Choice Based Letting: Going live next week

There is a big change in how social housing is allocated next week with the launch of Home-Link, the Cambridge Choice Based Letting Scheme (CBL).

This means that from next week instead of going on the waiting list until a house is allocated to you, people on the housing needs register can "bid" for the houses that become available, up to three of their choice each fortnight. The houses will be allocated based on the four priority bands (from A ("urgent") to D) and then based upon how long the bidder has been on the list.

Each fortnight a magazine (available at City Homes North and Arbury Library in our area) will be issued, and the houses will go on the Home-Link website, and a bidding round will take place by web, SMS, phone, post or in person. The first bidding round is next week!

Help with bidding will be available at City Homes North, and from voluntary organisations such as the Citzens Advice Bureau and Cambridge Law Centre.

From the second issue there will be a report: this will allow those on the list to see the need band and the time that the successful bidders had been waiting.

Covering Cambridge City Council houses, and residential social landlords and Council stock in 6 neighbouring local authorities, this is one of the larger CBL schemes in the country, and as far as we know the first to cover a mix of urban and rural districts.

A word of warning: the scheme doesn't create any new homes: we still have around 6000 people on the waiting list in total. Further Cambridge has just under 300 people in band A (Urgent) and just under 300 in band B (High) at any time but only around 600 homes are available each year. That figure includes sheltered housing and bedsits. There is still huge demand for our limited stock.

However the advantages are that now prospective tenants have more choice in the houses they will live in, can see more clearly what is available for tenants, and can see clearly how long people are waiting to get housed.