Applying for a Council Home

The way we allocate council homes in Ipswich has changed. All exchanges, allocations and house moves are now managed through a scheme called Choice Based Lettings, which covers Council and Housing Association properies.

The same scheme is used by seven different councils in this area (Babergh, Braintree, Colchester, Ipswich, Maldon, Mid Suffolk and Suffolk Coastal) to make the process easier to follow and give you more choice.

This scheme means that if you are looking for social housing in any of these areas:

• You only need to complete one application form;
• You can bid for properties in any of the seven areas that you would like to live in;
• Your needs will be assessed against the same clear set of criteria no matter where you live.

There are four steps in the scheme:

1. Register
   You have to register online to use the Choice Based Lettings scheme. This is done through the Gateway to Homechoice website: www.gatewaytohomechoice.org.uk. Once you have been assessed, as long as you are eligible you will be accepted onto the housing register.
2. Choose
   You are then able to see details of any properties available, and bid for up to two different properties per week that you are interested in;
3. Offer
   Bids received will be prioritised and, following eligibility checks, you may receive an offer for a property;
4. Feedback
   Information about successfully let homes is published regularly to help give you a better idea of the popularity of properties and/or homes.

More detail about this process is available by selecting the relevant step on the 'How to use this service' page on the Gateway to Homechoice website.