General Rule
THE
APPLICATION FORM
The Council shall cancel an application
where an applicant knowingly or recklessly gives false
information. The applicant shall not be entitled to re-apply
for housing for a period of twelve months from the date
the first application was cancelled.
The Council shall withdraw an offer of
accommodation where an applicant knowingly or recklessly
gives false information.
The Council shall take action to recover
possession of a property where an applicant knowingly
or recklessly gives false information to secure the tenancy.
The signed declaration by the applicant
shall allow the Council to carry out any necessary enquiries
relevant to the application.
TRANSFER APPLICATIONS
Timescale
South Ayrshire Council tenants may submit a transfer application at any time.
Debt/Unsatisfactory Tenancy
South Ayrshire Council tenants:
Will be allowed to register their housing
need, but their application will remain inactive unless
they come to an arrangement satisfactory to the Head
of Housing to pay off arrears, and/or bring the house/garden
up to a satisfactory standard.
An applicant who has current rent arrears
in respect of a South Ayrshire Council tenancy, and who
has been sequestrated, shall be allowed to register their
housing need, but their application shall remain inactive
unless he/she comes to an arrangement satisfactory to
the Head of Regeneration and Housing to pay off arrears including the
sequestrated amount. In addition, no offer shall be made
to a sequestrated applicant who has outstanding rent
arrears, until the account has been paid off in full.
Right to Buy
A tenant who applies to purchase his/her South Ayrshire Council owned house under the Right to Buy legislation will be contacted in the first instance to determine if they wish their application to be reassessed based on their new circumstances. If the applicant does not wish a reassessment the application will be cancelled at the applicant’s request.
Disabled Adaptations
Where a transfer applicant is assessed
as requiring disabled adaptations costing £2,500
or more to his/her current accommodation, then he/she
may:
A tenant whose house has been adapted for disability at a cost of £2,500 or more will be eligible to submit a transfer application, however the application will be suspended from offers of housing unless there has been a substantial change in his/her circumstances which requires them to move to another property, for example on priority medical grounds (see section on Suspension of Housing Applications ).
Succession
Where a tenancy is awarded to a qualifying person under
the first priority of 'Who
is a Qualified person?' of this policy any live transfer
application will be placed in the name of the new tenant
without loss of tenancy or waiting time points. However,
other qualifying applicants will not be awarded tenancy
or waiting time points.
Proceedings for Possession
South Ayrshire Council tenants who have been served with
a notice under section 14(2) of the Housing (Scotland)
Act 2001 or who have an eviction order granted against
them will not be eligible to transfer.
Anti-Social Behaviour
Where a tenant or a member of his/her household is subject
to an investigation of anti-social behaviour they may not
be eligible to transfer pending the outcome of the investigation
and any other proceedings.
MATRIMONIAL DISPUTES AND RELATIONSHIP
BREAKDOWNS: SOUTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL TENANCIES.
If the court awards the tenancy of the
matrimonial home to one spouse or partner, the person
who loses or fails to gain the tenancy and applies for
housing shall be awarded tenancy points equal to the
time he/she has continuously tenanted/occupied the matrimonial
home, and any other points to which he/she is entitled.
A tenant who voluntarily assigns the tenancy
of the matrimonial home to his/her spouse/partner, and
leaves the house permanently and applies for housing,
shall be awarded points equivalent to tenancy points
for the time he/she occupied the matrimonial home/s and
any other points to which he/she is entitled.
A tenant who wishes to assign the tenancy
of the matrimonial home to his/her spouse/ partner and
intends to continue living in the house shall be allowed
to do so, provided the tenancy has been conducted satisfactorily
and the rent is paid up to date.
JOINT TENANCIES
Joint tenancies may be offered to the applicant(s),
his/her partner or any other qualifying member of the
household.
Existing sole tenancies shall be converted
to joint tenancies on request where:
OTHER
RULES
General
The policy shall be administered by the
Head of Regeneration and Housing, or his nominee(s) under delegated powers.
The Council reserves the right to check
the accuracy of any information supplied by the applicant
and make any enquiries in respect of any application
made under this policy.
If an applicant moves to other accommodation
without good reason, and this worsens his/her housing
situation, his/her application shall continue to be assessed
by reference to the previous accommodation for 12 months
from the date he/she moved to the other accommodation.
The Divisional Housing Manager will determine each application
under this criteria.
Applications from persons who have a legal
right to occupy accommodation elsewhere, shall be assessed
as if they were still occupying that accommodation
Previous anti-social behaviour and unsatisfactory tenancy report(s) will be taken into account by the Divisional Housing Manager when determining eligibility for housing.
The three multi-storey blocks of flats at Riverside Place, Ayr are classed as amenity housing and applicants will need to meet the requirements for amenity housing.
At the discretion of the Divisional Housing Manager, where
an applicant indicates that they are currently unable
to consider an offer of housing, their application can
be suspended indefinitely without loss of waiting time
points if they can show good cause.
Former Tenants
An applicant who was previously the tenant of a South Ayrshire Council property, can register their housing need at any time.
A former tenant who owes any tenancy related debt to
the council will only be eligible to accept an offer
of housing where:
the amount of the outstanding liability is not more than
one twelfth of the annual rent which was payable; or
the applicant:
-
has agreed an arrangement for paying
the outstanding liability;
-
has made payments in accordance with
that arrangement for at least three months;
-
Is continuing to make such payments,
and
- The amount of the liability outstanding is not considered
to be significant.
An applicant who was previously the tenant of a South Ayrshire
Council property, and was responsible for causing or allowing
nuisance or anti-social behaviour involving a member of
his/her household, can register their housing need at any
time, but may not be eligible for re-housing.
Cancelled Applications
The Council reserves the right to cancel
an application where the applicant refuses or fails
to respond to correspondence.
Where an application has been cancelled,
the applicant may apply to have their application reinstated
including their waiting time points, within 28 days
of cancellation provided they can show just cause.
A review shall be carried out annually and failure to disclose material changes in circumstances shall result in the application being cancelled.
Joint Applicants: Housing List
Joint Applicants who separate
or no longer wish to live together but remain in
the same property
The joint application shall be cancelled and
each applicant shall apply for housing separately.
Waiting time points shall be awarded from the date
of the original application.
Joint applicants who separate
and one applicant leaves the property
The applicant who leaves may apply for housing.
Waiting time points shall be awarded from the date
of original application.
The applicant who remains at the property
shall continue as a single applicant with the original
date of application.
Joint applicants who live apart
Joint applications in this case will be assessed
on the basis of the applicant with the worst circumstances.
Joint Applicants: Transfer List
One joint tenant leaves the property
and relinquishes the tenancy to the remaining joint
applicant.
The joint applicant who remains at the
property shall be treated as a single transfer applicant
and shall retain the tenancy points which accrued to
the former joint application.
The joint applicant who left the property
shall apply to the housing list and be awarded waiting
time points backdated to the date of the original joint
transfer application.
The joint tenants remain in the property
but wish to be housed separately.
Each applicant shall be treated as a
single transfer applicant and retain tenancy and waiting
time points which accrued to the original joint application.
Couples
Couples who separate or no longer
wish to live together, where one party is a current
applicant.
The current applicant will retain their
original date of application but will be reassessed
to reflect their new circumstances. The other partner
shall apply for housing and their application shall
be assessed in accordance with this policy.
APPEALS PROCEDURE
An applicant may appeal to the Housing Panel on any decision made under this policy.
Notes
A transfer applicant who owes any tenancy
related debt to the council will only be eligible to
accept an offer of housing where:
the amount of the outstanding liability
is not more than one twelfth of the annual rent; or
the applicant:
-
has agreed an arrangement for paying
the outstanding liability;
-
has made payments in accordance with
that arrangement for at least three months;
-
is continuing to make such payments
and.
-
The amount of the liability outstanding is not considered
to be significant.
Transfer applicants who cannot clear tenancy related debt
within 3 days of receiving an offer or failing to meet
the above criteria will be considered to have refused the
offer. In exceptional circumstances, the Divisional Housing Manager
may deem it appropriate to extend this time scale up to
7 days.
A transfer applicant will not be eligible to accept an
offer of housing where his/her present house or garden
has failed an inspection at the point of offer and the
applicant is unable to bring the property up to standard
within 3 days of the inspection. In these circumstances,
the offer will count as a refusal and the application will
be suspended until the house/garden is brought up to standard.
Waiting time points will be awarded during the period
of suspension. In exceptional circumstances, the Area Housing
Manager may deem it appropriate to extend this time scale
up to 7 days.
Where there are no applicants on the waiting list for a
particular vacancy, the Area Manager will consider suitable
applicants held for other areas, house types or property
sizes. |
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