Housing Associations and Councils are changing the way they let property.
The way social housing is allocated across Cumbria is set to change at the end of 2010.
The Cumbria Scheme will provide a more transparent and accountable way of letting homes, and most importantly will give people more choice in where they would prefer to live. To make sure this works well we had a consultation period for the new Cumbria Choice Scheme, which ended on 30th April 2010.
Everyone from existing council and housing association tenants, applicants waiting to be housed, local residents and key stakeholders were invited to express their views by completing an on-line questionnaire.
The results from the consultation will be available on this websites at the beginning of June. It will include feedback on the questions asked as well as a selection of the comments received.
The summary scheme guide can be found here.
Cumbria Choice Newsletter - June 2010
Working Together
The 6 District Authorities and 8 Housing Organisations are working together to develop a new way of letting their properties which will give more choice to local people needing social rented housing.
The 8 housing organisations are; Accent Housing; Derwent & Solway; Eden Housing; Home; Impact Housing; Riverside; Two Castles, South Lakes Housing Arms Length Management Organisation.
One application form
At present most properties in the County are allocated to those on housing registers using a points-based system. The customer has to register with each housing organisation and then wait to be made an offer. Under choice based lettings, landlords will advertise their properties through the scheme and customers will then choose which homes they are interested in applying for.
Where point based schemes are used they will be replaced with a banding system. Customers will only need to complete one application form to register on the Cumbria Scheme and will be able to look at all properties in the County. Local connection to an area will still be given priority but 10% of properties will be made available to people across Cumbria.
Your comments will be taken into account when finalising the Cumbria Choice Based Lettings Allocation Policy.
If you require the policy in another format or language, please contact your local council/housing association.
Frequently asked questions