Finding a place to live

Last Updated: 23.12.2010

If you are looking for somewhere to live, you can apply for a council or housing association property or rent from a private landlord.

Find out about your housing options and where to get help if you need emergency housing.

Looking for accommodation and housing options

If you are looking for accommodation, you might find it useful to collect:

• lists of hostels, bed and breakfast hotels and emergency accommodation
• lists of accommodation agencies
• addresses of local housing associations and housing cooperatives
• advice on approaching the local authority as a homeless person
• the addresses of refuges for women in violent relationships
• information on local housing available for people with special needs.

If you are looking for a place to live, you could:

• contact your council’s housing department
• contact a local housing association
• apply for a scheme that helps you own (or part-own) a property
• rent privately

Emergency housing – if you urgently need a place to stay

If you are homeless, have nowhere to stay or need to move (e.g. because of domestic violence), you should contact your council immediately.

The following link will take you to the North Ayrshire Council homeless advice and support website. If you need more advice about being homeless, the following link will take you to our homeless page.

Local Authority council housing

If you are looking for local authority accommodation you should first check whether you qualify. Many people from abroad, for example, most asylum seekers and people who have spent significant time living away from the UK, even if they are UK citizens, do not qualify for housing.

The rules on who can qualify for local authority housing are complicated, especially if you have just arrived in, or returned to the UK from abroad. If you are in this situation, you should seek advice from somewhere like a North Ayrshire Citizens Advice Bureau.

Housing registers and waiting lists

While local authorities don't have to have a housing register, in practice, most will keep a housing register or waiting list of people who have applied to rent accommodation. You usually have to fill in an application form to apply for local authority accommodation.

Local authorities have to publish information explaining how they make decisions about offering accommodation and the system they use to give priority to applicants on their waiting lists. How priorities are decided may vary from one local authority to another.

Apply to join a housing waiting list

You can normally apply to join a housing waiting list:

• if you are 18 or over, although some councils let you join their waiting list if you are 16 or over
• even if you do not currently live in the area, although priority for housing is normally given to local people

Your council may share its waiting list (called a 'common housing register') with local housing associations.

Factors often taken into account in your housing application will be:

• poor health made worse by housing conditions
• lack of, or shared use of some facility, for example a bathroom or toilet
• an inadequate number of bedrooms for the size of your family
• length of time you have lived in the area
• age (where access to sheltered or supported accommodation is under consideration)
• length of time on the waiting list
• separation from your family (including a family which is overseas) because of inadequate accommodation
• homelessness

Councils and housing associations

Councils differ in how they run housing. For example, some councils may have transferred all their properties to local housing associations. Some housing associations also run the waiting list on behalf of the council.

Housing associations are separate from, but often work closely with councils to house local people. You can often apply directly to a housing association as well as your council. In some areas, you may only deal with a housing association when you apply for housing.

Getting a housing application form

Contact your local council and they will either post you an application form or you may be able to download it from their website.

Getting help to complete the housing application form

If you have difficulty completing the application you can ask the council for help – for example:

• if English is not your first language
• if you have a disability, e.g. you can ask for a form in large print format or Braille

You can also get help completing your housing application form from a North Ayrshire Citizens Advice Bureau.

Housing associations

Housing associations are 'not-for-profit' organisations that provide housing for rent, and often work closely with, councils to house local people. Some provide housing for certain types of people, for example, single parents or disabled people. Others provide general housing in the same way as a local authority. Only some housing associations accept direct applications. Most require you to be nominated by the local authority, which means that you will need to apply to go on the local authority waiting list and ask to be nominated.

In some areas the housing associations and local authority have joint waiting lists. This means you can register with the local authority, and housing associations, on the same form.

The right to buy

If you have been a local authority tenant for at least two years (or at least five years if you first became a local authority tenant on or after 18 January 2005), you will usually have the right to buy your home at a discounted price.

If you are a Scottish secure tenant with your council or registered social landlord, you may have the right to buy your home at a discount. This is called the right to buy. Your right to buy will depend on when your tenancy started.

For more information about the right to buy in Scotland see Scottish Government guide to your right to buy your home.

Shared ownership

Shared ownership schemes are intended to help people who cannot afford to buy a suitable home in any other way. You usually share ownership of the property with a local authority or housing association. You pay rent to the landlord for part of the property and a mortgage on the rest. You will usually be able to buy further shares in the property at a later date.

To qualify for the scheme you must usually be a first time buyer, and priority is given to local authority or housing association tenants. Other people in housing need may also be considered for the scheme. You must be able to get your own mortgage to meet the purchase costs on a percentage of the property.

In Scotland, shared ownership schemes are sometimes known as joint venture schemes.

LIFT in Scotland

If you live in Scotland and are on a low income, you may be able to get help to buy your own home through LIFT (Low-cost Initiative for First Time Buyers).

LIFT is a scheme offered by housing associations in Scotland. Help is limited to people who would not be able to buy a home without help from the scheme.

If you are accepted onto the scheme, you will usually have to get a mortgage for 60% to 80% of the purchase price. The housing association will fund the remaining 20% to 40%. If you want to sell the property, the housing association will get its share back. For example, if the housing association funded 20% of the purchase price, it will get 20% of the sale price.

You can find out more about LIFT from your local housing association, or from the Scottish Housing Regulator at www.scottishhousingregulator.gov.uk.

Private Renting

Private rented housing plays an important role in providing accommodation for all sorts of different households.

It's usually relatively easy to get somewhere to rent, it's flexible, and for many people it works very well. Some landlords take a very professional approach, but others have less formal arrangements and may not know about good practice. When renting privately you should consider:

• Management issues: your rights and responsibilities.
• Physical issues: The physical condition and safety of the property, and responsibilities for maintenance.
• Money issues:Rent and deposits, paying the bills, housing benefit and insurance.

More help and advice with finding a place to live

If you are having problems or issues with housing, or would like help and advice about finding a place to live, please visit a North Ayrshire Citizens Advice Bureau and speak to an adviser. You can find our contact details at the bottom of the page, our hours of business can be found on our opening hours page, alternatively, you can email us via our contact us page.