Although anyone aged 16 years and over is welcome to join the Spelthorne Housing Register whatever their circumstances, not all applicants can be considered by the Council for rehousing through its nomination rights to Housing Association accommodation. The restrictions are linked to residence, owner/occupation, and certain "persons from abroad".
Residence
If you are not currently resident in Spelthorne, you must have previously lived in the borough for a total of at least 15 years to be considered for nominations. It does not matter how long ago it was, and you can have moved in and out of the Borough any number of times.
If you are living in Spelthorne now, but move to an address outside the Borough at a later date, this restriction would come into force at that time if you did not have 15 years previous residence.
Owner/Occupation
Owner/occupiers cannot usually be considered for nominations to rented accommodation. Exceptions can be made if there is no other reasonable alternative available as follows:
(i) if you are assessed to need special sheltered housing (following discussion with the Housing Association concerned and an Assessment Stay if appropriate).
(ii) if you are assessed to need ordinary sheltered housing or other designated elderly persons accommodation, and you are aged 75 or over.
(iii) if you are assessed to need, or would like to be considered for ordinary sheltered housing, and you are aged 60-74 years, you are encouraged to consider purchasing a property in a Leasehold Scheme for the Elderly (details of vacancies can be obtained from the Housing Needs Section).
If you think that such a solution is inappropriate or unobtainable, you should make an appointment with the Housing Needs Section to discuss the reasons for this, which may include the following:
you have insufficient capital (less than £50,000 in total)
your property is in need of substantial repair and you are unable to tolerate the work involved
your health or social needs would not be met by a Leasehold Scheme (e.g. because there is only a part-time warden, limited social contact etc)
If appropriate the Housing Needs Section will submit a report to the Head of Housing & Community Care, who will decide whether you can be considered for nomination to sheltered housing.
(iv) if you are EITHER aged 60-74 and not assessed to be in need of or are not requesting sheltered accommodation OR aged below 60 years
and consider that you are unable to seek and obtain a suitable alternative property, e.g. for financial reasons, health reasons, state of repair of current property etc, then you should make an appointment with the Housing Needs Section to discuss the matter. If appropriate they will submit a report to the Head of Housing & Community Care, who will decide whether you can be considered for nominations.
Persons from Abroad
By law, certain persons from abroad cannot be considered for rehousing by the Council. The rules are too complicated to set out in any detail here. If you are not a British Citizen, please tick the box to that effect in answer to Question 16 on the first page of the application form. We will then contact you for further information. It may be necessary to invite you to come in to the Council offices for an interview to ensure that we get all the information we need to decide if the rules do apply to you.
Your Right of Appeal
Once you receive a final notification that you cannot be considered for nominations, you have the right to request a review of the decision. The request must be made within 21 days. You would then receive a letter setting out the procedure to be followed from the Director of Community Services, who would carry out the review.
Direct Selection by Housing Associations
Please note that the restrictions on nominations made by the Council may not apply where a Housing Association directly selects a new tenant from the Register. Such selections will be based upon the Association's own allocation policies. In particular most do not have any restrictions based on residence in any specific area. Further details can be obtained by contacting the Association concerned.
Further Information
For further information, you can come to the Housing Advice Centre at the Council Offices, Knowle Green any time during opening hours (9.00 am - 5.00 pm weekdays, Late Night Opening Thursdays till 7.00 pm). Alternatively you can contact the Housing Needs Section by telephone on 01784 446380/1/2/3/4/5.
