Housing Moves scheme FAQs

Housing Moves has been refocused and is closed to most applicants from 1 July 2022.

Last year, we reviewed the Housing Moves scheme to consider it if remained effective for London’s social tenants. An independent consultant undertook the review and found a wide and increasing gap between the supply of properties to the scheme and demand for them from applicants.

As a result, the chance of securing a move for most people registered was extremely remote, leading to false expectations for many. The review concluded that it was reasonable to consider how the scheme could better deliver options to meet London wide and local strategic priorities, and that refocusing the scheme on the most urgent needs would clarify its purpose and aims.

Instead of the scheme being open to all social housing tenants, eligibility is limited to victims/survivors of domestic abuse who are current social tenants and former rough sleepers moving on from supported accommodation, or other similar accommodation and services.

No, Seaside and Country Homes is unaffected by these changes.

Seaside and Country Homes is open to existing social housing tenants of a participating landlord living in London, where at least one member of the household is age 55 or above.

• Any members of the household who are under 55 years of age must be either the partner, joint tenant, dependent adult child or registered carer of the lead applicant. Second applicants aged under 55 are not able to become joint tenants of, or have succession rights to, Seaside and Country Homes properties.
• We are usually only able to consider applications from two people but we can consider three person households where the third person is an adult dependant relative or live in carer. Please contact us if you are unsure of your eligibility.

Applicants should have no rent arrears or history of anti-social behaviour, and should not be going through possession proceedings or being evicted.

We always recommend that you speak to your landlord first as they may be able to suggest options for you. Most social tenants are able to register for a mutual exchange and your landlord will be able to advise which scheme they subscribe to. You may also be able to apply to the HomefinderUK scheme if you are interested in moving out of London and if you are 55 or over you may wish to consider the Mayor’s Seaside and Country Homes Scheme.

Find more information on the Mayor’s Seaside and Country Homes Scheme.

In most cases no, but if you need to move because of domestic abuse you should speak to your landlord and ask to be referred to the Pan-London Housing Reciprocal scheme where you will be supported to register on the refocused Housing Moves scheme. A support professional can also make a referral for you.

If you need to move due to domestic abuse please contact your landlord and request a referral to the scheme.

If you believe you are at imminent risk of harm please seek immediate help by dialling 999. There is also the National Domestic Violence Helpline on 0808 2000 247 which provides support in relation to domestic or sexual violence.

Housing Moves doesn’t accept direct applications. Instead, eligible tenants may be referred to the scheme. If you believe you are eligible (please see other FAQs), you can ask either your landlord, a supporting agency, or any other professional supporting you with your domestic abuse and housing situation to refer you to the scheme.

Your referral must include a named support professional who will act as the main point of contact on your behalf. The Housing Moves team, and any prospective landlords, will only correspond with named support professionals and won’t correspond directly with you for safety reasons.

Once your referral is received, the Housing Moves team will process it by confirming details with your support professional and your landlord. If the referral is accepted, you will be registered on the scheme and login details will be sent to your named support professional who will then be asked to securely share the details with you. If the referral is not accepted, the Housing Moves team will inform your named support professional and explain why.

We can only process a referral once we receive confirmation from your landlord and support professional, so please make sure they have the necessary information about your current situation to avoid any delay with the registration process. If you have any questions about your referral, please ask the person who made the referral on your behalf to contact us, or you can refer to the other frequently asked questions.

Please be aware that Housing Moves isn’t a housing provider, and the scheme doesn’t provide emergency accommodation. If you require emergency accommodation, please contact your landlord or local council for assistance. If you feel you are at imminent risk of harm please seek immediate help by dialling 999. The National Domestic Violence Helpline on 0808 2000 247 provides support in relation to domestic or sexual violence.

Housing Moves is available to former rough-sleepers who are currently living in short-term, supported accommodation and ready to move on to an independent home.

If you are a former rough-sleeper and your current accommodation was allocated by the Clearing House please speak to your move-on support worker about a referral to the scheme.

Housing Moves doesn’t accept direct applications. Instead, eligible tenants may be referred to the scheme. If you believe you are eligible (please see other FAQs), you can ask your tenancy sustainment worker to refer you to the scheme. Your referral must include a named tenancy sustainment worker.

Once your referral is received, the Housing Moves team will process it by confirming details with your landlord. If the referral is accepted, you will be registered on the scheme and login details will be sent to you by email, if your support worker included your email address on the referral. If the referral is not accepted, the Housing Moves team will inform your support worker and explain why.

We can only process a referral once we receive confirmation from your landlord.  If you have any questions about your referral, please ask your support worker. If they can't help you they can contact the Housing Moves team for assistance. Or you can refer to the other frequently asked questions.

There are currently no plans for this decision to be reviewed.

If you were registered prior July 2022 and your account is now closed, we will work with our IT provider to remove all personal data from the system after 12 months (by July 2023). This means that after this date we will only have access to anonymised data for statistical and reporting purposes but all personal information connected to your Housing Moves application will no longer be held by Greater London Authority.

Find more information on the GLA Privacy policy. 

All properties are advertised for a minimum of four days which must include a Friday and Saturday.

Once you have applied and your application has been approved , you will be given log in details to allow you to search for properties on the site and bid for any that interest you. You will be given more details when you join the scheme.

You can bid by logging in through the website. If you do not have access to the internet someone can do this for you.

You can place up to four bids at any one time. All advertised properties include a Friday and Saturday and you will be able to see how many other applicants have bid for those properties.

You can change any of your bids at any time until the bidding period for those properties closes but you can only have a maximum of four bids at any one time.

When you select “all properties” you will only see properties that you are eligible to bid for. For example, if you are eligible to bid for two-bedroom properties you will only see two-bedroom properties.

Please be aware that we don’t see family size properties advertised every week on Housing Moves so you may occasionally receive a message to say “sorry, there are 0 properties matching your criteria”.

This message does not indicate any problem with your application.

The best days to check for properties are Friday and Saturdays because every advert must be placed on these days.

Your priority will be based on the date that you registered for the scheme so bids will be prioritised in date order of application.

We are keen to ensure you have as much choice as possible when considering a move and including these properties increases the number of properties being advertised.

We have ensured however, that landlords clearly identify these properties on their adverts so you can make an informed choice whether you place a bid or not.

If you are not interested in an Affordable Rent property or a fixed term tenancy then you should ensure the properties you place bids for are being advertised on a Social Rent basis.

Many properties let on an Affordable Rent basis are also offered with a fixed term tenancy instead of a lifetime tenancy. This fixed term period is often for five years but can be less, so you need to check with the landlord if you are offered a viewing on one of these properties.

This should be made clear in the property advert on the Housing Moves website.

If you currently have a lifetime tenancy with your current landlord you will need to consider whether you are prepared to move to a property on a fixed term tenancy basis. If not, you should ensure you only bid for properties advertised as Social Rents.

Social landlords are able to offer tenancies on an Affordable Rent basis. These can be charged at up to 80 per cent of the local market rent although some landlords use a lower percentage to reflect the costs of renting in London.

However, the weekly rent is likely to be higher than properties being let on a Social Rent.

Therefore, before you place a bid on a property through Housing Moves you should check whether it is being let on an Affordable Rent basis. This will be made clear in the advert details.

Bedroom entitlement is based on the age, sex and relationship to one another of all household members on the basis of the bedroom standard. The system calculates the bedroom entitlement from the household member information provided on the application form and will only allow bidders to place bids for properties that match their assessed bedroom entitlement.

The bedroom standard is as follows. A separate bedroom is allocated to each:

• Married or cohabiting couple.
• Adult aged 21 years of age or more.
• Pair of adolescents ages 10 to 20 years of age of the same sex.
• Pair of children aged under 10 years of age regardless of sex.

Any unpaired person aged 10 to 20 years is paired, if possible, with a child under ten years of age of the same sex. If that isn’t possible, they’re assessed as needing a separate bedroom. The same applies to an unpaired child aged under ten years of age.

Once bidding closes the landlords will be able to see the list of all those people that have bid for each property. They will work through the list starting at the person who is first and work down through the list. If you are being considered they will contact you or your support officer to discuss your bid and the property in question.

If you are interested they will need to check that the details on your application are still accurate and invite you to visit the property.

The landlord will advise you if there is any information you need to take with you to the viewing. They may also ask you to complete one of their own application forms or other documentation they may require.

If you refuse the offer of a viewing or refuse a property having viewed it, this will be noted on the system by the landlord with a reason given. This will not prevent you from bidding for other properties.

However, if you refuse three or more offers your application may be suspended for a period. If this is the case your support worker will contact you to discuss your application, your choices and reasons for refusal.