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Welcome to Homesearch
Homesearch is a partnership between Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe Borough Councils. We have worked together to introduce a Choice Based Lettings scheme to advertise homes available for rent and shared ownership within the three areas.
Losing Housing Benefit because you have a spare bedroom?
You might find a smaller property for a mutual exchange through Home Swap Direct. Simply enter your requirements, and make sure you click on "National results" and "National links" to see all the properties available for mutual exchange. If you are already a council or housing association tenant, you can register on any of these websites for free.
Why not try the new Housing Options wizard and find out about other options that may be suitable for you?
Are you looking to rent a garage in Rushcliffe? Click here to find out more.
New allocations policies to be introduced 2013
From April 2013, it is proposed that Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe borough councils will each have a separate allocations policy to cover the social housing properties in their own area. There will still be one Homesearch website, and the process for using it will not change. However, in Gedling and Rushcliffe there may be major changes to who is able to access social housing. It is proposed that people who do not have an identified need for rehousing (but have a desire to move elsewhere) and people with no local connection will not be accepted onto the Housing Register.
All three councils consulted on their proposals in late 2012, and now aim to bring them into practice from April 2013 onwards. If you have any queries about this or how it may affect your housing application, please contact your local council.
Homesearch is very different from the old way of allocating social housing. Available properties will be advertised every week on the online property shop, and in public places such as council offices and libraries.
You can then express an interest (or “bid”) for properties that meet your needs. The person with the greatest housing need who bids for a property will be offered it. In this way, Homesearch gives you more choice about where you live.
There are many ways to bid for properties, including via the website, in person at the council offices, by post, or by telephone and text. We can also support you to do this. Each "bidding cycle" starts at midnight on Thursday, and closes at midnight the following Wednesday. You cannot place a bid on Wednesdays.
Please note that it does not matter when in the cycle you place your bid. All bids received in the cycle are treated the same, whether they are placed on the first day of the cycle or the last. What matters is your local connection, your priority band, and how long you have been in that priority band (called your effective date).
If you need assistance to use Homesearch, please see the Forms and Information section for easy-to-read user guides. If you require further assistance, please contact us by selecting the How to Contact Us section.
Please note that there are far more people looking for homes through Homesearch than we can help, so you might like to consider the alternatives to waiting for a social rented home. Please use the Housing Options wizard to find more information on the choices available to you.
If you are not currently on the Housing Register, but would like to apply to Homesearch for a home, please click here to register and complete an online application form, or download a copy of the paper form by clicking here.
Some information on this site is in PDF (Portable Document Format). To view these documents you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can download this for free by clicking on the icon below.
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Losing Housing Benefit because you have a spare bedroom?
