With the Locata scheme, it will not be the Council or Housing Association who will find and allocate you a home; instead you look for your own home using the Locata HOME magazine or Website.
There are five steps for you to follow in choosing your new home:
Step 1 – Membership
You are automatically a member of Locata if you are an existing tenant of any of the participating Councils or Housing Associations on the partners page and have registered for a transfer or if you are a homeseeker.
This includes homeless people and others on the Housing Register of participating Councils and Housing Associations.
You may not be eligible to be on the housing register; your council can give you further advice on this.
Step 2 – Registration
Once your Council or Housing Association has accepted you onto their register, Locata will write to you to give you a Locata Identification Number (LIN number) and will tell you which band (A, B, C or D) you have been placed in and
your priority date. Follow the link for details of how the priority band and date system works.
You must keep your Housing Department informed of any changes to your household, medical condition or housing situation.
This is very important as it could result in changing your band, or your eligibility for certain homes. Follow the link for details of how the priority band and date system works.
Step 3 – Choosing
Available properties are advertised in a magazine called ‘Locata HOME’. The adverts give you information about each property available for letting. You can pick up a free copy of Locata HOME from various places, including civic centres, housing offices and public libraries. Locata HOME is also available on this website. Once you have your copy of Locata HOME you will be able to bid for a maximum of 3 properties in each edition.
You can bid in any 4 ways:
By coupon
We send blank coupons direct to you with your registration pack. Each bid coupon will have your name and LIN number printed on it. This is your individual number so do not give your coupons to anyone else. You can request more coupons by telephoning 0906 294 2013, or Login above.
On the web
Go to www.locata.org Locata's Public Website and login with your LIN number and birth date.
By telephone
Call 0906 294 2012 and follow the instructions.
By text
Call 07781 472726 and follow the instructions.
Locata HOME is usually published every other Friday. Your bids must reach us by 2pm the following Wednesday.
Step 4 – Offer
Locata puts the bids received, for each property advertised, in priority order to produce a list of eligible members for each property.
The landlord of each property allocates from the list after doing further eligibility checks. If your name is at the top of the priority list, you will normally be invited to view the property. If you refuse this property, the next person on the ‘priority list’ will be invited to view the property.
You do not automatically get penalised for refusing properties you have chosen, although measures might be taken if you refuse several properties, especially if you are in a high ‘priority band’ and need to move urgently.
Many landlords invite more than one member to view their properties at the same time, although the property is always offered first to the member with the highest priority who attends the viewing.
If you are at the top of more than one list, the landlord will decide which property to offer you and the other properties will be offered elsewhere.
Any offer is subject to your application being verified. If you are not verified the offer may be made to another applicant.
If you receive an offer to view, if you do NOT intend to turn up you must contact the landlord.
Step 5 – Feedback
All properties are listed on the “Feedback” page of Locata HOME once they have been let. The feedback tells you how many people bid for each property, as well as the band and registration date of the successful bidder.
This helps you to see how long the successful bidders have been waiting.
It is not possible to notify you individually when your bids have been unsuccessful.
People who have come top of a shortlist are usually contacted within a week of the bid closing. However, a lot of properties are advertised some time before they are ready for occupation.
If a person who was top of the list refuses, the next person who was on the list may be invited to view some weeks after the closing date.
If you are offered you will not be short-listed for other properties until a decision is made on the shortlist, which includes whether you decide to accept or refuse the offer.
If you have questions about how the scheme applies to you or about bidding for properties,there are fully trained housing staff available to support you in your Housing Department see your council and RSL’s addresses and telephone numbers.