Click the purple 'Register' button at the top right of the screen.

The houses we advertise are mainly provided by Housing Associations, Housing Trusts and Registered Social Housing Providers. By law, we have to check that you are eligible to apply for housing. We also have to make sure we allocate tenancies fairly. By registering, we have the information we need to make sure that those who have the greatest need are given priority for housing, in accordance with government guidance.

We aim to process your application and to have emailed you a response back within 5 working days. If you have elected to receive letter by post, your written correspondence may take a little longer to reach you. Some customers may be asked to prove their eligibility for UK assistance and recourse to public funds, if this is the case will not be able to process your application until we receive the requested documentation.

If you have a medical reason for needing to move please select this reason on the reasons for moving page of your housing application. This will trigger the medical questions and enable you to include details of your medical condition in your application. If we need any further information, we will get in touch with you to discuss the type of supporting information we require. Doctors can charge you for a letter, please do not ask your Doctor to write to us unless we request this information.

Read the Cheshire Homechoice Common Allocations policy first (see opposite) and see what we take into account when we assess your priority. If you still think your priority band is incorrect, then contact the Cheshire Homechoice team to discuss your application further.

To be able to bid on a home, you will need to be registered, know your email address and password and details of the property you are interested in. Once we have registered your application, we will send you an acknowledgement of your application and you will be able to log into your account using your email address and password. You will be able to reset your password or change it if you forget it by using the links on the 'Sign In' page. If you find this difficult, please contact the general enquiries number on 0300 123 5017 for assistance. You can then express an interest in homes by using this website or by telephoning the Homechoice team on 0300 123 5017. If you struggle with accessing the internet please speak to the team about Auto Bids or ring once a week on a Monday to bid over the phone.

Once the bidding closes, staff at the organisation that own the property, will start to process the shortlist. If you're at the top of the list, then they will contact you to discuss an offer. This will normally happen within 2 weeks of the shortlist closing.

A registered Housing Provider can be a Housing Association, Trust, Council or Private Organisation that offers affordable homes and is registered with the Tenant Services Authority.

There are some people who are not eligible to be included on the housing register. These are; • Certain people who are subject to Immigration Control under the 1996 Asylum and Immigration Act. Certain people from abroad who are not subject to immigration control but who are not habitually resident in the UK, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the Republic of Ireland. People (including members of their household) who have been guilty of unacceptable behaviour that makes them unsuitable to be a tenant.

You may be asked to provide: - Evidence of your right to reside in the UK if you are not a British Citizen (e.g. passport & other relevant Home Office documentation) - Additional documentation to support your housing need All documents provided must NOT be originals, but must be up-to-date copies and valid. Before you are offered a property you may also need to provide additional evidence to support your application. The landlord making the offer will advise you about which documents to provide and when to provide them. PLEASE DO NOT PROVIDE DOCUMENTATION UNLESS YOU ARE SPECIFICALLY ASKED FOR IT. SENDING IN INFORMATION WE DONT REQUEST WILL OFTEN COST YOU MONEY IN POSTAGE AND DELAY THE PROCESSING OF APPLICATIONS.

If someone in your household has a medical condition which is being made worse by their current accommodation, you need to make this clear on your application so that our housing providers can take account of your needs when you are offered a property. See the question above about medical information and doctor's letters.

It is important that you tell us of any changes to your circumstances so that your application can be amended, you can do this online, via your login. After you submit a change of circumstances form you will not be able to bid on vacant homes whilst we reconsider your eligibility and priority. This delay should be no longer than 5 working days.

Properties are advertised on this website, you will have the facility to set up property alerts and customers without any internet access all will have the option to telephone in to make enquiries or to set up an “auto bid” function on their account.

Yes, when you bid for a property online you will be told how many other bids there have been for each property you have placed a bid on. This can be found on your "My Account" page for the last 5 bids you have placed or by clicking on the "my previous bids" link. You will also see your "rank" this is an indication of where you are in the queue, so position 1-5 will mean you are somewhere between 1st and 5th in the queue. Please be aware that your rank can change as more people place their bids because people may place a bid whom have a higher priority or whom have been waiting longer.

This is covered in detail in the Allocations Policy which can be found on the opposite page.

Affordable Rent is intended to help those who would not otherwise have been able to afford housing in the private sector. It is designed to provide an alternative to traditional social rent and greater access to affordable homes for more people. The difference between Social Rent and Affordable Rent is that Affordable Rent will be slightly higher as it allows the landlord to charge up to 80% of market rent levels within the local area. But these rents will still be low and affordable. However, landlords may carry out a financial assessment as part of their short listing process to ensure it is affordable to each applicant, before they will proceed with an allocation. If you are eligible for housing benefit you your family type is suited for the property then Housing Benefit should pay the higher rent. However, if you are unsure please call the Housing Benefit Team on 0300 123 5013 Affordable Rent properties will be allocated in the same way that Social Rent properties are now through Cheshire Homechoice and there will be no change to the services tenants will receive. Affordable Rents will only apply to new development or converted void properties and will not apply to all social housing. Because the partner landlords are only applying these rents to a percentage of properties, from time to time you may see two identical properties in the same street advertised at two different rents.

In the past all the homes we have advertised under our social housing banner have been life time tenancies. Some properties are now advertised as fixed term tenancies. Rather than offering a tenancy that can be in place for life these tenancies will have a fixed term, some will be 5 years some might be 20 years. Fixed term tenancies will mainly apply to family homes & general needs flats. Supported and over 55's flats & bungalows will continue to be offered as lifetime tenancies. Please read each advert carefully to ensure you understand what you are applying for as our different housing providers will be offering different terms and conditions with their fixed term tenancies. In most cases, when the fixed term comes to an end, another fixed term tenancy will be issued. Only in exceptional cases would the registered provider not renew it. Exceptions could include: • Persistent rent arrears • Persistent delay in paying rent • Anti-social behaviour • Neglect of property • Under-occupancy of 2 or more bedrooms

If you click on the feedback link at the bottom of the home page you can see a report on the property outcomes. From time to time you will see that a property has been allocated to someone in a lower band than you. This is often the case where a property is in one of our rural areas and a priority has been given to applicants whom have a connection to the area. It also happens when a property has adaptations, our partners always try to match properties with disabled facilities to those that need them.