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Housing Association News
Common housing register will benefit those on waiting lists
Angus Council and Hillcrest Housing Association have launched a common housing register (CHR) and common allocations policy to make it easier for people seeking homes for rent.
The Angus CHR allows applicants to complete one housing application form, giving them access to two landlords with a combined stock of around 10,000 homes at affordable rents.
Under the common allocations policy, everyone is assessed and allocated housing in the same way rather than through two separate systems. All the information on the application form is entered to the Angus CHR by a dedicated team of officers based at the Council’s headquarters in Forfar. Applications are then assessed electronically to determine where an application should be placed on the housing register and what points, if any, should be awarded to that application.
Councillor Jim Millar, Angus Council Convener of Neighbourhood Services, which includes housing, welcomed the move.
He said: “At a time when investment in housing is under pressure and waiting lists are growing this common policy and register makes the process of applying for housing in Angus faster, fairer, simpler and more consistent. I’m delighted that we have linked with Hillcrest to provide this service to those on the housing waiting list in Angus and would encourage all other housing association partners to join us in this customer focussed project”.
Fiona Morrison, Director of Housing with Hillcrest said “Working in partnership with Angus Council will only better the service that we both provide and make it easier for anyone looking for a house. We operate a similar service in other areas and it has proved to be popular and effective. Hopefully the scheme will grow in Angus allowing us to optimise the choice of housing available to people in the area.”
For full details of the CHR, contact any local ACCESS office, call ACCESSLine on 08452 777 778, Hillcrest’s local area office at 1 North Grimsby, Arbroath on 0844 892 1099 or visit the council’s website at www.angus.gov.uk.