There are five steps for you to follow in order to choose your new home:
Step 1 – Membership
You are automatically a member of Kent Homechoice if you are registered on the council’s housing register. If you are not registered for housing you can contact your council for an application form.
You can only bid for properties in the area that you are registered in.
If you need more information about whether you are eligible, please contact the Housing Options Team at your council.
Step 2 – Registration
Once your completed application has been assessed and you have been included on the housing register, we will write to you. Some of the councils operate a points scheme and others a banding scheme to assess priority. We will tell you what band/points you are in, the size of property you are eligible for and your unique Kent Homechoice number. You will also be sent a User Guide.
If there are any changes to your household, accommodation or personal circumstances you must contact the Housing Options Team at your council. You may have to complete another form and provide us with evidence. It is very important that we know any changes as it may alter your priority, or the type of property you are eligible for.
You can bid for up to three homes each fortnight. You should only bid for homes you are eligible for. Homes are advertised on the website
www.kenthomechoice.org.uk, digital TV and on personalised freesheets.
You can bid from Friday until a week on Monday at 12 noon. From April 2011 bidding will change to all day Friday until the following Wednesday at 1pm. Your bids must reach us by this time to be considered. The adverts give you information about each property available for letting and a photograph will be included.
You can bid in 6 ways:
1. On the internet
Go to www.kenthomechoice.org.uk and log on with your unique Kent Homechoice number and your date of birth. Follow the instructions on screen.
2. By digital TV
Bid through an interactive digital television or a web-enabled mobile phone.
3. By telephone
Call 0906 294 0020 and follow the instructions. Calls cost 25p/ minute. Calls will normally take less than 1 minute.
4. By coupon
You must ensure you post the coupon in good time to arrive before bidding closes. To request more coupons, simply tick the box on the coupon when you send it back and we will post them to you.
5. By text message
07781 472 726
6. In person at the council offices/Gateway
See the contact section for your council's details.
Step 4 – Offer
At the end of the bidding period, all bids for homes are put in priority order to produce a list of eligible applicants for each property.
The landlord of each property offers from the list after making further eligibility checks. Following these checks if your name is still at the top of the “priority list” you will be invited to view the property. If you refuse, the next person who is eligible on the list will be offered the home. Please note that you will only be able to view a property when it has been formally offered to you.
You may not automatically be penalised for refusing properties you have chosen. Your council will advise you if any action will be taken because you have refused a property. Some landlords invite more than one applicant to view their properties at the same time, although the property is always offered first to the applicant with the highest priority.
If you are top of more than one list, the landlord will decide which property to offer you after contacting you and the other properties will be offered elsewhere. If you receive an offer to view but you do not wish to, or are unable to attend you must contact the landlord immediately.
Step 5 – Feedback
It is not possible to notify you individually when your bids have been unsuccessful but you can get this information from the website (see ‘bidding history’ after you have logged in), digital TV or a personalised freesheet.
All properties that have been advertised will be listed once they have been let. This tells you how many people bid for each property as well as the points/band of the successful bidder.
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