Housing Services – Level 4 update

From 26 December Angus will move to Level 4 of COVID-19 restrictions.

The changes will mainly affect our repairs service. We will only accept new emergency repairs in occupied properties, and this includes:

•    loss of heating and/or hot water – Total loss of both heating & hot water with no electric shower

•    an uncontainable leak

•    sewage backing up and overflowing into the property

•    a serious security problem, such as a front door that cannot be locked

•    loss of essential services, such as water or electricity

The Right to Repair will be suspended.

When you contact ACCESSline on 03452 777 778 to report a repair, we will ask you the following questions to help us determine how best to protect against the spread of the virus:

1.    Do you currently have any symptoms of coronavirus? (new cough, high temperature, loss of smell or taste)

2.    Has anyone you work or socialise with closely had coronavirus within the last 14 days?

3.    Are you in a vulnerable or shielding group as identified in government guidance?

We will then:

1.    Assess the repair required and if it is classed as emergency, your repair will be processed in the normal way.

2.    If your repair is not classed as Emergency, we will not carry out the repair at this time. As before your housing officer will keep note of your routine repair.

3.    Please be advised that contractors will have to wear specialised personal protective equipment while in your property.

If you’ve already reported a repair, and it hasn’t been completed by Christmas Eve, then it will be on hold until the restrictions are relaxed again.

If you are reporting a gas repair to WRB directly you will be asked the same questions to allow them to assess how they will deal with your repair.

When we are able to deal with routine repairs again, we will post an update here.

If you report a repair to us, we will assume that we have your permission for our contractor to carry it out if they can.

Planned Maintenance

Many of our planned works, examples listed below, were due to restart on 5 January 2021, but this is no longer the case and we will contact tenants who have been given installation dates to advise of this and advise a new date when contractors return in the New Year.

•    Bathroom Upgrades

•    Kitchen Upgrades

•    Planned Heating Upgrades

•    Window Upgrades

•    Energy Efficiency Internal Works (including the ABS and ECO Flex schemes)

External works such as External Wall Insulation will restart as planned.

Other Services

Allocations – House moves to empty properties are unaffected. We will be offering tenancies as normal, and applicants can register and bid for properties at the Angus Homefinder site.

Homelessness – We will have very limited access to accommodation for callers who have nowhere to stay. We would encourage people not to travel or move between different restricted levels areas and to follow the government guidance.

Sheltered Housing

Sheltered lounges remain closed for the time being.

Fire Alarm Servicing is a requirement, and this work will go ahead where tenants have been notified and are comfortable with contractors working in their home.

Communal Areas: there are some planned works to carry out improvements to some lifts which includes a temporary stairlift installation. This work will go ahead, and we would ask that you use social distancing in the areas of this work.

Estate management – Housing and antisocial behaviour officers will continue to contact customers mainly by telephone. Home visits will be the exception and mainly limited to doorsteps only.

We appreciate that this enforced change is frustrating. Our team is working really hard to provide support for you, but our resources are fully stretched at the moment. Our officers are doing their best to deliver as much of our normal service as they can, whilst also taking on additional activities related to the COVID Emergency response. Thank you for your patience and understanding in this difficult period.

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Angus HomeFinder – See available properties on Fridays

From Friday 27 November you will be able to see available properties on our new Angus Homefinder website and bid for the home you want.

This is the last stage of our move to Choice Based Lettings.

By ‘bid’ we don’t mean any exchange of money – it simply means you can apply for a property by making an ‘expression of interest’. Both ours and housing association properties will go online each week.

The bidding cycle starts on a Friday morning and ends a week later – at midnight the following Friday. It doesn’t matter when you place your bid in that week-long period, as all bids will be ranked according to priority and date of application.

Not all properties will be advertised. For example, if you have a need for particular housing with adaptations or specialist housing support, you will not be expected to bid. We will contact you as normal when a suitable property becomes available. If you are in this category you will have a household type of Match.

How to bid

You can view and bid for properties on the Angus HomeFinder website.

Once you have logged in, you will only see properties that you can bid for. You can also check your bid position and change your bids at any time during the bidding cycle.

There may be some weeks when there are no properties for you to bid on and this could be because:

• there are no properties with the right number of bedrooms for your household.
  
• your application is suspended as you have been shortlisted for another property.
  
• your application has been cancelled as you no longer qualify.
  

We recommend logging into the site regularly to check the status of your bids and the availability of properties. Your bid position will show under the “previous bids” heading. If your bid is successful, we will contact you with a permanent offer of housing.

Please do not contact us to ask about the outcome of your bids.

Placing your bid

We ask that you familiarise yourself with any property before you bid, as bidding means you are willing to accept the property if it is offered to you. We aim to show photographs of all properties, inside and outside, wherever possible, and give you as much information about the property as we can.

Being flexible can help you to get housed. Our choice-based letting system is designed to make the process as straightforward as possible and to house as many people as we can. This won’t work if successful bidders refuse properties.

An application may be suspended from the housing register where two reasonable offers of housing are refused and the applicant will be unable to make any further bids for six months. If you have a priority banding because you are homeless and you refuse one reasonable offer of housing, your priority banding will be removed.

The chance of your bid succeeding

The chance of a successful bid depends on several factors. It is possible you may wait a significant length of time for a bid to be successful or you may be successful the first time you bid.

When you bid for a property:

• the system will tell you your bid position for that property.
  
• your position may change as other people bid for the same property after you.
  
• you will have the option to withdraw a bid before the bid cycle closes.
  

What if you can’t bid?

If you are not able to bid, we can support you, but first please see whether family members or friends might be able to help. You can even nominate someone to bid on your behalf.

We know some applicants may not be able to get on the internet or may have other challenges that prevent them from bidding. In such instances, we may be able to place bids on your behalf or look at automatic bidding alternatives. These would enable Homefinder to bid for properties based on the preferences you chose when you joined the Housing Register.

Please bear in mind, if you refuse reasonable offers, your application could be suspended.

You can get more information and advice at the Angus HomeFinder website.

 

Our new housing allocation system is now live

Our new housing allocation system – Angus Homefinder – is now live. You can now apply for housing online using our new system here.

Existing applicants do not have to do anything – we’ve transferred over all your details to our new system. To check your application details or make changes, click here.

We will advertise available homes and their details on the Angus Homefinder website starting Friday 27th November, so applicants can bid for the properties they want. We’ll issue more information about how to bid nearer the time.

Frequently Asked Questions

What documents do I need to apply for a house?

Accepted Proof of ID:

• Birth certificate, passport or National Insurance Card.
  

Accepted Proof of Address may include, but not limited to:

• official letters/bills/statements from a local authority, public agency or private utility company (gas, electric, telephone), government department, private sector lease, bank or building society;
  
• photographic driving licence
  

What is my position on the waiting list?

We want people to have more choice about where they live. We will advertise a property and applicants will be able to bid for it. Because allocations will depend on who bids for a property, we will no longer be able to advise your position on the list. However, you will be able to see the number of bids made for each property.

Fewer bids will mean you have a better chance of getting a similar property.

More bids will mean you have less chance of getting a similar property.

We’ll allocate properties by priority banding and the date of application.

What if I have a problem?

You can contact us using our online form or call us on ACCESSLine 03452 777778, but if you call, please be aware that our team is very busy as you would expect on Day 1 of the new system and you may have a bit of a wait.

 (This is an update to the post published this morning. We’ve had some teething problems, but they’re ironed out now – thanks for bearing with us)

Angus Homefinder Accepting Applications from November 2

Our new housing allocation system – Choice-based Lettings – launches next month.

In preparation for this system and as we move services online, we will no longer accept paper housing application forms from Friday 16 October.

Launch date for Angus Homefinder is Monday 2 November.

From that date home seekers will be able to apply for housing online on our new Angus Homefinder website.

For more details, see our News website

Giving Housing Applicants the Power of Choice

 We’re starting a new housing allocation system that puts the power of choice into the hands of Angus home seekers from the start of  November.                                                                                                                                                       The Choice-based Lettings System will see us and our housing assopciation partners advertise properties for let to registered applicants on a single website – Angus Homefinder. Applicants can bid online for the properties where they want to live.                                                                                                                                                          All housing applications will have to be made online (there will no longer be paper application forms), with housing options advice provided as part of the application process.                                                                                                                                                                                                      Existing applicants will not need to do anything, all applications will be automatically reassessed under the new policy and applicants will be notified by letter of their new banding along with log in details for the new online Housing Register.                                                                                                                                                             New applicants will be able to apply online from Monday 2 November. We’ll advertise available homes and their details on our Angus Homefinder website from Monday 16 November, allowing people to bid for the properties they want.                                                                                                                                                                                                              For more information, visit our News website.

COVID-19 – Update on Housing Allocations

Following the Scottish Government announcement to move into Phase 2 of their route map, we have further reviewed our Lettings and Allocations service.

We are currently only allocating properties in very limited circumstances and we are following new arrangements that allow our customers, contractors, and staff to maintain social distancing.

Mutual Exchanges will not restart until Phase 3 which will not be before 13 July, however further information will be provided nearer the time.

We will continue to correspond with applicants mainly by email and phone, so please continue to ensure that you have an up to date email address and contact number on your application.

As the situation is continuously changing, we will keep you up to date with any changes to the service, when they will take place.

If you need to apply for housing, please download an application form or contact your local housing office.