The council is the biggest local provider of social rented housing in Moray. Its stock is well distributed throughout the area but there are concentrations in Buckie, Elgin, Forres, Keith and Lossiemouth. You can access more detailed information on stock locations and relets in the Housing Options Guide under the Council Housing section.
Our allocation policy aims to tackle housing need in Moray. Where possible, we take account of what you would really like as a new home. This policy helps us decide who we think is in most need of housing and how to make the best use of the housing we have available.
Anyone over 16 years of age can apply for a council home and be placed on the housing list. In line with our policy, we will assess everyone in a fair and consistent way and will treat everyone applying equally.
The housing list is an open waiting list, which includes the waiting list and the transfer list. As of 1 September 2008, a seperate homeless list was introduced.
As of 1st September 2008 60% of allocations will be made to the homeless list, 30% will be allocated to the housing waiting list and 10% will be allocated to transfer applicants.
If you would like to apply for a council property or, if you are already a tenant and would like to transfer to another property,
please fill in a Housing Application Form. (Podanie o zakwaterowanie, Polish) (Candidatura de Habitação, Portuguese) (Общественные службы Бланк заявки на получение жилья, Russian).
Alternatively, you can write, phone, e-mail or call in at your local area housing office for an application form.
You should answer all the questions on the application form using BLOCK letters and black ink. It is very important that you give us as much information as possible. Please answer all relevant questions so that we can accurately and fairly assess your application. If a question does not apply to you, leave it blank.
By law, we must take part in the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) data matching exercise. Any information you give us on your housing application will be used for cross-system and cross-authority comparison for the prevention and detection of fraud.
Please make sure that you and anyone you are applying with (joint applicant) have signed the declaration at the end of the form. If you do not fill in the form properly or do not sign it, we will have to return it to you. This will mean that your assessment will take longer.
If you need help to fill in the form, please contact your local area housing office.
Will I need to give you any other information?
Confirming your pregnancy
If you, or anybody who will be living with you, are pregnant, you should fill in the expected date of birth. You should send us a copy of the certificate of pregnancy and a copy of the birth certificate when the baby is born.
Occasional Overcrowding
If you need an extra bedroom because you have access to children, we will ask you for proof. For example, a solicitor's letter or court papers.
Bedroom Size
If you think that any of the rooms you use for sleeping are too small to allow two persons to share you should contact your area housing officer. They may need to visit your home to confirm this.
Areas you prefer
The form asks you to give details of the letting areas where you would consider living. If you will only consider living in particular areas, you should say so on your form. However, if you only want to live in one area or just a few, you may have to wait longer for a property to become available.
What if my circumstances change
If you have already applied for Council housing but your household circumstances change you don't have to fill in the whole form again. One of these shorter forms may help instead:
Adding someone to your household
Removing someone from your household
How do you work out my place on the housing list?
After we have checked your form and made sure that we have all the information we need, we will use the details from your form to work out the total points for your application, depending on your circumstances. We award set levels of points for different types of housing circumstances (for example, overcrowding or lack of facilities). The number of points that we give your application will decide your place on the housing list. We may give you points for the following. After 1 September 2008, homelessness points will not be awarded to priority need cases however your application will be moved onto the Homeless Priority List and your position on the list will be determined by the date your application was received.
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Homelessness |
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Priority need |
0 points |
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No priority need |
100 points |
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Overcrowding |
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For every bedroom you are short of |
100 points |
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Medical need |
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Medical A |
500 points |
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Medical B |
350 points |
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Medical C |
150 points |
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Medical D |
50 points |
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Medical E |
0 points |
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Home too big for your needs |
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For every extra bedroom you don’t need (transfer applicants only) |
100 points |
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For every extra bedroom you don’t need (waiting-list applicants only) |
50 points |
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Poor housing conditions |
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Below tolerable (acceptable) standard and will be given a closing or demolition order once empty |
250 points |
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Below tolerable standard and will be not be given a closing or demolition order once empty |
150 points |
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Minor faults including dampness and condensation and areas of disrepair |
100 points |
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Poor caravan conditions |
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Serious disrepair and lacks facilities |
250 points |
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Serious disrepair with facilities |
150 points |
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Minor faults including dampness and condensation and areas of disrepair |
100 points |
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Sharing facilities |
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(kitchen, bathroom or toilet) |
100 points |
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Key workers |
100 points |
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Care and support |
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Residential care or support is no longer appropriate |
250 points |
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Supported accommodation is no longer needed |
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Flats or maisonettes (if children under 16 years are part of your household) |
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Living in first-floor flat or maisonette with ground-floor access for one year or more |
40 points |
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Living in second-floor flat or above or maisonette above ground level for one year or more |
75 points |
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Rural connection |
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Awarded if you have a local connection with a specific village or town outside Elgin, Forres, Buckie, Keith and Lossiemouth |
50 points |
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Exceptional circumstances |
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Awarded by the Housing Needs Review Group to applications which we consider under this allocations policy. |
0 – 500 points |
If your current housing is affecting your health, you can fill in a housing application medical assessment form. An independent medical adviser reviews all of these forms and can award extra medical points.
If you have any questions about how we work out how many points we will award, please contact your local area housing office or the Housing Needs Section.
Circumstances when points will not be awarded
For the points system to work fairly, we will not award extra points if we believe you have made your housing situation worse. Instead we will award points as if you had stayed in your previous home.
How long will I wait before being offered a house?
There is no average waiting time for applicants. How long you wait for a house depends on:
What if I need special accommodation?
We provide a range of housing, which has been specially designed, built or adapted to meet the needs of certain groups, particularly elderly people and those with special needs. I f you want to apply for sheltered housing, you should answer ‘yes’ to the appropriate question on the housing application form. The medical advisor will consider what type of accommodation will suit you. If you would like advice on the options available, please contact your local area housing office.
If you are homeless or threatened with homelessness, you will have to fill in a homeless application form. This will allow us to assess your circumstances. If we assess you as homeless, you will be added to our homeless list we will consider you for housing along with other people applying for housing.
If you think you may become homeless in the near future, please let us know straight away. We can give you advice and may be able to prevent you from becoming homeless.
How long will I be on the housing list?
Each year we will send you a letter asking if you want to stay on the waiting list and if any of your circumstances have changed. To stay on the list, you must fill in and return the form we send you. If you do not respond, we will assume that you no longer want to be on the housing list and we will cancel your application.
If you are behind with your current rent, owe rent from a previous tenancy or you have other housing debts, you must tell your local area housing office and make an arrangement to clear the amount you owe. Normally, we will only consider your application if:
What if I receive a poor tenancy report from my landlord?
We will suspend your application from the housing list where:
How do you decide who to give properties to?
For each empty home, we produce a shortlist of people who are looking for that size and type of home in that particular area. This list will include people on the waiting list and transfer list and homelessness list. We usually offer the home, but not always, to the person on the shortlist with the highest points. This is because:
What happens if you offer me a property?
We will write and tell you. Our letter will give you details of the home that we are offering you, when you can see it and how long you have to make up your mind. We only offer properties which meet our Letting Standard. If you accept the offer, your new tenancy will normally start as soon as the property is ready for you to move into. We will charge you rent from the date the tenancy starts.
You have the right to refuse any offer. However, if you refuse two reasonable offers of accommodation within a period of one year, we will not make any other offers of accommodation to you for six months from the date of your last offer. If you are going to refuse an offer of accommodation, you should discuss your reasons with the area housing officer who deals with the area the property is in before you make a final decision. This is because it may be some time before we can make another offer to you.
Can housing associations help?
There are a number of housing associations that have homes for rent in the Moray area. You can apply directly to the housing associations to join their waiting lists. This will give you the best chance of getting a home from them.
We also have agreements with housing associations so that we can put forward applicants from our housing lists for some of their vacancies. If you would like us to put you forward for a housing association property, you must let us know by filling in the correct part of our Housing Application form.
You can get more information on housing associations in the section on registered social landlords in the Housing Options Guide. You can get this from your local area housing office.
What is low-cost home ownership?
We work with Scottish Government and local property developers to provide low-cost homes. These special schemes give tenants, and people on our waiting list, who are on low incomes, the chance to become homeowners. Some local housing associations also offer shared-ownership housing, which allows you to buy a percentage of your property and pay rent on the rest. If you are interested in these schemes, you should tick the relevant box on your housing application form. You can find more information on low-cost home ownership in the Housing Options Guide.
Can I apply for a mutual exchange?
You can organise to exchange your home with another of our tenants, with council tenants from another local authority and with housing-association tenants. You must first ask our permission and also the permission of any other landlord. We will not withhold our permission unreasonably. If you want us to consider you for a mutual exchange, tick the relevant box on your Housing Application form.
What should I do if my circumstances change?
If your circumstances change, you must let your local area housing office know, as soon as possible. You can do this by phone, e-mailing or calling at your local area housing office. We will ask you to confirm any change in writing. If you have moved, you will need to fill in a new Housing Application form so that we can reassess your points from your new accommodation. If your circumstances change and you do not let us know, this may affect a future offer of housing.
Please remember to sign your filled-in application form before you return it. If any other person is making a joint application with you, make sure that they have signed the declaration too. We will treat the information that you give us in confidence. We may make reasonable enquiries to confirm the information you have given us.
If you give false or misleading information, or knowingly withhold relevant information about your application for housing, we will suspend your application while we investigate. If the investigation shows that you deliberately gave false or misleading information, we will cancel your application and ask you to fill in a new Housing Application form. We may take court action against you and take back any tenancy we may have granted on the basis of false or misleading information.
What happens to all of the information that I give?
We may ask for information about your health, gender, family, housing needs and previous addresses. We will use the information you give to assess and meet your housing needs and those of your dependants.
We may also use the information for statistical or planning purposes. We need these categories of information to make sure that we protect the rights of individuals and make sure we follow any relevant legislation. In some cases we can share personal information with other partner agencies, such as the Health Service, if you agree to this.
We will not release this information to any other organisations unless you give us your written permission or we have to provide it by law.
What if I disagree with the decision on my application?
If you are not satisfied with the decision we have made about your application, you should contact the Senior Housing Needs Officer (Allocations) at:
Opening Hours - 8.45am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday