Property Pool Plus Policy Summary
Policy Summary
If you would like help to understand anything in this information, or if you need the information in an alternative format such as large print, audio, or Braille, please contact your local Administering Scheme Partner using the contact details on the Contact us page.
Table of Contents
1.2 The advantages of Property Pool Plus.
2.1 Eligibility and Qualification.
2.2 How do I apply to Property Pool Plus?
2.3 Assessment and Verification of your application.
2.4 Management of your application.
2.5 Can a friend or relative help me apply for housing?
2.6 If your circumstances change.
3. Assessment of Housing Need.
3.1 The Housing Priority Banding system.
3.2 Prioritising applications.
3.4 Health and / or Welfare condition.
4. Finding a suitable property.
4.2 What type of property can I apply for?
4.5 Auto Bidding for vulnerable customers who need support.
4.6 Bidding for properties in other council areas.
4.8 When you are made an offer.
4.9 Refusal of a reasonable offer.
5. What if you disagree with a decision?
5.1 Requesting a Review of a Decision.
7. Administering Scheme Partners.
1. Introduction
Property Pool Plus has been developed by Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, and Wirral Councils, together with over 20 Housing Associations. The Housing Associations will advertise a selection of their available vacancies every week through Property Pool Plus.
Once you have registered with Property Pool Plus and your application has been activated you can then express an interest in properties which suit your needs, this is called bidding. Sometimes ‘Available Now’ properties are advertised, which you can apply for by contacting the landlord direct. These are allocated on a first come first served basis. See section 4.3 Bidding for vacancies for more information.
Property Pool Plus also sometimes advertises Private Rented, Rent to Buy and Shared Ownership Properties. Details on how to apply for these will be shown in the property advert.
Sometimes, one or more of the scheme local authorities may have an agreed process in place for allocating some of the available properties in their area via direct lettings. This means that properties will be offered directly to applicants without advertising them on Property Pool Plus. Information on any variations to the scheme for direct lettings can be found on the scheme website.
1.1 Participating Landlords
These include:
- Alpha Homes
- Cobalt Housing
- Crosby Housing Association
- Family Housing Association
- ForHousing
- Halton Housing
- Housing 21
- Jigsaw Homes Group
- Livv Housing Group
- Magenta Living
- Muir Housing Group
- One Vision Housing
- Onward Homes
- Pine Court
- Places for People
- Plus Dane Group
- Prima Housing
- Regenda Group
- Riverside Group
- Sanctuary Housing
- Torus Group (LMH)
- Together Housing
- Wirral Methodist Housing Association
- Your Housing Group
Within each of the local authorities the following organisations are responsible for administering applications to the scheme and dealing with application enquiries.
- Halton: Halton Housing
- Knowsley: Knowsley Council
- Liverpool: Partner Housing Associations
- Sefton: One Vision Housing
- Wirral: Wirral Council
Please see our Contact us page for contact details.
1.2 The advantages of Property Pool Plus
Property Pool Plus gives you an active role in choosing a new home that is right for you, in accordance with the Property Pool Plus policy. Property Pool Plus has one application form, one list of applicants, one allocations policy and a shared IT system across all partners. This approach offers an accessible and consistent service. You will be able to apply for vacancies across all five council areas although your application may receive a different priority in each area depending on your local connection to each area.
2. Your Application
2.1 Eligibility and Qualification
To join the scheme an applicant must be both ‘eligible’ and ‘qualifying.’
The rules for who is eligible for an allocation of social housing is set in law. These rules set out certain immigration and residency conditions which must be met to be eligible for social housing. The rules are too detailed to include here, but more information can be found in Section 3 of the policy document.
The information below provides an overview of the qualification criteria which must be met to join the scheme.
- You will need to have a local connection to the scheme area. There are various ways you can demonstrate a local connection which are set out in the policy in full; a brief summary is provided below:
- Current and continuous residency in the area for at least two years.
- Employment in the area for at least 16 hours per week.
- Family association e.g. parent / other guardian, sibling or adult child who is currently resident in the area and has been continuously resident for at least 5 years.
- Need to be near special medical or support services which are only available in the area.
- Care leavers aged up to 25 who are owed a duty by any local authority.
- There are some disregards to the local connection criteria for some Armed Forces personnel and for those fleeing domestic abuse.
- Anyone aged 16 or 17 who wants to join the scheme must have a “trustee” (someone who is responsible for them). However, full regard will be made to any protocol between the local authority’s children’s services and housing services, when making a decision about a young person who is leaving care or who is defined as a child in need in accordance with the Children’s Act 1989 Section 17.
- People who owe more than one month rent on a current or former tenancy, may not be able to join the scheme unless there is an agreed repayment plan in place which has been paid for at least 3 months.
- Anyone who owns a house will not be able to join the scheme.
- Anyone with savings of more than £16,000 will not be able to join the scheme.
- There are some criteria for unacceptable behaviour and breaking tenancy conditions which would result in people not being able to join the scheme.
For further information about qualification rules, including exemption criteria for certain groups, please see chapter 3 of the policy document.
If your application is deemed ineligible or non-qualifying you will be notified of this decision in writing, including the reasons for the decision and how to request a review if you disagree. Any applications deemed ineligible or non-qulaifying will be closed.
2.2 How do I apply to Property Pool Plus?
All applicants must complete an application form. You can do this online at www.propertypoolplus.org.uk or, if you need some help filling in the form, you can contact the organisation who administers the scheme for your area using the contact details in section 7 of this document. All applicants are expected to complete the application form online unless they are vulnerable or cannot get access to the internet. Using the online application will save time in processing and activating the application.
All applications must be verified, and you will therefore need to submit the verification documents requested during the application process. A basic overview of what you need to submit is provided below, but please refer to the Scheme Information section of our website for full details:
- Proof of identification for all household members being rehoused.
- Proof of residence for all household members being rehoused.
- Proof of national insurance number for the main and joint applicant
- Proof of local connection to the scheme area.
- Landlord reference for the main and joint applicant.
- Other information depending on your circumstances such as child access arrangements, community contribution, Armed Forces Service, MATB1 maternity certificate.
- If you meet any of the housing need criteria within the policy, you will need to provide evidence of this e.g., medical evidence.
The simplest and quickest way to submit your documents is to upload them directly to your Property Pool Plus online account. If this is not possible you can submit copies in the post to the organisation who manages your application using the contact details in section 7 of this document.
If you do not submit all necessary documents within 3 months of completing an application, your application will be closed.
2.3 Assessment and Verification of your application
When you register with Property Pool Plus you give permission for the Property Pool Plus partners to contact other organisations to check that the information you have provided is correct including Department of Works and Pensions, Housing Benefit departments, Fire Service, Police and Probation Services, support workers, health or social care professionals, and other relevant agencies.
This is what happens when we receive your application:
- We will only begin the assessment process for your application once you have submitted the required verification documentation.
- When you submit your documents, we check that you have provided all the information we need. If there is outstanding information, we will contact you to notify you of anything that is outstanding. We will only do this once as we are unable to make repeated requests. If you need assistance or further advice, you should contact the organisation who manages your application.
- If you tell us that you have been involved or are still involved with any support agencies such as Social Services or the Probation Service, we may contact them for more information.
The information which you provide relating to your housing application will be treated as confidential in accordance with Data Protection regulations covering both electronic and manual records and governs what can be done with the data, including collecting, storing, using, and disposing of it.
Once your application has been assessed, we will write to tell you the outcome of the assessment, for successful applications this will include which priority band you have been placed in. You should receive this letter within 3-4 weeks of providing all documentation.
2.4 Management of your application
If you already live within Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, or Wirral your application will be managed by the organisation who administers the scheme in the area where you live, irrespective of where you wish to be rehoused. If you live outside these areas, you should choose the organisation who administers the scheme for the area where you have a local connection.
2.5 Can a friend or relative help me apply for housing?
Yes. You may have a member of your family, or a friend, whom you would like us to contact regarding your application. If so, you will need to tell us who they are on the application form and give us permission to speak to them.
2.6 If your circumstances change
You must keep us informed of any changes to your circumstances that may affect your application such as changes to your household, health condition or housing situation. This is important as it could result in a change to whether you qualify to join the scheme, your priority band or eligibility for certain homes. You also need to inform us if you no longer want to be in the Property Pool Plus scheme. You can notify us of a change in circumstances by logging into your account and making any updates necessary to reflect your new circumstances.
Failure to inform us of a change in your circumstances could result in an offer of accommodation being withdrawn.
2.7 Renewal of applications
To ensure that accommodation is allocated fairly, and to take account of any change in circumstances affecting your eligibility, qualification or current or future housing need, you will need to renew your application every 12 months.
We will send you an invitation to renew your application by email, or letter if you do not have an email address linked to your account. This will take place annually and you will need to complete your renewal within 56 days. If you do not complete your renewal within the first 28 days, we will send you a reminder allowing a further 28 days, following which your application will be closed. If you want to reapply following closure due to non-renewal you will need to complete a new application.
2.8 Closed Applications
Applications will be closed in the following circumstances:
- You have been re-housed via the Property Pool Plus scheme.
- You have requested that we close your application.
- You fail to renew your application within the 56 days allowed.
- Letters we send to you are returned by the Post Office.
- We have received notification that the applicant is deceased.
- You no longer qualify or are no longer eligible, due to a change in circumstances, or due to circumstances not declared at initial registration.
Applications which are closed will not accrue any waiting time on the register. If you want to reapply following a closure this will be treated as a new application with a new registration date.
3.Assessment of Housing Need
3.1 The Housing Priority Banding system
The priority banding system has been developed to ensure that people with the greatest need for housing are given the highest priority. The different priority bands reflect the broad categories of housing need, with Band A being the highest priority and Band D the lowest priority. There are four bands which are summarised below. More detail is given in chapter 4 of the full policy document.
|
BAND |
REASON FOR HOUSING NEED |
|---|---|
|
Band A Additional Preference |
|
|
Band B Reasonable Preference |
|
|
Band C No additional or reasonable preference |
|
|
Band D Reduced preference. |
|
3.2 Prioritising applications
Applicants will be prioritised for an allocation of social rented housing, according to the following criteria:
- Meeting landlord advert preference criteria to make best use of stock.
- Bands, in the order of A to D. Band A has the highest priority and Band D the lowest.
- Where two or more applicants might have the same priority under point ii above, then by the date they were accepted into the band they are placed in at the time an offer is made, then by registration date with earlier dates taking priority over later dates.
- Where two or more applicants still might have the same priority, then those who are making a community contribution, as defined in section 4.2.7 of the policy.
- Where two or more applicants still might have the same priority, then by those who work or have close family in the Local Authority area, as per the definition set out in section 3.2.8 of the policy.
3.3 Homeless cases
If you are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, you should contact your local council to arrange an interview to discuss your circumstances. They will work with you to try to prevent you becoming homeless and will discuss your housing options with you. You may still bid for properties through Property Pool Plus, providing your application has been accepted onto the housing register but it may be possible to prevent homelessness through alternative solutions. Homeless households in Priority Band A will only get one suitable offer of accommodation which may include an offer in the private rented sector. If you do not bid, then suitable bids can be made on your behalf.
3.4 Health and / or Welfare condition
If someone in your household has a health issue which is being affected by where they live, then the health and welfare questions which are part of the Property Pool Plus application form should be completed in full. This information will be considered in accordance with the scheme policy. When considering applications from people who need to move to a different type of property due to a physical disability, the assessment will be based on the applicant’s ability to manage daily living in their current home e.g. their ability to enter / leave their home, as well as their ability to access the essential facilities within the home i.e. (bathing / toileting and a separate room for sleeping). The health / welfare assessment may result in a higher priority band being awarded. You can continue to choose which properties to bid for, but you must be mindful of your housing requirements, for example if you need ground floor accommodation you should bid on properties that meet this need i.e., ground floor flats, bungalows or upper floor flats with lifts.
3.5 The bedroom standard
The bedroom standard is used to assess how many bedrooms your household needs. This will also be used to determine the size of property you can apply for as well as if you are currently overcrowded, or underoccupied and currently live in social housing. The bedroom standard allows a separate bedroom each for:
- A married or cohabiting couple,
- Adult aged 21 years or more,
- Pair of adolescents aged 10-20 years of the same gender,
- Pair of children aged under 10 years regardless of gender,
- An adolescent aged 10-20 years paired with a child aged under 10 years of the same gender,
- An unpaired adolescent aged 10-20 years,
- An unpaired child aged under 10 years.
- An unborn child will be included in the bedroom calculation from the point the MATB1 certificate is provided to confirm the pregnancy. The gender of the unborn child will not be taken into consideration until the birth of the child, i.e., the child will be paired with another unpaired child regardless of gender until the birth.
- An adult or child who cannot share due to a disability or medical condition, or due to fostering arrangements being facilitated by the local authority.
- An overnight carer for any usual household member if the carer isn’t a usual household member.
- Due to the shortage of larger properties, applicants who are eligible for four bedroom properties may also be considered for larger three bedroom properties, for example a three bedroom property with two separate living rooms where one can be considered to be used as a bedroom.
- Approved foster carer who is between placements, but only for up to 52 weeks from the end of the last placement.
- Households assessed as needing one bedroom who are resident in either a bedsit or HMO (House of Multiple Occupation) will not meet the criteria for a priority on overcrowding grounds.
- Where gender identity is put forward as a reason for requiring an additional bedroom to be awarded outside the scope of the above criteria, cases will be assessed on a case by case basis.
- Where an applicant has access to children, they will normally be assessed as requiring one additional bedroom, but this bedroom award will not be taken into consideration for the assessment of a priority on overcrowding grounds.
4.Finding a suitable property
4.1 Property advertising
Properties will be advertised weekly starting at midnight Monday and finishing at midnight Sunday. New adverts are added into the cycle on Wednesday and Thursday; these will also close at midnight on Sunday.
Adverts will include a description of the property, type of tenure, rental charge, property size and any disabled adaptations. Properties will be advertised displaying any specific criteria or restrictions on who may bid for such properties e.g., if there is a restriction on age group for sheltered accommodation, or family size.
When it has not been possible to allocate a property after the first advert, the Housing Association may re-advertise the property as ‘available now’ for applicants to apply direct to them without having to bid.
4.2 What type of property can I apply for?
The type of property you can apply for will be dependent on your household size, bedroom need, and any health or welfare needs you may have. The system will identify all the properties that you are eligible to bid for.
Households with an expectant mother are treated as though the child has been born once the Pregnancy Maternity Certificate (MATB1) has been provided.
Due to the shortage of larger properties, if you are eligible for a four bedroom property you may also be considered for a larger three bedroom property, for example a three bedroom property with two separate living rooms where one could be used as a bedroom.
You will also need to meet the landlord’s letting criteria which will be stipulated in the property advert.
4.3 Bidding for vacancies
A bid is an expression of interest, a way of telling us that you wish to be considered for a vacant property that is being advertised in the CBL section. You will only be considered for properties if you actively bid. This is where Property Pool Plus is different from traditional waiting lists where you apply and wait to receive an offer. Here is a quick bidding checklist:
- See a home you like.
- Check it is in an area you want to live in
- Check it is the type and size of home you can bid for
- Place your bid.
- Each week you can place up to 3 bids.
- You should only bid on properties you are genuinely interested in.
- You do not have to use all three bids every week, although you should be realistic about your prospects of rehousing through the scheme taking into consideration the availability of accommodation through the scheme.
- You do not have to bid each week to remain on the register.
4.4 How to Bid
When you have looked at what is available and chosen a home you are interested in, you can bid:
- Through the website at www.propertypoolplus.org.uk
- By telephoning the organisation who manages your application. We are not open at the weekend so please call before lunchtime on Friday to ensure we have time to deal with your enquiry before we close for the weekend. We cannot place bids after the advert cycle closes at midnight on Sunday.
The following points about the bidding and shortlisting process will be useful to help you to make informed choices about the properties you bid on:
- To ensure you see all properties that will be available in any advertising week, it can be helpful to wait until Thursday to place your bids, as by this time all property adverts for that week will be included on the website.
- It does not matter when you place your bids during the advertising cycle as your position in the shortlist will change as other applicants place their bids. Final shortlist positions are based on priority for rehousing under the policy, not when place your bid.
- As the advertising week progresses you can view an updated shortlist position on bids already placed. To do this you will need to remove your bid and place it again to see your new position. If you choose to do this, it is your responsibility to make sure you place your bid again if you still want to be considered for the same property.
- You may choose to place your bids late in the advertising week, e.g., Sunday evening to get a more accurate idea of the properties you may be highest placed in the shortlist.
- Please be aware that if you have any difficulties placing bids there will be no assistance available from the PPP Teams over the weekend. If you think you may need assistance with bidding it is advisable to get in touch before Friday lunchtime to ensure we can assist before we close for the weekend.
- Final shortlist positions will not be available until Monday morning. It is important to note that it can take the IT system a considerable time to finalise the property shortlists after the property adverts close at midnight on Sunday. Autobids are applied when the advertising cycle closes and may impact final shortlist position. We recommend checking final shortlist positions after 9:00 am on Monday morning for an accurate outcome.
4.5 Auto Bidding for vulnerable customers who need support.
Some customers may be deemed vulnerable due to physical disability, learning disability, illness, language difficulty or for any other reason that may make it harder for them to participate in the scheme.
An auto bidding facility is available for vulnerable customers who require help to place bids for available housing. Automatic bids can be placed on their behalf. If you wish to set up auto bidding, please contact the organisation who manages your application to discuss the help you need in more detail.
4.6 Bidding for properties in other council areas
You will be able to bid for properties across the different Property Pool Plus council areas but you will normally only have a housing priority band A or B in the area that you live in, unless you have a ‘local connection’ to one or more of the other council areas. However, those who have Band A due to homelessness will only receive Band A in the local authority area that owes them the Homelessness Duty.
4.7 Following your bid
When the lettings cycle has ended and the shortlists have been finalised, the landlord of the property will consider the people who have bid for the property. Some properties will generate a large number of bids, and the landlords will usually contact the person who has made the successful bid for a particular home; however, some partners may also contact more than the first person to speed up the viewing process.
If you have not heard from the landlord by the time the next adverts are published, then you can bid again on the properties available within the new lettings cycle.
If you login to the website, you will be able to see the status of your previous bids.
4.8 When you are made an offer
The landlord will make arrangements for you to view the property and will usually undertake a pre-tenancy interview.
If you have told us any information that is not true, or not told us about changes to your circumstances, then the landlord can withdraw your offer, and your application will be re-assessed.
The pre-tenancy checks will include a financial assessment to ensure you will be able to afford to pay your rent and other living costs and therefore sustain your tenancy. If the outcome of this assessment shows that the tenancy will not be financially sustainable the offer will not be progressed.
4.9 Refusal of a reasonable offer
To ensure you only bid for properties in which you are genuinely interested, and to be as fair as possible to all applicants, the number of reasonable offers you can refuse is limited, see table below.
|
Band |
Reasonable refusal limit |
|---|---|
|
Band A – Homeless or owed a homeless duty |
No refusals |
|
Band A – All others |
One refusal |
| Band B – Homeless or owed a homeless duty | One refusal |
|
Band B – All others |
Two refusals |
|
Band C |
Three refusals |
|
Band D |
No limit |
When the limit is reached, a review of your application and priority will be undertaken, which will result in your priority changing to Band D for a period of 12 months.
The Housing Association making the offer will decide whether the reason for refusing an offer is reasonable except for the case of statutory homelessness when your Homeless Officer decides.
5. What if you disagree with a decision?
You have the right to request a review of a decision made in relation to your application via the organisation that manages your application.
5.1 Requesting a Review of a Decision
The request for a review of a decision can be made to the organisation who manages your application.
The request for a review can be made in person, by telephone, by email or in writing within 15 working days from the date you were advised of the decision you are disputing. The request for a review can be submitted on any of the following grounds:
- Being deemed not eligible or not qualifying to join the scheme.
- The level of priority awarded.
- The facts of a case which are likely to be, or have been, taken account in the assessment of your application e.g., a medical or welfare condition.
- The type of social rented housing for which you will be considered for.
- The extent of your household.
- Whether a nomination constitutes a final offer.
Stage 1:
The review will be carried out by a senior officer who was not involved in the original decision. The senior officer will carry out the review considering all the facts, the policy, any relevant legislation, and any statutory guidance. Any supporting documentation provided by the applicant or the applicant’s representative will also be considered.
A response will be provided within 15 working days.
Stage 2:
If you are not satisfied with the response of the Stage 1 review, you may request a review of the decision by stating your reasons to the organisation who manages your application within 15 working days of notification of the stage 1 decision. An acknowledgement will be issued within 10 working days.
The stage 2 review will be heard by a panel that will be chaired by a senior manager at the relevant scheme council and at least two other panel members, that will be either an officer from one or more of the administering scheme organisations not involved in the original decision or stage 1 review and / or the Property Pool Plus coordinator.
You will be offered the chance of presenting your case in person (or remotely via teams). Wherever possible a meeting will be convened within 15 working days of the acknowledgement letter being issued, however, this period may need to be extended but, in these cases, it will be a maximum of 31 days. The panel will make their decision based on all the evidence that is detailed above. Please note that any new / additional evidence cannot be considered at Stage 2 but should be submitted to assessment prior to the Stage 2 Panel Hearing.
The decision will be provided in writing within 10 working days from when the panel meets.
5.2 Taking further action
Applicants will be informed of their right to pursue a judicial review, where they believe
there is evidence that a decision is irrational, illegal or fails to follow public law procedural requirement. This includes a refusal to take an application to join Property Pool Plus.
If applicants are dissatisfied with how their application and any subsequent complaint has been handled by the local authority, they will be informed of their right to make a claim of maladministration to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
6. Information and Advice
Information and advice on the Allocations Scheme will be provided free of charge. The following help is available to you:
- Help to complete a housing application form if required.
- Written and verbal information to help you understand how your application will be dealt with
- The opportunity to contact staff to find out whether your needs can be met and, if so, guidance on how long you may have to wait for accommodation, which is also available on the scheme website.
- Help with reviews and complaints where appropriate.
7.Administering Scheme Partners
A list of the contact details for the administering scheme partners within the Property Pool Plus scheme can be found on the Contact us page.