Download User Guide - Search Moves

Contents
PAGE 2
Welcome to SEARCH MOVES
PAGE 3
Information in other formats
PAGES 4
Contact details
PAGE 5-6
How SEARCH MOVES works
PAGE 7- 8
Priority Bands
PAGE 9
Distribution Outlets
PAGE 10
Which Properties can I bid for?
PAGE 11
The Adverts
PAGE 12 -14
How to express your interest
in properties
PAGE 15
Feedback
PAGE 16
General information
Welcome to SEARCH MOVES
Scheme
User Guide
SEARCH MOVES is a sub regional choice based lettings
partnership between Spelthorne Borough Council, Elmbridge
Borough Council, Runnymede Borough Council, Elmbridge
Housing Trust and A2Dominion. It has been created to enable
people to express choice in where they want to live, including the
ability to move within each partner’s area.
SEARCH MOVES gives you more choice about the type of property and
the area you want to live in. In the past your Council or Housing Association
decided where and when you would be offered a home.
Now you will have the chance to choose the type of property and the area
in which you want to live. You will be able to see an advert of the properties
which are available to rent, which you can express an interest in by way of
‘bidding’ which will be explained in full later on in this user guide.
SEARCH MOVES is working in partnership with LOCATA who are an
organisation which specialise in choice based lettings and who work with
many other organisations to offer this service.
This scheme can be used for existing Council and Housing Association tenants
as well as households who are living with family, have a private rented tenancy or
other forms of occupation and are on a Housing Register of one of the partner’s
of SEARCH MOVES. These applicants will be known as HOMESEEKERS or
TRANSFERS.
In future the Council will not contact you to advise you have been nominated
to a particular property. From now on, you will need to look at the adverts of
properties that are available for rent, which will be advertised on a fortnightly
basis through a ‘Freesheet’ or on the SEARCH MOVES Website.
You need to look at these adverts fortnightly and decide whether you are
interested in a property and whether you can bid based on the picture icon
in the advert. This includes things like bed size, property type such as house,
flat, maisonette, bungalow, or whether the property is suitable for people with
mobility problems (picture icons are explained later in this guide).
Once you are registered on one of the SEARCH MOVES partners’ Housing
Register your application will be assessed into one of five bands, A to E, with
Band A being the highest priority. Within each band there is a priority order.
For Band A priority is based on the date the application was given this award.
Bands B – E are based on the registration date of the application.
You will need to bid for a property if you want to be considered for it and how
you do this will be explained later in this guide. The applicant with the highest
banding and priority within this banding will normally be invited to view the
property and may view with other shortlisted applicants.
In each ‘freesheet’ and on the website you will be able to see how homes
advertised previously were let and the level of priority the successful bidder
had and how long they waited for a new home. When you see this information
it may help you decide on whether to expand or change your choice of
property type e.g. House, Flat or Area.
Choice Based Lettings will not create any more properties but simply offers a
choice to applicants and gives a realistic picture of availability.
The Scheme User Guide is a publication of Locata Housing
Services Ltd. Editorials, photos and illustrations can only be
published by permission of the publisher (all rights reserved).
Page 2 • SEARCH MOVES scheme user guide
Publisher: Locata Housing Services Ltd
Editor:
Diana Martin
POWERED BY