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Who can use the service

Who can use the service?

In order to join the housing register, you must meet the age criteria and one of the other qualification criteria listed below,

  • Applicant aged 18 years +.

  • Applicant lives in South Gloucestershire and has lived in the district for the last two years.

  • Applicant’s mother, father, brother, sister or adult child live in South Gloucestershire and have lived continuously in the area for the last five years.

  • Applicant is permanently employed in South Gloucestershire, or who need to move to take up a definite offer of paid work, or an apprenticeship and who are unable to commute and:

    • Have signed or have an offer of a contract for a minimum period of 12 months and

    • Work more than 16 hours per week on average and

    • Are based in the district for the majority of that time for the purposes of carrying out their employment (at least 70%)

  • Households owed the main housing duty under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 (as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002 and the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017).

  • Some other special reason, e.g. Applicant receives specialist medical treatment in South Gloucestershire which they cannot receive elsewhere.

See the Lettings Policy & Procedure for full details.


The following groups will not be disqualified,

  • Members of the regular armed forces, their bereaved spouses and civil partners and seriously injured reservists.

  • Gypsy/Travellers applying for a pitch on a South Gloucestershire Traveller site only.

  • Applicant living in a South Gloucestershire supported housing scheme accessed through the Single Access Service.

  • Applicant living in a refuge or other form of safe temporary accommodation in South Gloucestershire, where the accommodation is either commissioned, or provided by South Gloucestershire Council, having escaped domestic abuse in another local authority area. This exemption will only apply where the household does not have access to any other suitable, settled accommodation.

 

If an applicant is under 18 years of age their application will normally not be accepted onto the housing register.  We will make exceptions in the following circumstances:

  • Young people leaving South Gloucestershire Local Authority care and for whom there is a care leaving duty.

  • Any person accepted as statutorily homeless (if they cease to be homeless they will become ineligible for the housing register until they reach the age of 18).

 

Who cannot use the service?

You cannot use this service unless you have completed an application form on the housing register.

There are also some people who by law are not eligible to apply for housing. Applicants will not be eligible to join the register if they are not entitled to public funds due to their immigration status. Applicants who will be excluded from joining the register include households who,

  • Are subject to immigration control,

  • Only have a right to reside in the UK because they (or a member of their household) are a jobseeker,

  • Are not habitually resident in the UK,

  • Have a right to reside in the UK of less than three months.

 

 

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