Housing allocations policy

The Allocations Policy assesses the relative priority of Bucks Home Choice applicants by placing them in a Priority Band that best reflects the applicant’s current housing circumstances and level of housing need.

The Priority Bands take account of the requirement of Section 166A (3) of the Housing Act 1996 which states that a local housing authority’s allocation scheme must framed so as to secure that Reasonable Preference is given to the categories of household listed in Appendix 3 of the Allocations Policy.

The Priority Bands are listed below.

1. Applicants or a member of his or her household who are living or working in Buckinghamshire and can demonstrate they meet local connection criteria and have demonstrated an urgent need to move due to serious imminent personal risk or severe harassment and rehousing is the only option. (In this situation the Council reserves the right to make a Direct Let of accommodation) as determined by a Senior Officer.
2. Applicant or a member of his or her household whose health or disability is so severely affected that they physically cannot access their current home and/or essential facilities within their current home, and it is not possible for adaptations to be carried out to the property to provide this access. (e.g. The applicant is housebound, and they would regain substantial independence if an alternative property was made available).
3. Applicants who cannot leave hospital because they have no suitable accommodation elsewhere and require specially adapted accommodation.
4. Social Housing tenants with a Registered Provider within the Buckinghamshire area who are under-occupying family accommodation and are wishing to downsize to a suitable size property as set down in Appendix 2.
5. Families living in accommodation where there are two or more bedrooms short compared to their household bedroom need (see Appendix 2) or the property is statutory overcrowded.
6. Social Housing tenants within Buckinghamshire with a Registered Provider and are living in a property that has been built or adapted for a person with a disability and this is no longer needed
7. Where there are significant and serious safeguarding issues and applicants are assessed as having an essential need for a more suitable property, to reduce any safeguarding risks.

1. Applicants living in supported housing who have been nominated to the Housing Register as being ready for move-on and where there is an agreed move-on protocol in place between the landlord/support provider and the Council with which the applicant is registered.
2. Applicants who are due to leave care of the Children and Families services (Aftercare Team) and who are ready for independent living. Priority band B will only be awarded where the move is being undertaken in accordance with the Buckinghamshire Leaving Care Protocol.
3. Applicants who need to move on medical grounds because their current home is having a severe impact on the health of a member of the household and re-housing to more suitable accommodation will help to reduce this impact and his/her health will deteriorate if the household is not moved to more suitable accommodation. Priority band B will only apply where the applicant is bidding on properties that will reduce the impact on the health of the member of the households.
4. Households living in accommodation where the household is lacking one bedroom.
5. Applicants who are living in insanitary or unsatisfactory conditions which would include properties affected by lack of amenities or services, severe damp, major structural defects, flooding, collapse of roof or statutory nuisance and these conditions cannot be rectified within a reasonable period. (As assessed by the Council against the relevant legislation including housing standards and relevant safety rating systems)
6. Applicants who are homeless within the meaning of Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 and who have been assessed as being owed a prevention duty by the Council
7. Applicants and/or a member(s) of the household have been subjected to domestic abuse and rehousing is required for safeguarding purposes and to reduce any further risk to the person and/or wider household.

1. Applicants that need to move on welfare grounds as agreed by the Council (See Section 4.4 of the Allocations Policy)
2. Applicants who need to move on medical grounds because their current home is having an adverse impact on the health of a member of his or her current accommodation and their health will not deteriorate in their current accommodation, but the adverse impact will be significantly reduced with a move to more suitable accommodation. (The recommendation of the medical advisor may be taken into consideration when deciding what level of priority to award and the type of accommodation necessary to alleviate the impact.)
3. Applicants who may need assistance in finding their own accommodation such as adults with a learning disability/ mental health grounds who are ready to leave the family home and who are currently receiving a care package/support package from the Council.
4. Families living within another household where there are sufficient bedrooms to accommodate both families (e.g. adult children with their own families living in the parental home)
5. Applicants who have been discharged from the armed forces due to serious injury in the past five years and do not fall into Priority Bands A or B.
6. Applicants who are serving in the armed forces and who do not satisfy any of the Reasonable Preference categories listed in Appendix 3.
7. Applicants who have recently left Ministry of Defence accommodation because of divorce, separation or the death of a spouse who served in the regular armed forces and whose circumstances do not fall in Priority Bands A or B.
8. Applicants who are subject to the main housing duty S193(2) under the Housing Act 1996 Part VII and have been accepted as homeless in priority need and unintentionally homeless by the Council
9. Applicants who are homeless within the meaning of Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 and who have been assessed as being owed a relief duty by the Council

1. Singles/Couple with no dependent children sharing where there is no overcrowding. (For the purpose of this policy sharing accommodation means sharing the use of the kitchen, bathroom and toilet facilities)
2. Singles/Couples who are living in HMOs (House in Multiple Occupation). (For the purposes of this policy, a HMO is a building which is lived in by more than one separate household who share basic facilities such as kitchen, bathroom or a toilet. People are treated as being part of the same household if they are related to each other (family members) or live together as a couple)
3. Sofa surfers, single person households without a fixed address who rely upon friends and family for accommodation for limited periods (also known as Sofa Surfers) and verified rough sleepers (as verified by the Council or its partner agencies)
4. Singles or couples who are aged over 55 years and seeking accommodation for persons 55 and over and whose circumstances to not fall into bands A-C (Including registered provider tenants in Buckinghamshire currently occupying general needs accommodation).
5. Applicants living in Supported Housing who do not qualify under a move on protocol.
6. Applicants who are in care of Children and Families who wish to register prior to being 18 under the Buckinghamshire Leaving Care Protocol.

1. Applicants who have applied for assistance to the Council under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 where the Council has reached a decision that they are homeless and in priority need but have been determined to be homeless intentionally s191(3).
2. Applicants who have applied for assistance to the Council under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 where the Council has reached a decision that they are homeless but not in priority need.
3. Applicants who have applied for homelessness assistance to the Council and have ceased to be subject to a duty under S193 and who meet the circumstances set down in Section 6.4.2
4. Applicants who have been assessed as having worsened their circumstances.
5. Applicants who are subject to Reasonable Preference under Section 166A(3) of the Housing Act 1996 (see Appendix 3) and who fall within one of the classes of person listed in Section 2.6 of the Policy (i.e. applicants who are deemed not to qualify for the Bucks Home Choice scheme unless they are deemed to have a Reasonable Preference)
6. Applicants accepted under the Right to Move (see Paragraph 3.3 of the policy).
7. Applicants who are otherwise adequately housed but have registered for consideration for a rural exception scheme property who have a rural connection to the relevant area