickly.

33. We do not want you to choose a property that means you are excessively
overcrowded, so we have set some limits to prevent this. Our guidelines
on choosing a smaller property are provided an Annex 3.

34. If you agree to accept an offer of a social home that is slightly smaller
than your household’s needs, you will be entitled to reapply for a transfer
and your application will retain its waiting time.

35. If you have a very large household (needing 4 bedrooms or more) which
includes several adults, you may also wish to register for moving to two
properties, splitting your household. We can register two applications, one
for the size of house you need, and another for moving part of your
household, to alleviate your overcrowding, which may have a greater
chance of success. If you are interested in this option please discuss it
with us.

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2. AN OVERVIEW OF THE BANDING SCHEME

36. Our housing register is made up of three bands, with band 1 containing
applications having the highest priority and band 3 applications with
moderate housing needs and a less urgent need to move. Band 2
contains applications given increased priority because the applicant or a
member of their household is working, in training or is a foster carer or
adoptive parent, or has engaged with the council’s Gateway Service to
prevent their own homelessness. When your application is assessed it is
placed in one of the bands depending on your housing needs and how
urgently you need to move.

37. If, when your application is assessed, we decide you have no housing
need your application will not be placed on the housing register. We will
give you advice, information and assistance on how you can take up other
housing options that are open to you, for example renting from a private
landlord, or applying to an intermediate rent or low cost home ownership
scheme. This information can also be found in our Find a home pack
which is published on the council’s web site

http://www.croydon.gov.uk/housing/optadv/findhm/

Reasonable preference for housing
38. We have a legal duty to ensure that we give applicants with certain
housing needs a reasonable preference for housing. The majority of
applications placed on the housing register are those who have a
reasonable preference for housing; however we also place a small
number of applications on the register that do not fall in the reasonable
preference categories but that we need to move to ensure we make the
best use of the social housing available, or from people that need to move
due to exceptional circumstances. We monitor the allocations we make
under the scheme to ensure that it is working appropriately and that we
provide a reasonable proportion of allocations to the different reasonable
preference groups on the housing register, and that one group does not
dominate the scheme (see Target Allocations Plan in paragraph 22 above
below)

The bands
39. The housing allocation scheme has three bands as set out below. Band
one contains applications with the highest priority and greatest urgency,
and band three contains applications with the moderate housing needs
and lower urgency. Your application will be placed in a band depending
on your housing need and any increased priority you get from being in
work, taking up training or by making a contribution to your community by
having served in the armed forces or being a foster carer or adoptive
parent, or where you have successfully engaged with the council’s
Gateway Service to prevent your own homelessness.

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Band 1 - Urgent
40. Band 1 is for people with an urgent priority for allocation, for example:

  People with severe medical or disability problems which make it difficult
for them to manage in their homes.
  People with a reasonable preference for housing that have been awarded
additional priority:
-  Former members of the Armed Forces or Reserve Forces
-  Serving members of the Armed Forces who need to move due to a
serious injury, medical condition or disability sustained as a result of
service
-  The bereaved spouse or civil partner of a member of the Armed
Forces leaving Services Family Accommodation following the death of
their spouse or partner
-  Serving or former members of the Reserve Forces who need to move
because of a serious injury, medical condition or disability sustained
as a result of their service
-  People who need to move urgently because of a life threatening
illness or sudden disability
-  People currently living in severely crowded accommodation (needing
three or more bedrooms) that poses a serious health hazard
-  People that are homeless and must move urgently to escape severe
harassment or violence (excluding those applicants provided with
suitable temporary accommodation away from the accommodation
where there is a risk of further violence or harassment occurring in
accordance with a homelessness duty owed under Part VII of the
Housing Act 1996).
  People living in unsanitary or unsatisfactory accommodation which poses
an on-going and serious threat to their health
  Social housing tenants that need to move to enable major works to be
carried out
  People that need to move in order to enable development, modernisation,
conversion or repair works to go ahead
  People underoccupying social housing who want to move, including
underoccupiers of working age who are experiencing difficulty in paying
their rent
  People living in adapted social housing that they no longer require and
want to move
  People applying for discretionary succession on the death of a successor
tenant
  People in exceptional circumstances approved by the director of housing
needs and strategy or a nominated deputy
  People approved by the director of housing needs or a nominated deputy
for a Council management transfer.

Band 2 – Increased priority
41. Band 2 is for people with an increased priority for allocation because they
are:

  People with a reasonable preference for housing that are also:
-  working,

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-  training,
-  registered as foster carers and adoptive parents with Croydon Council
-  successfully prevented their own homelessness as a result of working
with the council’s Gateway Service.

Band 3 – Moderate
42. Band 3 is for people with a moderate need to move, for example:

  People living in moderately overcrowded accommodation (needing two
bedrooms)
  People living in unsanitary or unsatisfactory accommodation which does
not pose an immediate or serious threat to their health
  People with moderate medical or disability problems which affect their
ability to manage in their homes
  People that need to move on welfare grounds including vulnerable
applicants leaving local authority care
  People that need to move on hardship grounds
  People accepted as homeless with the full housing duty but that are
suitably housed in temporary accommodation
How applications progress under the scheme
Date order system
43. As the level of need within each band is broadly similar we think it is
fairest to prioritise people according to who has been waiting the longest
in that band. This is known as a date order system.

44. A new applicant will be placed in the band that reflects their housing need.
In all bands new applicants’ waiting time will start from the date their
application is placed on the register.

45. The length of time you have to wait for an offer will depend on the number
of properties that are available for bidding on and the bidding choices that
you make.

Is priority based on date order once placed in a band?
46. If your application goes up a band as a result of a change in your
circumstances or as part of your annual review your application will only
carry forward half your accumulated waiting time and you cannot start
more than halfway up the new band.

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3. APPLYING FOR HOUSING
Applying for social housing
47. You can apply for housing online by filling in a self-assessment form and
housing application form on our website.

www.croydon.gov.uk/housing/councilhousing/registering

48. If you do not have access to the internet at home you can use the self-
assessment booths at Access Croydon, Bernard Weatherill House, 8 Mint
Walk, Croydon CR0 1EA

49. You can also get free access to the internet at all council libraries in
Croydon. Further details of the IT facilities available at libraries can be
found on the council’s web site.

http://www.croydon.gov.uk/leisure/libraries/other-services/itfacilities

Self-assessment of your housing options
50. The self-assessment questionnaire will ask you some simple questions
about your current housing situation, including:

  Are you are homeless?
  Are you are experiencing domestic violence or harassment?
  Are you are currently sharing accommodation with someone else or
renting privately?
  Are you are overcrowded in your current accommodation?
  Do you have a medical condition or disability which is made worse by
your current accommodation?

51. When you have completed the questionnaire it will tell you if you have a
housing need and that you should complete a housing application. If you
do not have a housing need the questionnaire will direct you to look at
other housing options.

52. If you click on the housing register application form link you will be taken
to the online housing application form.

Help with making an application
53. If you need help to apply for housing, or a translation service please
contact the housing specialist team on 020 8726 6100 and they will help
you to complete the application.

What evidence will I need to support my application?
54. Before you start filling in the questionnaire you need to decide who you
want to include on your application. You need to think about assembling
the evidence you need to support your application. We will not ask for
evidence immediately, but when your application has moved up the
housing register (see Section 4 on Processing your application -
paragraph 97).

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Who can make an application?
55. As long as you are a resident of the UK and are over 18 years old you can
apply for social housing.

56. We will not normally grant a tenancy to anyone under the age of 18 years.
In exceptional circumstances we may grant a tenancy to a 16 or 17 year
old that is eligible for housing, qualifies to go on the housing register and
is assessed as having a reasonable preference for housing provided
another adult is prepared to act as their guarantor, and agrees to cover
the rent and repay any arrears.

Joint applications
57. You can make a joint application with your spouse, civil partner or partner
or with another close family member you have been living with for 12
months or more.

58. If you make a joint application, we will offer you a joint tenancy when we
make you an offer of social housing.

59. We have set out our arrangements for joint tenancies in Annex 4.

Who can I include on the application?
60. You should include the following people on your application:

  Your spouse, civil partner or partner
  Any close adult relative living with you that is dependent on you or
provides care and support to you
  Your children, as long as they are aged under 18 and normally live with
you
  Your carer, if they need to live with you because they provide overnight
support

61. If you and your partner are not currently living together, we will assess
your application as if your two households were living together at the
accommodation available to your household that best meets its needs.

62. You will be asked to provide evidence that any child included in your
housing application is your responsibility, for example your child benefit
notification, or a court order giving you caring or parental responsibility.

63. If you include children in your application who are not currently living you,
and we consider that your household may be in priority need under
homelessness legislation as a separated family, we will treat your
application as a homeless application.

64. If you do not have children living with you full time, but you have caring
responsibilities for children who stay with you, we will not allocate
bedrooms for these children; however, if you are a single person or
couple, we will allocate you a one-bedroom property rather than a bedsit.

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65. In exceptional circumstances the Director of Housing Need or a
nominated deputy can accept an application including other household
members.

Who should not be included on the application?
66. You should not include any of the following people currently living with
you on your application:

  Friends
  Lodgers
  Sub-tenants
  Anyone else sharing your current accommodation not described in
paragraph 62.
  Anyone who does not intend to move with you
  Anyone who falls within legislation prohibiting them from having recourse
to public funds or is an asylum seeker

Restricted persons
67. Although you may be eligible to go on the housing register because you
are not to subject to immigration control, it may be that one or more
members of your household are not eligible for housing. They are known
as “restricted persons” and we will not assess your application as having
reasonable preference if this is as a result of “restricted persons14”
included in your household.
Your right to information about your application
68. Section 1. INTRODUCTION AND SCHEME OVERVIEW explains how
you can obtain a summary of the housing allocations scheme which
includes information about applying for an allocation of accommodation,
general information about the application procedure, as well as
information about qualifying to go on the housing register and what priority
your application is likely to be given.

69. You are also entitled to information that will enable you to assess how
your application is likely to be treated under the scheme, and, in
particular, whether you are likely to fall within the reasonable preference
categories (also explained in Section 1 above, and examined in more
detail in Section 7. PRIORITY FOR HOUSING below).

70. We publish information on the council’s web site to help you with your
application including information about the number of properties we let
last year and information about the different housing areas in Croydon,
including schools, shops, transport and local facilities. a link to this
information is provided below

www.croydon.gov.uk/housing/councilhousing/registering/

14 Section 166A(4), Housing Act 1996

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Why do I need to provide details about my gender, ethnicity or
religion?
71. We have a legal duty to ensure that our housing allocations scheme does
not discriminate against any applicant on the grounds of their sex,
pregnancy or maternity, race, ethnicity, disability, age, religion or faith,
marital status, sexual orientation or gender reassignment15. This also
applies to how we help people to apply for housing, as well as the
decisions we make about whether people are eligible, whether people
qualify for reasonable preference for housing, what priority an applicant
gets, and which applicants we choose for an offer of social housing.

72. We need all applicants to provide equality information so we can monitor
how fair we are being in administering the scheme, in the decisions we
make and who we choose to for social housing on the grounds of age,
sex, ethnicity, disability and other relevant equality information. We will
publish a report every year with information on our allocations activity
showing how the decisions we have made breakdown in terms of different
equality categories (known as protected characteristics under the Equality
Act 2010).

Will you share the information on my application with anyone else?
73. We treat the information included on your housing application as strictly
confidential. We will ask your consent to share some information with a
landlord who is considering offering you a property.

74. The information included on your housing application is also protected by
the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection
Regulations. This means we cannot share the personal information
provided on your application form without your consent, except in
specific, exceptional circumstances. Other than as exceptionally allowed
by the Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection
Regulations, we will not use the information you provide for other
purposes. We may confirm the information you have given us by
contacting other agencies. Your information will be kept secure from
unauthorised access.  Once its use for the stated purpose has ended, it
will be destroyed as laid down in the council's procedure. Details of the
Housing Services Privacy notice can be found at
www.croydon.gov.uk/democracy/data-protection-freedom-
information/privacy-notices/housing-services-privacy-notice

75. We can share personal information without your consent in the following
exceptional circumstances:

  Where data sharing is allowed under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998
  Where there is a serious threat to council staff or to one of our contractors
  Where the information is relevant to the management or support duties of
the proposed landlord or support organisation to ensure the health and
safety of the applicant, a member of his or her household, or a member of
staff

15 Part 2, Chapter 1, Equality Act 2010

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False statements or withholding information
76. You are committing a criminal offence - housing fraud - if you
knowingly or recklessly make a false statement on your housing
application or withhold any information that is relevant to your
application. In other words, if you lie on your housing application form, or
hold something back that is relevant to your application you are
committing a criminal offence. This includes information we ask for on the
housing application form, as part of the renewal of your application, or as
part of any review of any decision made in relation to your application.

77. If anyone else provides false information in relation to your application,
whether or not on your instigation, they will also be committing a criminal
offence.

78. If we suspect false information has been provided on your application, or
you have withheld information we will investigate, and your application will
be suspended while the investigation is carried out. Your application will
be excluded from being considered for offers until the investigation is
concluded.

79. If we find that you have not provided false information or withheld
anything your application will be reinstated from the date of registration
(which means you will not lose any waiting time).

80. If we discover that you have withheld something or provided false
information about your circumstances in order to receive an offer of
social housing we will prosecute you and cancel your application for
housing. If you have already received and accepted an offer of
social housing, we will prosecute you and we will evict you from
your home. If you are convicted of committing housing fraud,
depending on the seriousness of the fraud, it’s also possible you
could be fined and/or sent to prison.

Re-applications:

81. Re-applications will be considered as such where there has been a
significant change in the applicant’s circumstances since the last decision.
For example, an application from an applicant with low medical needs
who had been found not to have reasonable preference would be treated
as a fresh application if their circumstances had changed significantly
since their last application. If, following a review of the evidence
submitted, the Council determined that their circumstances had not
changed significantly the earlier decision would still stand.

82. Some former applicants will be disqualified from re-applying for 12
months. The circumstances under which this applies are set out in
Section 13, Offers of accommodation .

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3. PROCESSING YOUR HOUSING APPLICATION
Preliminary assessment
83. When we receive your application we will make a preliminary assessment
based on the information provided in your application.

84. This preliminary assessment will be completed within 10 working days of
receiving your application and we will write to you to tell you which band
your application has been provisionally placed in.

85. Your application will stay in this provisional band until it is verified. We
explain how to verify your application in more detail in paragraph 89.

Change of circumstances
86. If anything you included in your application changes you must tell us
immediately. You must notify us of any changes:

-  in person at Access Croydon, Bernard Weatherill House, 8 Mint Walk
Croydon, CR0 1EA
in writing to Director of housing need, 8 Mint Walk
Croydon, CR0 1EA
by email to xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
-  by telephone to the housing specialist team on 0208 726 6100

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Please  do  not  assume  that  by  telling  another  department  in  the  council
about a change in your circumstances that information will automatically be
shared  with  the  officers  dealing  with  your  housing  application.  Please
ensure you inform the rehousing team of a change in your circumstances
as soon as possible.

What changes in my application should I tell you about?
87. You should tell us if:

  You change your address
  You need to add someone to your household in the application (e.g. if you
have had a baby)
  You need to remove a member of your household from your application
(e.g. a member of your family has moved out and found accommodation
of their own)
  Your income, savings or assets have changed (e.g. you have got a job on
a higher salary)
  You have started work
  You have started training
  You have been accepted as a foster carer or adoptive parent by the
council
  You have substantial new information or evidence in respect of your
medical circumstances

17

What happens if I do not notify you of a change in my application?
88. If we find your circumstances have changed as a result of the annual
review of your application, or as part of the pre-offer validation checks and
you have not notified us of the change we will suspend your application
while we investigate how the changes affect your eligibility, reasonable
preference for housing and the priority your application is given under the
scheme.

Reviewing your application
89. It is important we keep our housing register list up to date and regularly
check that you still need social housing. It is important that we have an
accurate picture of the overall housing need in Croydon and we use this
to inform our housing strategy and in particular the need for new social
housing.

90. We will review your application every time you notify us of a change
in your circumstances or the Council becomes aware of a change.

91. We will write to you telling you that your application is due for review and
asking you to complete a form to confirm either:

  your housing circumstances have not changed, or
  that your housing circumstances have changed and providing the details
of the change

92. If you do not respond to our review letter within one month of receiving it
we will assume you no longer need social housing and we will cancel your
application. We will write to you explaining that we have cancelled your
application because you failed to respond to our review letter.

93. If there are exceptional circumstances that prevented you from
responding to our review letter you must write to us requesting that your
application is reinstated. We will consider this request and write to you
giving you our decision within 10 working days.

94. If your application is reinstated we will assess any additional information
provided as part of the review and your application will be placed in the
appropriate band.

Verifying your application
95. When your application reaches a high enough position on the housing
register we will write to you and ask you to provide evidence in support of
your application. We need to do this to check that you are eligible for
housing that our provisional assessment and banding was correct, and
that other information provided on your application was accurate.

96. We will ask you to provide supporting information, as follows:

To prove you are eligible for housing
  Your passport
  Your spouse/partner’s passport if you are making a joint application

18

  Home Office documents confirming your immigration status (if relevant)
  Your full birth certificate
  Your spouse/partner’s full birth certificate
  Your children(s) full birth certificate(s)

To prove you qualify to go on the housing register
  Tenancy agreements for properties you have lived in over the past five
years. If you do not have these, please prove your previous addresses
with bills, bank statements, credit card statements or other official
documents such as benefit letters showing where you have lived over the
past five years
  If you are employed your payslips for the past 12 months
  If you are self-employed your audited accounts for the past 18 months
  If you receive out of work or disability benefits your proof of benefits.

Reasonable preference
  Details of any medical condition, physical disability or sensory impairment
that is affected by your current accommodation
  The name and practice of your of your GP, or hospital consultant, if you
are claiming medical or disability priority.
  The name and address of your social worker, key worker or therapist if
relevant to your application
  A certificate of discharge/service (Army form 108 or equivalent) or a
statement of service from the British Armed Forces (if applicable)
  A valedictory letter signed by the Commanding Officer in respect of six
years unbroken service in the British Reserve Forces (if applicable)

97. You should provide the information as quickly as you can. We will write to
you telling you the outcome of our verification process within 10 days of
receiving your completed application and all the supporting information.

98. This letter will confirm:

  That your application has been verified in the same band as we
provisionally placed your application in; or
  Your circumstances have changed since your original application was
made and you will move into a different band; or
  You have not proved your eligibility for housing and your application has
been cancelled; or
  You do not to qualify to go on the housing register list and your
application has been cancelled; or
  You do not have reasonable preference for housing and you do not
qualify as one of our exceptions to this requirement, in which case your
application has been cancelled.

99.
It is your responsibility to provide us with the verification documents that
we require. You cannot be made an offer of housing until your application
has been verified. If you do not receive verification documents within four
weeks of our validation letter we will cancel your application.

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Moving up and down bands
100.  When you first apply for housing your application is provisionally placed in
a band until the information you have provided is verified. The date your
application is placed in this band is your ‘queue’ date. This is the date that
will be used for any offers of social housing you receive.

101.  If your circumstances change your application will have to be reassessed
and your place on the housing register might change, as follows:
  You might get more priority and go into a higher band
  You might get less priority and go into a lower band
  You might be assessed as having the same priority and stay in the same
band

102.  Your circumstances may change to such an extent that your application
can no longer be placed on the housing register and we will have to
cancel your application, for example:
  You might be assessed as not having reasonable preference for housing
  You might not be eligible for housing any longer
  You may not qualify to go on the housing register

103.  If you move up to a higher band your queue date will change and you will
take half of the time you have already waited into the new band.

104.  If you move into a new band you cannot be placed more than halfway up
the higher band no matter how long you have already been waiting.

105.  We will not apply these rules if we made a mistake and placed your
application in a lower band in error.

106.  If you move down to a lower band you keep the same queue date as your
original application.

107.  If you stay in the same band your queue date does not change even if
new information has been assessed.

Cancelling an application
108.  We will cancel your housing applications for the following reasons:

  If you ask us to cancel your application
  If your circumstances change and you are no longer eligible under this
scheme and do not qualify as one of the exemptions
  If your circumstances change and you no longer qualify under this
allocations scheme;
  If your circumstances change and you no longer have reasonable
preference under this scheme
  If you do not respond to our annual review letter within one month
  If you have refused the offers of social housing you are entitled to under
this scheme
  If you have accepted an offer of social housing under this scheme

20

 If you have been found to have made a false statement on your housing
application

21

4. ELIGIBILITY FOR AN ALLOCATION OF HOUSING

109.  The first assessment we must make when we receive your application is
whether you are eligible for social housing. This depends on where you
normally live (“habitual residence”) and your “immigration status”.

110.  We will look at whether you are eligible for social housing when you first
apply, and we will look at your eligibility again when we verify your
application.

Who is eligible for social housing?
111.  We can only allocate social housing to UK residents who are not “subject
to immigration control” or are not “persons from abroad” (which can
include British citizens who do not normally live in the UK)16. Further
information is available in Annex 117.

112.  Detailed explanation of the rules concerning eligibility can also be found in
Allocation of accommodation: guidance for local housing authorities in
England published by the Department of Communities and Local
Government which can be downloaded from their web site

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/2171391.pdf

Verifying your eligibility for social housing
113.  Your eligibility for social housing will by checked during the application
process. If your eligibility changes at any time during the process and you
become ineligible for social housing your application will be cancelled.

114.  We will ask for your passport, any documents about your immigration
status and information about where you have lived over the past five
years. We will then check this information to make sure you are eligible
for social housing. Your position on the housing register will be provisional
until these checks have been carried out.

115.  Information about your immigration status can be obtained from:

Home Office (Immigration Directorate)
Telephone:
0870 606 7766
Address:
Apollo House  Block C, Whitgift Centre 36 Wellesley
Road Croydon CR9 3RR
Website:
www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk

16 Section 160ZA, Housing Act 1996
17 This includes information on Croatian nationals following their accession to the European Union on 1st July
2013

22

116. If we decide you are not eligible for housing, we will write to you
explaining how we have come to this decision.

117. You have the right to request a review of the decision. To find out how to
request a review, please go to Section 15 on Information, Reviews and
Standards.

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5. QUALIFYING FOR HOUSING

118.  The second decision we have to make is whether you qualify to go on the
housing register. The Localism Act 2011 gave us the opportunity to
decide locally who we wanted to go on our housing register. We have
made a number of changes to the qualification rules and the following
sections explain what these are.

119.  We want to make sure our housing policies benefit people that have a
close association with Croydon and who are in employment. You have to
have lived in Croydon for at least three years to go on the housing
register.

120.  We also want to make sure our housing policies benefit people who pay
their own way, abide by the rules and do not cause a nuisance to other
people. So you do not qualify if you owe rent arrears or other housing
debts (unless they have been accrued through no fault of your own) or
have been guilty of relevant criminal or anti-social behaviour. However, if
you can prove that your situation has changed you may qualify to go on
the housing register.

121.  We also firmly believe that social housing should be available to people
that cannot afford to buy or rent a home privately. Through our housing
allocation scheme, tenancy strategy and tenancy conditions we will help
people to move out of social housing into shared ownership, intermediate
rent or market housing when they can afford to do so. People who can
afford to buy or rent privately will not go on the housing register.

122.  When the legal powers become available18 we will consider introducing
measures to charge high earning social tenants market rent for their
council home.

123.  The following sections explain in detail how you qualify to go on the
housing register in Croydon.
Do I qualify if I don’t live in Croydon?
124.  No, you have to have lived in Croydon for at least three years before you
can go on the housing register, unless you are:

  A member or former member of the British Armed Forces19 or Reserved
Forces20 who is applying for housing within five years of discharge unless
there are exceptional circumstances that prevented an application being
made, or justify and application after 5 years. We will also consider

18 The government consulted on proposals to allow social landlords to require tenants in social
rented housing on high incomes to pay higher rents between 13 June 2012 and 12 September 2012.
19 Armed forces includes British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.
20 Reserve forces includes Reserve Land Forces (including the territorial army), Royal Naval
Reserve (RNR), the Royal Marines Reserve (RMR) and the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
(RAFVR).

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applications if you are a serving member of the Armed or Reserve Forces
and are within the last 6 months of your service if you can provide a letter
from your Commanding Officer confirming your last day of service.
  The bereaved spouse or civil partner of a member of the Armed Forces
leaving Services Family Accommodation following the death of your
spouse or partner
  A serving or former member of the Reserve Forces who need to move
because of a serious injury, medical condition or disability sustained as a
result of your service
  An older person whose economic circumstances are unlikely to change
and you are applying for older persons, special sheltered or extra care
housing
  Existing secure or fixed-term tenants of Croydon Council
  An existing social housing tenant applying to live in Croydon through
housingmoves21- the social housing mobility scheme for London
designed to help tenants to move to another part of London
  An applicant that has been accepted as homeless by Croydon council
and is living in temporary accommodation outside the borough of Croydon
  An applicant who has been accepted as homeless by Croydon council
and is owed the full rehousing duty.
  An applicant who has worked with the Gateway Service to prevent their
homelessness and has moved out of borough as a result, into the private
rented sector or to live with family or friends
  An applicant who is part of a witness protection scheme, or is referred
through the “Safe and Secure” scheme, or who is fleeing domestic abuse
and is supported by the Family Justice Centre, the Police or other
relevant / approved agency
  Those residing in supported housing schemes
commissioned by Croydon Council.
  Verified rough sleepers, where there is proof of rough
sleeping in the borough over the previous six months, prior
to applying to the housing register.
  Young people leaving the care of Croydon Council,
regardless of whether they currently live in Croydon, and
they are deemed to be more vulnerable than others leaving
care (see paragraph 168 for definition).
  Applicants applying for housing under the Right to Move scheme  - this is
for existing social housing tenants where the council is satisfied that the  “Right
to Move” applies

125.  We will ask you to provide evidence of where you have lived over the past
five years so that we can check your housing history, as well as where
you have lived in Croydon over the past three years. We will cross check
this information with our council tax, housing benefit and electoral
registration information. If you fall into one of the exempt categories listed
above, we will ask you to provide proof of this also.

21 For more information visit the housingmoves website http://www.housingmoves.org .

25

126.  If you cannot provide satisfactory evidence that you have lived in
Croydon for the past three years or that you fall into one of the
exempt categories listed above, your application will be cancelled.
Do I qualify if I am already on another council’s housing register?
127.  No, you will not qualify if you are already on another council’s housing
register; unless you are applying through housingmoves, the social
housing mobility scheme for London.

128.  We will ask you to confirm on your housing application form that you do
not have an active housing application with any other local authority in the
UK. We will check the areas you have lived in over the past five years and
ask the relevant local housing authorities to confirm they are not dealing
with an active housing application made by you.

129.  If you fail to confirm that you do not have a live housing application
with another local authority in the UK your application will be
cancelled.

Do I qualify if I can afford to buy or rent suitable housing privately?
130.  No, if you and the other members of your household have sufficient
combined household income, savings and assets to be able to afford to
buy or rent a suitably sized home on the open market or through a low
cost home ownership or intermediate housing scheme you will not qualify
to go on the register. In assessing your savings and assets we will
disregard any lump sum you have received as a member of the British
Armed or Reserve Forces as compensation for an injury or disability
sustained on active service.

131.  You must be able to maintain the costs of home ownership in the long
term so you and the other members of your household expected to
contribute towards your housing costs must be either employed, self-
employed or somehow otherwise able to reasonably afford your on-going
housing costs.

132.  You will also need to have sufficient savings or assets to be able to meet
any legal fees, surveys or any other costs associated with purchasing or
renting a home privately.

Buying a property on the open market
133.  If 35% of your household income means you can afford a mortgage to
purchase a suitably sized entry level property on the open market, and
your household has savings or assets that that are sufficient for a 15%
deposit you will not qualify to go on the housing register.

134.  We consider property for purchase priced at the lowest 25% (lower
quartile) of house prices in the borough of Croydon to be a reasonable
“entry level” price for owner occupied housing22. If you are able to afford

22 The Department for Communities and Local Government publishes statistics on house prices including local
quartile house prices broken down by local authority district on its web site
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-housing-market-and-house-prices

26

the lower quartile price of a suitably sized property for your household in
Croydon based on 35% of your household income you will not qualify to
go on the register.

Renting on the open market
135.  If 35% of your household income means you can afford to rent a suitably
sized property from a private landlord and your household has savings
and assets sufficient to provide a landlord with one month rent as a
deposit you will not qualify to go on the housing register.

136.  We consider property for rent at the lowest 25% (lower quartile) of market
rents in the borough of Croydon to be a reasonable “entry level” for
market rented housing. If you are able to afford the lower quartile rent of
a suitably sized property for your household in Croydon based on 35% of
your household income you will not qualify to go on the register.

137.  The Greater London Authority provides details of the rents being charged
in Croydon and other areas of London on the London Rents Map.

http://www.london.gov.uk/rents/

Low cost home ownership and intermediate rent
138.  If your household needs a one or two bedroom home and have a gross
household income of up to £64,300 per annum you may qualify to go on
the First Steps scheme. If so, we will refer you to the local agent to apply
for low cost ownership or intermediate rented housing.

139.  If your household needs a family sized home and have a gross household
income of up to £77,200 per annum you may qualify to join the First Steps
scheme. If so, we will refer you to the local agent to apply for low cost
ownership or intermediate rented housing.

Verifying your household income
140.  We will ask you to provide evidence of your household income, for
example:

  If you are employed - your last three month’s payslips
  If you are self-employed – your last 18 months audited accounts
141.  We will ask you to provide evidence of your savings and details of any
assets you own, for example:

  Your bank current account statements
  Your building society, post office or any other savings accounts
statements
  Details of any land or residential property you own
  Details of any other financial assets (for example stocks and shares,
premium bonds etc.)

27

Note: We will also carry out our own checks to satisfy ourselves you do not
own another property.

142.  If you cannot provide satisfactory evidence of your household
income or your savings and assets your application will be
cancelled.

Do I qualify if I have refused all the offers I am entitled to?
143.  No, if you have refused all the offers to which you are entitled under this
scheme (as set out in Section 14 on Offers of accommodation, i.e. one
offer for most applicants, two offers for some applicants) you will be
disqualified from the housing register for 12 months and will then have to
reapply.

Do I qualify if I have rent arrears or other housing debts?
144.  No, if you owe any amount of rent arrears or other housing debts you will
not qualify to go on the housing register. This includes temporary
accommodation arrears, former tenants arrears, council tax arrears and
the costs of any repairs that have been recharged to you for damage
caused to a former social housing property. We can make an exception
for example if you pay your rent in arrears and only owe one month’s rent,
or if you have made an attempt to repay your debts, as described below.

145.  If you have rent arrears or other housing related debts, we may use our
discretion to allow you to go on the housing register if we are satisfied that
you have made reasonable attempts to reduce or repay your arrears. We
will need to consider:

  the amount of the arrears or debt outstanding
  whether you have taken any debt advice and acted on it by entering into
an agreement to clear the arrears
  if you have entered into an agreement to repay the arrears, how much
you have paid off, any debt still outstanding, and how regularly you have
repaid

146.  We may also disregard the arrears or debt if you have been accepted as
homeless, or if there are exceptional circumstances (including but not
limited to):

  there is a threat to your life or a member of your household
  you are a social housing tenant with an urgent medical priority and you
have made regular agreed payments for a minimum of 6 weeks
  you are a social housing tenant and need to move urgently due to
domestic violence
  you are a social housing tenant who is underoccupying, and finding it
difficult to meet your rent payments due to reductions in your housing
benefit entitlement. We will expect you to agree a plan with your landlord
to stop the arrears from increasing too quickly, and to be flexible about
where you can move to.
  you are an existing social housing tenant who cannot pay your rent due to
other benefit reductions or caps, for example out of work benefits under

28

universal credit. We will consider your individual circumstances, and
expect you to work with your landlord including considering moving to
alternative accommodation

147.  If as an existing council tenant you are allowed to go on the housing
register with housing debts, you must make arrangements to maintain a
clear rent account in future, including signing a direct debit mandate for
paying your rent

Do I qualify if I have broken the terms of my tenancy agreement?
148.  No, if you have failed to keep to the terms of your current (or a previous)
social housing tenancy agreement or temporary accommodation license,
you will not qualify to go on the housing register. This includes failing to
keep the property in good condition, or causing a nuisance or annoyance
to neighbours.

149.  We will contact your previous landlords to check you have lived at the
properties you include on your housing application form, and to check
how you managed your tenancy.

150.  We can make an exception if your circumstances have changed
significantly since the breach of tenancy took place, for example if the
person responsible has left your household and will not be living with you
in future, or where you (or a member of your household) have
demonstrated that you have changed and are now likely to manage a
tenancy well. We will require some evidence of this, which could include
managing a tenancy well now (despite previous breaches), or
demonstrating co-operation with support agencies leading to a substantial
improvement in behaviour.

Do I qualify if I have committed a crime or am guilty of anti-social
behaviour
151.  No, if you have a record of anti-social behaviour23 or have been involved
in relevant criminal behaviour you will be disqualified from going on the
housing register. This includes former members of the Armed or Reserve
Forces discharged due to a relevant criminal offence, violence,
harassment or anti-social behaviour.

152.  Relevant criminal behaviour includes conviction of an arrestable offence
in, but not restricted to, the locality of the dwelling. We will consider an
arrestable offence committed outside the locality of the dwelling where it
has caused harassment, alarm or distress to residents of Croydon.

153.  We may make an exception to this if you can clearly demonstrate to us
that your circumstances have changed significantly, and you are now
unlikely to repeat such behaviour. This could include having completed a
period of rehabilitation, and continuing to work with an appropriate support

23 Anti-social behaviour is defined in Section 1 of the Crime and Disorder 1998 as behaviour that causes or is
likely to cause “harassment, alarm or distress” to one or more persons not in the same household as the person
carrying out the behaviour.

29

agency, or having maintained a clear record of behaviour for at least 3
years since the offences occurred.
Applying under the Right to Move

154.
This exemption is only available for existing social tenants where the Council
is satisfied that they are seeking to transfer from another local authority district
in England and are able to demonstrate “Reasonable Preference” because they:

Need to move to the borough to avoid hardship; and
They need to move because the tenant works in the borough; or
They need to move to take up an offer of work; and
Where the Council is satisfied that failure to meet this need would cause
hardship (to the tenant or to others).

155.
For a social housing tenant to fulfil the criteria of this exemption, the
Council must be satisfied that they need, rather than want or wish, to move for
work related reasons. A number of factors will be taken into account in
determining this including:

The distance and/or time taken to travel between work and home.
o  The availability and affordability of transport, taking into account level of
earnings.
o  The nature of the work and whether similar opportunities are available closer to
home.
o  Other personal factors, such as medical conditions and child care, which would
be affected if the tenant could not move.
o  The length of the work contract.
o  Whether failure to move would result in the loss of an opportunity to improve
their employment circumstances or prospects, for example, by taking up a better
job, a promotion, or an apprenticeship.

156.
The tenant will not qualify if work is short-term or marginal in nature, or if it
is ancillary to work in another district. The tenant will not qualify if work is
short-term or marginal in nature, or if it is ancillary to work in another district.
Voluntary work is also excluded. In determining short term, the Council will
consider whether work is regular or intermittent - this is likely to be particularly
relevant in the case of the self-employed and the period of employment and
whether or not work was intended to be short-term or long-term at the outset.
Contracts of employment that were intended to last for less than 12 months
may be considered to be short-term.
157.
The Council will take account of the following in determining whether the
work is marginal: the number of hours worked. Less than 16 hours a week is
likely to be considered to be marginal in nature and the level of earnings.

158.  The employment must not be ancillary to work in another local authority’s
district. This means that, if the person works occasionally in the local authority’s
district, even if the pattern of work is regular, but their main place of work is in
a different local authority’s district, the work is excluded from the definitions
within this policy
Exceptional circumstances

30

159.  The Allocations Scheme cannot cover every eventuality.In special cases
with exceptional needs, the director of housing needs has the power to
deem an applicant as a qualifying person, therby granting access to the
housing register.

Keeping your qualification status under review
160.  Your qualification to go on the housing register will be kept under review
during the application process. You can be disqualified at any time during
the process if we are satisfied that your circumstances have changed, and
that you no longer qualify.

161.  If you do not qualify to go on the housing register we will write to you
explaining why. You have the right to request a review of this decision.
Please see Section 15 on Information, Reviews and Standards for
details on how to request a review and how the review will be conducted.

162.  Once we have established that you are eligible for housing and that you
qualify to go on the housing register, we then need to assess your
housing needs and decide how urgently you need to move.

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6. PRIORITY FOR HOUSING

163.  We will assess your application to see if you qualify for “reasonable
preference for housing”.

164.  We have a legal duty to assess your priority for housing and to give you
reasonable preference for housing if you have certain housing needs24 ,
as follows:

  You occupy unsanitary, overcrowded or otherwise unsatisfactory housing
  You need to move on medical or welfare grounds (including grounds
relating to a disability)
  You need to move to a particular locality within the district to avoid
hardship to yourself or others
  You are homeless as defined in Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 (as
amended)

165.  As the need for housing in Croydon is very high and the supply of social
housing available is only sufficient to meet a small proportion of that need
we have decided to “raise the bar” when deciding which applications
qualify for reasonable preference. The following paragraphs set out how
we have set the qualification criteria for reasonable preference for
insanitary or unsatisfactory housing, overcrowding, medical needs, and
applications made on welfare grounds.

Unsanitary or otherwise unsatisfactory housing
166.  We will award reasonable preference to applicants living in unsanitary or
otherwise unsatisfactory housing where there is at least one verified
category 1 hazard25 that cannot be resolved by the landlord within 6
months and where the condition of the accommodation has at least an on-
going moderate effect on the applicant’s health or a member of their
household.

Overcrowding
167.  We will award reasonable preference to applicants living in overcrowded
accommodation according to the bedroom standard where the household
needs at least two additional bedrooms to be adequately housed.

Health related housing need
168.  We will award reasonable preference to applicants who need to move
because their current accommodation at least moderately affects their
medical condition (we may seek independent medical advice to inform our
assessment).

Welfare

24 Section 166A(3), Housing Act 1996
25 Categories are set out in the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) introduced in the
Housing Act 2004 (guidance is available from the Department of Communities and Local
Government - http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/housinghealth )

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169.  We will award reasonable preference to applicants needing to move on
welfare grounds in the following circumstances:

  where the applicant is leaving local authority care and is more vulnerable
than others leaving care, and accommodation in the private rented sector
would have a detrimental effect on their transition to independent living
  where a referral is made by a council social worker to support the
applicants need to move-on from institutional care, special
accommodation (e.g. group homes and supported housing) or from
unsuitable accommodation, in order to help them achieve independence
  where the applicant is a registered by Croydon council as a foster carer or
adoptive parent and needs to move to larger accommodation in order to
accommodate a child looked after by Croydon council or a child who was
previously looked after by Croydon Council

Restricted persons
170.  Applications will not be awarded reasonable preference if they only qualify
by taking into account a ‘restricted person’ within the meaning of Part 7 of
the Housing Act 1996 (section 166A(4)). A restricted person is a person
subject to immigration control who is not eligible for homelessness
assistance because he or she does not have leave to enter or remain in
the UK or has leave which is subject to a ‘no recourse to public funds’
condition (s.184(7) of the 1996 Act).

171.  If you do not fall into one of the reasonable preference categories set out
above, your application will not be registered, unless you fall into one of
the categories below:

  Social housing tenants that need to move to enable major works to be
carried out
  People that need to move in order to enable development, modernisation,
conversion or repair works to go ahead
  People underoccupying social housing who want to move, including
underoccupiers of working age who are experiencing difficulty in paying
their rent
  People living in adapted social housing that no longer require it and want
to move
  People applying for discretionary succession on the death of a successor
tenant
  Serving members of the Armed Forces living in armed forces
accommodation who are within the last 6 months of their service and
have no alternative accommodation available for them to occupy provided
they can produce a letter from their Commanding Officer confirming their
last day of service.
  People that need to move as a result of exceptional circumstances as
approved by the director of housing needs and strategy or a nominated
deputy

172.  We need to make sure we offer a fair proportion of our social housing to
those in the greatest need, but at the same time we need to be able to
offer social housing where it helps us to make the best use of our housing
stock.

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173.  If you are assessed as having “reasonable preference” and a moderate
need to move we will place your application in band 3 unless you are
awarded a higher priority as explained below.
Additional preference – band 1
174.  We have a legal power to give certain applications additional preference
in the scheme26.

175.  We will give you additional preference if you are assessed as having a
reasonable preference for housing and have an exceptional or urgent
housing need, or if you are currently living in a type of accommodation
that is in short supply that we will be able offer to another applicant on the
housing register if you move to suitable alternative accommodation.

176.  We award additional preference as set out in the following paragraphs.

Armed Forces, Reserve Forces and their families
177.  If you are a former member of the British Armed Forces27 and have
received a Certificate of Service (Army form 108 or equivalent) or
statement of service in respect of four years service or more, (see Section
6 on Qualifying for housing above) and have a reasonable preference for
housing we will award you additional preference. You must first meet the
qualification criteria in order for this to apply.

178.  If you are a former member of the British Reserve Forces28 and have
received a valedictory letter in respect of 6 years unbroken voluntary
service, and you qualify to join the housing register (see Section 6 on
Qualifying for housing above) and have a reasonable preference for
housing we will award you additional preference.

179.  If you qualify to join the housing register (see Section 6 on Qualifying
for housing above) and have a reasonable preference for housing we will
also award you additional preference if you are:

  A serving member of the Armed Forces who needs to move because of
a serious injury, medical condition or disability sustained as a result of
your service
  The bereaved spouse or civil partner of a member of the Armed Forces
leaving Services Family Accommodation following the death of your
spouse or partner
  A serving or former member of the Reserve Forces who needs to move
because of a serious injury, medical condition or disability sustained as a
result of your service

26 Section 166A(3), Housing Act 1996
27  As defined in Section 374 of the Armed Forces Act 2006
28  As defined in Section 374 of the Armed Forces Act 2006

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Severe overcrowding, life threatening illness or sudden disability
180.  If you are currently living in accommodation that poses a serious health
hazard or severely affects a medical condition or disability we will award
you additional preference, for example:

  You need to move urgently because of a life threatening illness or
sudden disability
  You are currently living in severely overcrowded (by three bedrooms or
more) conditions which pose a serious health hazard.

Urgent rehousing to escape violence, harassment and intimidation
181.  If you are homeless and need to move urgently to escape violence,
severe harassment, domestic violence, or you are acting as a witness and
are being subjected to severe intimidation we will award you additional
preference.

182.  If you apply to the council as a homeless household as a result of
domestic violence and you are provided with temporary accommodation
away from the address at which the domestic violence has occurred or
where there is a risk it will occur we will not award additional preference.
Your application will be placed in band 3.

183.  If you are awarded additional preference your application will be
placed in band 1.

Other urgent applications - band 1
184.  We will place other applications that we need to move urgently, that allow
us to make the best use of our housing stock, or that need to move as a
result of exceptional circumstances as approved by the director of
housing needs and strategy or a nominated deputy in band 1, as follows:

Severe health related or disability need
185.  If you have severe medical or disability problems which makes it difficult
for you to manage in your home we will place your application in band 1.

Unsanitary or unsatisfactory housing posing an on-going and serious
threat to health
186.  If you are living in unsanitary or unsatisfactory accommodation which
poses an on-going and serious threat to their health we will place your
application in band 1.

Underoccupiers and adapted housing
187.  If you are underoccupying social housing and want to move, which
includes underoccupiers of working age who are experiencing difficulty in
paying their rent we will place your application in band 1 as helping you to
move enables us to help another household in need on the housing
register.

188.  If you are living in adapted social housing and no longer need it and want
to move we will place your application in band 1 as helping you to move

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enables us to help another household that needs adapted housing on the
housing register.

Major works or regeneration to existing social housing blocks (decants)
189.  If you are a social housing tenant and your landlord needs to carry out
major works to your block, or it is part of a regeneration scheme and you
cannot remain in occupation while the works are carried out we will place
your application in band 1.

Developments, modernisation and compulsory purchase
190.  If we need to move you in order to enable development, modernisation,
conversion or repair works to go ahead we will we will consider making
you an offer of social housing and we will place your application in band 1.

Member of the armed forces about to leave armed forces
accommodation within the next 6 months with no alternative
accommodation available for them to occupy
191.  If you are a member of the armed forces living in armed forces
accommodation and you are within the last 6 months of your service and
have no alternative accommodation available for you to occupy we will we
will consider making you an offer of social housing and we will place your
application in band 1. You must be able to provide a letter from their
Commanding Officer confirming your last day of service together with
conformation of your current armed forces accommodation.

Discretionary cases
192.  Other housing applications may be awarded additional priority in
exceptional circumstances approved by the director of housing needs and
strategy or a nominated deputy.

Council management transfers
193.  If you are an existing council tenant and have applied to the Council to
move to alternative accommodation urgently, and your application has
been approved as a management transfer we will place your application
in band 1. Examples of grounds for a management transfer being
approved include [note decants are in 184 above]:

  Fire
  Flooding
  Other pressing need to move such as a serious neighbour dispute
Increased priority – band 2
194.  We want to use our housing policies to encourage positive behaviour,
including encouraging people to find work, take up work related training
and to make a positive contribution to the community through fostering or
becoming an adoptive parent. We also want to encourage those who are
threatened with homelessness to work with staff in our Gateway Service
to successfully prevent their own homelessness.

36

195.  If you have already been assessed as having reasonable preference for
housing and are working, in training or making a community contribution
such as fostering or registering as an adoptive parent, or successfully
prevent your homelessness by working with our Gateway Service, your
application will be placed in band 2.

Working
196.  If you or a member of your household is in employment and works at least
16 hours per week if there is one adult in the household and 24 hours per
week if there is more than one adult you qualify for increased priority.

197.  Employment is defined as having a permanent contract, or working as a
temporary member of staff or being self-employed. It does not include
employment on a casual basis.

198.  You, or a member of your household, must have been employed or self-
employed for a period of 24 consecutive months, or if having been
employed on fixed term contracts to have worked for at least 24 months of
the previous 36 (i.e. 3 year) month period.

199.  We will ask you to provide documentary proof of employment, for example
your contract of employment, your payslips, your last P60, or a letter from
your employer confirming your employment with them.

200.  If you are self-employed we will ask you to provide a copy of your audited
accounts for the previous 18 months.

Training
201.  We want to encourage and support people to engage in education and
training that will improve their employability help them gain employment. If
you are on training recognised by us, you can be awarded increased
priority and your application will be placed in Band 2.

202.  Recognised training means taking courses at a higher or Further
Education College or enrolling on a longer vocational course or a
programme of work-related training. In all cases the training/ study must
lead to achieving accredited qualifications and / or certification by a
registered awarding body.

203.  Study or training may be undertaken at a recognised institution or
organisation such as a further education college, a registered private
training provider, a registered voluntary sector organisation or a
university. You can be awarded priority for taking part in either “vocational
training” or “further or higher education”.
204.  You can be awarded this priority for taking part in vocational training only
if you have accessed this a recognised Information, Advice and Guidance
(IAG) service, such as CALAT (for Adults) or The Turnaround Centre
Drop in Zone (for young people up to age 19 years) to develop an agreed
employment action plan and to be signposted to relevant training
providers. Your training must be directly relevant to working towards

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gaining employment. Training must be in addition to, or supplementary to
any mandatory training required and may be undertaken in conjunction
with volunteering to gain further knowledge and experience. Training
must be a minimum of 10 hours a month.

205.  You must have been studying or training for a continuous period of at
least 6 months up to the point of verification of the application and the
same at point of offer. Applicants eligible for out-of-work related benefits
must also be registered with Job Centre Plus and accessing mainstream
job brokerage provision, thus actively seeking work (this may not apply to
full time students dependent on the hours they are studying).

206.  For vocational training award the following evidence must be provided:
  an agreed employment action plan developed through a recognised IAG
service plus verification of steps taken towards achievement of action
plan targets
  certificate or letter from a registered awarding body for the course or by a
recognised training provider as evidence of gaining a recognised
vocational qualification or successfully completing accredited work-related
training (over a continuous period of at least 6 months)
  Further/higher education candidates must supply evidence of:
  letter from college or university confirming participation in course of study
for period of 6 months

Foster carers and adoptive parents
207.  We recognise foster carers and adoptive parents are making a special
contribution to our communities.

208.  If you have been accepted and registered as a foster carer or adoptive
parent by Croydon council and you need larger accommodation to
accommodate a child that is being look after (or has been looked after) by
Croydon Council you will qualify for increased priority.

209.  We will confirm your registration with the Fostering Recruitment and
Assessment Team.

210.  If you are a foster carer or adoptive parent your application will be placed
in band 2.
Working with Gateway Service to prevent homelessness

211.  Households that work with the Gateway Service to prevent their own
homelessness either through the direct assistance of the service, or
through their own efforts, will be placed in Band 2.
212.  For this priority to be awarded, the Gateway Service will notify the
Housing Register team that homelessness has been prevented.

Moderate priority – band 3
213.  We will place applications assessed as having a reasonable preference
for housing and a moderate need to move in band 3. These include
people currently living in unsanitary housing, who are overcrowded by two

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bedrooms, who have a health related or disability need, those who need
to move on welfare grounds, those who need to move on hardship
grounds and households accepted by the council as homeless as defined
in Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 (as amended).

Applications with a low or no assessed housing need
214.  We have “raised the bar” in our assessment of housing need and will only
give reasonable preference to applicants that have at least a moderate
need of rehousing. The following paragraphs explain where we have set
the reasonable preference bar with regard to overcrowding, applications
on welfare grounds and moves required due to medical needs.

Overcrowded by one bedroom
215.  We have adopted the bedroom standard as our measure for overcrowding
and have “raised the bar” in our assessment of reasonable preference for
overcrowded households. We will not give reasonable preference to
applicants that are overcrowded by one room according to the bedroom
standard (with the exception of households that are currently occupying
studio/bedsit accommodation or where the households are statutorily
overcrowded29). We will not place an application assessed as one
bedroom overcrowded (subject to the exceptions above), and that has no
other housing need, on the housing register.

Single people or couples sharing with friends or family
216.  We have changed the way we assess housing need and we will not give
reasonable preference to single people and couples with no dependant
children who are sharing accommodation with their family or friends. We
will not place an application made by a single person or a couple that are
sharing accommodation with their family or friends, and has no other
housing needs, on the housing register.

Applications on welfare grounds
217.  We have changed the way we assess applications where there are
welfare grounds to move an applicant. We will only place an application
from an applicant leaving local authority care on the housing register
where that applicant is more vulnerable than others leaving care, and
accommodation in the private rented sector would have a detrimental
effect on their transition to independent living. We will continue to support
people leaving care through our 18+ service and assist them to access
suitable private rented accommodation when they are ready to move on.

Low health related need
218.  We have raised the bar in our assessment of needing to move on medical
grounds. We will not give reasonable preference where the applicant and
their household are assessed as having low medical needs. We will not
place an application where the applicant and their household are
assessed as having a low medical on the housing register.

29 The current statutory overcrowding standard is set out in Part X of the 1985 Housing Act. Annex 5
provides further details on how statutory overcrowding is assessed.

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Advice and information to find a home
219. If you apply for housing and your application is assessed as having low or
no housing need we will not place your application on the housing
register. We will give you advice, information and assistance on how you
can take up other housing options that are open to you, for example
renting from a private landlord, or applying to an intermediate rent or low
cost home ownership scheme. This information can also be found in our
Find a home pack which is published on the council’s web site
http://www.croydon.gov.uk/housing/optadv/findhm/

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7. ASSESSING YOUR HOUSING NEEDS

220.  When you fill in your housing application we will ask you questions about
where you are living, how big your current accommodation is, what
facilities it has, any health problem or disability you may have and
whether your housing is making it worse, and any other reasons you need
to move. These questions help us assess whether you should be given a
reasonable preference for housing and what priority you are given on the
housing register.

221.  The following sections explain how we decide whether your application
meets the reasonable preference criteria, and if it does what band it will
go in on the register.

Homeless households
222.  You do not have to have made a formal application as a homeless
household for your application to go on the housing register and have a
reasonable preference for housing.

223.  If you are homeless because you do not have accommodation that is
legally or physically available to occupy, or it is unreasonable for you to
continue to occupy your accommodation we will consider you to have a
reasonable preference for housing. Examples of being homeless include:

  You have no accommodation at all in which to live in the UK or
elsewhere
  You have been evicted from your accommodation or have received a
notice that you will be within 28 days
  You cannot live in your accommodation due to its condition or because
of threats to your life or health by continuing to live there (e.g. domestic
violence, or hazards in your accommodation)
  You cannot gain access to your accommodation (e.g. due to a flood, or
you have nowhere to legally pitch your caravan, or moor your
houseboat)
  You have applied as homeless and have been found to be not in priority
need, or intentionally homeless but are no longer owed any temporary
accommodation duty.

224.  We have a legal duty to provide accommodation for people who are
homeless and have nowhere to live or will have nowhere to live within the
next 28 days. Our immediate legal duty is to provide temporary
accommodation for those who need it while we investigate their
application.

225.  If you are homeless your application will be assessed as having
reasonable preference and your application will be placed in band 3.
226.  If you work with the Gateway Service to successfully prevent your
homelessness, your application will be placed in Band 2.

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Intentional homelessness
227.  If we find that you have become homeless due to an intentional act we
are only required to provide you with accommodation for a reasonable
period while you find yourself somewhere else to live. We are also
required to provide you with advice and assistance to help you find
somewhere else to live.

228.  If we decide you are intentionally homeless your application will be
assessed as having a reasonable preference and your application
will be placed in band 3 for 21 days. When the 21 day period ends
your application will be cancelled.
Housing conditions – general information
229.  Croydon has a large private housing stock of more than 120,000 homes,
the majority of which is in good condition. A significant proportion
however, is in poor condition. Around one in three private homes in
Croydon fail the decent homes standard. We will not be able to offer
alternative accommodation to everybody living in poor quality housing,
and in fact most people prefer to carry out repairs to their current
accommodation than to move.

230.  Landlords are required by law to carry out repairs to their tenants’ homes
and to ensure they are safe and in a satisfactory condition. If you are
concerned about the condition of your current accommodation and need
advice about what to do please contact our enforcement team:

Telephone
020 8726 6100
Fax
020 8760 5724
Email
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx

London Borough Croydon

Bernard Weatherill House,
Address
8 Mint Walk
Croydon, CR0 1EA

231.  Our aim is to assist home owners, landlords and tenants to maintain their
properties in a good condition. Where repair or maintenance problems
are identified in housing applications we will work with the person
responsible to make sure that repairs are carried out. In limited
circumstances however, we may accept people living in homes with
disrepair problems as being in need of social housing.

232.  Owner occupiers are responsible for the maintenance of their home and
will not generally be given any priority because of repair problems. There
are a number of options available to help people stay in their home
including advice from our Home Improvement Agency. However, if an

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owner occupier applies because he or she is no longer able to cope with
the maintenance of the property, the reasons for this will be taken into
account when deciding what, if any, priority the application will receive.

Unsanitary or unsatisfactory housing
233.  You are living in unsanitary housing if your current accommodation does
not have:

  a bathroom or a kitchen
  an inside toilet
  hot or cold running water

234.  You are living in unsatisfactory housing if your current accommodation:

  does not have electricity
  does not have gas
  does not have adequate heating
  is in disrepair
  is unfit for human habitation
  has a category one hazard under the Housing Health and Safety
Rating System verified by our public health team that is an immediate
threat to health (but not life threatening) which cannot be rectified
within six months.

235.  The condition of your current accommodation will be verified by a member
of our private sector enforcement team and must have at least one
category 1 hazard that cannot be resolved by your landlord within 6
months. Examples of where this would apply include where your current
accommodation:

  Has severe damp,
  Has a major structural defect including subsidence, flooding, collapsed
roof
  has been issued with a notice of statutory nuisance by an environmental
health officer
  Has been declared unfit for human habitation and is due to be
demolished under the Housing Act 2004

236.  If you live in private sector accommodation that is unsanitary or
unsatisfactory and poses a severe on-going and serious threat to
your health your application will be assessed as having reasonable
preference and your application will be placed in placed in band 1.

237.  If you live in private sector accommodation that is unsanitary or
unsatisfactory that has an on-going moderate effect on your health,
but does not pose an on-going and serious threat to your health,
your application will be assessed as having reasonable preference
and your application will be placed in band 3.

238.  If you apply for housing and you are assessed as having a reasonable
preference due to the condition of your current accommodation, your

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application will be reassessed once any repairs have been carried out.
The application will be re-assessed and placed in the appropriate band, or
cancelled if you are assessed as having no housing need.

239.  If your current accommodation only requires minor repairs we will provide
advice about how to work with your landlord, but we will not assess your
application as having a reasonable preference and we will not place your
application on the housing register.

Repairs to homes of existing social housing tenants
240.  If you are a council or housing association tenant and your current
accommodation is assessed as unsanitary or unfit the council or
registered provider will normally carry out repairs and improvements as a
matter of urgency. If this cannot be done in a reasonable period, you will
be offered temporary accommodation in suitable alternative
accommodation (usually by your landlord or another social landlord) while
the work is carried out. You will then usually be given the choice to return
to your original property. You will not be eligible for reasonable
preference for unsanitary conditions under this scheme while you live in
the temporary accommodation. For major works and regeneration
schemes that require existing tenants to move out temporarily see the
following paragraph.

Major works or regeneration to existing social housing
blocks (decants)
241.  If you are a social housing tenant and your landlord needs to carry out
major works to your block, or it is part of a regeneration scheme and you
cannot remain in occupation while the works are carried out, you will be
offered temporary accommodation in suitable alternative accommodation
(usually by your landlord or another social landlord) while the major works
scheme or regeneration scheme is carried out.

242.  You will then be given the choice to return to your original property.  You
will not be eligible for reasonable preference for unsanitary conditions
under this scheme while you live in the temporary accommodation.

243.  If you are an existing social housing tenant and your home is
subject to major works or regeneration and you need to move out to
allow the works to go ahead your application will go into band 1.

Developments, modernisation and compulsory purchase
244.  If we need to move you in order to enable development, modernisation,
conversion or repair works to go ahead we will we will consider making
you an offer of social housing. This would include residential occupiers
following a compulsory purchase under the Land Compensation Act 1973.
To be considered you must be eligible for housing and qualify to go on the
housing register and have a reasonable preference for housing. You must
also have no alternative accommodation available for you to occupy.

44

245.  If you live in private sector accommodation and we need to move
you to allow the works to go ahead your application will go into band
1.

Overcrowding
246.  You are living in overcrowded housing if your current accommodation
does not have a separate bedroom for:

  Yourself and your spouse or partner
  each adult in your household aged 21 or older
  every pair of adolescents in your household of the same sex aged
between 10 and 20
  every pair of children in your household aged less than 10 years
regardless of sex

247.  To work out if you are overcrowded we will need details of the size of the
rooms in your current accommodation. But, as a rule of thumb you can
work out how much space your household needs by applying the
following criteria:

  a bedroom for a single adult or couple
  a bedroom for every two children under the age of 10
  a bedroom for each adolescent between 10 and 20 if they are a
different sex

248.  If you have a very small bedroom - less than 4.6 square meters (50
square feet) – it should not be taken into account when making the
assessment.

249.  Your living room and your kitchen should not be counted as bedrooms. If
your accommodation has more than one living room, only one of the living
rooms will be counted as a living room and the others will be counted as
bedrooms.

Offering a vacancy to part of a large household
250.  We will look to see if a council or housing association home (where we
have nomination rights) that becomes vacant would be suitable to be
offered to part of a large household on the housing register and so reduce
overcrowding in their current accommodation. To achieve this, we place
an application relating to the whole household as well as one relating to a
smaller part of the household on the housing register in the appropriate
band.

Severe overcrowding
251.  If you are living in overcrowded accommodation and need 3
bedrooms or more than you currently have, then your application
will be given reasonable preference and your application will be
placed in band 1.

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252.  You may want to discuss with us registering an application to split your
household over two smaller homes if your household contains non
dependant adults that could live in their own accommodation and
therefore relieve your overcrowding more quickly.

Moderate overcrowding
253.  If you are living in overcrowded accommodation and need two
bedrooms more than you currently have, your application will be
given reasonable preference and your application will be placed in
band 3.

One bedroom overcrowded
254.  If you are living in overcrowded accommodation (with the exception
of bedsit/studio accommodation or if you are statutorily
overcrowded) and need 1 bedroom more than you currently have
your application will not be assessed as having reasonable
preference and your application will not be placed on the housing
register.

255.  However, if your circumstances change and this means you now qualify
for reasonable preference (i.e. the age and sex of your children now mean
you could be assessed as two bedroom overcrowded) you must submit
another housing application. When this is received and assessed the
registration date from your original application will be applied so that you
have not lost any “waiting time” on the housing register.

Health related and disability needs
256.  If you apply for housing because your current accommodation affects a
medical condition or disability, we will assess your housing need using the
information you have provided about your medical condition. Depending
upon what you have put on your application, we may seek advice from the
council’s independent medical adviser and/or additional information from
a health professional such as an Occupational Therapist.

257.  The assessment does not examine how severe your medical condition or
disability is. It looks at how your current accommodation affects your
quality of life, or that of a member of your household. We want to find out
if your (or a member of your household’s) health or ability to access
services and be part of your local community would improve by moving to
alternative accommodation.

258.  If you need to move urgently due to a medical problems or disability
which is life threatening or severely affected by your current
housing situation your application will be assessed as having a
reasonable preference and your application will be placed in band 1.

259.  Examples of where this would apply include:

  Your life is at risk
  You are housebound, or unable to go out without help, and moving to
alternative accommodation would allow you to go out

46

  You are unable to move around your current accommodation, and
cannot access kitchen or bathing facilities
  You have a terminal illness and alternative accommodation would
allow for suitable care to be provided
  You have a severe medical condition which is exacerbated by poor
housing conditions, and your accommodation cannot be repaired
within the next six months
  You have a medical condition that reduces your ability to resist
infection (e.g. TB or AIDS), and you are overcrowded
  You are in hospital and cannot be discharged because your current
accommodation is unsuitable for your needs, following an accident or
illness.

260.  If we agree that you need to move because your current
accommodation moderately affects your medical condition or affects
your disability, but the need is not urgent enough to go into band 1,
your application will be assessed as having a reasonable preference
and your application will be placed in band 3.

261.  Examples of this would be:

  Your accommodation directly contributes to your medical condition
e.g. if you have a severe chest condition that requires intermittent
hospitalisation as a result of chronic dampness in your
accommodation
  Your child has a severe condition (e.g. cerebral palsy) and their long
term needs cannot be met in your current accommodation
  A member of your household is disabled or has restricted mobility and
you need to move into housing that is suitable for their needs
  A member your household is severely disabled and needs substantial
adaptations to help meet their needs, but they cannot be carried out in
your current accommodation
  You have a terminal illness or long term debilitating condition and your
quality of life would significantly improve if you moved to alternative
accommodation
  You have a mental health problem which would significantly improve if
you moved to alternative accommodation

262.  If we agree that your current accommodation does not moderately
affect your medical condition and your need to move is not urgent
enough to go into band 3 your application will not be given
reasonable preference and your application will not be placed on the
housing register.
Welfare needs – moving on from local authority care
263.  If you have been looked after by a local authority and are ready to move
into your own accommodation you may have a reasonable preference for
housing due to your welfare needs. To qualify for reasonable preference
you must have been a relevant child under the Children Leaving Care Act
2000, which means you have been looked after by a local authority for a
certain period of time and have had a pathway plan.

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264.  Most young people leaving local authority care are ready to move into
independent living with the support of our 18+ service. If you are ready to
move-on, and have developed the required life skills, such as managing a
budget, cooking, cleaning we will support you to find suitable private
rented accommodation.

265.  However, if we consider that you are more vulnerable than others leaving
care, and accommodation in the private rented sector would have a
detrimental effect on your transition to independent living, then we will
consider you for an offer of social housing provided some support is
provided to help you manage your tenancy.

266.  If your application is accepted on welfare grounds your application
will be assessed as having a reasonable preference and your
application will be placed in band 3.

Welfare needs – move on from supported housing and achieving
independence
267.  We have established referral arrangements with council social workers to
support people to move-on from institutional care, special accommodation
(e.g. group homes and supported housing) or from unsuitable
accommodation, to help them achieve independence. We also work with
colleagues across the council to ensure that we offer cost effective
solutions to families with complex issues.

268.  These arrangements relate to people receiving social care services for:

  a mental health problem
  a physical disability
  learning disabilities
  complex support for families

269.  Social workers will make a referral on behalf of the person receiving a
social care service explaining their need to move–on into independent
living. The referral will explain the current living arrangements and the
impact these arrangements are having on their transition to
independence, for example:

  They are homeless
  They need to move on from supported housing
  They are staying with relatives or friends but need to be rehoused
independently

270.  Referrals accepted from social workers on behalf of people needing
to move-on from institutional care, special accommodation - e.g.
group homes and supported housing or from unsuitable
accommodation - will go into band 3.

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Welfare needs – foster carers and adoptive parents
271.  If you are registered as a foster carer or an adoptive parent with Croydon
council and you need to move to larger accommodation in order to
accommodate a child looked after by Croydon council or a child who was
previously looked after by Croydon Council your application will be given
reasonable preference.

272.  Your application will be given additional preference and will be
placed in band 2.

Hardship
273.  We will consider applications from anyone who is likely to experience
particular hardship unless they move to a particular part of the borough.
Examples include people that need to move to care or be cared for by
someone who lives in Croydon, and that this care will prevent them or you
from needing to go into residential care.

274.  Given that Croydon is geographically compact, with good transport links,
we will only accept applications on hardship grounds where there are
particularly severe difficulties facing the applicant.

275.  Applications accepted on hardship grounds will be given reasonable
preference and the application will be placed in band 3.

Under-occupying social housing tenants
276.  We know there are quite a lot of family sized social homes only occupied
by one or two people. While council tenants have the right to continue to
live in a property even if it is too large for them, we want to encourage
people to move, to make these homes available to younger families who
need somewhere to bring up their children. For older underoccupiers, we
also encourage you to move to somewhere which will suit your needs for
the longer term.

277.  We want to encourage council and housing association tenants who are
currently under-occupying a family sized homes, particularly those
affected by the introduction of reductions in housing benefit for working
age social tenants underoccupying, to move into smaller accommodation.

278.  If you are a council or housing association tenant who are
underoccupying by one or more bedrooms and you are willing to
move to a property with fewer bedrooms we will put your application
in band 1.

279.  If you are over 55 you may also want to think about moving into housing
designated for older people.

280.  If you are a social housing tenant of working age and are underoccupying
your home you should take urgent advice on how new rules on social
housing and under-occupation will affect the amount of benefit you
receive. The new rules will reduce your housing benefit depending on
how many rooms you have more than your household needs. You should

49

consider planning a move to avoid paying more rent, or getting into
difficulties with their rent.

Giving back an adapted property
281.  We have a small number of properties that are specifically adapted for
disabled people. These properties are in short supply and we want to
make sure they are given to people who really need them. We want to
encourage council tenants who are currently living in adapted
accommodation to move to suitable non-adapted accommodation.

282.  If you are a council tenant and you live in adapted accommodation
and you are willing to transfer to a suitable non adapted property, we
will give you additional preference and your application will be
placed in band 1.

Domestic violence or harassment
283.  If you are homeless are need to move urgently as a result of
violence, or threats of violence (including intimidated witnesses)
severe harassment, serious anti-social behaviour or domestic
violence from inside or outside of your home we will give you
additional preference and your application will be placed in band 1.

Exceptional circumstances
284.  If having gone through all the different reasonable preference categories
you don’t think any of them apply to you, but you still believe that you
should have a reasonable preference for housing we will consider your
application. If you do not have any needs, we will not register you, but if
you have an exceptional need that is not covered by this policy, the
director of housing needs and strategy or a nominated deputy has the
authority to award priority for housing where the application merits it.

285.  The director of housing needs or a nominated deputy also has the
authority in exceptional circumstances to place your application in a
higher band.

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8. EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES
Exceptional circumstances
286.  We will use the housing register bands and the date order system for the
vast majority of housing allocations we make. However, there are
occasions when we have to respond to exceptionally urgent housing
applications that do not fit in with the banding system. Because these
cases are by their nature out of the ordinary, we have to look at each case
on its merits and use our discretion to make an allocation where it is
warranted. These cases are rare and we will monitor our decision making
to ensure allocations made outside the banding system do not come to
represent an unreasonable proportion of all allocations.  Exceptional
circumstances may include the following:

Emergency or disaster
287.  If your home has been damaged by fire, flood or other disaster we will
consider making you an offer of social housing if it unreasonable for you
to return to your accommodation, for example if any work to repair is likely
to take such a long period of time that there will be serious disruption to
your family life. To be considered you must be eligible for housing, qualify
to go on the housing register, have a reasonable preference for housing
and have no alternative accommodation available for you to occupy.

Threat to life
288.  If, on the basis of information received from the police or other another
agency we have good reason to believe you must be moved immediately
due to serious threats either to yourself or a member of your household,
or if your continued occupation would pose a threat to the community, we
will consider making you an offer of housing. To be considered you must
be eligible for housing and qualify to go on the housing register and have
a reasonable preference for housing. You must also have no alternative
accommodation available for you to occupy.

Transfer chains
289.  It may be possible from time to time to create a chain of council tenants
who need to move and have been on the housing register. For example,
we may create chains that can relieve overcrowding and underoccupation
for different households, making good use of our housing stock.

290.  Where we have the opportunity to create a transfer chain we may make
offers to tenants in lower bands, but we will only include applicants who
have been registered as having a reasonable preference or higher
priority, and we will ensure that the transfer chain releases one or more
social homes that we can offer to someone on the housing register.

Croydon council service tenants
291.  There are some council employees who are required to live in council
accommodation as part of their jobs. We call these occupiers “service
tenants”. In order to provide accommodation for a new service tenant we

51

occasionally need to make an offer of alternative accommodation to a
service tenant.

292.  To be eligible for consideration you must have been employed by the
council for the last 5 years and be due to retire because of ill health, old
age or redundancy. The spouse or partner of a service tenant of 5 years
or more employment who has died whilst in the employment of the council
can also be considered for an offer of social housing. You must also be
eligible for housing and qualify to go on the housing register and you must
also have no alternative accommodation available for you to occupy.

Overcrowding
293.  There are a small number of applications from households that are not
eligible for reasonable preference on the grounds of overcrowding but due
to exceptional circumstances it is reasonable for the council to award
reasonable preference. These circumstances would include:

  Where there are relevant child protection issues (e.g. a parent has
taken responsibility for children that otherwise would be taken into
local authority care). For example, a father living in a one bedroom
flat takes responsibility for his daughter aged 9 and son aged 7 who
would otherwise have been taken into care. The household are one
bedroom overcrowded according to the bedroom standard. The
household will be two bedrooms overcrowded when the daughter
reaches 10 years old.
  Where there are urgent welfare or hardship issues that need to be
taken into account. For example, where a household need to move
urgently because of severe emotional or physical trauma resulting
from violence (including racial attacks and domestic violence) or
threats of violence, or physical, emotional or sexual abuse; or where a
household member gives or receives care, without which the recipient
of the care is at risk of harm or will have to move into institutional care.
  Where there are additional medical or disability issues relevant to
the households housing needs. For example, where the household
need to accommodate medical equipment such as a home dialysis
machine
  Any other exceptional circumstances that need to be taken into
account.

294.  All exceptional circumstances applications will be approved by the
Director of Housing Needs or a nominated deputy and will be placed
in band 1.

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9. Advertising and letting homes
Type of vacant social home available for offer
295. We have a wide range of properties in the social housing stock in
Croydon. At the end of March 2016 there were there were under 14,000
council rented homes and around 10,000 housing association rented
homes in the borough.

296. Of the council homes, one in three is a house or bungalow, nearly seven
out of ten have two bedrooms or less and two out of ten homes are
designed for older people.
297.
Applicants on the Housing Register can apply through the Choice
Based Lettings system for homes that are provided by the council and
partner housing association landlords. This is a method of letting homes
by advertising them so that applicants can “bid” for them. Some homes
will be let through direct offers process but most of the homes provided by
the council are let through this method. This way everyone can see the
homes that are available each advert cycle and decide whether they want
to apply for them.
298.
Under Choice Based Lettings, applicants can bid for homes advertised
each advert cycle. The highest priority eligible bidder for any one home is
usually offered it first and then the next and so on until the home is
accepted. Letting homes in this way means that applicants are considered
for homes that they express an interest in. It therefore gives choice to
applicants over property location and type.
299.
In certain circumstances, properties that are advertised may be
grouped into one single advertisement. This will include advertisements
for new build properties and those properties made available following
regeneration schemes, where properties will be grouped by property type
and size. Where there are grouped advertisements, applicants who place
one bid will be considered for all properties within the group

Advertising

300.
Homes that become available to let will be advertised periodically.
Currently, information is available on the council’s websites, and at
Access Croydon. Advertising mechanisms might change, but you will be
kept informed of any such changes.
301.
Where possible, the advertisement will have a photograph of the
property or the block it is in and will endeavour to include information
about: who the landlord is; the rent; the sort of property it is: floor level,
type and how many bedrooms; the area it is in; the size of household that
can apply; if there are special facilities for households with particular
medical or other needs who will be given preference for it; whether there
are any special features or where certain conditions apply such as limited
to applicants who qualify under a local lettings plan.

Bidding

302.
You can place up to 3 bids per cycle. You should not bid for homes
that you are unlikely to accept if they are offered to you. Currently, bids

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can be made on line on the website or exceptionally, by the Autobid
process .The council will be introducing other mechanisms as
technologies evolve

Auto-bid

303.
If the council is satisfied that you are unable to register your own bid,
you can register your choices with us then we can bid on your behalf.
These auto bids will act as if you have told us about an interest in an
advertised home and you should be very sure about the choices you
make before telling us about them so that the auto bidding system can bid
for the type of home you are willing to accept. If you are an accepted
homeless applicant or priority management case you will be given limited
time for bidding before you are placed on Autobid and you will be
considered for all suitable homes unless there is very good reason why
you can’t be rehoused in a particular area or accept a particular property
type. This is to ensure you are rehoused as soon as possible. If you
refuse a suitable offer of accommodation made under the Autobid option
your priority will be withdrawn if under the policy you are entitled to one
offer only.

Shortlisting

304.
A short list will be drawn up from those who have bid for a home.
Applicants who have bid for a home are selected by comparing the size of
the home with the number of people on their application.
305.
You should not bid for homes that you would not be willing to accept if
they were offered to you. To help you make an informed choice about the
properties that you bid for, the website will provide you with your position
in the queue for that property at the time that you place the bid. This will
be a snapshot, because applicants who bid after you may change your
final position. However, it will give an indication of whether or not you
have a reasonable chance of being short listed for that property.
306.
We receive a lot of bids for advertised homes. We will only ever
contact the applicant who has been successful with the details of when
they can view the property. Information on the position that you came for
a property will be provided to you at the point of bidding so that you can
make an informed choice.

Direct offers

307.
The council will as far as possible let the majority of property through
the Choice Based Lettings scheme. However, the council can offer a
home directly to some applicants without advertising the home through
the scheme if circumstances justify it. Reasons for this can be: to meet
the need of a high priority applicant; or to meet a legal obligation; to
facilitate an under occupation move, or for effective management of the
council’s housing stock; in relation to public protection cases; as part of
overcrowding reduction initiatives; or for split households.

Information about homes that have been let

54

308.
We know it is difficult to wait for a suitable home to become available
and that many applicants on the Housing Register can be under a lot of
pressure. It is only natural that people will speculate about the reasons
when they see someone else get a home where they may not seem to be
in as urgent need as they are.
309.
We will publish information about homes that have been let and as far
as possible give information about the length of time you may have to
wait. This will be provided to help applicants make informed choices when
bidding
310.
We will not publicise information about specific applicants and
properties as that information is confidential, but the information given will
show the type of home it was and the length of time a household had
been waiting.

Deciding which band to direct a vacant social home to
Target Allocations Plan
311.  The Target Allocation Plan sets out an estimate the supply of
accommodation over the coming year and the number of households on
the housing register that will be allocated social housing. It aims to
provide a reasonable preference to applicants entitled to it within the
framework set out in the housing allocations scheme. It also aims to
balance statutory responsibilities to homeless applicants against other
priorities such as assisting applicants with welfare needs, providing
adapted accommodation for applicants with physical disabilities and using
allocations to enable the best use of the social housing stock in Croydon.
The plan estimates the number of vacancies to be directed to each band
in the scheme, broken down by bed size. The plan is monitored regularly
throughout the year and allocations decisions are made with a view to
achieving the targets set out in the plan.

312.  We have some homes that are in short supply or that are particularly
suitable for applicants with specific housing needs. For these homes, we
must take into consideration a number of factors to ensure we make the
best use of it. The following sections set out these considerations.

Vacancies suitable for adaptation
313.  If the home is not adapted but is particularly suitable for someone with a
disability or restricted mobility, we will offer it to someone with these
needs. For example, a flat on the ground floor and that has level access
would be ideal to adapt to suit the needs of an applicant with disabilities.

Housing for older people
314.  We will only offer housing for older person to applicants that meet the
criteria (for example applicants of appropriate age), however, we reserve
the right to offer “hard to let” housing for older people to other applicants
in exceptional circumstances.

Terms of our nominations agreements

55

315.  If the vacancy is a housing association property we must take into
account whether the association’s aims or its agreement with the council
restricts who can be nominated.

Decants for major works
316.  We will consider whether the vacancy is particularly suitable, because of
its location, for a tenant that needs to be being transferred to allow a block
or estate to be “decanted” to allow major works or regeneration to be
carried out.

317.  We will also look at any agreements we have made with existing tenants
that have had to move as part of a redevelopment or major works
contract. The agreement could be to relet the actual property the tenant
used to live in once the works have been completed or to offer a similar
vacancy in the area they used to live.

What size accommodation am I entitled to?
318.  When deciding the size of accommodation that will be suitable for your
household we use the bedroom standard as set out in statutory guidance
on social housing allocation published in June 2012.

319.  When assessing the size of accommodation suitable for your household
we will provide either bedsit or one bedroom accommodation for single
person households. For other households we will assess as requiring a
separate bedroom for:

  Yourself and your spouse or partner
  Each adult in your household aged 21 or older
  Every pair of adolescents in your household of the same sex aged
between 10 and 20
  Every pair of children in your household aged less than 10 years
regardless of sex

320.  The rooms available to the household are calculated according to the
number of bedrooms available. In a property with more than one living
room, only one of the living rooms will be counted as a living room and the
rest will be counted as bedrooms. We will assess how many people a
room can accommodate according to its size, as follows:

  A room smaller than 50 sq. ft. (4.65 sq. m) will not be counted as a
bedroom.

321.  In exceptional circumstances we can exercise some flexibility when
applying the size criteria, for example where:

  The applicant requires larger accommodation on health grounds. This
will be considered on a case by case basis, taking into account the
advice of the council’s medical advisor.

56

  the applicant is very overcrowded, and moving to this property will

alleviate the overcrowding but not fully meet their needs (e.g. moving
from a 2 bed to a 3 bed, when a 4 bed is needed)

  There is little or no demand for a particular vacancy and it is difficult to

let.

  No suitable applicants can be identified to make the best use of larger

accommodation.


  The applicant has been approved by the council as a foster carer and
will need a larger property to carry out this role.

  The applicant or a member of the household needs the support of a

carer who will need to sleep in the home and cannot reasonably be

expected to share a bedroom with another member of the household.

See below for more information about including a carer in a housing
application.

Carers
322.  A carer is someone who, with or without payment, provides help and
support to a partner, relative, friend or neighbour, who would not manage
without their help. This could be due to age, physical or mental health,
addiction, or disability.

323.  You must include your carer as the person responsible for providing you
with overnight care and therefore needs to live with you (see paragraph
59 above).

324.  We will check with adult social care30 that you have been assessed as
requiring overnight support. Unfortunately receiving carer’s allowance this
does not automatically prove it is necessary for your carer to live with you
to provide care and support.

325.  In some limited circumstances it may be possible to consider cases where
the carer is not in receipt of carer’s allowance. Under these circumstances
it will still be necessary for the applicant to demonstrate that the person
looked after is in receipt of one of the following benefits:

  Carers allowance
  Disability living allowance – paid at either the middle or higher rate for
personal care31
  Attendance allowance
  Constant attendance allowance
  Disablement benefit.
Underoccupying
326.  If your accommodation has more rooms available than your household
needs the difference between the two is your level of underoccupation
(measured in number of rooms).

30 Department of adult care, housing and health
31 Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is to be replaced with a new Personal Independence Payment
(PIP) from 2013. The new benefit will remain a non-means tested, non-taxable cash benefit claimed

57

by disabled people whether they are in or out of work

58

Overcrowding
327. If your current accommodation has fewer rooms than your household
needs, the difference between the two is the level of overcrowding. When
we calculate overcrowding, we look at how much space you need, not
how you currently live, and who actually shares with whom.

328. Annex 5 provides an explanation of the assessment of statutory
overcrowding set out in the Housing Act 1985.

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10. DISCRETIONARY SUCCESSION
Succession rights
329.  When a local authority tenant dies their tenancy can be passed on to a
member of their family in certain circumstances32. For tenants whose
tenancies began before 2 April 2012 a member of the tenant’s close
family can automatically succeed to the tenancy, but for tenants whose
tenancies began after 2 April 2012 only their spouse or civil partner is
automatically entitled to succeed to the tenancy33. Where one or more
relative may qualify to succeed, only one may do so.

330.  To succeed to the tenancy, the person entitled to succeed must have
been living at the property as their only or principle home at the time the
tenant died. The person that succeeds to the tenancy is known as a
“successor tenant”. When the successor tenant dies there is no further
statutory right for a member of their family to succeed to the tenancy.

Discretionary succession
331.  We may exercise our discretion where a successor tenant dies by
considering granting a further tenancy or by giving priority for a move
under the allocations scheme to a close member34 of the deceased
successor tenant’s family in the following circumstances.

Family member
332.  If a close member of the successor tenant’s family has lived at the
property as their only or principle home for at least one year prior to the
successor tenant’s death.

Full-time carer
333.  If the successor tenant’s fulltime, live in, non-paid carer has lived in the
property for at least two years prior to the successor tenant’s death.

334.  We will only make one offer of social housing to a close family member or
carer applying for discretionary succession.

Discretionary succession underoccupiers
335.  If the successor tenant’s close family member or their full-time carer
would be under-occupying the property if offered the tenancy (see
paragraph 299 above) we will offer them a suitably sized property that
meets their housing needs.

336.  In exceptional circumstances we will consider making an offer of a
tenancy of the successor tenants property in cases where insisting on
moving to alternative accommodation would cause unreasonable
hardship to the deceased successor tenant’s carer or family member

32 For secure tenants see sections 87-89, Housing Act 1985, for assured tenants see section 17,
Housing Act 1988.
33 Sections 160 and 161, Localism Act 2011.
34 Close family member includes spouse or civil partner, parent, grandparent, child, grand-child,
brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece (see section 113 Housing Act 1985).

60

taking into account their age, the period during which they occupied the
property as their only or principal home, and any financial or other support
they had given to the deceased successor tenant.

337. All discretionary succession applications will be placed in band 1.

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11. OTHER HOUSING SCHEMES

338.  housingmoves (what was known as the pan-London mobility scheme) is
designed to enable social housing tenants to move around the capital for
work, training or education, to free up larger homes or to care for a family
member or friend. There is considerable pent-up demand for cross-
borough moves and the scheme is designed to make this easier.

339.  Our qualification rules do not allow someone to go on the housing register
if they have not lived in Croydon for at least a year. However, we have
made an exception for applicants that apply through housingmoves.

340.  To be eligible for the housingmoves scheme you must:

  be a current social housing tenant(s) with an assured or a secure
tenancy, or a fixed term flexible or assured shorthold tenancy
  be resident (irrespective of landlord) in a borough that is contributing
properties to the housingmoves scheme (Croydon contributes to the
scheme)
  be the sole tenant or both tenants (if the tenancy is joint)
  not be on an introductory or starter tenancy
  not be the subject of a Notice of Seeking Possession or Notice to Quit
  have had a clear rent account for the last 12 months, both at the point of
application and at the point of letting35, and
  not have, or be part of a household containing, individuals who have an
on-going record of antisocial behaviour36

341.  housingmoves is delivered by the Greater London Authority and further
information and an online registration form can be found at the
housingmoves website http://www.housingmoves.org .

The Keyring Scheme
342.  The Keyring scheme provides housing for people with learning disabilities.
It helps them to live independently with support from the Keyring
organisation37.

343.  If you want to be considered for housing in a Keyring scheme you can be
referred by a statutory or voluntary agency or you can refer yourself.
Keyring will consider whether your support needs and circumstances
meet the conditions of the scheme and, if appropriate, nominate you
under the quota agreement.

35 There may be exceptional circumstances where a referring landlord takes the decision to permit
the registration of an applicant with some history of rent arrears. In these cases the referring landlord
should note their decision on the system and, in all cases, the decision to let a property to that
applicant is at the receiving landlord's discretion.
36  The wording of this criterion is deliberately loose since it is ultimately down to the contributing and
receiving landlords to verify, with discretion, an applicant’s details and tenancy history.
37  For more information go to www.keyring.org

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344. You will be offered accommodation within a particular geographical area
to enable easy access by the support worker.

345. To be eligible for consideration under the Keyring Scheme you should be
eligible for housing, qualify to go on the housing register and have a
reasonable preference for housing. You also need to be ready to move-
on into independent housing and to be supported by Keyring.

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12. LOCAL LETTINGS POLICIES

346.  When a new social housing block or estate is being built we will usually
agree a local lettings policy with the housing association that is building
the new social housing. We will also set out a local lettings policy for
housing developed as part of the council’s new build programme. Local
lettings policies may also be put in place to address specific housing
management issues on particular estates or in particular areas. The local
lettings policy is used to amend our nominations agreement with the
landlord to ensure a good social mix of tenants, so as to give the
community a good chance of success, and to reduce the chances of
management problems from the outset.

Drawing up a local lettings policy
347.  In drawing up the policy we will look at a variety of factors that together
help to shape a strong successful, thriving community. These include:

  the mix of working and non-working households
  child density and the numbers of children in different age groups
  age range of prospective tenants
  ethnicity and community cohesion
  vulnerability and support services,
  community facilities provided

348.  In order to implement the policy we may have to select applicants for an
offer of social housing who are in a lower band than we would usually
offer to.

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13. OFFERS OF ACCOMMODATION
General needs offers – direct offers and open viewings
349.  General needs housing is housing that has not been designed or built with
any features or facilities that make it particularly suitable for certain
groups of people (e.g. older people, or people with disabilities for
example).

350.  If you are offered housing for older people it will be on condition that you
agree to take the alarm and support services. Separate charges are made
for these services on top of the rent.

351.  Once the bidding cycle has closed, we will draw up a shortlist of all the
applicants who placed a bid on the property. As many as 5 applicants will
be invited to view the property. The property will be offered to the
applicant with the highest priority and longest waiting time within each
band. If the highest placed applicant does not accept the tenancy, the
tenancy is offered to the applicant next in priority who bid for the property,
and so on.

352.  Where two applicants have equivalent priority, i.e. have the same length
of time in their band and have the same requirements for size, type and
area of property, we will consider the requirements and housing need of
both applicants and the applicant for whom the property is deemed most
suitable will be offered the tenancy38.
Direct offers
353.  Direct offers are made to one specific applicant on the housing register
where the applicant requires a particular type of accommodation, or
needs to move very urgently, or where the council has specific statutory
responsibilities. For example, we would not use open viewing for adapted
accommodation or housing for older people, nor for applicants needing to
move urgently due to exceptional circumstances, nor for people needing
to move as a result of violence, severe harassment, domestic violence, or
those acting as a witness and being subjected to severe intimidation.

Direct offers to applicants accepted due to exceptional
circumstances at the director’s discretion

354.  Offers made to applicants accepted as a result of exceptional
circumstances at the director of Housing Needs discretion will be made by
direct offer.

Direct offers of special sheltered housing
355.  The purpose of special sheltered housing is to provide older people with a
tenancy where personal care and housing support are provided to help
them maintain independence. With special sheltered housing we will

38 Suitability could be determined by looking at a number of factors - e.g. the household size, medical
needs, the age of the of family and the type of accommodation available.

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make a direct offer to you in response to a referral from the council’s care
management team. Applications for special sheltered housing should be
made direct to the department of adult services, housing and health, older
adults care management team.

Direct offers of housing adapted for disabled people
356.  Vacancies which are adapted or which are suitable for adaptation for
applicants with a substantial disability may be offered directly to the most
appropriate applicant. Where the housing has significant adaptations or is
wheelchair accessible, this will be on suitability alone and outside any
strict date order. For homes which are not adapted, or have limited
adaptations, there may be several applicants who could “fit” the vacancy,
and we will allocate in band and then date order.

357.  This may, depending on the characteristics of the property, include cases
where a ground floor flat or other suitable dwelling becomes available and
an applicant with very high priority requires such accommodation. Rather
than select an applicant with general needs to be offered the property the
council reserves the right to allocate to a high priority applicant in need of
such accommodation.
Direct offers to homeless applicants – temporary accommodation
358.  If you apply to the council as homeless we may offer you temporary
accommodation either while we investigate your claim of homelessness or
(if you are accepted as homeless) until we can offer housing. Temporary
accommodation may be with a private landlord or we may offer you a
council home on a non-secure tenancy. You do not have any choice in
what temporary accommodation we offer you, but it must be suitable for
your needs.

Private rented sector offers (PRSOs)

359.  If we offer you accommodation with a private landlord (a PRSO) we will
ensure the property offered is of the appropriate size and is of a
reasonable standard, including:

  That it is in a reasonable physical condition
  It has passed a gas safety check
  There are smoke and carbon monoxide alarms fitted
  It has safe electrical equipment and fixtures
  Any furnishings provided are fire safe furniture and furnishings
  It has a valid energy performance certificate

360.  We will also make sure that it is licensed if the accommodation is a house
in multiple occupation (HMO). We will also ensure that the landlord is a
“fit and proper person” and that you are provided with a written tenancy
agreement. We will ensure any deposit paid is placed in a deposit
protection scheme.

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361.  We understand each applicant’s circumstances are different and we will
do as much as we reasonably can to minimise the disruption to family life
caused by moving away from Croydon. Some applicants may want to
move to a new area for a fresh start, to take up employment or to move
closer to family. Others may be at risk of domestic or other violence and
need to minimise the danger they face. Ex-offenders or drug/alcohol
users may want to move away to break links with previous contacts and
negative influences. We will, therefore, take into account each individual
applicant’s circumstances when considering the suitability of an offer of
private rented accommodation outside the district of Croydon.

362.  It is important that you consider very carefully the offer of accommodation
you have been made before you make the decision to refuse it. The
consequences of refusing or accepting the PRSO will be made clear in
the council’s offer letter. If you accept the PRSO the council’s
homelessness duty towards you is brought to an end.

363.  You have a right to request a review of the suitability of the
accommodation offered to you regardless of whether you have accepted it
or not. You should be aware that if the council owes you a statutory
rehousing duty and you refuse an offer, and the council decides on review
that it was a suitable offer, the council will owe you no further duties for
temporary or settled accommodation.

364.  There is further information on the suitability of accommodation and
reviews provided in the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local
Authorities39 published in July 2006.

365.  Section 15 on Information, reviews and standards provides details on
how to request a review and how reviews are carried out.

366.  If we provide you with accommodation and you become homeless again
through no fault of your own within 2 years we will, in accordance with the
law, help you to find alternative accommodation, or put you back on the
housing register with a reasonable preference for housing (subject to your
being eligible and qualifying to go on the housing register).
Direct offers to homeless applicants – council accommodation
367.  If you have been accepted as homeless and are currently accommodated
in a council home as temporary accommodation, we may offer it to you as
permanent accommodation. This is providing the property is suitable for
your needs.

Requests to not be considered for an offer of accommodation
368.  If you are unable to move into new accommodation for a short time due to
personal circumstances, you can request that you should not be made an
offer of accommodation for a period of time. This would apply for example
if you had planned an extended visit to spend time with relatives abroad,

39 The Homelessness Code of Guidance is available to download from the Department of
Communities and Local Government web site
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/152056.pdf

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or you are awaiting medical treatment and will need a period of
convalescence.

369.  You will remain in your band and will continue to move towards the front
of the band, but will not receive any offers or invitations for open viewings
until you notify us.

How many offers am I entitled to under the scheme?
370.  All applicants are entitled to receive one offer of housing under this
scheme. The majority of applicants we are able to make offers to have
significant housing needs and must move urgently and we will therefore
only make one offer of housing to these applicants under the scheme.
There is a small group of applicants who are entitled to two offers under
the scheme, which includes applicants in band 2 that are awarded
increased priority. There is an even smaller group of applicants that can
be made more than two offers at the discretion of the director of need and
strategy.

One offer
Homeless
371.  Homeless applicants are entitled to one offer only under this scheme.

Exceptional circumstances
372.  Applicants accepted due to exceptional circumstances or at the discretion
of the director (see Section 9 Exceptional Circumstances above) are
entitled to one offer only under this scheme.

Discretionary succession
373.  Applicants applying for a discretionary succession, including those that
are under occupying, are entitled to one offer only under this scheme.

Urgent rehousing to escape violence, harassment and intimidation
374.  Applicants who are homeless and need to move urgently to escape
violence, severe harassment, domestic violence, or who are acting as a
witness and are being subjected to severe intimidation are entitled to one
offer only under this scheme.

Council management transfers
375.  Applicants who have applied for and have been approved for a Council
management transfer are entitled to one offer only under this scheme.

Two offers
Reasonable preference – medical disability, overcrowded, unsanitary
or unsuitable housing and welfare or hardship applications
376.  Applicants with a reasonable preference for housing needing to move due
to a medical condition or disability, because they are overcrowded,

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because they are living in unsanitary or unsuitable housing or because of
a welfare or hardship need are entitled to two offers under this scheme.

Applicants entitled to more than two offers
Under-occupying tenants
377.  Tenants that have applied for a transfer because they are under
occupying their current accommodation may, at the discretion of the
director of needs and strategy or a nominated deputy, receive more than
the maximum two offers under this scheme.

378.  If it is agreed that you should receive a further offer of accommodation,
we will contact you to discuss your housing needs and the likely
availability of accommodation suitable to meet those needs.

Adapted properties
379.  Tenants that have applied for a transfer because their current
accommodation is adapted for a disabled person and they do not have a
disability may, at the discretion of the director of needs and strategy or a
nominated deputy, receive more than the maximum two offers under
this scheme.

Offers made to serious offenders
380.  Housing decisions about applicants who are serious offenders will be
made in liaison with the MAPPA40 panel. The panel may take an objective
view that it a serious offender should not reside in a particular area for
reasons of public safety. An officer with appropriate delegated authority
may override the offender’s preferences to reside in that area of the
borough.
Refusing an offer
381.  When you are made an offer you will be asked to view the property and
then to sign the tenancy agreement. If you do not consider the property is
suitable for you or your household will be asked to complete a form
setting out your reasons for refusing the offer. Please note you can ask for
a review of the suitability of the accommodation offered regardless of
whether you accept the offer or not.

382.  If you refuse an offer of social housing, you must explain why you are
refusing it. If we look again and decide that it was a reasonable offer of
suitable accommodation and if you have received all the offers you are
entitled to under the scheme your application cancelled and you will be
disqualified from reapplying for housing for 12 months.
383.
If you do not attend a viewing, we will assume that you have refused
the property unless there are genuine and substantial reasons why you
could not turn up and could not tell us beforehand

40 MAPPA – Multi-agency Public Protection

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384.  If you think the offer is not suitable, you can seek a review of our decision
to offer. Section 15 on Information, reviews and service standards
provides details on how to request a review and how the review will be
conducted.

Refusing an offer on the grounds of its condition
385.  Social landlords are required to maintain their properties to at least the
decent homes standard, and most will ensure that any vacant property is
refurbished to a certain “lettable” standard before it is offered to an
applicant. We will not consider it reasonable to refuse an offer if the
property meets the decent homes standard and meets the council’s or
housing association’s lettable standard unless there are exceptional
circumstances.

Refusing an offer on the grounds of the rent charged
386.  Social housing rents are considerably cheaper than market rents. Social
housing “target” rents are around half the equivalent market rent, and new
affordable rents are at least 20% cheaper than the equivalent market
rents. We will not consider it reasonable to refuse an offer if the property
is charged at a social housing “target” rent or at an affordable rent unless
there are exceptional circumstances that justify the refusal.

Refusing an offer on the grounds of its location
387.  We have a limited supply of social housing to offer and in some areas of
the borough social housing hardly ever becomes available to offer. As far
as possible we will take account of your choices as to the type of housing,
area and landlord. However, if you will be made a direct offer (see
paragraphs 316 to 332 above) we will not consider it reasonable to refuse
an offer on the grounds of the location of the property unless there are
exceptional circumstances that justify the refusal.

388.  We will consider your reasons for refusing the property offered and will
either confirm the offer was reasonable and cancel your application if it
was the last offer you are entitled to under the scheme, or confirm the
offer was not reasonable and make a further offer.
Unreasonable refusal – cancelling your application
389.  If you refuse an offer of housing under this scheme we will write to you
explaining why we considered the offer was suitable for your needs and
your refusal was unreasonable. If the offer was the final offer you are
entitled to under the scheme your application cancelled and you will be
disqualified from reapplying for housing for 12 months. We will confirm we
have no further duty to provide accommodation in relation to your
application and that it will be cancelled. We will explain that you have a
right to request a review of this decision and how to exercise this right
(see Section 15 on Information, reviews and service standards).

390.  You will be entitled to reapply to go on the housing register and your
application will be assessed and placed in a band that reflects the
applicant’s housing need at that time. No previous waiting time will be
carried over to your new application.

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What type of tenancy will I be offered?
391.  We will offer most applicants a fixed term flexible tenancy. This will
usually be a five year fixed term tenancy, depending on the
circumstances. Fixed term tenancies allow your landlord to review your
needs and situation with you regularly. Most tenancies will be renewed at
the end of the fixed term, but some tenants will be helped to move to
other accommodation. Tenants who have not paid their rent, breached
tenancy conditions, or been guilty of anti-social behaviour or relevant
criminal acts may not be granted a further tenancy.

392.  We will not offer fixed term tenancies to anyone who has a legal right to a
greater level of security, for example:

  if you were a secure or assured tenants 2 April 2012 and have continued
to be a tenant since that date, you will be offered a tenancy of no less
security as your existing tenancy if you transfer to another socially rented
home. If you choose to move to a home on an affordable rent, then you
will usually be offered a fixed term tenancy.
  If we need to move a tenant to alternative accommodation to allow
development or regeneration works to take place, we will offer a tenancy
with no less security than their previous tenancy on their return to the
property they occupied before the works took place.
  If you had a secure or full assured social tenancy on 2 April 2012 and
have remained a social housing tenant since that date, and you are
moving to a social rent home, or where you are currently an under
occupier moving to a smaller home at affordable rent, or a tenant vacating
an adapted home and moving to an affordable rent property, then we will
offer you a new tenancy of no less security than you have already.
  If it is not appropriate to offer a fixed term tenancy due we will by
exception consider offering a secure periodic tenancy to an applicant
where they or a member of their household has a lifelong support need.

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14. INFORMATION, REVIEWS AND STANDARDS
General information
393.  You have the right to request general information about making an
application for housing and in particular about:

  how your application will be treated and whether you will be given any
preference under the scheme
  whether housing accommodation appropriate to your needs is likely to
become available and how long you will have to wait for an allocation of
such accommodation

Information about decisions and reviews
394.  You also have the following further and specific rights to information about
decisions and rights of review of decisions including:

  the right, on request, to be informed of any decision about the facts of
your case which has been, or is likely to be, taken into account in
considering whether to make an allocation to you
  the right, on request, to review a decision concerning eligibility for
housing, qualifying to go on the register , whether an offer was suitable
and whether a refusal of an offer was reasonable, and the right to be
informed of the decision on the review and grounds for it.

Requesting a review of a decision made in relation to your housing
application and allocation

395.  You should request a review in writing within 21 days of being notified of a
decision. We will extend this period in exceptional circumstances.

396.  We will determine the review within 56 days of the request or a longer
period if you agree that a longer period is appropriate given the
complexity of the decision and your case.

Review procedure
397.  Reviews will be carried out by a senior member of staff at Croydon council
or delegated to an appropriate officer who was not involved in the original
decision.

398.  We will inform you of your right to request a review in writing. We will
clearly explain how that request should be made, for example, that the
application must be made in writing, and must include:

  your name and address
  a description of the of the original decision on which the review is sought,
including the date on which the decision was made
  the grounds on which you are seeking the review

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Outcome of the review
399.  We will notify you of the outcome of the review including the reasons for
confirming the original decision, or why the original decision should be
changed.

400.  There is no further mechanism to review the review decision; however,
you can take legal action to challenge the council’s decision through
judicial review proceedings. You may also complain to the Local
Government Ombudsman (or from April 2013 the Housing Ombudsman) if
you consider the council’s actions amount to maladministration.

HOW WE REVIEW DECISIONS ON HOMELESS APPLICATIONS
Requesting a Review

401.  If you want a decision made with regard to your homeless application or
accommodation provided in relation to that accommodation reviewed
please tell us as soon as possible, preferably using the appropriate form
(Review Form 1).

402.  If we do not receive your request within 21 days of the day you received
our decision letter, we are not obliged to review our decision.

403.  Please ensure you give us an address where we may write to you during
the period of review. Do not give the address of any interim
accommodation which the council has provided – such as a B&B
hotel - as you will have been given a date for that accommodation to
come to an end in the s184 decision letter which you are asking us
to review.

404.  You may ask to be accommodated during the review but the authority is
under no obligation to agree this and will do so only in exceptional
circumstances.

Conducting the Review

405.  The council has a period of eight weeks to reach a decision on review and
in no circumstances will representations be accepted after three weeks
have passed from the date of review request, except in the circumstances
described below. This is to ensure that the review process is not subject
to lengthy delays and that the authority has sufficient time to consider
your case.

406.  The officer who will carry out the review will not have been involved in
making the decision which you want reviewed and will be senior to the
person who made the original decision on your application.

407.  If necessary, this officer may give you, or someone acting for you, the
chance to put your case in person and give further information in writing.
It is for the reviewing officer to decide whether personal representations
are necessary. It is also for the reviewing officer to decide what enquiries
are necessary in your case.

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408.  You will be informed of the review decision and the reasons in writing
within the timescale outlined above. However, if we need more time to
look into your case, we will write to you about this and agree a new time
limit with you.

409.  You should not rely upon the review altering the decision of the original
investigating officer. Also, the reviewing officer may reach another
decision which is not in your favour. You are therefore strongly advised to
contact the council’s Housing options and advice section for information
about seeking your own accommodation in the meantime.

Submissions
410.  You – or someone acting on your behalf – may give us written details,
including information from doctors, consultants, etc., of the reasons why
you want us to review the council’s decision.

411.  If you have not given us any written reasons for your request within three
weeks of returning this form, a decision will be based on the information
that we have on file.

412.  Please note that we may disregard any representations received after the
deadline of three weeks unless there is prior agreement or exceptional
reason for the delay.

File Copies
413.  If you want a copy of personal information contained in your file, this can
be provided unless exceptions stated in Data Protection Regulations
apply. You must ask for it in writing and pay £10.00 by cheque or postal
order at the same time you ask for a review. (Cash cannot be accepted.)

414.  Cheques must be made payable to “London Borough of Croydon”. You
must put your name and reference number on the reverse of the cheque
as well as ‘HPS Review’. The postal address is: London Borough of
Croydon, Gateway, Strategy and Engagement, Housing Solutions, 3rd
Floor, Bernard Weatherill House, 8 Mint Walk, Croydon CR0 1EA

415.  If you, or someone acting on your behalf, delay in making a request for
your file or making payment, the 15 working day time limit for submitting
more written information from the date you request a review will not be
extended. The file copy will normally be dispatched on receipt of the
payment. Any delay on the part of the authority – usually only a matter of
days – will be taken into consideration in respect of the submissions
deadline, as necessary.

Please note: Under the Housing Act 1996 (as amended) not all decisions are subject to the
review process. If, for any reason, the right of review does not apply to the matter which
you raise in your request, we wil  write to you explaining the reasons and advising you of
any other options available to you.

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Service Standards
416.  We want to provide you with a high quality service, one with clear
standards which meets your expectations. The sections below set out the
service you can expect in relation to your housing application

Provisional assessment of applications
417.  We will carry out a preliminary assessment of your application and tell you
whether we are registering your application and what band your
application has been placed in.

Verifying applications
418.  We will complete our verification of your application at the pre-offer stage
and tell you the outcome within 10 working days of receiving your proofs
of eligibility, qualifying status, needs and employment or training.

Open viewings
419.  We will write to inform you of the outcome of an open viewing within 10
working days.

COMPLAINTS
420.  If you are not satisfied with the service you receive from us we would like
to know. Complaints are one of the best ways we learn how to improve
our services. You can make a complaint in the following ways:

421.  in person at Access Croydon, Bernard Weatherill House, 8 Mint Walk,
Croydon CR0 1EA
  in writing to Director of Housing Need, Bernard Weatherill House, 8 Mint
Walk, Croydon, CR0 1EA
  by email to xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
  by telephone to the housing specialist team on 0208 726 6100

422.  Information on how the councils deals with complaints is available in our
“Tell us, we are listening booklet”.

423.  We will send you an acknowledgement that your complaint has been
received within 5 working days.

424.  Your complaint will be answered within twenty working days, or we will
contact you and explain why it will take longer than that.

425.  You can ask someone else or an organisation such as Citizen's Advice
Bureau to make a complaint on their behalf. If your first language is not
English we can provide assistance.

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15. APPLICATIONS FROM MEMBERS OF STAFF,
BOARD MEMBERS OF RELEVANT ORGANISATIONS,
COUNCIL MEMBERS, CO-OPTEES AND
16. RELATIVES

426.  This policy is designed to ensure that Croydon council (and any relevant
organisation) is transparent and equitable when letting homes to staff or
board members or co-optees and their relatives, or other people who live
with them.

427.  The housing allocations scheme is open to any eligible applicant and
there are stringent checks in place that all applicants must follow.

428.  Staff, board members, council Members and co-optees and their relatives
are treated as any other applicant and must be seen to not be gaining any
advantage or disadvantage or any preferential treatment in the course of
their application.

429.  Therefore, the following procedure must be undertaken to ensure that any
letting can be subject to a high level of scrutiny.

430.  An applicant who a member of staff, board member, council member or
related to or living with one of these people, must have no direct input into
any decisions regarding their rehousing. This includes not inputting the
original application onto the register system or adding any priority at any
time onto the application.

431.  Staff members must also not have any involvement in the inputting of the
application or awarding of priority for any relative or other people they live
with.

432.  Applications should be clearly marked on the housing management
system to identify that the application is that of a staff member, board
member, council Members, co-optee or relative.

433.  When an offer is to be made, a ‘record of interest’ form must be
completed and signed off before any offer of a property is made. The
details of the offer must be detailed on the form, checked and signed off
by the director of housing needs and strategy, or for allocations to council
Members or their relatives, by the executive director of adult services,
housing and health.

434.  Attached to the form must be copies of the computer screens of all the
appropriate information from the housing management system including
the shortlist from which the applicant is being offered, together with
reasons for any applicants above them not being made the offer.

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ANNEX 1: ELIGIBILITY

i.) As a local housing authority we must consider all applications made in
accordance with the procedural requirements of our allocation scheme (Housing Act
1996 sections 166(3) and 166A(14)). In considering applications, we must decide:

if an applicant is eligible for an allocation of accommodation, and
if he or she qualifies for an allocation of accommodation

Eligibility
ii.) An applicant may be ineligible for an allocation of accommodation under
s.160ZA(2) or (4). We will consider an applicant’s eligibility at the time of the initial
application and again when considering making an allocation to them, particularly
where a substantial amount of time has elapsed since the original application.

Joint Tenancies
iii.) Under s.160ZA(1)(b), we must not grant a joint tenancy to two or more people if
any one of them is a person from abroad who is ineligible. However, where two or
more people apply and one of them is eligible, we may grant a tenancy to the
person who is eligible. In addition, while ineligible family members must not be
granted a tenancy, we should take them into account in determining the size of
accommodation which is to be allocated.

Existing Tenants
iv.) The eligibility provisions do not apply to applicants who are already our tenants.
Most transferring tenants fall outside the scope of the allocation legislation
(s.159(4A)); while those who are considered to have reasonable preference for an
allocation are specifically exempted from the eligibility provisions by virtue of
s.160ZA(5).

Persons from abroad
v.) A person may not be allocated accommodation under Part 6 if he or she is a
person from abroad who is ineligible for an allocation under s.160ZA of the 1996
Act. There are two categories for the purposes of s.160ZA:

a person subject to immigration control - such a person is not eligible for an
allocation of accommodation unless he or she comes within a class prescribed
in regulations made by the Secretary of State (s.160ZA(2)), and
a person from abroad other than a person subject to immigration control -
regulations may provide for other descriptions of persons from abroad who,
although not subject to immigration control, are to be treated as ineligible for an
allocation of accommodation (s.160ZA(4))

vi.) The regulations setting out which classes of persons from abroad are eligible or
ineligible for an allocation are the Allocation of Housing and Homelessness
(Eligibility) (England) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006 No.1294) (’the Eligibility
Regulations’).

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Persons subject to immigration control
vii.) The term ‘person subject to immigration control’ is defined in s.13(2) of the
Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 as a person who under the Immigration Act 1971
requires leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom (whether or not such leave
has been given). 3.8 The following categories of persons do not require leave to
enter or remain in the UK:

British citizens
certain Commonwealth citizens with a right of abode in the UK
Irish citizens, who are not subject to immigration control in the UK because the
Republic of Ireland forms part of the Common Travel Area (see paragraph 3.11
(iii) below) with the UK which allows free movement
EEA nationals41, and their family members, who have a right to reside in the UK
that derives from EU law. Whether an EEA national (or family member) has a
particular right to reside in the UK (or another Member State) will depend on the
circumstances, particularly their economic status (e.g. whether he or she is a
worker, self-employed, a student, or economically inactive)
persons who are exempt from immigration control under the Immigration Acts,
including diplomats and their family members based in the UK, and some
military personnel.

viii.) Any person who does not fall within one of the four categories in paragraph x.)
will be a person subject to immigration control and will be ineligible for an allocation
of accommodation unless they fall within a class of persons prescribed by regulation
3 of the Eligibility Regulations (see further below).

xi.) If there is any uncertainty about an applicant’s immigration status, we will
contact the UK Border Agency (UKBA). UKBA provides a service to housing
authorities to confirm the immigration status of an applicant from abroad (non
asylum seekers) by email at xx@xxxx.xxx.xxx.xx . Where UKBA indicates the
applicant may be an asylum seeker, enquiries of their status can be made to the
Immigration Enquiry Bureau helpline on 0870 606 7766.

x.) Regulation 3 of the Eligibility Regulations provides that the following classes of
persons subject to immigration control are eligible for an allocation of
accommodation:

a person granted refugee status: granted 5 years' limited leave to remain in the
UK
a person granted exceptional leave to enter or remain in the UK without
condition that they and any dependants should make no recourse to public
funds: granted for a limited period where there are compelling humanitarian or
compassionate circumstances for allowing them to stay. However, if leave is
granted on condition that the applicant and any dependants are not a charge on
public funds, the applicant will not be eligible for an allocation of
accommodation. Exceptional leave to remain (granted at the Secretary of
State's discretion outside the Immigration Rules) now takes the form of
’discretionary leave’.

41 European Economic Area nationals are nationals of any EU member state (except the UK), and
nationals of Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland

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a person with current leave to enter or remain in the UK with no condition or
limitation, and who is habitually resident in the UK, the Channel Islands, the Isle
of Man or the Republic of Ireland (the Common Travel Area): such a person will
have indefinite leave to enter (ILE) or remain (ILR) and is regarded as having
settled status. However, where ILE or ILR status is granted as a result of an
undertaking that a sponsor will be responsible for the applicant’s maintenance
and accommodation, the person must have been resident in the Common
Travel Area for five years since the date of entry - or the date of the sponsorship
undertaking, whichever is later - to be eligible. Where all sponsors have died
within the first five years, the applicant will be eligible for an allocation of
accommodation.
a person who has humanitarian protection granted under the Immigration
Rules6: a form of leave granted to persons who do not qualify for refugee status
but would face a real risk of suffering serious harm if returned to their state of
origin (see paragraphs 339C-344C of the Immigration Rules (HC 395))

Other persons from abroad who may be ineligible for an allocation
xi.) By virtue of regulation 4 of the Eligibility Regulations, a person who is not
subject to immigration control and who falls within one of the following descriptions
is to be treated as a person from abroad who is ineligible for an allocation of
accommodation:

a person who is not habitually resident in the Common Travel Area (subject to
certain exceptions - see paragraph 3.14 below)
a person whose only right to reside in the UK is derived from his status as a
jobseeker (or his status as the family member of a jobseeker). ’Jobseeker’ has
6 Inserted by the Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Miscellaneous
Provisions) (England) Regulations 2006 the same meaning as in regulation 6(1)
of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/1003)
(’the EEA Regulations’).
a person whose only right to reside in the UK is an initial right to reside for a
period not exceeding three months under regulation 13 of the EEA Regulations
a person whose only right to reside in the Common Travel Area is a right
equivalent to one of the rights mentioned in (ii) or (iii) above and which is
derived from EU Treaty rights

xii.) See Annex 2 for guidance on rights to reside in the UK derived from EU law.

Xiii.) The following persons from abroad are eligible for an allocation of
accommodation even if they are not habitually resident in the Common Travel Area:

an EEA national who is in the UK as a worker (which has the same meaning as
in regulation 6(1) of the EEA Regulations)
an EEA national who is in the UK as a self-employed person (which has the
same meaning as in regulation 6(1) of the EEA Regulations)
a person who is treated as a worker for the purposes of regulation 6(1) of the
EEA Regulations, pursuant to the Accession (Immigration and Worker
Authorisation) Regulations 2006 (i.e. nationals of Bulgaria and Romania

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required to be authorised by the Home Office to work until they have accrued 12
months uninterrupted authorised work)42
a person who is a family member of a person referred to in (a) to (c) above
a person with a right to reside permanently in the UK by virtue of regulation
15(c), (d) or (e) of the EEA Regulations f) a person who left Montserrat after 1
November 1995 because of the effect of volcanic activity there
a person who is in the UK as a result of his deportation, expulsion or other
removal by compulsion of law from another country to the UK. This could
include EEA nationals, if the person was settled in the UK and exercising EU
Treaty rights prior to deportation from the third country. Where deportation
occurs, most countries will signal this in the person’s passport.
xiv.) A person who is no longer working or no longer in self-employment will retain
his or her status as a worker or self-employed person in certain circumstances.
However, accession state workers requiring authorisation will generally only be
treated as a worker when they are actually working as authorised and will not retain
‘worker’ status between jobs until they have accrued 12 months continuous
authorised employment. ‘Family member’ does not include a person who is an
extended family member who is treated as a family member by virtue of regulation
7(3) of the EEA Regulations (see annexes 2 and 3 for further guidance).

xv.) The term ’habitual residence’ is intended to convey a degree of permanence in
the person’s residence in the Common Travel Area; it implies an association
between the individual and the place of residence and relies substantially on fact.

xvi.) Applicants who have been resident in the Common Travel Area continuously
during the two year period prior to their housing application are likely to be habitually
resident (periods of temporary absence, e.g. visits abroad for holidays or to visit
relatives may be disregarded). Where two years’ continuous residency has not been
established, housing authorities will need to conduct further enquiries to determine
whether the applicant is habitually resident (see annex 4 for further guidance).

42 As of 1 May 2011, nationals of the 8 Eastern European countries (A8 nationals) which acceded to
the EU in 2004 are no longer required to register with the Workers Registration Scheme in order to
work in the UK. Regulation 4(2)(c) of the Eligibility Regulations no longer applies to applications from
A8 workers as of that date. Rather applications from A8 workers should be considered on the same
basis as those from other EU workers under regulation 4(2)(a).

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ANNEX 2: RIGHTS TO RESIDE IN THE UK DERIVED FROM
EU LAW

i.) EEA nationals and their family members who have a right to reside in the UK that
derives from EU law are not persons subject to immigration control. This means that
they will be eligible for an allocation of accommodation under Part 6 unless they fall
within one of the categories of persons to be treated as a person from abroad who
is ineligible for an allocation of accommodation by virtue of regulation 4 of the
Eligibility Regulations.

General
Nationals of EU countries
ii.) Nationals of EU countries enjoy a number of different rights to reside in other
Member States, including the UK. These rights derive from the EU Treaties, EU
secondary legislation (in particular Directive 2004/38), and the case law of the
European Court of Justice.

iii.) Whether an individual EU national has a right to reside in the UK will depend on
his or her circumstances, particularly his or her economic status (e.g. whether
employed, self-employed, seeking work, a student, or economically inactive etc).

Nationals of Bulgaria and Romania - the A2 accession states

iv.) A slightly different regime applies to EU nationals who are nationals of Bulgaria
and Romania which acceded to the EU on 1 January 2007. Bulgaria and Romania
are referred to in this guidance as the A2 accession states. The Immigration
(European Economic Area) Regulations 2006

v.) The Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 (’the EEA
Regulations’ – SI 2006/1003) implement into UK domestic law Directive 2004/38.
Broadly, the EEA Regulations provide that EU nationals have the right to reside in
the UK without the requirement for leave to remain under the Immigration Act 1971
for the first 3 months of their residence, and for longer, if they are a ’qualified
person’ or they have acquired a permanent right of residence. Nationals of Iceland,
Liechtenstein and Norway, and Switzerland

vi.) The EEA Regulations extend the same rights to reside in the UK to nationals of
Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as those afforded to EU nationals. (The EU
countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway together comprise the EEA.) The
EEA Regulations also extend the same rights to reside in the UK to nationals of
Switzerland. For the purposes of this guidance, ‘EEA nationals’ means nationals of
any of the EU member states (excluding the UK), and nationals of Iceland, Norway,
Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

Initial 3 months’ residence

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vii.) Regulation 13 of the EEA Regulations provides that EEA nationals have the
right to reside in the UK for a period of up to 3 months without any conditions or
formalities other than holding a valid identity card or passport. Therefore, during
their first 3 months of residence in the UK, EEA nationals will not be subject to
immigration control (unless the right to reside is lost following a decision by an
immigration officer in accordance with regulation 13(3) of the EEA Regulations).

viii.) However, regulations 4(1)(b)(ii) and (c) of the Eligibility Regulations provide that
a person who is not subject to immigration control is not eligible for an allocation of
accommodation if:

his or her only right to reside in the UK is an initial right to reside for a period not
exceeding 3 months under regulation 13 of the EEA Regulations, or
his or her only right to reside in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the
Republic of Ireland (the Common Travel Area) is a right equivalent to the right
mentioned in (i) above which is derived from the EU Treaty

Rights of residence for ‘qualified persons’
ix.) Regulation 14 of the EEA Regulations provides that ‘qualified persons’ have the
right to reside in the UK so long as they remain a qualified person. Under regulation
6 of the EEA Regulations, ‘qualified person’ means:
a jobseeker
a worker
a self-employed person
a self-sufficient person
a student

Jobseekers
x.) For the purposes of regulation 6(1)(a) of the EEA Regulations, ‘jobseeker’ means
a person who enters the UK in order to seek employment and can provide evidence
that he or she is seeking employment and has a genuine chance of being
employed.

xi.) Nationals of Bulgaria and Romania who need to be authorised to work do not
have a right to reside in the UK as a jobseeker43 . However, they may have a right to
reside by virtue of another status, e.g. as a self-sufficient person.

xii.) Although a person who is a jobseeker is not subject to immigration control,
regulation 4 of the Eligibility Regulations provides that a person is not eligible for an
allocation of accommodation if:

his or her only right to reside in the UK is derived from his or her status as a
jobseeker or the family member of a jobseeker, or

43 Regulation 6(2) of the Accession (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2006 (SI
2006/3317).

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his or her only right to reside in the Channel Islands, the Common Travel Area
is a right equivalent to the right mentioned in (i) above which is derived from the
Treaty establishing the European Community

Workers
xiii.) In order to be a worker for the purposes of the EEA Regulations, a person must
be employed. That is to say, he or she is obliged to provide services for another
person in return for monetary reward and is subject to the control of that other
person as regards the way in which the work is to be done.

xiv.) Activity as an employed person may include part time work, seasonal work and
cross-border work (i.e. where a worker is established in another Member State and
travels to work in the UK). However, case law provides that the employment must
be effective and genuine economic activity, and not on such a small scale as to be
regarded as purely marginal and ancillary.

xv.) Provided the employment is effective and genuine economic activity, the fact
that a person’s level of remuneration may be below the level of subsistence or
below the national minimum wage, or the fact that a person may be receiving
financial assistance from public benefits, would not exclude that person from being
a ‘worker’.
xvi.) A person who is a worker is not subject to immigration control, and is eligible
for an allocation of accommodation whether or not he or she is habitually resident in
the Common Travel Area.

Retention of worker status
xvii.) A person who is no longer working does not cease to be treated as a ‘worker’
for the purpose of regulation 6(1)(b) of the EEA Regulations, if he or she:

(a) is temporarily unable to work as the result of an illness or accident; or

(b) is recorded as involuntarily unemployed after having being employed in the UK,
provided that he or she has registered as a jobseeker with the relevant employment
office, and:

(i) was employed for one year or more before becoming unemployed, or
(ii) has been unemployed for no more than 6 months, or (iii) can provide
evidence that he or she is seeking employment in the UK and has a genuine
chance of being engaged; or

(c) is involuntarily unemployed and has embarked on vocational training; or

(d) has voluntarily ceased working and embarked on vocational training that is
related to his or her previous employment.

A2 state workers requiring authorisation who are treated as workers

xviii.) By virtue of the Accession (Immigration and Worker Authorisation)
Regulations 2006 (‘the Accession Regulations’), nationals of the A2 states (with

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certain exceptions) must obtain authorisation to work in the UK until they have
accrued a period of 12 months continuous employment.

xix.) An A2 national requiring authorisation is only treated as a worker if he or she is
actually working and:

holds an accession worker authorisation document, and
is working in accordance with the conditions set out in that document (regulation
9(1) of the Accession Regulations)

xx.) We may need to contact the employer named in the authorisation document, to
confirm that the applicant continues to be employed.

Self-employed persons
xxi.) ‘Self-employed person’ means a person who establishes himself in the UK in
order to pursue activity as a self-employed person in accordance with Article 49 of
the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

xxii.) A self-employed person should be able to confirm that he or she is pursuing
activity as a self-employed person by providing documents relating to their
business. A person who is no longer in self-employment does not cease to be
treated as a self-employed person for the purposes of regulation 6(1)(c) of the EEA
regulations, if he or she is temporarily unable to pursue his or her activity as a self-
employed person as the result of an illness or accident.

xxiii.) A2 nationals are not required to be authorised in order to establish themselves
in the UK as a self-employed person.

xxiv.) A person who is a self-employed is not subject to immigration control and is
eligible for an allocation of accommodation whether or not he or she is habitually
resident in the Common Travel Area.

Self-sufficient persons
xxv.) Regulation 4(1)(c) of the EEA regulations defines ‘self-sufficient person’ as a
person who has:

sufficient resources not to become a burden on the social assistance system of
the UK during his or her period of residence, and
comprehensive sickness insurance cover in the UK

xxvi.) By regulation 4(4) of the EEA Regulations, the resources of a person who is a
self-sufficient person (or a student – see below) and, where applicable, any family
members, are to be regarded as sufficient if (a) they exceed the maximum level of
resources which a UK national and his or her family members may possess if he or
she is to become eligible for social assistance under the UK benefit system or, if (a)
does not apply, (b) taking into account the personal situation of the person
concerned and, where applicable, any family members, it appears to the council that
the resources of the person or persons concerned should be regarded as sufficient.

xxvii.) Where an EEA national applies for an allocation of accommodation as a self-
sufficient person and does not appear to meet the conditions of regulation 4(1)(c) of

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the EEA regulations, the housing authority will need to consider whether he or she
may have some other right to reside in the UK.

xxviii.) Where the applicant does not meet the conditions of regulation 4(1)(c) but
has previously done so during his or her residence in the UK, the case will be
referred to the Home Office for clarification of their status.

xxix.) A person who is a self-sufficient person is not subject to immigration control,
but must be habitually resident in the Common Travel Area to be eligible for an
allocation of accommodation.

Students
xxx.) Regulation 4(1)(d) of the EEA regulations defines ‘student’ as a person who :
(a) is enrolled at a private or public establishment included on the Register of
Education and Training Providers44, or is financed from public funds, for the
principal purpose of following a course of study, including vocational training, and
(b) has comprehensive sickness insurance cover in the UK, and (c) assures the
Secretary of State, by means of a declaration or such equivalent means as the
person may choose, that he or she (and if applicable his or her family members) has
sufficient resources not to become a burden on the social assistance system of the
UK during his or her period of residence.

xxxi.) A person who is a student is not subject to immigration control but must be
habitually resident in the Common Travel Area to be eligible for an allocation of
accommodation.

Permanent right of residence

xxxii.) Regulation 15 of the EEA Regulations provides that the following persons
shall acquire the right to reside in the UK permanently : (a) an EEA national who
has resided in the UK in accordance with the EEA regulations for a continuous
period of 5 years (b) a non-EEA national who is a family member of an EEA national
and who has resided in the UK with the EEA national in accordance with the EEA
regulations for a continuous period of 5 years (c) a worker or self-employed person
who has ceased activity (see regulation 5 of the EEA Regulations for the definition
of worker or self-employed person who has ceased activity) (d) the family member
of a worker or self-employed person who has ceased activity (e) a person who was
the family member of a worker or self-employed person who has died, where the
family member resided with the worker or self-employed person immediately before
the death and the worker or self-employed person had resided continuously in the
UK for at least 2 years before the death (or the death was the result of an accident
at work or an occupational disease) (f) a person who has resided in the UK in
accordance with the EEA regulations for a continuous period of 5 years, and at the
end of that period was a family member who has retained the right of residence (see
regulation 10 of the EEA Regulations for the definition of a family member who has
retained the right of residence). Once acquired, the right of permanent residence
can be lost through absence from the UK for a period exceeding two consecutive
years.

44 Now known as the Register of Sponsors and held by the UKBA.

85

xxxiii.) A person with a right to reside permanently in the UK arising from (c), (d) or
(e) above is eligible for an allocation of accommodation whether or not he or she is
habitually resident in the Common Travel Area. Persons with a permanent right to
reside by virtue of (a), (b), or (f) must be habitually resident to be eligible.

Rights of residence for certain family members

The right to reside
xxxiv.) Regulation 14 of the EEA Regulations provides that the following family
members are entitled to reside in the UK:

a family member of a qualified person residing in the UK
a family member of an EEA national with a permanent right of residence under
regulation 15
a family member who has retained the right of residence (see regulation 10 of
the EEA Regulations for the definition)

xxxv.) A person who has a right to reside in the UK as the family member of an EEA
38
national under the EEA Regulations will not be subject to immigration control. The
eligibility of such a person for an allocation of accommodation should therefore be
considered in accordance with regulation 4 of the Eligibility Regulations.

xxxvi.) When considering the eligibility of a family member, we will consider whether
the person has acquired a right to reside in their own right, for example a permanent
right to reside under regulation 15 of the EEA Regulations.

Who is a ‘family member’?
xxxvii.) Regulation 7 of the EEA regulations provides that the following persons are
treated as the family members of another person (with certain exceptions for
students – see below): (a) the spouse of the person (b) the civil partner of the
person (c) a direct descendant of the person, or of the person’s spouse or civil
partner, who is under the age of 21 (d) a direct descendant of the person, or of the
person’s spouse or civil partner, who is over 21 and dependent on the person, or
the spouse or civil partner (e) an ascendant relative of the person, or of the person’s
spouse or civil partner, who is dependent on the person or the spouse or civil
partner (f) a person who is an extended family member and is treated as a family
member by virtue of regulation 7(3) of the EEA regulations (see below)

Family members of students
xxxviii.) Regulation 7(2) of the EEA regulations provides that a person who falls
within (c), (d) or (e) above shall not be treated as a family member of a student
residing in the UK after the period of 3 months beginning on the date the student is
admitted to the UK unless:

in the case of paragraph 37(c) and (d) above, the person is the dependant child
of the student, or of the spouse or civil partner, or
the student is also a qualified person (for the purposes of regulation 6(1) of the
EEA regulations) other than as a student

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Extended family members
xxxix.) Broadly, extended family members will be persons who: (a) do not fall within
any of the categories (a) to (e) in paragraph 37 above, and (b) are either a relative
of an EEA national (or of the EEA national’s spouse or civil partner) or the partner of
an EEA national, and (c) have been issued with an EEA family permit, a registration
certificate or a residence card which is valid and has not been revoked 39

Family members’ eligibility for an allocation of accommodation
Relationship with other rights to reside
xxxx.) This section concerns the eligibility of an applicant for an allocation of
accommodation whose right to reside is derived from his or her status as the family
member of an EEA national with a right to reside. In some cases, a family member
will have acquired a right to reside in his or her own right. In particular, a person
who arrived in the UK as the family member of an EEA national may have
subsequently acquired a permanent right of residence under regulation 15 of the
EEA Regulations, as outlined in paragraph 32 (a) – (f) above. The eligibility for an
allocation of accommodation of those with a permanent right of residence is
discussed at paragraphs xxxii.) and xxxiii.)

Family members who must be habitually resident
xxxxi.) For family members with a right to reside under regulation 14 of the EEA
Regulations, the following categories of persons must be habitually resident in the
UK, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the Republic of Ireland in order to be
eligible for an allocation of accommodation:

a person whose right to reside derives from their status as a family member of
an EEA national who is a self-sufficient person for the purposes of regulation
6(1)(d) of the EEA regulations
a person whose right to reside derives from their status as a family member of
an EEA national who is a student for the purposes of regulation 6(1)(e) of the
EEA regulations
a person whose right to reside is dependent on their status as a family member
of an EEA national with a permanent right to reside
a person whose right to reside is dependent on their status as a family member
who has retained the right of residence

Family members who are exempt from the habitual residence requirement
xxxii.) A person with a right to reside under regulation 14 as a family member of an
EEA national who is a worker or a self-employed person for the purposes of
regulation 6(1) of the EEA regulations is exempted from the requirement to be
habitually resident by regulation 4(2)(d) of the Eligibility Regulations. However, we
note that an extended family member (see above) is not counted as a family
member for the purposes of regulation 4(2)(d) of the Eligibility Regulations (see
regulation 2(3) of the Eligibility Regulations).

Family members of UK nationals exercising rights under the EU Treaty
xxxxiii.) There are some limited cases in which the non-EEA family member of a UK
national may have a right to reside under EU law. Under regulation 9 of the EEA

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Regulations, the family member of a UK national should be treated as an EEA
family member where the following conditions are met:

the UK national is residing in an EEA State as a worker or self-employed
person, or was so residing before returning to the UK, and
if the family member of the UK national is his spouse or civil partner, the parties
are living together in the EEA State, or had entered into a marriage or civil
partnership and were living together in that State before the UK national
returned to the UK

xxxxiv.) Where the family member of a UK national is to be treated as an EEA family
member by virtue of regulation 9 of the EEA Regulations, that person is not subject
to immigration control, and his or her eligibility for an allocation of accommodation
should therefore be determined in accordance with regulation 4 of the Eligibility
Regulations.

Nationals of Croatia from 1st July 2013

Copy of a letter to Local Authority Chief

Housing Officers

To: Chief Housing Officers of Local
14 June 2013
Authorities in England

Dear Chief Housing Officer

ACCESS TO HOUSING UNDER PART 6 OF THE HOUSING ACT 1996 AND
HOMELESSNESS ASSISTANCE UNDER PART 7 OF THE 1996 ACT :

NATIONALS OF CROATIA TREATED AS EU ‘WORKERS’

This letter notifies chief housing officers that the Allocation of Housing and
Homelessness (Eligibility) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/1467)
were laid before Parliament today and will come into force on 1 July 2013.

Croatia accedes to the European Union (“EU”) on 1 July 2013. From that date, nationals of
Croatia will enjoy the same rights of residence as other nationals of countries in the
European Economic Area under European Union law and the Immigration (European
Economic Area) Regulations 2006 (“the EEA Regulations”). However, the rights of
residence of Croatian nationals as workers under the EEA Regulations will be modified by
the Accession of Croatia (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2013.

In order to take account of the amendments to the EEA Regulations, the Allocation of
Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility) (England) Regulations 2006) (“the Eligibility
Regulations”) are amended by the Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility)
(England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013, (“the Amendment Regulations”). Those

88

Regulations were laid before Parliament today and will come into force on 1 July 2013.

The Amendment Regulations provide that nationals of Croatia who are treated as a ‘worker’
for the purposes of the EEA Regulations as modified will be exempted from the requirement
to be habitually resident in the UK (or wider Common Travel Area) in order to be eligible
for an allocation of accommodation under Part 6 of the Housing Act 1996 or for
homelessness assistance under Part 7 of the 1996 Act.

As you will be aware, the Eligibility Regulations already make provision for Bulgarian and
Romanian workers who are subject to a similar authorisation scheme (that scheme ends on
31 December this year).

A certified copy of the Amendment Regulations is attached. The regulations are and
Explanatory Memorandum are published by the Stationery Office and will shortly be
available on their website, www.opsi.gov.uk.

A note about provision for nationals of Croatia is at the end of this letter.
Inquiries about the Amendment Regulations should be addressed to:
Frances Walker, in relation to allocations, by telephone on 0303 444 3655 or by e-mail to:
xxxxxxx.xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xxx.xx

John Bentham, in relation to homelessness, by telephone on 0303 444 3752 or by email to:
xxxx.xxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx.xx

A copy of this letter and the draft regulations are also being sent, by e-mail, to the
homelessness strategy contact in each authority.

Yours sincerely,

Frances Walker
John Bentham

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Provision for nationals of Croatia
This note outlines the effect of the Amendment Regulations on eligibility for an
allocation or for homelessness assistance. It is not a substitute for legislation, and local
authorities will still need to keep up to date with developments in the law in this area.

“The EEA Regulations” means the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations
2006

“The Accession Regulations” means the Accession of Croatia (Immigration and Worker
Authorisation) Regulations 2013

“The Eligibility Regulations” means the Allocation of Housing and Homelessness
(Eligibility) (England) Regulations 2006

“The Amendment Regulations” means the Allocation of Housing and Homelessness
(Eligibility) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013

Under the terms of the Accession Treaty for Croatia signed in Brussels on 9th December
2011, the UK (and all other Member States) are entitled to regulate access to their labour
market by nationals of Croatia during a transitional period.

For a transitional period, the Government proposes to allow Croatian nationals access to the
UK labour market only in limited circumstances. Broadly, access will be limited to those
who are already working here lawfully, those who qualify to come here under the Highly
Skilled Migrant Programme, and low skilled workers who obtain authorisation to work in
the food processing or agriculture employment sectors (and are working in accordance with
that authorisation).

The Government’s policy is that European Economic Area (“EEA”) nationals who are
working lawfully in the UK should have access to an allocation of accommodation under
Part 6 of the Housing Act 1996 and to homelessness assistance under Part 7 of the 1996 Act,
in accordance with their rights under EU law.

Under the EEA Regulations, those Croatian nationals who have already worked lawfully in
the UK for 12 months on 1 July 2013, or who enter the UK under the Highly Skilled
Migrants programme, will have the same rights as other workers from the countries in the
EEA. Such persons will be eligible for an allocation of accommodation or for homelessness
assistance on 1 July by virtue of regulations 4(2)(a) and 6(2)(a) of the Eligibility
Regulations.

However, the Accession Regulations modify worker status under the EEA Regulations for
those nationals of Croatia requiring authorisation to undertake low skilled work.
Consequently, the Amendment Regulations provide that those nationals of Croatia who are
subject to worker authorisation and who are working lawfully in the UK in accordance with
the Accession Regulations will also be exempted from the requirement to be habitually
resident in the Common Travel Area in order to be eligible for an allocation or for
homelessness assistance.

Since the number of Croatian nationals who will be allowed to work lawfully in the UK
during the transitional period will be limited, it is anticipated that the number of persons
affected by the Amendment Regulations will be small.

90

From 1 July 2013, the Eligibility Regulations will apply to nationals of Croatia who come
here in some other economic capacity (e.g. self employed or self-sufficient) in the same way
as they apply to all other EEA nationals (subject to the modifications for workers outlined
above).

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ANNEX 3: GUIDELINES FOR CHOOSING A SMALLER
PROPERTY

This document sets out the guidelines within which applicants may exercise their
option to choose a smaller property. Please refer to Choice of a property for further
information on how this choice will affect an application.

Guidelines
Any applicant with an assessed need for a property with four bedrooms or more
may choose a smaller home:

An applicant with an assessed need for a 4 or 5 bedroom property will be able to
choose a home with one room less than their assessed need.

An applicant with an assessed need for a 6-8 bedroom property will be able to
choose a home with two rooms less than their assessed need.

An applicant with an assessed need for a property with 9 bedrooms or more will be
able to choose a home with three rooms less than their assessed need.

This is summarised in the table below:

Guidelines for children sharing:
• Children of the same sex may share up to any age.
• Children of different sexes may only share until the eldest reaches 10.
• A double room may be occupied by three children if two are aged less than 10.
• A single room may be occupied by two children if both are aged less than 10.
Guidelines for total number of bedrooms that may be over-occupied per
property:
• Properties with three bedrooms to five bedrooms - no more than two rooms should
be over-occupied.
• Properties with six bedrooms - three rooms may be over-occupied.
Housing Associations will notify the Council if a property is unsuitable for
overoccupation. A property will be unsuitable for over-occupation if a single room
will not accommodate two beds or a double room will not accommodate three beds.
The beds may be bunk beds

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ANNEX 4: JOINT TENANCIES

Where household members can demonstrate long term commitment to the home,
for example, when adults share accommodation as partners, including Civil and
same sex partners, or unpaid live-in carers, the council will normally grant a joint
tenancy. In this way the ability of other adult household members to remain in the
accommodation on the death of the tenant would not be prejudiced, because when
one joint tenant dies the surviving joint tenant will continue to be the tenant.
There are three situations when the Council will consider a joint tenancy:
a joint application to the housing register for a new tenancy;
or a joint application from existing tenants for a transfer;
or a request from an existing sole tenant to become a joint tenant and remain in
the current home.

Joint applications to the Housing Register will be accepted:

where there is a marriage certificate; or
where there is a child of the relationship; or
where married or unmarried partners, including Civil Partners, and same sex
couples, are cohabiting; or
where married or unmarried partners, including Civil Partners, and same sex
couples, are unable to live together and are able to demonstrate a) that it is not
possible for them to live together in accommodation available to either of them;
and b) can demonstrate a commitment to living together in the future. This can
be shown by the length of the relationship, the nature of any mutual financial
support, and any other relevant factors raised by the applicants; or
where siblings or close blood relatives have lived together for 12 months; or
from unpaid carers where there is an established need for their support, or
for other special reasons, at the discretion of the Council.

In addition:

at least one of the applicants must be eligible to join the Housing Register; and
neither applicant should have made a separate housing application.

A joint tenancy will not be granted to two or more people if any one of them is a
person from abroad who is ineligible. This will not affect transfer applicants who are
already secure or introductory tenants of council or housing association (RSL)
accommodation allocated by Croydon council.

If an application for a joint tenancy is refused, reasons for refusal will be given in
writing.

If the joint applicants are tenants of separate properties, both must be signatories on
documents to relinquish their respective tenancies.

A request from an existing sole tenant to become a joint tenant and remain
in the current home:

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The council will consider requests from existing sole tenants. It is important that the
tenant understands the legal and financial implications of joint tenancies, in
particular the implications for succession rights of partners and children. The council
will therefore explain these before making a decision.

A joint tenancy can be considered in any of the situations described above. In
certain circumstances the council can give a tenancy to household members who
do not have succession rights after the tenant dies.

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ANNEX 5: STATUTORY OVERCROWDING

Extract from House of Commons Standard Note on Overcrowding SN/SP/1013
published on 26 July 2011

The statutory overcrowding standard
There are two standards in Part X of the 1985 Housing Act (which have remained unchanged
since 1935) that are used to assess whether a home is ‘statutorily overcrowded.’ If either or
both of these standards are breached a dwelling will be statutorily overcrowded.

1.1 The room standard

Section 325 of the Housing Act 1985 provides that there is overcrowding wherever there  are
so many people in a house that  any two or more of those persons, being ten or more
years old, and of opposite sexes, not being persons living together as husband and
wife,  have  to  sleep  in  the  same  room.  For  these  purposes  children  under  ten  may  be
disregarded and a room means any room normally used as either a bedroom or a living
room.  A  kitchen  can  be  considered  to  be  a  living  room  provided  it  is  big  enough  to
accommodate  a  bed.  When  interpreting  this  definition  a  local  authority  looks  at  how  the
sleeping  arrangements  within  the  premises  could  be  organised  rather  than  how  they  are
actually organised45. Thus, a couple, with two children of opposite sexes and aged ten years
old or more, with two living rooms (e.g. bedrooms), are not statutorily overcrowded because
the couple could occupy separate rooms, with one each of the children (of the appropriate
sex). There is no limit on the number of people of the same sex who can live in the same
room although there may be a contravention of the space standard (see below).

1.2 The space standard

This standard works by the calculating the permitted number of people for a dwelling in one
of two ways. The lower number thus calculated is the permitted number for the dwelling.2 One
test is based on the number of living rooms in the dwelling (disregarding rooms of less than
50 square feet):

one room = two persons
two rooms = three persons
three rooms = five persons
four rooms = seven and a half persons
five rooms or more = ten persons plus two for each room in excess of five rooms.

A child below the age of one does not count and a child between the age of one and ten
counts as a half person.

The other test is based on floor areas of each room size:
less than 50 square feet = no-one
50 to less than 70 square feet = half a person
70 to less than 90 square feet = one person
90 to less than 110 square feet = one and a half persons
110 square feet or larger = two persons.

45The assessment of overcrowding is usually carried out by an Environmental Health Officer

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