Assessing Applications

How your housing application is assessed

If you apply to join the housing register, here’s what happens next:

Step 1 – checking your application

We will:

• Check if you are eligible
• Look at your housing needs
• Possibly visit your home to understand your situation better

Step 2 – your priority band

Once we assess your application, we will place you in a band from A to D:

• Band A – Urgent housing need
• Band B – High priority
• Band C – Medium priority
• Band D – Low priority

You’ll get a letter explaining your band and a registration card.

If you’re not eligible

We’ll write to you and explain why.
You have the right to ask for a review of the decision.

📄 Read our Right to Request a Review leaflet

How we decide priority

By law, we must give priority to:

• People who are homeless
• People who are overcrowded or live in poor conditions
• People who need to move for medical or disability reasons
• People who need to move to avoid hardship

We also look at:

• Your income and savings
• Your local connection to Tendring
• Your rental history and behaviour as a tenant

Extra priority

You may get extra priority if:

• You or your partner work 16+ hours a week and have done so for 12 months
• You’ve been approved for fostering or adoption
• You or someone in your household is in the armed forces or was honourably discharged.

How we offer homes

We offer homes to people with the highest priority on the register.

Sometimes we offer homes to:

• People in an emergency
• People with special care needs
• People moving from one council home to another
• Homeless applicants in temporary housing

An updated guide to council accomdation will be published soon.