Social Housing in Stockland Green

We have a small number of one and two bedroom social housing flats in Slade Road, Stockland Green. However, it is our ambition to grow in this area and we intend to expand our housing portfolio over coming years. Our social housing properties are at a social rent level, which is based on a government formula which takes into account property size and value and local earnings.

We let these homes in accordance with our social housing policy. There is strict criteria about who can apply and qualify for social housing. Half of our homes are let through Birmingham City Council under a nominations agreement. The remainder we let from our own waiting list.

General Rules

  • You must include everyone on your application who is going to live with you, even if they don’t live with you at the moment
  • You need to prove your identification and your income before being offered a property
  • We don’t know how long it will be before you’re offered a property – as our homes are let on assured tenancies it means that we do not know when properties will become available
  • You will need to renew your application every year of you will lose your place – we will remind you of this
  • It’s your responsibility to make sure what you tell us is accurate, and you might be prosecuted if it’s not
  • If you refuse a reasonable offer or don’t reply to an offer you will lose any priority you might have gained for time on the list.
  • If you refuse three offers, you will be taken off the list altogether
  • If you disagree with a decision, you can ask us to review it, or you can follow up with an appeal to court

Rules about who can apply

  • You must have been accepted onto the Birmingham City Council register and have been awarded a banding under their scheme to qualify for our waiting list (unless you live in a Pioneer social housing home at the moment – this doesn’t include our market rent properties)
  • You have to live in the UK already and normally
  • You have to be over eighteen
  • You can’t have a history of behaviour that would give us possession via court order, which includes:
    • Domestic abuse
    • Threatening, violent or abusive behaviour relating to your home or neighbourhood
    • Fraud relating to public funds
    • Subletting without permission
    • Not allowing access or reporting repairs
    • Breaching your tenancy agreement
  • You can’t have rent arrears, for where you live now or for anywhere else or owe The Pioneer Group money
  • You can’t be a homeowner or have high income or savings

If you have a housing need for a property size that we do not own (for example, you need a four bedroom home), we will reject your application (unless we have started work to build those homes). This is because there is no prospect of us being able to offer you a suitable property. Please see our developments page for details of any properties we are currently developing.

How we prioritise applications

We give you points based on your circumstances. Those with the highest number of points get priority. We run a simple points system as follows:

You can only qualify for one set of points under the local connection criteria. This will be the highest available. For example, if you live in Kingstanding, but have employment in the B23 postcode area would receive 500 points, plus points for your banding in the Birmingham Scheme and any others you might qualify for.

If two people have the same number of points, we prioritise the person who has been on the list the longest.

 

What is a local connection?

  • Currently resides in the defined area and has done for a minimum of 12 months
  • In paid employment in the defined area at the time of application and at the time of any offer of accommodation under this scheme
  • Has close relatives residing in the area – (Parent, Child, Grandparent, Sibling) – who can demonstrate occupancy for at least 12 months
  • Child currently enrolled in a school in the specified area
  • Household member receives carers allowance to look after someone in the defined area

We will ask you to prove your local connection.

Where you will be offered

  • We don’t give applicants choice about where they want to live, unless there’s a reason that’s been agreed by SGCH
  • We won’t offer a property that you can’t afford to live in
  • Bedroom allocation is:
  • Couples are allocated one bedroom;
  • single people over 16 are allocated one bedroom;
  • two children both aged under 10 or of the same gender are allocated one bedroom;
  • two children aged over 10 and of different genders are allocated two bedrooms
  • If you need extra bedrooms for any reason, we will take this into account

How long will it take to be offered a property?

Unfortunately, if you are accepted onto our waiting lists we cannot be specific about how long it may take for you to be offered a property. This is because the types of tenancy we grant allow people to stay for as long as they keep to the terms of their tenancy conditions. We therefore cannot predict when or if a suitable property might become available. We know that some people might be waiting a long time, and some may never be allocated a property. This is because we only own 14 social housing properties, and we are required to let half of these to people on the Council’s waiting list under the terms of our agreement with the council. This is called a nominations agreement.

We do let some properties on a market rent basis which might be immediately available, but these are not let at discounted social rent levels, are let on a short term basis and are not subject to the same waiting lists. If this is of interest, check out our market rent page by clicking here. If you already have a social tenancy you might be rehoused quicker if you find a mutual exchange. To arrange a mutual exchange, get in touch with our team on 0121 748 8100 or contactus@sgoht.org.uk

Can you tell me where I am on the waiting list?

We do not tell people exactly where they are on the waiting list or how long they might be waiting. In addition to the reasons above, the waiting list order will change because someone may join with a higher housing point allocation than you. Sometimes we have to house people in an emergency – for example when someone loses their home because of fire, or if they are fleeing serious violence or domestic abuse. You might lose your place on the waiting list if you don’t return our review forms. We won’t guess at how long you might be waiting as we can’t guarantee this and it is likely to lead to disappointment.

Please return your completed form to Stockland Green Community Housing, 11 High Street, Castle Vale, Birmingham B35 7PR. You can scan it to contactus@pioneergroup.org.uk or you can hand deliver your form to our office during normal office opening hours.

This is a summary of our allocations policy. You can read the full policy by clicking the buttons below.

Are you homeless, or at risk of homelessness?

All Birmingham citizens are able to access housing advice to prevent homelessness, and support at a time of housing crisis. It is always best to seek support as soon as possible in order to prevent a homelessness crisis. Click here for more information.