Wiltshire

To be considered for the Housing Register, and get the opportunity to bid for advertised homes, please make a housing application online and provide supporting information to help us assess your housing need.

To make a housing application to Wiltshire Council, please first create an account by clicking Register at the top of the page.  Once you have created an account, you have a log in number and a memorable date and an area of the page headed My Account appears.   Please keep these details safe and you can then log in to your account whenever you want.  The next step to make a housing application is to click Apply for Social Housing in the My Account section.  If you are having difficulty in making an online housing application, please visit the help page.

Qualifying to join the Housing Register

To assess your housing need, we need to establish your eligibility for an allocation of social housing in the UK, your connection to the council's area and that any housing debts (current and former rent arrears, damage recharges or possession costs) are in regular payment.  We ask for the minimum number of supporting documents possible to carry out the housing need assessment, making checks on council systems eg the Revenues and Benefits system and the Electoral Register.  NB If you reside in the council’s area, and are registered for Council Tax, we will not require evidence of a connection to the council’s area.

*Note for existing Wiltshire Council tenants

For Wiltshire Council tenants who are applying to transfer, we do not require any documents as we are able to undertake the necessary checks through the council’s systems, unless you need to move for medical or welfare reasons, in which case we will liaise with you directly.

Supporting documents

If you have made an online housing application and wish to provide supporting documents, it is essential that you supply supporting documents because the service does not have the capacity to pick up all the online housing applications it receives.  Please use any scanning facilities to which you have access or a camera and email the images of documents to the service at homes4wiltshire@wiltshire.gov.uk.  Alternatively, photocopies may be sent by post to the council’s offices at Homes4Wiltshire, Wiltshire Council, County Hall, Trowbridge BA14 8JN.  NB Please be patient and refrain from visiting our offices and contacting the Housing Department unless it is essential.  We have a backlog of housing needs assessments at present.

The smaller any electronic copies of documents are, the better.  If you find your documents, particularly photos, are larger than 4MB, there are instructions for reducing Adobe, jpeg and Word files in the FAQ page.

Please note that, if you are offered a home, the Homes4Wiltshire team or a housing provider may ask for original documents prior to confirming that offer, to demonstrate your eligibility for housing in the UK and Right to Rent.

Housing needs assessment

Once you have completed your housing application form and sent in the information that we have requested, we will assess whether you qualify to be considered for social housing.  We aim to do this within 28 working days of receipt of all the documents required.  It may take longer if your case is complex and we have to ask you further questions.  When we place you on the Housing Register (or if we do not), we will formally write to you.  If we place you on the Housing Register, you will be given 

• Your housing application number
• The band that your application has been placed in
• Your effective date (the date you were placed in the band)
• The number of bedrooms you are entitled to

You must tell us if there are any changes in your circumstances so that we can reassess your application and, if necessary, make changes to your band and bedroom entitlement.  You log on to your account and make the changes for our staff to approve.  If you fail to tell us about a change in circumstances, then your housing application may be suspended for reassessment and you will miss out on a new home.

The documents required are listed below:

Eligibility for housing in the UK

Some people from abroad are ineligible for housing so we need to check eligibility for housing.

UK and ROI nationals – a birth certificate or current passport Where not your own children we require an adoption/residence/guardianship order or a fostering agreement will be required EEA nationals – a current passport, country ID card or similar document Nationals of other countries and Refugees – a current passport or Home Office Leave to Remain letter

Residency or association with the Wiltshire Council area

A connection to Wiltshire Council’s area is needed to join our register.

 

Residency If you have lived in the Wiltshire Council Area continuously for 2 years and liable for Council Tax or registered to vote, we can confirm your connection through the Council Tax and electoral registration records. If not, please provide A copy of a bank/building society statement, utility bill, tenancy agreement or other document showing your name and address from the last 3 months, and A similar document from between 2 and 3 years ago

OR

Working in the Wiltshire Council area Please provide either A copy of your contract of employment* or A letter from your employer confirming your employment* or Payslips if these show the place of work or If self-employed -
A document with details of the partnership, company or, if trading on your own, registration for income tax self-assessment or, if not self-assessed, Class 2 National Insurance contributions	* work includes unpaid internships and regular voluntary work (16 hours+ each week)

OR

Close family members (parents, legal guardians, grandparents, adult siblings and adult children)

We can confirm the length of residency of your close relative by checking their Council Tax records. To enable us to carry out this check, please ensure your relative has completed and returned the attached close relatives authorisation form. We also require all relevant long birth certificates for parents and 3 generations' birth certificates will be required for grandparents .Where names have changed, copies of the relevant marriage/civil partnership certificates, deed polls or court orders.  If we are unable to confirm residency of 5+ years for your relative through our council tax records we will require the following: A utility bill, Council Tax bill, bank statement, photo licence or similar document. These will be required from both 5 to 6 years ago and within the last 3 months, with documents for each address where the relative(s) concerned have changed address

Guardianship cases  For legal guardians, we will also need  a copy of the court order granting guardianship

Adopted children For adopted children, if a new birth certificate with the adoptive parent(s)'s name(s) is not available, we will also need a copy of the adoption order in favour of the adoptive parents.

Connection based on special circumstances

If you do not have a connection by means of one of the above criteria, we may consider you to have a connection if you have a special reason to be in Wiltshire Council’s area eg a need to receive specialist medical services, support from a close family member or use services which are not available or cannot be provided elsewhere. Please state on your housing application the reason for needing to move to WiltshireCouncil’s area. If you have any documents in your possession which demonstrate the need to move to or remain in Wiltshire Council’s area, please provide these.  If not, pleasedon’t request a new letter from a health or social care professional.  We can contact them for further information.  In making a housing application, you consent to the necessary exchange of information to assess whether special circumstances apply.

Important note:  Success at bidding through the Homes4Wiltshire choice based lettings scheme is based on parish connections.  A parish connection is either residency in the parish where you live for 12 months or more, employment in a parish or the residency of a close family member as above in the parish where s/he lives for 5 years or more.  If you bid for a property in a parish where you have a connection, you are placed more highly in the ranking of bids for that property than if you do not have a connection to that parish.  We may use the above documents to evidence parish connections.  If you state you have other parish connections, Homes4Wiltshire will carry out random checks where an applicant has claimed a parish connection through close family members to confirm these connections.

Exclusion from needing a connection to Wiltshire Council’s area

Some groups of housing applicant are excluded from needing a connection to the Wiltshire Council area, including some people who are or have been in the UK armed forces and reserve forces, some people escaping domestic abuse and verified rough sleepers.  More details of who qualifies for not needing a connection may be found in our Allocation Policy. Please click here.

If you believe you are in an exclusion group, please state this on the housing application form and we will seek further information once we commence the housing needs assessment.  In the case of current or former armed forces or reserve forces personnel, please provide some written evidence for us to consider eg

• Discharge from Armed Forces

• Proof of posting/drafting

If you are escaping domestic abuse or sleeping rough, please contact our Housing Options team. Please click here. Contact Us

Dependent children

If you have dependent children, we need to confirm that your home is your child/children’s main residence and that they are dependent on you.  Please supply either

Your Child Benefit Award letter for the current or previous tax year showing your name and address and your childrens’ name Or a complete bank or building society statement from the last 3 months showing your name and address and the Child Benefit payment

 

If you have more than 2 children and are not receiving Child Benefit for one of them, please supply a letter addressed to you, as the parent of the child, from a school, healthcare service, registered child minder service or children’s nursing service showing you are the main contact for the child at that organisation.  We would expect that you will such records available rather than needing to request this specially.

 

If you are caring for a child who is not your own, and no adoption or special guardianship order has been made, we will need a letter from the local Children’s Services Department of this arrangement.

We may check with other professionals that a child resides with you.

All tenants - evidence rent account is up to date or that any housing debts are being managed

We need to confirm that you either don’t have a housing debt or, if you do, that it is managed.  If you have a housing debt we expect either that half has been paid or that you have made regular repayments for 6 months and in both cases are carrying on with regular repayments

 

	Either A copy of your last 6 months’ rent statement showing rent charges and the payments you have made or A letter from your landlord confirming that rent is either up to date or you have been making payments against any rent arrears

Please note that you can email scanned copies or photos of documents to: Homes4Wiltshire@wiltshire.gov.uk Once we have received all the information we require we will assess your application within 28 working days