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POLICY

Housing for Women provides good quality housing to single women and women with children. The women housed by the Association are over 18.

PRIORITIES

First priority will be given to tenants of Housing for Women who occupy property to which the Association intends carrying out major repairs or (these tenants are referred to as Decants).

Second priority will be given to applicants from the following sources:

Local Authority Nominations from boroughs in which Housing for Women has property. This is usually a minimum 50% of true voids.

• Existing tenants of Housing for Women requesting transfers.
• Referrals from Approved Agencies.
• Referrals from approved Mobility Schemes.

Within these broad categories Housing for Women MUST:

• Ensure that each Local Authority receives its full nomination entitlements.
• Ensure that ethnic records are kept and regularly reviewed so that we can work towards achieving equality of opportunity in the allocation of our accommodation.
• Make the optimum use of property and minimise voids.
• Give priority to those in greatest housing need.

Sources of Applicants

Applicants are prioritised according to source in the following order, and according to Housing need within these categories.

1 Decants

‘Decant’ is the term given to the Association’s tenants who have to be rehoused because major repairs or improvements are planned for the property which they occupy and these would be impossible with the tenant still in occupation. These tenants are given the Highest priority for lettings so as to ensure the smooth running of the Association’s Development and Maintenance programme.

2 Transfers
All of the Association’s tenant may apply for a transfer to another flat within the Association’s housing stock, if the flat they now occupy has become unsuitable for their needs, for medical reasons, or if they need to move to another area to take up employment. It is not usually possible to offer tenants a transfer if they apply purely on the grounds of personal wishes.

A separate Transfer Policy exists setting out how priority between applicants is assessed. Tenants may arrange mutual exchanges with each other or with tenants of another Housing Association, within certain limitations. It may be possible for Housing Management staff to arrange for tenants requiring a transfer to be referred to another Housing Association via HOMES.

3 Local Authority Nominations

Housing for Women has property in eight London boroughs and in all of these we are committed to giving a minimum of 50% of our lettings to women nominated by the Local Authority. We will monitor nominations from Local Authorities to ensure they reflect the composition of the local community.

4 Referrals

The Association also houses a small number of women referred by specialist housing groups and advice agencies serving the community in which it operates. These agencies are likely to be able to refer women who are not given priority by the Local Authority but who have urgent housing need nevertheless. A list of these referral agencies is available separately.

5 Waiting List

The waiting list is now permanently closed as the increasing demand for housing in London has made it impractical to maintain. Although it is clearly not ideal to deny open access to our housing, a greater degree of fairness is likely to be achieved by using Local Authorities and Referral Agencies who have expertise in assessing housing need and can therefore refer the most severe cases.

Tenancies

Following the 1988 Housing Act all new tenancies created after 14th January 1989 are Assured Tenancies, which means that they do not have a Fair Rent set on their accommodation by the Rent Officer as secure tenants do; instead the Housing Association decides on the rent based on their costs for maintaining the property.

Secure tenants who move within the stock of Housing for Women, i.e. decants or transfers, retain their secure tenancy and are therefore still entitled to a Fair Rent. This also applies to tenants of two different Housing Associations who carry out a ‘Mutual Exchange’.

Exclusions

Housing for Women does not normally offer tenancies to officers, employees or members of the Association.

Selection Criteria

There is no points system for assessing Housing Need, however certain basic factors are taken into account in establishing priority namely;

• The applicant’s current housing condition; including factors such as homelessness; overcrowding; state of repair; lack of basic facilities sharing of amenities. lack of security of tenure, sexual or racial harassment etc.

• The applicants ability to cope with her current housing condition, assessed using medical evidence.

• The length of time the applicant has had to contend with inadequate conditions, both at present and previously.

• Any other housing options which may be open to applicant, such as rehousing by the Local Authority as Statutorily Homeless, or having sufficient resources to purchase accommodation.

• Social reasons; employment, family, location of properties.

• Medical, health or welfare reasons why a person is in need of housing.

Applicants from all sources will be assessed in this way and ‘Housing Need’ is the only factor used to prioritise between applicants. Housing for Women is committed to ensuring equality of opportunity for all users of its services and actively seek to assist ethnic minority groups in satisfying their particular needs in the areas in which it operates.

Size of property offered

Housing for Women aims to offer homes of a suitable size to meet the needs of each applicants’ households. In general, the principles we follow are:-

Size

NB: Confirmed pregnancy will be deemed as additional child.

Offers

As HFW has a limited number of properties available for letting, it is therefore necessary to restrict the number of reasonable offers which each transfer and rehousing applicant will receive in order for the Association to rehouse as many people as possible. Normally one reasonable offer of accommodation will be made.

In the case of nominations or referrals, one reasonable offer will be given and if refused, then the applicant will be referred back to the original body.

Applicants for Transfer

Tenants accepted for a transfer will be given 2 reasonable offers.

Reasonable Refusals

The following will be accepted as reasonable refusal offers of accommodation:

Risk of violence from another person
Risk of harassment
If the property does not meet the applicant’s housing need.

Response to Offer

If there is no response to an offer, this will be considered as an unreasonable refusal except in the following circumstances:

The offer was sent to the wrong address
The applicant was away from home e.g. on holiday or in hospital
A literacy or language problem meant that the letter had not been
fully understood.

However, the complaints procedure may be used by the applicant who feels her application has been treated unfairly or unsatisfactory or is dissatisfied with an offer of accommodation made by Housing for Women.

LETTINGS PROCEDURE

1. If an offer is accepted, the applicant will be asked to come to the office to sign a Tenancy Agreement.

2. At this interview:

2.1 A commencement date will be agreed.

2.2 Conditions of the tenancy will be explained and the appropriate literature and information given out (see occupiers checklist, Appendix A).

2.3 All tenants will be given a Housing for Women Tenants’ Handbook.

2.4 A CORE monitoring form will be explained and completed with the tenant.

2.5 Arrangements for rent payment will be discussed, ensuring that the tenant has the appropriate paperwork e.g. standing order form, paying in book.

2.6 Benefits advice is to be given and the tenant assisted with the completion of housing benefit applications.

2.7 The Housing Officer completes the information regarding the tenant’s next of kin or emergency contact for the file.

2.8 Finally, both tenant and Housing Officer will sign the occupier’s checklist to verify that everything has been explained and given to the tenant.

3. The Association will endeavour to provide interpretation / translation services during any stage of the allocations process for applicants requiring this.

January 2003

Please note: Any use of HFW policies/procedures by third parties is entirely at their own risk. It is the responsibility of the third party user to verify that the policy or procedure complies with current legislation/best practice before relying on it.