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Frequently Asked Questions

Bucks Home Choice is the scheme that was introduced in partnership by Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern, South Bucks and Wycombe District Councils, together with the Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust.

to allocate social housing within Buckinghamshire. The scheme advertises social rented properties and aims to give more choice about where you live and when you move. There is a severe shortage of housing in the area and therefore you will need to consider all other housing options available to you.

All applicants are assessed according to their housing need, given a priority band and advised what size property they are eligible for.

Once you have received your assessment you can see which properties you are eligible to bid for. This can be done by logging in with your Bucks Home Choice number and date of birth. You decide which properties you would like to be considered for and place a bid on up to 3 properties in each advertising cycle. The properties are usually let to the person in the highest priority band.

On 1 April 2020 one new Council the 'Buckinghamshire Council' replaces the previously separate Councils of Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire County Council, Chiltern,South Bucks and Wycombe. It has been agreed for a period of 2 years before we implement a new Allocation Policy for the new Buckinghamshire Council all applications for social housing will be considered under the separate District Council geographical boundaries that were present before April 2020. A new policy has been implemented which currently operates as detailed above.
No, Whoever is managing your application now will still do so after 1st April 2020 and so you will not be affected for the time being. If you have any questions about this then please review the information available on your local council website before contacting your housing officer.
Your banding will not change at this time as your application has been assessed under the policy and this remains in place after 1st April 2020 until such times as a new policy is adopted by the Buckinghamshire Council.
Click the blue 'Register' button at the top right of the screen, that will take you to our online pre-assessment and housing application form. If you are eligible to apply, don't forget to send us any supporting information we ask for so that your application can be properly assessed. We cannot assess your application until all supporting evidence is received.
By law, we have to check you are eligible to apply for housing, this is why we ask you about your immigration status as not everyone is eligible for social housing. We advertise properties owned mainly by housing associations and we are required to assess individual circumstances to ensure the landlord has all of the information they may require and to make sure we allocate tenancies fairly. All of the information that we ask for is to ensure that those who have the greatest need are given priority.
If you do not have an email address you can create one using one of the following links: You can contact your Local Authority using the details on the Contact Page to discuss this further
Please see the "Help Guide" section opposite where you will find a link to the Bucks Home Choice Policy
Bucks Home Choice will only consider transfer applicants who are under occupying a family home or have some level of housing or welfare need or where it is not reasonable for you to stay in your current home. If you have the adequate number of bedrooms for your family size, you will not normally qualify. Your landlord may operate their own transfer register; otherwise you may wish to consider a mutual exchange. There are a number of exchange sites, one of these is Homeswapper.co.uk which you may be able to join to search for other tenants that want to swap. Any exchange will require your landlord’s permission.
Local connection is achieved by living or working (24 hours a week min) in the Bucks Home Choice Area for a minimum of two years preceding your application, having family that live in the area does not give you a local connection. However, if you are assessed as having a housing need (known as a ‘reasonable preference’) you can apply to join the register. If you have not been living or working in the partnership area to which you are applying for two years immediately preceding your application you will be prioritised below those that do have a local connection.
Once you have submitted your application, it can take between 8 to 12 weeks for it to be assessed. This is because we have a high volume of new applications which take a great deal of time to assess. We process them in date order in fairness to all applicants, where we have the required supporting documents. You may be asked for supporting information before a decision can be made on your eligibility to the register. When a decision has been made, you will be sent an email or letter which will explain your banding, bedroom need and which Local Authorities you have a confirmed Local Connection to. Only contact us if you haven’t heard from us within 12 weeks or it is urgent as contacts regarding the status of applications increase our workload and lengthen the time it takes to conduct our work.
You will be unable to start bidding on properties until your application has been assessed. When you receive the decision letter from us stating that your application has been made live, you will then be able to login to your application and start bidding for properties.
You need to sign in first (if you are logging in for the first time you need to create a password and activate it from your email account). Once you have logged in, you should click 'View Homes' to see what properties you are eligible for. Click on the advert of any properties you want to bid on, check the details on the advert and make sure it's a property you're interested in, and click the 'Place Bid' button.
That depends upon the type of property you need and where you would like to live. See the feedback section opposite for more information on previous properties. Properties in Bucks are in very short supply and many applicants will face an indefinite wait. Larger family accommodation is in very short supply.
We strongly advise you to contact your local authority immediately for advice and assistance. You can also find some very useful information on your council website, including a self referral portal that you can complete online if you wish with information about your situation. Our member page also contains a lot of information about the options available to you, including how to find an alternative privately rented property.
Please include details of your medical condition in your application. If we need any further information, we will get in touch with you to discuss this.
Read the Allocations Policy for the Council you are applying to, and see what we take into account when we assess your banding. If you still think your band is incorrect, then contact you Choice Based Lettings Officer to discuss your application further.
If you login to your account, you'll see a 'Have your circumstances changed?' button. If you click that, you can complete a new application form, updating any information which may have changed and submitting it at the end. After submitting this to us you will be unable to bid until your application has been re-assessed, since your changes may make a difference to your banding or bedroom need.
If you move home, you must complete a Change of Circumstances Form, which will take approximately 30 minutes. You can do this online, when you login to your member home page. Whilst we are processing your change of circumstances you will not be able to bid for properties.
Yes. You must complete a Change of Circumstances Form, which will take approximately 30 minutes. You can do this online, when you login to your member home page. Whilst we are processing your change of circumstances you will not be able to bid for properties. You will be required to send us a copy of the baby’s full birth certificate and proof of child benefit/tax credits, if you have them and this can be done online via the website or by emailing them to your Bucks Home Choice Officer.
You must complete a Change of Circumstances Form as your application is assessed on the information that you provided to us and so your application will require re assessment. You can do this online, when you login to your member home page. Whilst we are processing your change of circumstances you will not be able to bid for properties. You may be asked to provide additional information about new household members.
There are a variety of reasons why your account might be suspended. Normally it is because you are waiting for a reassessment following a change in your circumstances. Sometimes we will suspend your application for another reason, but we will write to you to explain.
We undertake to contact clients within 20 working days of their application, there are times that we are really busy and this may take slightly longer. Before you contact us about the progress of your application please check your spam or junk folder for the following email address: donotreply@buckshomechoice.org.uk
Go to the ‘My Details’ tab on the top of your member page, where you can edit your contact details. You do not need to complete a Change of Circumstances Form.
We aim to process applications and changes of circumstances within 20 working days. Where further information is required your application will not be made live and you will not be able to bid. During busy times this may take longer.
When you login to your member page it will indicate roughly where you are on the shortlist. If you are offered the property or are invited to view the property, you will be contacted by either the landlord directly. We are not able to provide further detailed information about shortlists until the property has been accepted.
The offer of a property is subject to your managing partner ensuring your circumstances haven’t changed since you first made your application and you are still eligible for the property – this is called verification. Once these checks have been completed the Landlord of the property will be in touch to arrange a viewing or to confirm your allocation of that property after viewing, and let you know when you can expect your tenancy to start from. Sometimes new properties take longer than expected to move into, this is not in our control but we will try to keep you updated if we can. There are also some rare instances in which you may have been offered a property which then is withdrawn, this is usually because the property needs a large amount of work which was not identified when it was advertised. We appreciate that this is difficult when you may have viewed the property but it is appropriate when there is a long wait that the offer may be withdrawn by the registered provider.
In all instances you should speak to your Bucks Home Choice officer first before refusing a property as it may have an impact on your application and result in suspension for a period of time. If you are homeless and you wish to refuse a property then you must immediately speak to your housing advisor urgently to discuss the reasons why you wish to refuse, this will be your final offer of accommodation and any refusal has a direct impact on any duty that the Council you have made your homelessness application to owes you. This could mean that you receive no further offers of accommodation and If you are in temporary accommodation you could be asked to leave.