If you are looking to be rehoused in the Basingstoke area, firstly you will need to be registered on the Common Housing Register maintained by Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council. Freephone number 0800 121 6453. www.Basingstoke.gov.uk.

The council’s Cabinet members approved a model for allocating social housing in September 2007. This system has now been introduced. Applicants housing need is assessed, and they are awarded points and placed in Bands.  Letters informing existing applicants of their new points totals and banding were sent out in May 2009.

Should you be looking to move to an alternative local authority, we suggest that you contact the council in the area you wish to move to for details on how to apply for accommodation in that area.

Choice based lettings (basingstokehomebid) - launched 10 June 2010 

The Government has asked all local councils to change the way they give out social housing. This is because they want people to have more say over the housing they get and where they live, instead of housing staff making decisions about who should be offered which home. This new way of giving out housing is known as Choice Based Lettings.

Basingstoke and Deane changed over to Choice Based Lettings at 10 June 2010. [The Council] … will be writing to everyone who is registered to be housed, to keep them informed of developments and to let them know what they need to do. This is separate to the work that has been going on to review the points system. For more information on the points review follow this link http://www.basingstoke.gov.uk/housing/info or phone the Housing Department at Basingstoke and Deane on 01256 844844 to ask for a leaflet about the points review to be sent to you.

Under Choice Based Lettings you will still have to fill out an application form and be accepted onto the housing register. However, instead of waiting until you are offered a home, you will play an active role in finding a home for yourself.

Our properties are advertised each week on a dedicated website, and printed newsletters will be made available at lots of places within the area, like parish notice boards, shops and libraries, known as www.basingstokehomebid.org.uk.

Adverts give lots of information about the homes – a bit like an estate agent’s advert. You can also get information about the area the home is in, including schools, shops, bus routes. The adverts show ‘icons’ or pictures, representing features and facilities, as well as a photograph of the property. The adverts also include information to help you know whether the home is suitable for you, for example an advert for a three bedroom house might suggest that people with two or more children are most likely to be successful.

People who want to be re-housed will need to look at the adverts each week to see if there is a home which they would like. If there is, they will need to bid for it. Bidding does not mean putting down money - the term bidding is used to mean show an interest in. There will be different ways to bid including through the website or by telephone. People who need extra help with bidding can put forward another person to place their bids for them, for example a support worker, friend or relatives.

Adverts are available for bidding from midnight Thursday until midnight on the following Monday. The council will look at whether that home meets your housing needs, for example the right number of bedrooms and how long you have been waiting in your band. The home will be offered to the bidder deemed most in need of housing under the new ‘banding’ system and those waiting the longest in their band.

At this time their needs will be checked and they will have the opportunity to look at the home and decide if they want to accept it. If they do not accept the home it will be offered to the next highest person, and so on. Once the property has been accepted, general information about the successful person’s circumstances will be put on the [Councils] website.

Although the council will still have to take into account people’s level of need for housing when offering homes, the advantage of this scheme is that customers will have more choice over the homes and the areas they live in.’

www.Basingstoke.gov.uk/housing/info/choicebasedlettings.htm