From today, people in Forest Heath and St Edmundsbury who are on the housing list, can re-register to carry on bidding on properties after 1 April.
Councils across the Cambridge Sub-Region including Forest Heath and St Edmundsbury are changing IT provider for the database it uses for its choice based letting scheme, Home-Link. This is because a contract with another IT supplier is coming to an end. The new register comes into effect from 1 April 2019.
West Suffolk councils has already emailed all 2500 people on its housing register to tell them about changes that are coming into effect. People have to give an email address when they register, and where those emails show as undelivered, letters have been sent to the postal address they registered with instead. The Council is also highlighting the changes via the media and social media.
As this is a new provider the Council can’t simply transfer the data held from one provider to another. The change of system will also ensure that the information we hold is up-to-date and reflects their housing needs and priority.
Cllr Sara Mildmay-White, Cabinet Member for Housing at West Suffolk councils said: “If people want to ensure that they are able to continue viewing and bidding on properties from 1 April without any delay or disruption, then they need to act now. If they re-register in February, we can process their application in time ready for the 1 April switchover. Of course they can still register after the end of this month but we won’t be able to guarantee that their application will have been dealt with in time for 1 April meaning they may experience a gap in being able to view and bid on properties.”
Anyone who hasn’t re-registered and their application hasn’t been verified by 1 April 2019 may lose their place on the housing register and may not be able to bid for properties.
The change in IT supplier does not alter how priority banding is decided because the Home-link scheme itself remains the same. People will still be assessed in line with the existing housing policy. It is only if there has been a change in their circumstances that their banding may change up or down.
People can re-register from today 1 February 2019 at www.home-link.org.uk
More information can be found on the Council’s website at www.westsuffolk.gov.uk/housingregister