Moving home
There are several options open to anyone who wants to move home. These depend on your circumstances, your need and where you want to move to. Depending on the circumstances you will be advised on what you need to do next. Generally, you will need to complete a transfer form and, possibly, a medical form if you or a member of your household has a medical need. All CBHA homes are allocated on the basis of the greatest housing need, as determined by our policy. Full details of our policy and procedures are available on request from your area office.
Can anyone move?
Anyone can apply to move but there are certain restrictions on who will be made an offer. Generally, if you are in rent arrears you will be refused an offer until you clear those arrears.
Are you already a CBHA Resident?
If you are, you may qualify for a transfer into another CBHA home if any of the following apply to you:
- The home you are living in is too small for the household.
- The home you are living in is too big for the household.
- You are currently occupying a wheelchair adapted home but you do not have a need for it.
- You have a medical condition which is affected by your current accommodation (e.g. you cannot manage the stairs)
If you would like a transfer but are not sure if you qualify, you should contact the CBHA Lettings Officer.
Would you qualify for a CBHA home under the Community Letting Scheme?
If you are not a CBHA tenant already, you may qualify for a CBHA home if one of the following applies to you:
- You are occupying a CBHA home but need to be re-housed independently.
- You need to live near a CBHA tenant for support.
- You are a long-standing partner of (or previously held a joint tenancy with) a CBHA tenant and your relationship has broken down.
An existing CBHA tenant must nominate applicants to this scheme. The CBHA will shortly be introducing a new category for the Community Letting Scheme that will be aimed at providing services and accommodation for 17-24 year olds. If you think that you qualify for housing under the Community Letting Scheme, please contact the Letting Officer for advice on 020 7922 8579.
What other ways are there to move?
CBHA launched a new mutual exchange website in July 08; this is known as CBHA House Exchange. The website is designed to bring people together who are looking to swap their homes. You can search for a specific property, search for those who want your property or even a 3-way search. Even when you are not searching some one may be searching for your property. This is a free service for our tenants to find mutual exchanges between registered users of the system. http://www.cbha.houseexchange.org.uk/ Users can search the database to find properties that match their requirements, either on their home computer or any public access computer such as at a local library.
Residents who do not have access to the internet can contact CBHA for an application form. Residents would also be able to search the house exchange databases at local area office (subject to availability).Anyone can search the database, but in order to gain access to the full property details including contact information, you must be registered and have a password. In order to keep the site up to date House Exchange will remove an applicant’s details if they have not logged in for three months.
Housing options
CBHA have various housing options running along side house exchange such as the Gumtree website http://www.gumtree.com/london/home-swap_1040_1.html
Useful Transfer Scheme
This scheme is run by London Borough Waltham Forest http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/index/housing/moving-home/uts.htm offering a cash incentive of £500.00 for each unused bedroom that a resident can release.
