Gloucestershire Homeseeker

Gloucestershire now has a banding system for the whole of the county. When your application with Gloucestershire Homeseeker is complete, you will be placed in a band (emergency, gold, silver or bronze) according to your housing need. Your band will depend on the information you provide on your application form.

What is the criteria for each band?

Click here to see the banding table (51KB)

My band has changed, why?

Once you have have made your online application, the system will automatically put you into bands depending on the information you have provided in your application. Your Council Housing Advice/Options Team will then make your application active - you may need to send them documents as proof of your circumstances. The Team will then write to you confirming your bands. This can mean that your priority is increased or decreased. Therefore, the original bands that the system put you in may change.

You can view your bands online - log in to your account and click on the 'My Housing Register' tab.

What are Time Limited bands?

The Emergency Band, and some criteria in the Gold Band, is awarded for a time limited period of two months. During this time, applicants are expected to use their additional priority to bid for all properties that suit their needs according to the Gloucestershire Homeseeker Policy (document size: 218KB) . Failure to bid for suitable properties during this time may result in the local authority bidding on the applicant’s behalf, or the banding priority being lowered.

If, however, a suitable property for the applicant has not become available in the 2 month, the time limit may be extended.

I am in a Time Limited band and have not seen a property I like in 2 months

If a suitable property has become available but you do not want to live in that area, this may not be considered an appropriate reason for not bidding on it.
If no properties become available that match your housing need in the 2 months, the time limit may be extended.

How does banding work for supported housing applicants who are ready to move on?

If you apply to Gloucestershire Homeseeker before you are ready to move on, you will go into the Bronze band. Once you are ready to move on, you will go into the Emergency band.

When you are in Emergency band, your time on list will only be important for the time you have spent in the Emergency band - not for the length of time you have been an applicant with Gloucestershire Homeseeker.

Won’t the top bands get all the vacancies?

Not necessarily. Remember that the higher bands will have relatively few people in. Also, in some cases, the advert may specify that priority will go to Silver or Bronze band. This would be done in order to give more opportunity to those in lower bands and to create balanced communities.

To view past lettings and the bands that they went to, please view 'Recent lets'.

Why do I have a Local and a Global Band?

Some banding criteria, highlighted with a star (*) on the banding table, only apply to the lead local authority because they own the particular duty. It would not be fair to pass this duty on to another district. If you are awarded one of these priorities, it will only apply if you bid for a property in your local district. This is called your Local Band.

If you bid for a property in another district you will have a lower banding priority. This is called your Global Band.

How will I be told my Local and Global Bands?

Your acceptance letter will tell you your Global and Local Bands. Unless one of the starred (*) criteria on the banding table has been applied to you, both bands will be the same. You can also view your bands when you login to your account and then click on "My Housing Register".

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What does Local Connection mean?

Due to the exceptional demand for housing across the Gloucestershire area and the difficulty in solving local housing need, preference will usually be given to households with a local connection to the appropriate district.

Local Connection is defined as:

The applicant or a member of the household is, or was, normally resident in the district, in accommodation of choice, and not a placement. This is taken to mean that you have lived in the district for 6 out of the last 12 months or 3 out of the last 5 years. Click here for more information about this.
The applicant or a member of the household is at present working permanently in the district. This is not casual work, of less than 16 hours per week, and is not the location of the head office.
The applicant or member of the household has family association in the district. Such as, parents, adult children, brothers of sisters who have lived in the district for at least 5 years. Only in exceptional circumstances would any other relative count as being a connection.
There are other special circumstances, e.g. someone who has been in hospital or prison for some time and wants to return to the area where they were born or brought up. This is at the discretion of the local authority.

In addition, for certain new-build properties which were developed under what is called a ‘Section 106 Agreement’, applicants may need a connection to a defined local parish or ward.

Why does Gloucestershire Homeseeker want to know about local connection?

Each local authority encourages housing to be built through its planning policy, secures funding and supports development of housing in its district to answer its local demand. Whilst there are still too many people wanting too few houses, when properties are advertised the priority is given to those who have a local connection to that district before considering others who may want to move into the district.

I've now lived in a district of Gloucestershire for more than 6 months, how does this affect my application?

Once you have lived in a district of Gloucestershire for more than 6 months, you must update your application in order to be eligible for properties requiring a local connection.

If you do not update your application, you may not receive the preference you are entitled to when bidding on properties that require a local connection.

Click here for information about how to update your application.

What if I have medical needs that affect my housing?

Applicants will be asked for details of any medical condition that is being made worse by the current housing situation. An applicant must give reasons why their current property has a detrimental effect on their medical well-being and a Council Housing Officer will then make an assessment. They will decide whether moving to an alternative property would help the applicant’s condition. If deemed appropriate, applicants may be awarded additional priority on the basis of these medical needs.

What about visiting children?

Because of the high demand for housing in Gloucestershire, it is not possible to provide additional bedrooms for children who only stay over for short periods or at weekends. In general no child who visits and spends less than 50% of their time in the household should be included on the application. However individual circumstances will be considered, e.g. where there is a court order or formal custody arrangement in place, the applicant receives child benefit for the child or there are several children involved.