The Highland Housing Register
Highland Housing Register (HHR) is a partnership of registered social landlords with housing stock in the Highland Council area. The aim of the HHR is to make it easier to apply for social rented housing in the Highlands, whether you are an existing tenant of any of the partner organisations who wishes to move, or whether you want to apply for social rented housing.
Who are the HHR Partners?
- The Highland Council - the Council owns just under 14 000 properties mainly for general needs use with around 500 units of sheltered & amenity (more suitable for, but not exclusively, older people or people with disabilities) housing. The later section on sheltered housing explains where this more specialist housing can be found. The Council also has around 250 leased properties used as temporary and permanent accommodation to support access to housing. More information about Highland Council can be found at www.highland.gov.uk
- Albyn Housing Society has just over 2000 properties in its ownership and management across Highland, mainly general needs, but including some special needs provision and supported accommodation. Albyn also offers low cost home ownership options. There is more about low cost home ownership in a later section, but you can also find out more about the type of accommodation provided by Albyn from their web-site at www.albynhousing.org.uk.
- Cairn Housing Association has properties across Scotland including just under 1300 units across 19 communities in the Highlands where they provide general needs, special needs and amenity housing and can also offer low cost home ownership options. They also provide a supported accommodation option. You can find out more from their web-site at www.cairnha.com
- Lochaber Housing Association has just under 600 properties across Lochaber which are mainly general needs with some special needs and amenity provision. They also offer low cost home onwnership options in a range of locations both in the main town of Fort William, and in the more remote rural communities. Once again, you can find out more from their web-site at www.lochaberhousing.org.uk.
- Lochalsh & Skye Housing Association has just under 500 properties for rent which are mainly general needs with some special needs provision. They too provide a range of low cost home ownership solutions across the rural and remote rural communities in their area of operation. More information can be found on their web-site at: www.lsha.co.uk
- Pentland Housing Association has around 450 properties for rent in the district of Caithness, predominantly in Thurso and Wick. They also offer low cost home ownership options with further information available from their web-site at www.pentlandhousing.co.uk.
Highland Housing Register also works in partnership with a number of other registered social landlords who operate in the Highlands and who administer their own separate housing lists with a formal Nomination Arrangement with the HHR for a certain number of their vacancies. These are generally specialist national organisations, or organisations who have very limited stock in the Highland Area and are HHR ‘participants’.
Who are the HHR Participants?
- Hanover Housing Association provides mainly sheltered, very sheltered and amenity housing for older people, with a small number of general needs housing for families in developments in Fort William, Caol and Newtonmore. Their web-site www.hsha.org.uk provides detailed information about their properties and the services offered, including how to make an application for housing.
- Key Housing Association provide individualised support to people with learning disabilities in a range of home and community settings in properties which they own or lease from other housing providers. Many properties are adapted for special needs. They are a social care organisation as much as a housing organisation and have stock in 50 locations across the country including in the Highlands. You can apply directly to them and information is available from their web-site at: www.keyhousing.org
- Link Housing Association is a national housing provider with a small number of flats to rent in Fort William, and some houses available for shared ownership. Information on how to apply is available from their web-site: www.linkhousing.co.uk
- Margaret Blackwood Housing Association designs, builds and manages affordable housing for both disabled and non disabled people in small communities across Scotland, providing different levels of care and support as appropriate. They have housing in Fort William, Inverness, Invergordon, Dingwall, and a few units in Badenoch and you can find out about availability and how to apply by e-mailing info@mbha.org.uk
- Trust Housing Association provide sheltered, very sheltered and amenity housing. In Highland they have stock in Portree, Helmsdale, Dingwall, Inverenss, Kinlochbervie, Lairg, Lochinver and Nairn. You can get information on how to apply including details of any current vacancies from their web site at www.trustha.org.uk
There are another group of registered social landlords providing housing in Highland who operate independantly of HHR but who are jointly working informally to improve access to housing and meet housing needs in Highland. They can be contacted separately for details of how to apply directly and can give an update on their progress with joining the HHR.
Who are the other social landlords with housing in Highland?
- Abbeyfield Scotland Ltd provides care homes and very sheltered houses across Scotland. Within the Highlands, Abbeyfield currently has three very sheltered houses in Rosemarkie, Inverness and Nairn catering for 6 -10 residents. Each resident enjoys their own secure private room with en-suite or private bathroom. There is a communal lounge and dining room, where meals are provided by staff. Further information is available from the website: Abbeyfield International - Abbeyfield Scotland
- Servite Housing Association is a national housing provider with general needs, amenity, sheltered and very sheltered stock mainly in the east of scotland. It is developing new provision in Inverness and will be working with HHR for allocating these and future units. You can find out more about their existing and new provision from www.servite.co.uk
Another housing organisation called The Highlands Small Communities Housing Trust (HSCHT) also operates in the Highlands: They do not have any properties to let but they work with small rural communities to identify their local housing needs and develop practical housing solutions to meet those needs. They have a number of housing development workers working across the Highlands. More information on what The Highlands Small Communities Housing Trust does, and how you can ask for their help, can be found at Section 5.4 or you can access their website at www.hscht.co.uk
Want to find out more about how HHR works?
We’ve tried to answer your Frequently Asked Questions here – let us know if you have any more.
- What is the Highland Housing Register (HHR)
- Why have the Highland Housing Register (HHR)
- How to make an application
- What will happen to my application
- How houses are allocated
- How long will I have to wait for an offer of housing
- When you are offered a house
- When you refuse an offer
- What if I am homeless
- Who do I contact for further information, or for enquiries about my application
- What if I want to make a complaint about how my application has been handled
- Alternative formats
We also have a separately available leaflet about HHR and Allocations – you can pick one up at any service point or Area Housing and Property Office, or you can email us through our contact form on the council’s web-site.
What is the Highland Housing Register (HHR)?
HHR is a single Housing List which enables anyone seeking social rented housing in Highland to apply for housing from any of the partner social landlords by completing a single shared application form. Applications are assessed in terms of a single shared assessment process. You can view the Highland Housing Register Allocations Policy to see how appilcations are assessed.
Aims of the HHR Allocations Policy include
- provision of housing to those in greatest need
- to help prevent and deal with homelessness
- to give applicants a range of choices of housing
Information and advice on wider housing options is available from each partner landlord and in this guide by following the links to the partner organisations.
Why have the Highland Housing Register (HHR)?
A single register improves use of the available social housing stock. With a single register of applicants, there is greater scope for making successful 'matches' of applicants for housing with properties that are vacant. A single register can help make allocation of social housing more efficient and more effective.
Operating a shared register reduces duplication of work by staff in different organisations. Given that the administration cost of managing the application, assessment and allocation processes is met from rental income, social landlords have a responsibility to tenants to ensure efficiency.
A single register of people actively seeking housing within a given area - both as first-time applicants and tenants seeking to transfer - provides a more accurate estimate of housing need than a number of different registers. A single housing register can also help inform strategic planning within the Highland housing market area ensuring that housing need and demand is consistently assessed for investment purposes under duties introduced in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001.
Highland Housing Register partners are committed to the recognised benefits of a common housing register for Highland through a Partnership Agreement.
Further information on Common Housing Registers is available from www.shbvn.org
How to make an application to HHR
Anyone aged 16 years or over can apply for a house from any of the partner landlords. You can choose to apply for as many of the landlords as you like. You have the right for your application to be considered by any or all the landlords.
You can make an application by contacting any of the partner landlords from the contact details in this document, and requesting an application form, or you can download the application form and guidance notes from our website at:
/livinghere/housing/findinghousing/commonhousingregister/
or you can call in to a local office to collect an application. You can request assistance with the completion of an application form.
Applications can be returned to any of the partner landlords – see Section 1.2 for details and Appendix A for addresses etc.
What will happen to my application?
Once you have returned your application form it will be checked to make sure that we have all the information we need. We will confirm that we have received your application. We may contact you if we require any further information, and in certain circumstances we may need to contact your previous landlord for a reference, or other professionals for verification of your circumstances.
Once we have all the information, we can assess your housing needs. The HHR enables all applications to be assessed using a single policy which awards points for different categories of housing need. A summary of the categories and points can be found below. This process ensures that all applications are assesses consistently against the same measures of housing need.
Full details of the categories of housing need are contained in Part B of the HHR Allocations Policy - Assessing your housing need and awarding points. This can be found on the Highland council website at:
/livinghere/housing/findinghousing/commonhousingregister/
Your application is then held on the HHR with details of your circumstances and the level of points assessed for these circumstances. It is important that you continue to keep us informed of any changes in your circumstances in order that the HHR can continue to accurately reflect your housing need. When your application has been assessed in this way we will write to you to confirm what your points total is.
How are houses allocated?
The HHR enables all partner landlords to produce shortlists of applicants for any vacant stock. As applications are prioritised using the categories of housing need in the HHR Allocations Policy, shortlists identify applicants with greatest need for available stock of any size in any location across Highland, at the time of any particular vacancy. As HHR is an open list and anyone has the right to apply at any time, the shortlists can change from day to day to reflect any new applications received. Your position on the list can therefore change as new applications are received and as other applicants are housed.
Based on the points awarded under the Allocations Policy, houses are allocated to applicants with greatest need for vacancies of an eligible size and type in their preferred location.
It is possible for applicants with low levels of housing need not to be offered housing through the HHR route, particularly where they are seeking housing in areas where there is either high demand for housing or limited availability of vacant houses. Staff in any of the partner offices can provide you with information and advice about the supply and turnover of houses in their areas to assist you in the choices you make in your application, or in terms of other housing options, including renting privately or low cost home ownership.
How long will I have to wait for an offer of housing?
Offers of housing will depend on your level of housing need, as well as on the availability of the size and type of housing you need in the areas you have expressed a preference for. Staff from any of the partner landlord offices can give you advice on historical and/or anticipated availability of stock in their ownership in different areas. This can help inform the choice of areas you make on your application.
When you are offered a house
When your application is shortlisted as being in greatest need for one of the partner landlord's vacant properties, you will be contacted by letter to make you an offer. The offer letter will contain the property details, information about how you can arrange to view it, and how long you have to accept or refuse the offer. If you accept the offer rent will be charged from the date the tenancy starts, which is generally as soon as it is available for occupation.
When you refuse an offer
If you refuse a reasonable offer of housing made by one of the HHR partners (that is one which appears to meet your needs and is in one of your selected areas) then we will contact you to make sure that the information in your application is correct, and give you advice about your housing options. If you refuse a second reasonable offer we will suspend your application for 6 months.
If your application has been awarded points because the Highland Council has assessed that you are homeless or threatened with homelessness you will still be eligible to receive 2 offers. These offers will be reasonable taking account of your housing needs, advice in the Scottish Government's Code of Guidance on Homelessness, and availability of housing in the area you have selected. The offers may not necessarily be in the area you have selected where there is an evidenced shortage of housing in that area. In these circumstances, when you refuse 2 reasonable offers The Highland Council may consider that it has discharged its duty to you in terms of homelessness legislation by making these properties available to you. You would have a right of appeal.
What if I am homeless?
The Highland Council has a legal duty to help homeless people and those threatened with homelessness. Other HHR partners do not have this legal duty and while they are committed to supporting The Highland Council in meeting its homelessness duties by means of the HHR, they do not have powers to assess homelessness or award points for this aspect of housing need.
For this reason, if you are homeless, or threatened with homelessness, you must contact one of The Highland Council's Housing & Property Service Offices and arrange an appointment with an Accommodation Officer. Contact details for Housing & Property Service Offices across Highland are available here.
Additionally, further advice and information about homelessness, including Frequently Asked Questions and useful contacts, can be obtained from the Homelessness page of the Council’s web-site or in Section 9 of this manual.
Who do I contact for more information and advice?
Because the HHR is a shared system you can contact any of the partner offices in connection with your application. However, we recognise you may wish to deal consistently with staff in the office which is holding your application, which may be your existing landlord if you are already a tenant of an HHR landlord, or with particular staff that are more fully aware of your circumstances, or with an office that is more accessible to you. The complete list of contact details for HHR partners is available in Appendix A.
What if I want to make a complaint?
If you wish to complain about how your application has been managed, then you should contact the office holding your application for details of the complaints procedure. Your complaint will be investigated and you will receive a formal written response to your complaint.
Alternative Formats
To request any of this information in an alternative format, for example, LARGE PRINT, Braille, computer disc, audio tape, or alternative languages, please contact The Highland Council's Housing & Property Service, tel 01463 702863. or by using our contact form which can be found on our web-site at:
/livinghere/housing/contact?id=housingandproperty.
Where is the social rented housing in Highland?
There is housing to rent across Highland in urban, rural and remote rural settings. The following table shows the locations. Some of the HHR partner organisations are developing housing in areas where there has not traditionally been social rented housing, and the locations are therefore being added to over time.
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
Zone West Caithness
Settlements within the Zone
Barrock, Bower, Castletown, Dunnet, Durran, Forss, Geise, Glengolly, Gillock, Halkirk, Janetstown, Mey, Murkle, Reay, Scarfskerry, Scrabster, Shebster, Spittal, Thurso, Westfield, Weydale
Zone East Caithness
Settlements within the Zone
Ackergill, Auchengill, Canisbay, Clyth, Dunbeath, Haster
John O’Groats, Keiss, Latheron, Lyth, Latheronwheel, Lybster
Milton, Occumster, Papigoe, Reiss, Staxigoe, Thrumster
Ulbster, Watten, Wick, Wick-Pulteney
Zone: North West Sutherland
Settlements within the Zone
Altnaharra, Bettyhill, Drumbeg, Durness, Kinlochbervie, Kylesku, Lochinver, Melness, Portskerra, Rhiconich, Scourie, Skerray, Stoer, Strathy, Tongue
Zone: East Sutherland
Settlements within the zone
Ardgay, Bonar Bridge, Brora, Camore Dornoch, Edderton, Embo, Golspie, Helmsdale, Inveran, Kinbrace, Lairg, Loth, Oykel Bridge, Portgower, Rearquhar,Rogart, Rosehall
Zone: Invergordon & surrounding area
Settlements within the Zone
Alness, Ardross, Evanton, Invergordon, Milton,
Zone: Tain & surrounding area
Settlements within the zone
Balintore/Hilton, Tain, Seaboard villages
Ross, Skye and Lochaber
Zone Mid Ross
Conon Bridge, Contin, Dingwall, Garve, Marybank. Maryburgh, Muir of Ord, Strathpeffer
Zone: Black Isle
Settlements within the zone
Black Isle, Cromarty, North Kessock
Zone: Ullapool
Settlements within the zone
Achiltibuie, Badcaul, Ullapool
Zone: Gairloch and surrounding area
Settlements within the zone
Aultbea, Gairloch, Inverasdale, Poolewe
Zone: Lochcarron and surrounding area
Settlements within the zone
Achnasheen, Applecross, Kinlochewe, Lochcarron, Shieldaig, Torridon,
Zone: North Skye and Raasay
Settlements within the zone
Carbost, Dunvegan, Edinbane, Glendale, Isle of Raasay, Kilmuir, Orbost, Portnalong, Portree, Skeabost Bridge, Staffin, Struan, Uig, Waternish
Zone: South Skye
Settlements within the zone
Ardvasar, Armadale, Broadford, Ferrindonald, Kyleakin, Teangue
Zone: Lochalsh
Settlements within the zone
Achmore, Auchtertyre, Balmacara, Dornie, Duirinish, Glenelg, Glenshiel, Inverinate, Kyle, Plockton, Ratagan
Zone: West Lochaber
Settlements within the zone
Arisaig, Eigg, Glenfinnan, Kinlochiel, Knoydart, Lochailort, Mallaig, Morar
Zone: North East Lochaber
Settlements within the zone
Invergarry, Roy Bridge, Spean Bridge
Zone: South Lochaber
Settlements within the zone
Ballachulish, Duror, Glencoe, Kentallen, Kinlochleven, North Ballachulish, Onich
Zone: Central Lochaber
Settlements within the zone
Banavie. Caol. Claggan. Corpach. Fort William. Inverlochy. Lochyside, Plantation. Torlundy, Upper Achintore
Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
Zone Ardersie and surrounding area
Settlements within the zone
Ardersier, Croy, Culloden, Inshes, Milton of Leys, Smithton, Tornagrain
Zone: Beauly
Settlements within the zone
Beauly, Cannich, Kiltarlity, Kirkhill
Zone: Loch Ness and surrounding area
Settlements within the zone
Fort Augustus, Loch Ness North (except for Cannich), Loch Ness South
Zone: Tomatin
Settlements within the zone
Tomatin, Farr
Zone: Nairn
Settlements within the zone
Achareidh, Boathpark, Broadhill, Cranloch, Fraserpark, Nairn Central, Ordview, Queenspark, Tradespark
Zone: Inverness City
Settlements within the zone
Carse, Merkinch Central, Crown, Raigmore, Dalneigh, Springfield, Hilton, Kinmylies, Muirtown, Milton of Culcabock, South Kessock, Wester Inshes
Zone: Aviemore
Settlements within the zone
Aviemore Aviemore, Boat of Garten, Carrbridge, Kincraig
Zone: Kingussie
Settlements within the zone
Dalwhinnie, Kingussie, Laggan, Newtonmore
Zone: Grantown
Settlements within the zone
Cromdale, Dulnain Bridge, Grantown on Spey, Nethybridge
Zone: Rural
Settlements within the zone
Auldearn, Rural
For the number of social housing properties by bed size in Highland – see Appendix B
How many people are waiting for housing?
As at 31 October 2008, six months following the introduction of the HHR, there were 8802 applications for housing being held by the HHR Partners.
Every applicant can choose up to 10 towns/villages where they wish to be housed – to see the number of applicants wishing to be considered for the individual towns/villages, see Appendix D.
Please remember that, as each applicant can choose up to 10 towns/villages to be considered for, the total number of applicants per town/village will exceed the total number of applications we hold.
How many houses have been allocated through HHR?
To see how many properties have been allocated by the HHR partners, please go to Appendix D.
If you are applying for social housing, it is useful to know where the properties are, how many properties each organisation has and how often they are re-let. Many communities in Highland have very few social housing properties, and some do not become vacant very often – it is essential you discuss the areas for you wish to be considered with a trained housing officer or adviser before finalising your choices.
HHR Housing Need Categories, Points and Definitions
Group A – 70 Points
- Priority Need Homeless – Statutory
- Poor Housing Conditions (Urgent)
- Urgent Medical Need
Group B – 50 Points
- Potentially Homeless – Statutory with Priority Need - If threatened with homelessness within 2 months
- Leaving residential care/hospital or other supported accommodation because support is no longer needed.
Group C – 30 Points
- Applicants in properties leased by any of the HHR Landlords with less than 6 months left on lease.
- Two households combined -You will receive 30 points if you are the tenant of a partner landlord and you want to form a new household with another person who is a tenant of a partner landlord provided any allocation will result in both houses being left vacant and available for allocation.
Group D – 20 Points
- Potential or Actual Homeless – statutory but non priority
- Moving to access specialist support services
- Under occupation (each bedroom with no upper limit for those who are a tenant of a HHR landlord)
- Sharing Facilities (1 set of points regardless of how many facilities are shared)
- Poor Housing Conditions – Medium
- Medium medical need
- Need to live in a Community.
Group E – 15 Points
- Overcrowding (each bedroom up to max 60).
- Insecure Accommodation; for example
- c/o Friends/relatives.
- Caravan.
- Shared accommodation.
Group F – 10 Points
- Applicants with a short-assured tenancy, tied tenancy, or HM forces accommodation – (see G below)
- Social factors: for example:
- Move so carer can live with you
- Move to provide care/receive care
- Moving to improve or maintain activities/social contact or to be nearer facilities or services.
- Occasional overcrowding (one award per application)
- Under occupation (per bedroom with a ceiling of 20 points for non CHR Partner)
- Poor Housing Conditions – Intermediate
- Intermediate Medical need.
Group G - 5 Points
- Applicants in Tied Accommodation or who have a Short Assured Tenancy or Notice to Quit from a private landlord and has less than 6 months left on lease (this would be in addition to points from Group F)
- Poor Housing Conditions – Low
- Low Medical need.
Group H – 2 Points
- Time spent in temporary accommodation per month
Group I - Special Allocations Status
Points to be agreed by Senior Managers in exceptional cases for one offer of housing only.
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