Date: 05/03/2007
Home Options - the new way to apply for a Council property in the High Peak - is now live, with 17 local homes up for grabs on the first lhousing ist.
Anyone who has signed up to join the Home Options Register can put their name forward to be considered for the properties.
The successful household for each new home will be chosen from these bidders, based on the priority band they fit into. The criteria include the length of time they have been waiting for a property and current circumstances.
The first homes to be let through the system, on Thursday 1 March, are at:
Every fortnight a new list of properties will be advertised in council and housing offices, on the Home-Options and High Peak Community Housing websites, in libraries and at other prominent places throughout the Borough.
The successful households, and the reasons why they are offered the properties, will be published with the next round of available properties.
High Peak Community Housing has held a series of extremely successful public meetings to explain the new system, attended by hundreds of people. A survey from these meetings shows that local people believe the new system is much more open and easy to understand, and they support it.
"Help is available at all our offices to help people join the new system, and understand how to put their names forward for a property," said Jason Hawkes, who is spearheading the new system. "Home-Options provides greater openness and understanding for local people in how homes are allocated, and allows them to see properties which are available before deciding whether they want to put their names forward."
Details of the new scheme are available at www.Home-Options.org, www.hpch.co.uk and all High Peak Community Housing offices.