What Happens After Bidding Closes

• A shortlist will be made of all the eligible customers and sent to the Housing Association who has advertised the property
• They will contact the successful customer. who will be asked to provide information such as Identification, proof of Child Benefit, Benefit Award Letters etc.
• The customer will be invited to view the property and a formal offer will be made.
• The customer will be told that they will be responsible for the rent on their new home, from the start date of the tenancy, which could be as soon as a week after the offer is made.
• If the customer decides not to accept the property it will then be offered to the customer next on the list and so on until the tenancy is accepted.
• Results of all previous successful bids will be published on the Home Choice website: www.homechoiceplus.org.uk

Who wins the Bid?

Customers who have met the correct criteria and have been registered the longest will be top of the list for the properties they bid for. If they refuse the property it will automatically be offered to the next customer on the list.

Sometimes we cannot shortlist customers

This could be because:

• There is a local lettings agreement for that property
• The customer has rent arrears with another landlord or
• Where a risk assessment is carried out by the Housing Association that raises serious concerns about the Association's ability to manage that applicant's tenancy.

The Housing Association may decide not to make an offer to a Bidder.

This could be because:

• Making the offer would be against the rules by which the Housing Association is governed or
• They are concerned about how suitable that property is for the customer.
• Transfer Tenants who at time of offer have not met the requirements for the transfer to take place, this could be because the property fails to meet the inspection standard to terminate the tenancy.

Refusing an offer

If you choose to refuse an offer made to you through Home Choice Plus, this will not affect you bidding for properties in the future. However there is a very high demand and low turnover of stock in the Wychavon area, so it is unlikely that you will automatically be successful next time you bid.

If you refuse an offer of a home you will be asked the reason for this.  This helps us monitor our service to you.

If you have been accepted as homeless by the Council and you refuse a reasonable offer of a home, we may consider that we have discharged our duty under the homelessness legislation.