Social and affordable rented housing: Allerdale

There are several housing associations operating in Allerdale, they have properties available for social rent and affordable rent. Social rent levels are set through a national rent regime and tend to be cheaper than other rent models. Affordable rent levels are set at no more than 80% of local market rent. To find out more about them and where they have properties please contact the housing association directly.

Applying for properties from a housing association

Most housing associations in Allerdale are part of the Cumbria Choice allocations scheme, which is a partnership between the six local authorities in Cumbria and various housing associations.

Households who want to rent from a housing association in the Cumbria Choice scheme complete an application form and priority for housing is then awarded through a system that places people in one of five bands according to their housing needs.

Properties are advertised on the Cumbria Choice website and customers are able to register an interest in properties.

For more information on Cumbria Choice, including information on how to register, please go to the Cumbria Choice website.

Keswick Community Housing Trust and Westfield Housing Association are not part of Cumbria Choice, to apply for housing from them please contact them directly.

Report a repair to a housing association

Report to Castles and Coasts online, or by phone 0800 085 1171 (emergencies only).

Report to Home Group online.

Report to Riverside online, or by phone 0345 111 000 (emergencies only).

Report to Westfield online, or by phone 01900 60206. For out of hours emergencies only phone 015 343 2762

Shelter offers advice on how to make complaints about repairs to your housing association property at Housing advice - how to report repairs to a housing association landlord

If you have followed your housing association's complaints procedure to it's end point, and feel that your complaint has not been resolved you can refer the housing association to the Housing Ombudsman. The Housing Ombudsman was set up to resolve disputes between tenants of social landlords, and offers a free, independent and impartial service. 

Contact them by email at info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk 

Or by phoning 0300 111 3000. 

You can find out more information about the Housing Ombudsman on their website.

Improvements to the Cumbria Choice-Based lettings website

We wish to provide our customers and applicants with an overview of the changes to the Cumbria Choice policy and system that we are making in 2022. During a consultation with customers and our stakeholders in 2020, we were informed that our customers wanted an easy-to-understand policy and a simple system that would function on a mobile phone, tablet, or computer.

This will include:

• a new and improved Cumbria Choice website
• easy to navigate customer housing portal
• ability for customers to reset their passwords
• shorter more intuitive application form
• flexibility to upload evidence to your housing application yourself
• modern website, showing adverts complete with a map view search option
• reduction of our current banding systems to 3 simple bands A, B and C (A - urgent need for housing, B - statutory housing need to move, C - all other applications with an evidenced housing need)
• unlimited bids each week for applicants in band C
• 9 qualification guidelines
• ability to suspend application which previously may have been made ineligible

If you currently use the system, you do not need to do anything. All changes when applied will occur automatically for you.

You can download the policy below.

Local lettings policy

Housing association properties in Cockermouth and Keswick and its surrounding areas are covered by a local lettings policy. This policy was developed to give local households priority when they apply for housing where they live or work.

Affordable rents from a private landlord

Affordable tents from a private landlord form part of the affordable housing scheme. To read the affordable housing scheme and affordable rent policy documents, please go to the housing policies and strategies page.

Occasionally, a developer will choose to rent out their affordable properties. The amount of rent charged is limited to 80% of the open market rent and houses can only be rented to households certified as eligible by the council. To be eligible, households must prove they meet the criteria below.

The area considered to be the ‘locality’ widens the longer the property is available. After 12 weeks ‘locality’ is defined as the whole of Allerdale.

There are currently three properties in Allerdale which are rented to eligible households for an affordable rent by a private landlord. One is in Kirkbampton and two are in Workington.

The criteria for affordable private rent housing are a connection to the locality such as:

• resident in the locality for at least five years
• previous resident in the locality for at least five of the last ten years
• family association with an existing resident of at least five years residence in the locality (such as spouse, civil partner, parent, children, siblings)
• permanent employment in the locality or has accepted the offer of such employment

Another criteria is affordability - where the annual gross household income is less than 60 of median income for the parish where the properties are situated.

When one of these properties becomes available, households need to apply to the council to be certified as eligible to rent it. Please note that we are only able to consider applications when a property is available to let. To apply to be certified as eligible to rent one of these properties, please download the application form below

For more information about renting affordable housing please email us at: housing.developmentteam@cumberland.gov.uk