Housing

Choice-Based Lettings

Photograph of keys being handed from one person to another.Communities and Local Government is committed to ensuring that new and existing social housing tenants have more choice and control over where they live. We believe this is the best way to build communities that are stable, viable and inclusive.

The Homelessness Act 2002  (external link) - which revises the legislation governing the allocation of social housing by local authorities - includes a provision to facilitate the introduction of advertising schemes. The 2002 Act also requires authorities to include a statement in their allocation scheme about their position on offering choice to applicants. The Choice Based Lettings Code of Guidance issued in August 2008, focuses on how to balance choice and need, and provides guidance on how to implement a choice based lettings scheme.

How it works

Choice-Based Lettings (CBL) replaces the traditional way of allocating housing under which housing officers seek to match applicants who have priority on the waiting list to available vacancies.

CBL allows applicants for social housing (and existing tenants seeking a move) to apply for available vacancies which are advertised widely (eg in the local newspaper or on a website).

Applicants can see the full range of available properties and can bid (ie. apply) for any home to which they are matched (eg a single person would not be eligible for a three-bedroom house). The successful bidder is the one with the highest priority under the scheme. Authorities provide feedback that helps applicants to assess their chances of success in subsequent applications.

Communities and Local Government's CBL policy

Communities and Local Government's five year housing plan, Sustainable Communities: Homes for All, published in January 2005, set out the Government's plans for taking forward its CBL policy. The aim is to have in place choice nationwide by 2010. We want to build on the existing CBL target - for all English local authorities to have adopted CBL by 2010 - by extending CBL to cover, not only local authority and RSL properties, but also low cost home ownership and properties to rent from private landlords. The Department also supports the development of CBL schemes on a regional and/or sub-regional basis, recognising that housing markets do not follow local authority boundaries.

We monitor progress towards the target using statistical information provided by local authorities on an annual basis (the Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix or HSSA).

The HSSA returns for 2008/9 showed that 61 per cent of local authorities had implemented CBL and a further 20 per cent had plans to do so.  As a result, we fully expect to achieve our target that all local authorities will operate choice-based lettings systems by 2010.

Results so far

Research funded by Communities and Local Government into the original CBL pilot schemes found that social housing customers welcomed the choice, control and transparency of Choice-Based Lettings (CBL). They also considered that the extra effort required to take part in CBL, by looking through vacancies and bidding for suitable vacant properties, was worth it.

More recent research also funded by Communities and Local Government has generated positive findings about the longer term impacts of CBL. In particular, Monitoring the longer term impact of Choice Based Lettings found that CBL leads to improved tenancy sustainment and tenant satisfaction; encourages applicants to think more flexibly about their housing choices; tends to reduce rather than compound ethnic segregation; and that outcomes for homeless households are largely positive. It also found that the costs of setting up CBL can be off-set by housing management efficiencies.

Further information

Regional Choice Fund

CLG is supporting the development of CBL on a sub-regional and regional basis through the Regional Choice Fund (£7 million over five years). Rounds 1, 2, 3 and 4 will together deliver 53 sub-regional schemes covering 128 local authority areas.

On Wednesday 20 January 2010, Housing Minister, John Healey announced £562,000 to support the creation of two new consortia of local authorities and housing associations in the fifth round of funding to develop sub-regional choice-based lettings schemes. The funding will also support the expansion of seven existing consortia.  

Further details are available in News Release: John Healey offers more housing choice for tenants - 20 January 2010 .

Register now to receive Housing and Choice, the electronic newsletter about CBL, launched on 2 May 2008.

Contact us

Further information or enquiries about choice-based lettings should be addressed to:

Suzanne Turnock or Barney McGhee
Communities and Local Government
Zone 1/J5, Eland House
Bressenden Place
London
SW1E 5DU

Tel: 0303 444 3272/2410
Email: choicebased.housinglettings@communities.gsi.gov.uk

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