London boroughs have introduced an internet-based lettings pilot
for home seekers, writes Karl Cushing
The London boroughs of Camden, Islington, Barnet, Westminster and
Kensington & Chelsea have teamed up with St Pancras &
Humanist and Ujima Housing Associations on a project that gives
local citizens more say in where they live.
The basic idea behind the Home Connections project is that home
seekers will be able to "bid" for the right to live in a vacant
property using points that are awarded to them on a basis that
reflects the level of housing need and the number of people in
their household.
Home seekers will be provided with a user ID and a PIN number,
together with an information pack showing how they can bid for a
property. Bids can be placed either via an automated phone line,
available in seven languages, or via the Internet.
Potential bidders can assess their chances of getting a property by
using a self-assessment function on the Web site. The highest
bidder, which should turn out to be the most suitable applicant,
will get to view the property and, if it is suitable, to move in.
Home Connections project manager Ninesh Muthiah says that the
choice-based lettings system is a big improvement on the previous
one where tenants were assigned properties by the council. It
resulted in tenants being placed in areas where they did not want
to live. If they refused to accept a property offered they would
then be suspended from the housing register for a year.
"It was a very coercive process," says Muthiah. "With this project
the councils are giving up control of the process, putting the home
seeker in the driving seat."
The new system will result in fewer refusals, properties staying
vacant for shorter periods, more satisfied customers and a more
transparent process, he says. The results of the "auctions" will
appear each week in the local press, including the number of points
the property went for, to show bidders why their bid was
unsuccessful and give them an idea of the types of property
available.
Unsuccessful home seekers will be encouraged to explore alternative
avenues, such as relocation. The London consortium has teamed up
with 12 local authorities in the North of England where supply of
council housing exceeds demand. Free travel to view properties and
relocation grants are available as incentives for people to move.
The pilot project in Camden went live in July, with the rest coming
on board in September and October. Muthiah says that there have
been 800 users in Camden alone, generating thousands of bids. All
potential users have been sent a PIN and ID number automatically.
The project has received £1.4m of funding from the Office of the
Deputy Prime Minister, £400,000 of which has been spent on IT. The
two main suppliers on the project were Anite Public Sector, which
developed the electronic Gif-compliant Internet element of the
scheme, and Mitel, which provides the telephony.