Today we start a series of articles about council housing in South Tyneside. These articles will provide local people with advice on council housing and to help them understand what can often be an over complicated and bureaucratic system. 

In 2005 South Tyneside Council set up an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) called South Tyneside Homes to manage the borough’s council homes. One of the first things South Tyneside Homes did (with the council’s approval) was to change the way it allocates council homes. It did this by abolishing the old Housing Waiting List and replaced it with a Housing Register.

Council homes are now allocated to applicants on the Housing Register using a choice based letting system called “Your Choice”. There is only one Housing Register irrespective of whether you are already living in a council home or not.

Anyone aged 16 or over can apply to join the scheme. Normally an applicant would need to be 18 years or older to hold a tenancy but young persons under the age of 18 will have their needs assessed by a specialist team.

To join the Housing Register you will need to complete an application form, these are available from:

• The Customer Contact Centre – Telephone 0800 177 7006
• The Your Choice Team – Telephone 0191 424 7820
• From your local housing office click here for details
• You can also register online here

Or you can download the Housing Application form  and Reference Request Form  by clicking on the relevant links. Completed forms should be returned to the Your Choice team or your local housing office.

You will need to supply proof of identity and if applicable details of previous tenancies and references from previous registered landlords (if applicable).

Once you have sent in your completed forms your application will be registered within 10 days and you will receive confirmation of this. You will also be allocated a unique reference number and given details of the types of properties that you are eligible for.

Your application will be assessed in line with the South Tyneside Homes lettings policy and you will then be placed in one of five priority bands. You will receive confirmation of which band you have been placed in.

The next article will explain more about the five housing bands and outline what applicants can do if they are unhappy about the band they have been placed in.

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