Choice Based Letting
Choice based letting makes allocating of social housing properties simpler and more transparent. It also gives applicants more choice about where they live.
Introduction
In December 2008, Three Rivers District Council went ‘live’ with Choice Based Letteings along with Hertsmere Borough Council. Now, Watford Borough Council; Welwyn Hatfield Council and St. Albans Borough Council have also adopted the Choice Based Lettings system. Choice Based Lettings (CBL) is part of a wider Government initiative of enabling people to have more choice about where they live.
What is Choice Based Lettings?
The key characteristics of CBL are that properties which become available for let are advertised and applicants interested in particular properties can then register their interest in these properties by making a “bid”. Properties are advertised weekly on the Herts Choice Homes website. Arrangements can be made for 'freesheets' to be sent to applicants who do not have internet access.
Advertisements contain photographs of properties with useful information such as the rent details, number of bedrooms, floor level of the property and neighbourhood facilities.
There are simple rules for bidding and various ways to bid including:
Telephoning
Text message
Online through the Herts Choice Homes website
Applicants who are unable to bid using the above methods can call our Customer Service Centre on 01923 776611.
The property will then be allocated to the person with the highest priority band according to the Councils Allocation Policy. Within each band, applicants are prioritized according to the date that an applicant moved into a specific band.
What are the benefits of Choice Based Lettings?
Choice Based Letting makes the allocating of social housing properties simpler and more transparent. It also allows applicants to make a choice about where they live.
As well as giving you the opportunity to choose which properties you want to be considered for, feedback is also provided on each property on the Herts Choice Homes website on the following:
the number of bids received for each property
the priority band and priority date of the successful applicant
whether the successful applicant was a homeseeker or transfer
No personal details about applicants will ever be published
Choice Based Lettings gives applicants the opportunity to move to neighbouring areas, with a minimum of 5% of properties from each local authority going into a ‘Cross Partner’ pot. Applicants who are registered with any Herts Choice Homes authority may bid for these properties.
What are the limits of Choice Based Letting?
Although Choice Based Lettings gives applicants more choice about where they live - it does not increase the amount of housing available via the council or where it is allocated. However, by advertising all our vacant properties you can see how many properties each week we have available for letting.
Where are we now?
Three Rivers District Council, Hertsmere Borough Council have been joined by St Albans District Council, Watford Borough Council and Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, who went live on 1st May 2009 with Choice Based Lettings.
We have worked with the other partners of the Herts Choice Home Consortium and introduced an allocation policy that is consistent in all core aspects, but has been be modified to take into account the nature of each council’s geographical uniqueness and current housing stock.
Where can I get more information about Choice Based Lettings?
If you want to find out more information about this government initiative visit the Department of Communities and Local Government or the Herts Choice Homes website.
Choice Based Lettings feedback report
Since Three Rivers District Council went live with Choice Based Lettings in December 2008, 624 applicants from the Housing Register have been housed as of 27th April 2011
The tables below detail which bands these applicants were in and the bedroom size of the properties let.
| Properties let by band | | Properties let by number of bedrooms |
| Band A | 26 | | Studio | 83 |
| Band B | 165 | | One Bed | 314 |
| Band C | 217 | | Two Bed | 145 |
| Band D | 163 | | Three Bed | 81 |
| Band E | 53* | | Four Bed | 1 |
*Please note 45 of the 53 properties are Sheltered or EPD (Elderly Persons Designated)
For more information on Choice Based Lettings please visit the
Herts Choice Homes website.