| How to apply | |
| About these notes: | For
further information, please contact Customer Services on 01492 572727. Applicant
Handbook |
Please
read through these notes before completing and
returning your application form to us. These notes will tell you
about North Wales Housing Association, will explain our rules on
letting properties and will inform you about such things as
appeals and rights to information. |
|
Who We Are |
|
| North Wales Housing Association is an organisation dedicated to providing homes for people who cannot afford to buy or rent on the open market and are genuinely in housing need as assessed by a points system. | |
Who’s
In Charge |
|
| The Association is registered with the National Assembly for Wales which is a public body that funds and supervises the work of Welsh Housing Associations. A Board made up of local professional people committed to the provision of housing decides on the policies implemented by the Association and employs a team of professional officers to provide a quality housing service. | |
Who
Can Apply |
|
Applicants should normally
be at least 18 years of age although |
|
How
to Apply |
|
| Applications
should be made by completing the application form and
returning it to their nearest Area Office (please refer to the application
form for details of our Office addresses). If you need help to complete
your application form, do please ask us. In addition, the Association may accept referrals from a range of agencies, e.g. Social Services, Health Authority, Probation Services and voluntary groups. If you are in contact with such agencies you should request them to support your application in writing. Please ensure that you answer all the questions on the application form, especially “Places” and state exactly where you wish to live. Do please refer to the attached Accommodation Area List to give you an idea as to the areas the Association covers and the type of housing we provide in those areas. If you wish to live in an area that is not listed but is in the general area between Kinmel Bay and Caernarfon, please include it in your choice as this will help us to know the level of demand and where we should be building in the future. N.B. Giving any false information may disqualify any applicant from further consideration and any tenancy granted as a result of false information can be repossessed by legal action through the County Court. |
|
Being
Fair to Everyone - Equal Opportunities |
|
| The Association deals fairly with all eligible applicants, whatever their sex, sexuality, race, colour, disability, origin, nationality, religious or political views. To ensure that its services are available to all members of the community, regular monitoring is undertaken. Consequently, the “ ethnic” question on the application form is one way of monitoring equal opportunity and there is no obligation for the applicants to complete this question. | |
The
Waiting List |
|
| Upon
receipt of an application for accommodation, the application will
be assessed in accordance with the above rules and the points scheme. The applicants will normally receive a reply within 4 weeks which will state how many points have been awarded, a summary of how this is calculated and whether or not the application has been entered onto the waiting list. Visits are only carried out when homes are known to be coming available for letting. As we are unable to help everyone who applies for accommodation, a points system for prioritising applications is used to assess those applicants who are in the greatest housing need. Applicants who do not obtain a sufficient number of points to place them on the waiting list are notified that their application has not been successful. However, they should inform the Association of any future change in their housing position as this could affect their points total. In this way the Association is able to keep a list that enables offers of accommodation to be made to those in the most need. It is vital that we keep our waiting list down to a size which means that those on the list should ideally not have to wait several years before they are re-housed. This means that we will regularly have to sort through our list and it is possible that people on our waiting list may at a future date be advised that they are no longer on the list because new applicants with higher points have got onto the list. This may seem to be unfair but we have to try to give the short supply of homes to those people with the highest number of points. The Association sends out on a six monthly basis renewal forms to applicants to ensure that the information held is accurate and up to date. If you do not complete and return the annual renewal form, we will have to assume that you are no longer interested in being re-housed by us and therefore your application will be removed from our waiting list. Do please therefore always complete and return your 6 monthly renewal form should you still want us to re-house you. All applicants should submit another application form when a change of circumstances occurs which affects their housing position. If there is a change in your circumstances which could affect your housing need (for example, your landlord has served a notice to quit on you, or your family size may have increased since you completed your application form) do please let us have the relevant information. |
|
How
Dwellings Are Allocated |
|
| Council nominations will normally receive at least half of our vacancies. The remaining vacancies will be allocated between those waiting lists applicants, transfer applicants and other applicants (such as “Special Needs” applicants or “Mobility Transfer” applicants) who have received the highest number of points. This allows us to try to be as fair as possible to different types of people who apply to us for housing and to take into account the number of vacant properties likely to be available in your local area over a period of time. | |
Right
to Information |
|
| Details and other information about the Association’s management and maintenance performance are available on request. Should you require more information about a particular part of our Lettings Policy, do please contact your local office for more detail. | |
Right
To See Personal Details |
|
| All applicants for accommodation have the right to see the details kept by the Association about them, and that have been provided by the applicant. | |
Complaints/Appeals
Procedure |
|
| If you feel that the Association has dealt with your application unfairly, or you wish to appeal against any decision made, you should write firstly to the Association’s Housing Manager for your area giving the details. If you are not happy with the response you can write to the Operational Services Director, asking him/her to look into your application. We do have a proper Complaints Procedure and, should you require a copy, do please contact your local office for details. | |
Finally |
|
| We
have tried to make this leaflet both easy to read and as full of
information as possible. Do please however remember to contact us
if
there is anything you do not understand or that we have left out. ALL INFORMATION SUPPLIED IS KEPT STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL |
|
