How do I apply for a house?
To apply for a house in North Ayrshire you need to apply to the North Ayrshire Housing Register (NAHR). North Ayrshire Council is a partner of the North Ayrshire Housing Register (NAHR).
What is the North Ayrshire Housing Register (NAHR)?
The NAHR is a shared (or common) housing register which operates across the four largest social housing landlords in North Ayrshire. The register is made up of people who are looking for social housing in North Ayrshire. The landlords allocate their empty houses to these people. 'Social housing' is the term used to refer to affordable rented housing provided by councils or housing associations.
By filling in one application form, you can be considered for housing by all the NAHR landlords.
T he council's NAHR partners are the three largest locally based housing associations:
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Cunninghame Housing Association
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Irvine Housing Association, and
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ANCHO
Together, the four landlords own and manage around 97% of the social housing in North Ayrshire.
Who can apply for housing?
Anyone aged 16 years or over has the legal right to join any housing register. You can apply on your own as a single applicant or with other people and have a joint application.
What do I need to do to get onto the NAHR?
To apply for housing, fill in, sign and and send us a NAHR application for housing| (PDF 981 kb). Please print double-sided if possible as the form has 18 pages.
You should read the housing application guide| (PDF 2.97mb, 30 pages) before filling in your form as it will help you to make the right choices. For example, it tells you which landlords have housing in the areas you want, where the different house types and sizes are located and what proof you need to give us with your application.
We can help you fill in your application form if you have difficulty. All you need to do is contact one of our offices| to arrange an office interview or, in some cases, we may arrange a home visit if you are not able to come into one of our offices. We will also provide support services if you ask us, such as language interpreters or a signer if you need one.
How is my housing need assessed?
Your housing need is assessed in line with The North Ayrshire Housing Allocation Policy which is a shared (or common) allocation policy. This is the set of rules by which the NAHR landlords have jointly agreed to let their empty houses and it means that everyone who applies to the NAHR will receive one assessment of their housing needs in accordance with the policy. The policy is a 'group plus points' allocation policy. When you apply for housing you are placed in one of seven groups depending on your housing needs. You will also awarded points for any of the housing needs you have that are recognised by the policy. You can read about how the 'group plus points' system works in our allocation policy summary| (PDF 2.97 mb, 12 pages)
What if I have health problems that affects the type of housing I need?
If you have a health problem you will need to fill in and send us a medical application form. This is in two parts, part 1| where you describe your current accommodation and how it is affecting your health and part 2| where you enter your medical details. There is a guide |to help you complete the medical forms.
Part 2 is confidential and when you submit your form you should make sure that this part is placed in a sealed envelope to be passed to the Medical Advisor for Housing for assessment.
How do the landlords decide which of the groups to allocate their empty houses to?
Each of the NAHR landlords have their own letting plan. A letting plan is a plan which determines how many lets a landlord gives to each of the seven housing needs groups. You can contact any of the landlords and ask for a copy of their letting plan.
Can I be prevented from receiving offers because of my previous conduct?
The NAHR also has a shared (or common) suspension policy| (PDF 122 kb, 2 pages). This is the set of rules by which the NAHR landlords have jointly agreed when not to offer housing to some applicants on NAHR. This is known as suspending applicants from offers of housing. We suspend people who have broken the terms of a current or former tenancy agreement with any social or private landlord. We would suspend you for owing your current or former landlord money relating to your tenancy usually rent arrears, anti-social behaviour or breaking your tenancy agreement. If you are suspended from receiving offers of housing we will write to you and tell you the reasons for the suspension, how long you will be suspended for and what you need to do to remove the suspension.
If you have debt relating to a current or former tenancy you can seek advice and assistance from our Debt Counselling| Service
What are my prospects of receiving an offer of housing from the NAHR?
If you submit an NAHR application for housing you will receive a letter detailing your group and points assessment. Once you have this letter if you wish to arrange an interview to discuss your prospects for housing you can contact one of our offices|. Your prospects for receiving an offer of housing will depend upon the following factors:
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the number of properties that become available for let
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your level of housing need compared to other applicants
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the letting areas you have selected
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the house types you have selected
Staff at our area offices will be able to tell you whether or not there is a realistic chance of receiving an offer of housing and what you can do to improve your prospects or advise you about other housing options that you could consider.