We offer choice-based lettings for most of our homes, where you can bid on a home through different websites depending on the location you want to live.
If you’re looking for a home to rent, you will firstly need to register online with your Local Authority Choice Based Lettings (CBL) Scheme.
Once registered you will be placed in a band that reflects your housing needs and you will be able to bid on eligible homes in the area of your choice.
You can find your local authority's details below:
Visit Property Pool Plus to register for homes in these areas.
You can find some handy FAQ's here too, to find out more about applications and banding.
Visit Cheshire Home Choice to apply for a home in Cheshire East.
Have a look at the Help page and FAQ's here to find out more about applying for a home.
Visit West Cheshire Homes to register for homes in these areas.
You can find some handy FAQ's here too, to find out more about applications and banding.
Visit West Lancs Home Finder to apply for a home in Cheshire East.
Have a look at the handy FAQ page to find out more about applying for a home.
Visit Under One Roof to register for homes in these areas.
You can find some handy FAQ's here too, to find out more about applications and banding.
If you have been served with a notice to leave your home, or at risk of homelessness you should contact your Local Authority Homeless Team.
There are some important things you need to be aware of. Work through the list to see what you need to do:
You need to make sure you have enough money saved. You will need to provide a weeks rent in advance. Typically this can be between £90 - £140. You will also need to cover the cost of any removals, as well as any furniture you may need.
If you are on housing benefit or Universal Credit, please have a look at our benefit and budgeting calculators.
Anyone over 18 living in your home will need to provide identification. UK residents will need to provide their birth certificate, national insurance number or passport. Those from outside the UK will need to provide passports, national identify cards or home office letters. We will take copies of your documentation.
We will ask for references from all previous landlords for the past 5 years, and in some cases we may ask for up to 10 years. If this is your first tenancy, we may ask for an employer or other relevant character reference.
As part of the bidding process we will carry out a short telephone interview with you. This will take around 15 minutes, and we'll ask you to be open and honest with us about your past and current circumstances. As part of the interview, we'll carry out a credit check and financial assessment to help understand whether you have the income to meet your rent. We'll also ask you to provide identification if not already on file and will take photographs of your ID.
We will call you to arrange a viewing, and sometimes this may be at short notice. If you are not able to view, we won't be able to continue with the offer.
If you accept the home, please check your current tenancy agreement to confirm what notice would be required for your current landlord.
If you refuse a reasonable offer, this may affect your current application. You can refer to your CBL scheme rules for further information on this.
All of our homes are unfurnished and we don’t provide flooring, white goods or blinds. If you need assistance with any of these items, you may be able to apply for a furniture package from your local authority. If any carpets, blinds or curtains have been left by the outgoing tenant we are happy to gift them to you if they are of good condition and these will become your possessions at the time of sign up. We cannot guarantee that these items will not be damaged as part of any work we do to the house before you move in but we will make every effort to avoid this. There may be occasions where we have to remove these items, but again we will always try to avoid this where possible.
To create a balance within a new community, sometimes Local Lettings Plans need to be created. This is an agreement between the Local Authority and Housing Association. It works alongside the existing housing policy but will have additional criteria to decide how homes will be allocated in certain defined geographical areas. These are usually used to meet specific local issues within the defined area. Where we have local lettings plans, these will be displayed on our adverts for the scheme.
