Bidding for a council home

To be considered for a council home you need to 'bid' for it. This does not involve money - it simply means expressing an interest in a property and asking us to consider you for it.

Before you can bid for a property you need to register on our housing list.

Find out how to register on the housing list

How to bid

You can bid for properties in any of the following ways -

• online
  
   Search and bid for available properties
  
  
• by calling 01482 300 300 (Monday 8am to 5pm, Thursday and Friday 8am to 7pm, and Saturday 9am to 1pm)
  
  
• by emailing hull.homesearch@hullcc.gov.uk
  
  
• by text to 07795 563 000 with your registration number, name and the property references of the properties you wish to bid for
  
  
• in person at any customer service centre or information point

Find your nearest customer service centre or information point

With the exception of bids by text message, you must always give us your full name, date of birth and reference number. Please also tell us the reference numbers and addresses of the properties you wish to bid on.

Each property advert clearly states when the deadline for bidding is. Please check each advert as deadlines are not always the same, especially around public holidays. We cannot accept bids after the deadline so please make sure we receive them in time.

Find out where we advertise our available council homes

If you claim housing benefit

The government is introducing new housing benefit rules from April 2013. Under the new rules, if you have more bedrooms than the government says you need and you are of working age you could lose part of your housing benefit.  The new rules may expect two children to share a bedroom, depending upon their ages.  It is possible that you could be affected even if you do not class yourself as having too many bedrooms for your family size. This means that you will have to make up the difference in the rent from your other income.

If you are affected by changes, we advise that you consider this when placing your bids. If you do not think you can afford to pay anything towards your rent you should only bid for properties of a size for which you would get full housing benefit (for example not be classed as under occupying your home).

If you are not sure whether you are likely to be affected by the changes please speak to your local area housing team.

Number of bids

The number of bids you can make depends on which priority band you are in.

• if you are in band A or band B you can make up to six bids each time our properties are advertised
  
• if you are in bands C to E you can make up to three bids each time our properties are advertised

Find out more about priority bands

Eligibility

There is high demand for council housing so we have to restrict who can bid for different property types and sizes. Some properties are more suitable for individuals, others for those with families and some are more suitable for older people. Each advertisement states who is eligible and whether there are any other restrictions.

Please make sure you only bid on properties that you are eligible for. We will not consider you for a property that you are not eligible for unless you have been awarded a priority for that property type because of special circumstances.

Find out more about special circumstances

Please note the government is introducing new housing benefit rules from April 2013. Under the new rules, if you have more bedrooms than the government says you need and you are of working age you could lose part of your housing benefit.

More information about the changes to housing benefit

Please contact us if you are unsure which properties you are eligible for.

Choosing your bids

Please do not bid for properties that you are unlikely to consider living in. You should read the property adverts carefully and note the property's location. You can find out the exact location of a property if you use our online bidding system.

Search and bid for available properties

Improving your chances

Generally, the higher the band you are in, the better your prospects of being offered a council home. However, to improve your chances -

• make sure you use all of your permitted bids every time we advertise
• make sure you only bid for properties you are eligible for, otherwise your bids will not be considered
• if you have been awarded a priority, make sure you bid for the property type and area you have been given the priority for
• consider bidding for properties in other areas of the city or for other property types - broaden your choices
• remember that if you have got points for a certain area, those points only apply to properties you bid for in that area. You can still bid for properties in other areas but your points will not apply to them 
• we publish information about successful bids on a regular basis. We refer to this as lettings feedback and you can use it to compare your own details with the details of thosw who have been successful. This can help you to make more realistic bids in the future

View recent lettings feedback

Property offers

We offer our council homes to the bidders with the most housing need who have been on the housing waiting list for the longest time or have had their priority the longest.

Find out more about what happens if your bid is successful

Low demand properties

If we do not receive any bids for advertised properties from eligible applicants we can amend the eligibility rules and readvertise the property.

If there are still no bids, we will advertise the property on a first come, first served basis. This means that we will offer the property to the first eligible person to bid for it, unless there are other reasons which could prevent the offer being made, for example, rent arrears or unacceptable behaviour.

If there are no first come, first served bids we can advertise the property in other ways to try to find a suitable tenant, for example in local shops and with tenants groups.

Contact us

HomeSearch
Hull City Council
PO Box 15
Hull
HU1 2AB

Tel: 01482 300 300
Text phone: 01482 300 349
Email: hull.homesearch@hullcc.gov.uk