Common Allocations Policy April 2025

Assessing your application

We aim to complete our assessment of your application within 20 working days of receiving it as long as you've provided all the information we need. We will write to tell you which group you have been placed in and the points, if any, we have awarded you.

We will assess your application using the criteria set out in our group plus points system based on your current circumstances and any additional needs you may have, including information provided on your behalf by other organisations and agencies.

We use a group plus points system to allocate houses. This means we will place you in a group which reflects your current housing situation and award points within your group to reflect the degree of your housing need.

If required, we may request additional information from you to assess your application.

If you don't give us all the information we need, this may delay your application or result in it being cancelled.

What we do and don't take into account when assessing your application

When assessing your application for housing we will and will not take the following factors into consideration.

Factors that are not taken into consideration when applying for housing

• Whether you live in Perth and Kinross and how long you have lived there.
• Any debts that are not related to your current or former tenancy (Council or registered social landlord tenancies).
• Any debts you have already repaid.
• Debts related to your tenancy if they are less than one-twelfth of the yearly amount of rent you pay; or you have already arranged a repayment plan and have kept it for at least three months and you are still keeping to it.
• You and/or your family's income (including any benefits you receive).
• Your age, as long as you are aged over 16 years, and the home you want has not been designed or adapted as older persons housing.
• If you are legally separated or divorced.
• Who you live with at the time you apply for housing.

Factors that are taken into consideration when applying for housing

• You owe a landlord more than one-twelfth of the annual rent, and you have not agreed to repay what you owe and haven't made at least three monthly payments towards the money you owe when you said you would pay.
• You need to get support from, or give support to, a family member or carer to help you or a member of your family or carer to live independently.
• You have a social or medical reason to move to Perth and Kinross.
• Whether you or anyone that will live with you owns any property which you are entitled/able to live in.
• You are being harassed or abused where you live.

Making enquiries and references

We make enquiries about your application when we receive it but the enquiry we make will depend on where you're living at the time you apply and where you've lived for the three years before you applied.

We will ask your landlord for a reference if you've been a tenant at any time in the past three years to find out if:

• you owe any money 
• you have acted in an antisocial manner 
• your landlord has taken any formal action against you to end your tenancy 

We may suspend your application if we receive an unsatisfactory reference; refer to 'Reviewing, removal, deferral, suspension and merging of applications' for more details on suspending your application.

If you refuse us permission to get references we won't make you an offer of housing until we receive a satisfactory reference, but your application will not be suspended. Please note that this does not apply to people making a homelessness application.

Home visits 

We may need to arrange a home visit to assess your application if:

• you are housebound or otherwise vulnerable 
• we need to confirm your circumstances as we are unable to do this from your application 

Proving your identity 

You will need to provide us with proof of your identity in the name you have applied in. We will accept your birth certificate, passport or National Insurance card. We also need two forms of proof showing your current address as your permanent and principal home. This may include, but is not limited to:

• official letters/bills/statements from a local authority, public agency or private utility (gas, electric, telephone), government department, private sector lease, bank or building society
• current passport or photographic driving licence
• National Health card