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.
You can get a copy of our policy and the Allocations policy and points system leaflet , free of charge, from your local area housing office, or from our website at www.moray.gov.uk under the Council Housing section.
Anyone over 16 can apply for one of our homes and we will place them on the housing list. In line with our policy, we will assess everyone in a fair and consistent way and will treat everyone equally.
The housing list includes the transfer list, the homeless priority list and the waiting list. Anyone over 16 years and over is entitled to go on the housing list.
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 one of our properties, or if you are already one of our tenants and would like to transfer
to another property, please fill in a Application Form. (Podanie o zakwaterowanie, Polish) (Candidatura de Habitação, Portuguese) (Общественные службы Бланк заявки на получение жилья, Russian).
You can get an application form by:
or you can download a form from our website at www.moray.gov.uk
You should answer all the questions on the application form using CAPITAL letters and black ink. It is very important that you give us as much information as possible. Please answer all the questions so that we can assess your application accurately and fairly.
Please make sure that you and anyone you are applying with (a joint applicant) have signed the declaration at the end of the application 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.
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.
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 must tell us in the date the baby is due. You should send us a copy of the certificate of pregnancy as soon as possible and a copy of the birth certificate when the baby is born.
Occasional Overcrowding
If you need an extra bedroom because you have children who regularly stay with you overnight, 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 the Housing Needs Section on 01343 563597. We may need to visit your home to confirm this.
The form gives details of the areas in which we own housing, and asks you to say which of these areas you would consider living in. If you will only consider living in particular areas, you should say this 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.
We award set levels of points for different types of housing circumstances (for example, overcrowding or lack of facilities). After we have checked your form and made sure that we have all the information we need, we will work out the total points for your application, depending on your circumstances. 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:
| Your household is homelessness | |
| Priority need and unintentionally homeless | We will put your application on the Homeless Priority list. This list is for high-priority cases ad is not part of the points system. |
| No priority need | 100 points |
| Your home is too small for your needs | |
|
For every bedroom you are short of (If you have children who do not live with you permanently, for example, they only stay with you a few nights a week, you will receive 50 points) |
100 points |
| Your home is too big for your needs | |
| For every extra bedroom you don’t need (transfer applicants only) | 100 points |
| For every extra bedroom you don’t need (waiting-list applicants only) | 50 points |
| You live in poor housing conditions | |
|
The property is below an acceptable standard, for example:
|
250 points |
|
The property is below an acceptable standard for example:
|
150 points |
| The property has minor faults including slight dampness or condensation and areas which need repairing. | 100 points |
| You live in poor housing conditions - caravans | |
| The caravan needs major repairs and also has poor or no facilities | 250 points |
| The caravan needs major repairs but has facilities | 150 points |
| The caravan meeds minor repairs and has no facilities | 100 points |
| You are sharing facilities with another household | |
| You share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet | 100 points |
| You are a Key worker | |
| You have a job which brings skills that are not available locally | 100 points |
| Care and support | |
|
Residential care or support is no longer appropriate You no longer need to live in supported accommodation |
250 points |
| You live in a flat or maisonette(if you have children under 16 living with you) | |
| you have lived in a first-floor flat or maisonette with shared access for one year or more | 40 points |
| You have lived in a in second-floor flat or above or maisonette with shared access for one year or more | 75 points |
| You have a rural connection to the area | |
|
For example, this could be a town where:
points in this category do not apply to Elgin, Forres, Buckie, Keith or Lossiemouth |
50 points |
|
Exceptional circumstances (The Housing Needs Review Group will assess this). |
0 to 500 points (depending on the circumstances) |
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. (See our leaflet Allocations Policy Medical Assessments,)
If you have any questions about how we work out how many points we will award you or you need a medical assessment form, please contact your local area housing office or the housing needs section 01343 563597.
Are there circumstances when you will not award points?
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.
If you are placed on the Homeless Priority list, your application will not be awarded points. Instead your position on that list will normally depend on what date you made your homeless application.
How long will I wait before I am offered a house?
There is no average waiting time. How long you wait for a house will depend 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 people with special needs. If 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, (see our leaflet 'Homelessness') you will have to fill in a homeless application form. This will allow us to assess your circumstances.. (See our leaflet 'Homelessness'.) If we assess you as homeless, in priority need and unintentionally homeless you will be placed on the Homeless Priority list. This list is for high-priority cases and is not part of the points system. Your position on the list will normally depend on what date you made your homeless application - the earlier your application, the higher on the list you will be. if there are any exceptional circumstances associated with your homelessness, you should tell the Homeless Officer about them during your interview.
If we assess you as being homeless but without a priority need, you will be placed on the waiting list and we will add 100 points to your waiting list application.
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.
Homeless section - phone 01343 563596
How long will I be on the housing list?
You will stay on the housing list until we find you accommodation, or until you tell us you no longer want to be on the housing list.
Each year we will send you a letter asking if you want to stay on the housing 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 have other housing debts, you must make an arrangement to clear the amount you owe. We may suspend your housing application from receiving any offer of accommodation unless :
What if I receive a poor tenancy report from my landlord?
We may suspend your housing application from receiving any offer of accommodation if:
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 transfer, homeless priority and waiting lists For the transfer list and waiting list, we usually offer the home to the person on the shortlist with the most points. For the homeless priority list, we usually offer the home to the person who has been on the list the longest. However, we may not do this in every case. 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. 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 I get help from a housing association?
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 properties. If you would like us to put you forward for a housing association property, you must let us know by filling in the relevant 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 you the chance to own your own home if you are on a low income (as long as you are one of our tenants or on our waiting list for housing). Some local housing associations also offer shared-ownership housing, which allows you to buy a percentage of the 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.
Can I apply for a mutual exchange?
You can apply for a mutual exchange if you are our tenant;
A mutual exchange is where you exchange your home with:
You must ask our permission first and the permission of the landlord of the other property. 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 tell us as soon as possible. You can do this by;
If you have moved, you will need to fill in a new housing application form so that we can work out how many points you would get from your new accommodation. If your circumstances change and you do not let us know, this may affect housing we offer you in the future.
Please remember to sign your filled-in application form before you return it to us. 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 check the information you have given us is correct.
If you give false or misleading information, or knowingly withhold relevant information about your application for housing, we will suspend your application and we will not offer you any accommodation while we look into it. 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, sex, family, housing needs and previous addresses. We will use the information you give to assess and meet you and your dependants housing needs..
We may also use the information for statistical or planning purposes used for future requirements. We need these types of information to make sure that we protect your rights and make sure we keep to any relevant laws. In some cases we can share personal information with other agencies, such as the health service, if you agree.
We will not give this information to any other organisations unless you give us your permission in writing or we have to provide it by law.
What if I disagree with your decision ?
If you are not satisfied with the decision we have made about your application, you should write to the Senior Housing Needs Officer (Allocations)