South Gloucestershire Council HomeChoice Banding Structure This ...

South Gloucestershire Council HomeChoice Banding Structure 

This document includes the following information, 

• Details of the bands which can be awarded. 

• The criteria under each band. 

• The criteria for awarding a priority card. 

Please see the, ‘HomeChoice Lettings Policy and Procedure’ for a more 

detailed explanation of the Council’s policy. This document is available on the 

Council’s website at www.southglos.gov.uk/housing. 

If you have any further questions, you can contact us in the following ways, 

Visit the HomeChoice website: www.homechoicesouthglos.co.uk 

By phone: 01454 868005 

By email: HomeChoiceTeam@southglos.gov.uk 

By post: South Gloucestershire Council, Homechoice, PO Box 2083, 

Council Offices, Castle Street, Thornbury, South Gloucestershire, BS35 

9BR 

There is a very high demand for housing in the district and only a small 

number of houses become available. This means that we have to prioritise 

the people who apply and offer the housing to the people who need it most. 

We have 3 bands: 

Band A is made up of the people who need housing the most. 

Band B is made up of people who need to move, but not urgently. 

Band C is made up of people who want to live in the area, but do not have a 

particular housing need. 

The HomeChoice register also works on a date order basis. This means that 

if you are in the same band as someone else, you will be higher up that band 

the longer you have been waiting. 

I:\Access to Housing - HomeChoice Letting\Public Information\HomeChoice Banding Structure April 11 

1

Band A 

‣ Applicants accepted as homeless under Part VII of the Housing Act 

1996 (as amended by the Homeless Act 2002) and owed a duty by 

South Gloucestershire Council. This includes Agricultural workers as 

recommended by the Agricultural Dwelling House Advisory Committee. 

‣ Urgent housing need due to health or welfare circumstances (as 

assessed by the HomeChoice panel. 

‣ Under-occupation: Where the applicant is the tenant of a partner 

member, lives in South Gloucestershire and 

1. Under occupies their property by 2 or more bedrooms and is looking 

to move to a smaller property, or 

2. Who occupies a 2+ bedroom property and is looking to move to 

sheltered accommodation. 

‣ Applicants who are statutorily overcrowded as defined in part X of the 

Housing Act 1985. 

‣ Applicants living in accommodation where assessment by the Private 

Sector Housing Team has identified an actionable hazard under the 

Housing Health and Safety Rating system (Housing Act 2004), which is 

likely to have an immediate adverse effect on their health and which is 

not readily actionable under the provisions of the Act. 

‣ Applicants living in a South Gloucestershire supported housing scheme 

assessed as ready to move into independent accommodation by the 

housing provider. This will only apply where the Council and the 

housing provider have a service level agreement in place. This banding 

will also require that, where appropriate, arrangements have been made 

for post-tenancy support. All cases will be referred to the HomeChoice 

Panel or, if applicable, the Young Persons HomeChoice Panel. 

‣ Applicants who have been looked after, fostered or accommodated by 

South Gloucestershire Council’s Children and Young Peoples’ Services 

and are ready for independent living. 

‣ Applicants who have the right to succeed to a tenancy on the death of a 

tenant but who require rehousing in more suitable accommodation. 

‣ Applicants who have been approved by South Gloucestershire 

Council’s Family Placement Team to provide long term foster care and 

are currently in an inadequately sized property. The Family Placement 

team are social workers from the Children and Young People 

department of the Council. 

‣ Applicants who have multiple needs and meet several of the criteria in 

Band B, or where different members of the household have composite 

housing needs that meet criteria in Band B. This includes the needs of 

residential and non-residential carers. Band A would only be awarded 

following referral to the HomeChoice Panel. 


2

Band B 

‣ Housing need due to health or welfare circumstances. 

‣ Applicants in temporary, or insecure accommodation, who have 

received notice to leave. 

‣ Applicants who have received a possession order. 

‣ Applicants who are homeless, or with no fixed abode, but who do not 

meet the statutory requirements for homelessness under part VII of the 

Housing Act 1996 (as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002). 

‣ Applicants who have been placed in interim accommodation pending a 

homelessness decision. 

‣ Applicants living in separate households, but who wish to be rehoused 

together, where neither party has adequately sized accommodation to 

provide housing for the joint households. 

‣ Applicants living in tied accommodation, but wishing or needing to 

retire. 

‣ Applicants who are lacking bedrooms for the size of their household, but 

do not meet requirements for statutory overcrowding. 

‣ Applicants who have been offered full-time employment in the area and 

are unable to commute. 

‣ Applicants, who own their own home, in exceptional financial hardship, 

making it difficult to maintain their current home. 

‣ Applicants who need to move to a particular area to give or receive 

support where failure to meet that need would cause hardship. 

‣ Applicants lacking facilities, or sharing facilities with non-household 

members. 

‣ Relationship breakdown where a spouse or partner is living under the 

same roof. 

‣ Under-occupation where the applicant is the tenant of a partner 

member, resides in the district, under-occupies their property by 1 

bedroom and is looking to move to a smaller property, or who is looking 

to move from 1 bed general needs accommodation to sheltered 

accommodation. 

Band C 

‣ Other applicants wishing to move but do not fall in to any other 

category. 

‣ Applicants with a health or welfare need that is unlikely to be improved 

by alternative housing. 

‣ Applicants who have the financial capability to afford suitable alternative 

accommodation for their needs, including the market price of property or 

market rent for private landlord. This will override all other priorities that 

would place applicants in higher bands. 

‣ Applicants living outside of the Council’s area who do not meet the 

criteria for urgent housing through S213 of the Housing Act 1996 (as 

amended). This will override all other priorities that would place 

applicants in higher bands. 


3

Criteria for Assessing the Composite Housing Needs that may Confer 

Band A 

Band A can be awarded for the following reason, 

‘Applicants who have multiple needs and meet several of the criteria in Band 

B, or where different members of the household have composite housing 

needs that meet criteria in Band B. This includes the needs of residential and 

non-residential carers. Band A would only be awarded following referral to the 

HomeChoice Panel’. 

This can be separated out into two different sets of composite need: 

• Where several circumstances apply that, if taken individually, would not in 

themselves merit an urgent need to move, but, taken in combination, 

would confer a sufficient level of urgency to merit Band A. 

• Where several members of the household are experiencing their own level 

of difficulty that amounts to a higher level of difficulty being experienced by 

that household sufficient for them to be considered in urgent need of 

moving. 

The criteria listed under Band B (see 2.4) can be grouped together to reflect 

the fact that they arise from the same cause, or have similar effects. In order 

for Band A to be awarded, the equivalent of Band B needs must arise in three 

or more of the Groups as set out below. It is sufficient for one criteria within 

each group to be demonstrated. 

Group 1) Insecurity of tenure 

‣ Applicants in temporary or insecure accommodation who have received 

notice to leave. 

‣ Applicants who have received a possession order. 

‣ Applicants who are homeless or with no fixed abode but who do not meet 

the statutory requirements for homelessness under part VII of the Housing 

Act 1996 (as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002). 

‣ Applicants who have been placed in interim accommodation pending a 

homelessness decision. 

‣ Applicants living in tied accommodation but wishing or needing to retire. 

‣ Relationship breakdown where a spouse or partner is living under the 

same roof. 

‣ Applicants in exceptional financial hardship, making it difficult to maintain 

their current home. 

Group 2) Current accommodation unsuitable but non-urgent circumstances 

‣ Applicants who are lacking bedrooms for the size of their household but do 

not meet requirements for statutory overcrowding. 

‣ Applicants lacking facilities, or sharing facilities with non-household 

members. 


4

‣ Applicants living in separate households but who wish to be rehoused 

together, where neither party has adequately sized accommodation to 

provide housing for the joint households. 

Group 3) Accommodation release to enable rental stock to be made available 

‣ Under-occupation where the applicant is the tenant of a partner member, 

resides in the district, under-occupies their property by 1 bedroom and is 

looking to move to a smaller property, or who is looking to move from 1 

bed general needs accommodation to sheltered accommodation. 

Group 4) Social, Health or Welfare circumstances 

‣ Housing need due to health or welfare circumstances. 

‣ Applicants who have been offered full-time employment in an area and are 

unable to commute. 

‣ Applicants who need to move to a particular area to give or receive 

support where failure to meet that need would cause hardship. 


5

Priority cards 

For a very small number of people, their circumstances will mean they need to 

move as soon as possible. In this situation, we can award a ‘priority card’. 

This gives the household priority over everyone else and will usually be valid 

for 12 weeks. All applicants awarded a priority card will receive advice about 

the size and the type of property they may bid for. 

Priority cards may be awarded in the case of: 

‣ Substantial and/or life threatening health problems directly linked to an 

applicant’s housing situation where their current property cannot be 

adapted to meet their needs. This includes (but is not limited to) any of the 

following: 

Those who have developed severe mobility problems which prevent 

access to essential areas of their current accommodation e.g. permanent, 

complete wheelchair use, use of walking frame constantly, disabled for 

whatever reason and unable to negotiate stairs (currently in property with 

upstairs facilities). 

‣ Applicants with severe and enduring mental health problems being 

discharged from inpatient psychiatric services who would be at risk, or a 

risk to others, without settled accommodation, are not able to find suitable 

accommodation and an intensive care package has been arranged to 

support the applicant in independent living. 

‣ Hospital discharge/urgent health need: Where the applicant, or a member 

of their household, has a progressive or chronic health condition and is 

unable to meet their own housing needs and where their existing 

accommodation cannot meet or be made to meet their housing needs. A 

care plan for the relevant person must have been devised. 

‣ Those with terminal/end stage life expectancy AND it must be 

demonstrated that the patient’s current housing is unsuitable because of 

their illness and that it essentially affects their mobility and prevents them 

accessing facilities or carer’s ability to provide care. For example, for those 

with severe chronic cardiac/respiratory disease that requires home oxygen 

use, the patient will be breathless at rest and unable to mobilise due to 

internal stairs. 

Discretionary decisions to be made by the panel on a case by case basis 

with the power to turn down applications if reports suggest short life 

expectancy (less than 6 months). 

‣ Whose welfare needs are such that the protection of vulnerable adults or 

children is only possible if the household is re-housed. This includes (but is 

not limited to) any of the following: 

Where the present housing circumstances have deteriorated or are likely 

to deteriorate to such an extent as to place family members, particularly 

children, at risk or in need of residential care. 

‣ Applicants who are acting as a police witness where the police have 

requested immediate re-housing under the witness protection scheme. 


6

‣ Where the applicant, or a member of their household is subject to severe 

harassment, racial harassment, threats of violence, or actual violence, or 

threats of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse and it appears that the 

problems can only be resolved by an immediate move. 

‣ Demolition or prohibition order where the Private Sector Housing Team 

advise that, under the Housing Health and Safety Rating system (Housing 

Act 2004) category 1 hazards exist that cannot be rectified. 

‣ Permanent decant: where the applicant is the tenant of a partner landlord 

and requires a permanent move to enable redevelopment or major 

refurbishment. 


7

South Gloucestershire Council HomeChoice Banding Structure This ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?