Allocations Policy

Status: Past

Social housing is in short supply in Rother and our allocations policy helps us decide who we can help and who we can help first. It was time to make sure that our allocations policy was up to date and relevant to local housing needs. To start, we reviewed our old policy and drafted a new policy with changes we are thinking of making. Then, we consulted on the draft policy. What we were told will be taken into account on the next draft and will be considered by our Councillors when they make their final decision on the new policy.

UPDATE: 

The Housing Allocations Policy was discussed at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Monday, 27 January 2020. This included a summary of the consultation results.  All comments were printed and placed in the Members Room one week before the meeting.  The councillors have the opportunity to read every single submission.  For the report and minutes see agenda item 9 at https://rother.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=154&MId=162

Please read our Housing Allocations Policy (proposed amendments August 2022) .  

The main suggested change was to move from four priority groups: A, B, C and D down to two priority categories: Urgent Need category and Waiting List category (where the order will be by awarded points).  We thought giving points in the Waiting List category makes it clearer to applicants about their priority and how it compares to other households and where they are on the list.  But there were a number of other changes.  

We welcomed feedback, especially if these changes might affect you.  We asked to hear from housing register applicants, organisations that support or work with potential housing applicants and providers of social and affordable housing.  The public, businesses and other local charities, groups and organisations were welcome to respond if they have an interest.

Policies have to use use specific terms that can be difficult to understand.  If you had a question on the draft policy or there is something you don’t understand please email us before responding to the consultation – consultations@rother.gov.uk   We may use your question and our answer to update this consultation article.

If you need another format or another language please email consultations@rother.gov.uk

Update One – 26 July 2019

We have invited to consult:

  • All town and parish councils in the Rother district
  • Local branches of charities that support people with disabilities and long-term limiting health conditions or illnesses, including mental health and substance misuse.  Also NHS Hastings and Rother CCG.
  • Housing associations that operate in Rother and other landlords
  • Organisations that support the homeless and those at risk of homelessness and people on low incomes or in poverty,
  • Statutory bodies such as East Sussex Council Council – especially Adult Social Care, Mental Health, Traveller Team – and Sussex Police.
  • Organisations that represent or work with groups that are hard to reach in our community, including ethnic minorities.
  • Households on the housing register and housing applicants
  • Rother residents

Update Two – 9 September 2019

During the consultation period we received some feedback and have made a few changes to the draft policy.  This new version is available for further consultation.  The consultation is extended four weeks to 7 October to allow everyone to consider if the revisions make any difference to their response. 

We have notified all the organisations above.

To date, we have received over 100 individual responses from local residents and local organisations. 

Homeless at home – we have been asked to clarify the term homeless at home.  This is a term for people who are found to be homeless but have somewhere to stay, such as sofa surfing or staying with friends, and are not rough sleeping.

Update Three – 25 September 2019

We’ve emailed everyone from the list in Update One to tell them that the consultation date has been extended.  We invited every applicant on the housing list to take part in the consultation.

So far, we’ve had just under 250 responses from residents and local organisations.  This includes four parish councils, two housing organisations, one group supporting homeless people and one organisation supporting people in debt. 

For each of our proposed changes the majority of respondents have agreed with our proposals. 

Update Four – 7 October 2019

Two more parish councils gave us a response before the consultation closed.  We also had a response from the Gypsy and Traveller Team at East Sussex County Council who are satisfied the policy does not discriminate against the traveller community.

We are analysing all responses from 8 October onwards.

How to Take Part in this Consultation

This consultation closed on Monday 7th October 2019

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