South Ayrshire Council News

Cllr Philip Saxton, Housing and Customer First Portfolio Holder, Cllr John Hampton, Paul Torrance, Chairperson of Ayrshire Housing and Cllr Campbell

Filling in several forms with the same information is annoying, time consuming and frankly we all have better things to do.

The good news is if you are applying for housing with South Ayrshire Council or Ayrshire Housing you only have to fill in one form.

Councillor Philip Saxton, Housing and Customer First Portfolio Holder for South Ayrshire Council said: "Filling in forms can take ages and some people find it very stressful. Having to fill in two forms which require a lot of the same information is frustrating and annoying.

"This is why along with Ayrshire Housing we have devised one form for housing applicants in South Ayrshire, fill in one form, job done.

"Our organisations operate separate allocations policies and allocations systems, however we both assess the number of points awarded based on information given to us by the applicant.

"The new application form enables people to apply to one or both organisations for housing and makes the process much easier and quicker."

In addition to the new 'one stop' application form a new housing information booklet has been developed to guide and assist people completing the common housing application form. The booklet is packed with useful information such as location of properties to let; how often properties are let and an explanation of how points are awarded to applicants.

Paul Torrance, Chairperson of Ayrshire Housing said: "The launch of the common housing application form and joint housing information guide is an excellent example of the productive efforts of the joint working between our officers and their colleagues in South Ayrshire Council.

"We, at Ayrshire Housing, have been delighted with the success of this collaboration which was carried out solely to make applying for a house easier for applicants. Our respective staff teams are also working closely with each other in areas such as welfare reform and the Scottish Social Housing Charter and we hope that these close working relationships will provide further benefits for tenants and residents of both Ayrshire Housing and South Ayrshire Council."

• Housing in South Ayrshire
• Ayrshire Housing