Allocations Policy - Your Views Count

Stirling Council, with support from the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) Scotland, is carrying out a review of its Allocations Policy which will affect everyone who is applying for a house or a transfer with Stirling Council. The Council has asked TPAS Scotland, an independent tenant support organisation, to carry out the survey and organise events to hear your views.

Allocations Policy – Your Views Count

Stirling Council and TPAS Scotland are keen to hear your views about the way the Council allocates its houses, so please give us your feedback by answering the questions in this survey and by attending some local events. Your views will help the Council decide how it allocates its homes in the future.

There will also be some afternoon and evening drop-in events during August where you can share your views and hear more about the review. These will be in:

Venue	Date	Time
Community Centre, Cowie	Monday, 12th August	1.30pm – 3.30pm
Mayfield Centre, St Ninians	Tuesday, 13th August	6pm – 8pm
McLintock Hall, Balfron	Wednesday, 14th August	6pm – 8pm
Muir Hall, Doune	Tuesday, 20th August	1.30pm – 3.30pm
Killin Sport and Leisure Club	Wednesday, 21st August	3pm - 6pm
Raploch Campus, Room 1	Thursday, 22nd August	10am-12pm

Confidentiality – (GDPR)

TPAS Scotland and Stirling Council will only use your personal information to enter you into the prize draw. We will destroy the information when the winners have been drawn.

TPAS Scotland will report your views to Housing staff and the Housing Advisory Group, which includes tenants and local elected members, and a new draft allocation policy will be discussed at the Council’s Environment and Housing Committee in November. When the new policy has been approved, the Council will contact everyone on the current housing list to let them know what impact this will have on their application.

Background

Stirling Council has over 5,500 homes across towns and villages, with the majority in Stirling.

There are currently just under 3,000 people on the Council’s housing waiting list and in the past year the Council allocated 360 homes. This means that there are many more people on the waiting list than there are available empty homes for the Council to allocate.

The Council’s current Allocations Policy was last updated in 2012. As a result of changes within the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014, the Council is reviewing the way it allocates its houses to make sure it complies with legislation and is able to meet local housing need in the most effective and efficient way.

The current system means that every application for Council housing is given points according to a household’s circumstances. In line with the law, there are three categories of applicants that have to be given “reasonable preference” and these categories are:

Homeless people
People living in unsatisfactory Housing Conditions (e.g. people who have been asked to leave their current home, who are overcrowded or who have a medical or health need which means their current home is no longer suitable for them)
People who are living in a house too big for their needs (under-occupiers) which could free up this home for a larger household

People/households are given points depending on their circumstances; for example a household may be looking for an adapted property or may be looking to move to a larger property.

The Council would like to simplify the points system but still make sure Council houses are allocated in a fair, transparent way, and within the law.

Your feedback will help inform and shape the final allocations policy.