Rent a home

If you are looking to rent a home from bpha, please contact your local authority and apply via their housing register. Each local authority will have their own specific criteria. To find your local authority website see https://www.gov.uk/find-local-council. These will normally include the following: 

You must be a British or Irish citizenship. If not you must have:

• Indefinite leave to remain
• Refugee status or humanitarian protection.
• Settled status under the EU settlement scheme.
• Right of abode as a Commonwealth citizen
• A visa that allows you recourse to public funds
• There may be an income and savings criteria, this varies in each local authority
• Have a local connection which can include living in the area for a number of year or have a job or family locally. These do not apply if you have in all cases such as if you need medical support are leaving the armed forces so check your local authorities website.

Anyone who meets the criteria is eligible to apply, priority is given to households that count as homeless, live in overcrowded homes, live in homes that need repair or are in a bad condition, need to move because of a disability or medical reason, need to care for a relative, are leaving care or the armed forces.

You should apply to your local authority https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-council-housing. You will need to complete an online application form. If you are not able to do this, there is usually a number where you can speak to someone who can assist.

The form will usually ask you for your details and your current housing situation. You will need to provide some supporting information. For example, if you have been asked to leave your current home as your landlord has served you with a notice, you will be asked for a copy of the notice or court order.

Once the council has received all the information, they will tell you if you are eligible or not. If you are not, check the appeals process. Applications can be refused if it is felt that you were responsible for your current housing situation. For example, if you were evicted because you caused anti-social behaviour or did not pay your rent.

If you have been accepted for housing, you will be told your priority and how you can find a home. Your priority will depend on your housing needs and your local council’s allocations policy. For example, some local authorities give more priority to families who are facing homelessness or are about to lose their home.

How you find a home, will depend on your local authority. They will either have a choice-based lettings scheme or they will directly offer you a property. If there is a choice-based lettings scheme you will need to bid on the empty properties that become available. These will include all the available social and affordable housing in the area including bpha properties. Homes will be let to those with the highest priority. The local authority should tell you how they decide how they decide the priorities. This is usually in a document call ‘Allocations Policy’.

A number of local authorities operate a different system where depending on your priority, they notify you that they have passed your housing application to bpha.

Your wait will depend on your priority, the type of housing you want, the area you want to live and the availability of homes. For example, if you want a one-bedroom flat in an area where there is a lot of social housing, your wait will be less then someone who wants a four-bedroom property in an areas where there is little social housing. In some cases, you may wait months, in others it could be many years. If it’s a long time, we would recommend that you review the areas you want to live in. That may widen your choice.

If you bid on one of our properties or the local authority offers you a direct let to one of our properties, they nominate your application to us. We will then contact you, provide you with more information on the property and arrange for you to view it. If you want to accept the property, we'll arrange for you to sign a tenancy agreement and we'll inform the local authority. Your application will then be closed.

If, on viewing the property, you decide you do not want to move in, we will notify the local authority. We would advise you to check your rights before you do that as depending on the local authority and your housing priority, you may be eligible for other empty properties, or the local authority may decide to cancel your housing application.

We know that circumstances change, and your home may no longer be suitable for your needs. For example, you may have had more children or need to move to a smaller property. If this is the case, you should register on your local housing register. You can find more information on this by going to your local council’s website. 

If you have mobility problem or need some support but can live independently, we may be able to help you in our independent living schemes.  

In a very small number of cases, we're able to move people to another bpha home. This is in exceptional circumstances as we have to give most of our properties to the local authority. This is why it is important that if you want to move, you register with them. For new buildings, we have to give the local authority all the homes and cannot use any for bpha customers. This means that there is a small number of homes we can use for our customers. We only accept urgent cases where there are health and safety concerns, overcrowding by three or more people, where you need to move urgently due to domestic abuse or harassment, if you are suffering from long term medical conditions, have a severe disability and are under occupying a large home. If you feel this applies to you, please speak to your Housing Officer.

Please note, if we accept your application, you'll only be made one offer of alternative accommodation.

Intermediate rent is housing for people that are looking to save a deposit to buy their own home. The rent is set approximately 20% below the private rent in the area. The tenancy is an assured shorthold tenancy for a minimum of six months.

The rent is reviewed every year. The review checks the private rents in the area and we make sure your rent is still approximately 20% cheaper. 

Most of our 250 intermediate rented properties are in Cambridgeshire and Milton Keynes, with a smaller number in Peterborough and Bedford. When our homes become available, we advertise them on https://www.rightmove.co.uk/.

Eligibility

• Your total household income must be less than £80,000
• You must be unable to afford to buy a suitable property on the open market
• You must not already own another home
• You must be able to afford 80% of the local market rent without assistance
• For some developments, there may be additional criteria such as priority given to those who currently live or work in the local area.