Apply to join the housing register

When you apply to join the Housing Register, we look at your application and work out your priority for housing, using our housing allocation rules.

We look at things like:

• your current housing situation
• the needs and welfare of your household

If anyone in your household is ill or disabled and this is being made worse by your current housing situation, the council medical advisor will help us decide your priority.

If you’re an existing tenant, we’ll look at what kind of property you want to move from and to.

We put all households into 1 of 5 bands from based on their priority for housing.

Who counts in your household?

• anyone who has lived with you for at least a year
• new babies
• children who don’t always live with you, if they stay with you more than half a week on average
• a carer, if you have a medical condition that means you need a live-in carer seven nights of the week.

If you and your family have been forced to live separately because of housing, we normally count you as one household.

Pets

We cannot consider pets when housing you unless you have a guide or hearing dog. Cats, dogs, or other uncaged pets are not allowed in council properties without a private garden. Similar rules apply to housing association properties. Most council and housing association properties are flats or maisonettes without gardens. If you're homeless, we may offer emergency kennelling for your pet until re-homing is possible.

Priority bands

There are 5 priority band. An emergency band will only be used to avert an immediate risk of injury or threat to life. Band 1 will be households with the highest priority for housing.

The Band the council places you into will depend on your household's individual circumstances.

Waiting times

The demand for social housing far exceeds the supply. 

With a Register open to new applicants, only approximately 40 Council properties offering family sized homes every year, and over 2000+ current applications, it is more than likely the majority of applicants won’t be successful in securing an offer from the Register.

The Housing Register does not work like a traditional waiting list, where the date you apply determines how quickly you receive housing. The Housing Register is designed to prioritise applicants based on their current housing needs and circumstances, not the length of time they have been on the list.

The aim is to ensure that housing is provided to those who need it most urgently, rather than operating on a first-come, first-served basis.

The reality is we can only offer a home to those in the highest Bands with the highest priority. Many households in lower bands will almost certainly never be offered a home unless they are over 60 and require sheltered housing

Social housing lettings RBK  2019 to 2024

Who we let our properties to 2023/24