Applying for a home
Here’s some information to help you to apply for a home with Stoke on Trent Housing Society:
STAGE 1: Register with our online portal
– Follow this link to register with our online portal.
– Select the New Customer tab , input your details and select submit. You will then receive an email invitation from us to register for our new online portal.
– Access the online portal using the temporary password provided in the email invitation.
– Once registered, you will be prompted to change your password
STAGE 2: Complete your application for housing
– Click the Apply for Housing button listed under the Actions section of the Portal.
– Complete all 7 sections of the Application form, this will include information about yourself, those moving with you and your current circumstances.
– You will then receive a message informing you that your application has been created successfully. Please note you do not need to provide any documents at this stage.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Your application will come to the Society for processing and approval. Once your application has been approved you will receive a confirmation email confirming the next steps and how our allocations process will work moving forward. If we need any further information from you at this stage or need to discuss your application in more detail, we will contact you to let you know.
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Transfers (Information for tenants of the Society)
If you are a tenant of ours and have a housing need to move you can apply to move to another one of our properties. It’s best that you contact us first to discuss why you need to move and we’ll advise you if you meet the criteria as per our ALLOCATION POLICY
Before we authorise any transfer, we’ll need to inspect your home to ensure that it’s clean and tidy and in a good state of repair. If there’s any evidence of unsatisfactory conduct and you are in breach of your tenancy agreement, we won’t be able to authorise a transfer and instead we may have to take tenancy enforcement action.
Email info@stokeontrenthousingsociety.org.uk or call us on 01782 968566 if you would like to discuss a transfer.
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Mutual Exchanges
If you want to swap your home with another tenant from Stoke on Trent Housing Society or a tenant from another Registered Social Landlord or Local Authority, you can look for a Mutual Exchange.
There are several websites where you can advertise your home and search for other tenants to swap with.
Some websites will charge for this service so speak to us first as we may be able to help you with payment of the charge. There are also exchange sites available via social media, however we would advise you to be careful before exchanging and information on any social media sites.
Before you look or apply for a mutual exchange please bear in mind that a mutual exchange will be permitted only where:
– Both parties have conducted their tenancies in a satisfactory manner – that means no rent arrears
– No under occupying – we use the criteria from the Welfare Reform Act 2012 to assess this
– The property must be in a satisfactory decorative condition and without any outstanding repairs that are the tenant’s responsibility
Permission to exchange won’t normally be granted in the following circumstances:
– A ‘live’ legal notice has been served on the applicant by the landlord
– In exceptional circumstances where we are advised by the police or other relevant agency that the exchange would not be reasonable or advisable on the grounds of community safety
Once you have found someone to exchange with you’ll need to complete a Mutual Exchange application form, email info@stokeontrenthousingsociety.org.uk or call 01782 968566 to request a form.