Homes in the City FAQs

For more details read our how to apply page.

For more details please read our 'Who can join' page.

If you are finding it difficult to complete the ‘Are You Ready’ Online Course at home you can visit any Wolverhampton Homes One Stop Shop. If you are unable to visit a One Stop Shop, do you have someone who could help and support you with completing the course? If none of these options are available, please let us know.

You can read the full guide on how to take the online course on our 'Are you ready' page? 

Yes you can apply but we will only be able to allow you to have an application of you have one of the housing needs listed in the Allocations Policy and you may be placed in a low band and find it difficult to be successful with your bids as you are already housed. You can find this in the Downloads section.

If you are already a council tenant, we recommend that you consider a mutual exchange as the best way to move. Find out more about mutual exchanges on the Wolverhampton Homes website.

If you are 16 or 17 years old, you may join Homes in the City but you will not qualify for housing until you are 18. Please read our who can join? section for more details.

If you are homeless now or may be at risk of being homeless in the next 56 days you will need to see the council's Housing Options Team. 

Read our homeless page for more details.

If you are experiencing domestic violence there are lots of people who can help you. Visit the Wolverhampton Homes webpage for more details.

If you are unwell but your housing makes no difference to your illness then you will not be awarded any medical priority.

Please visit our medical assessments page to find out more and to fill a medical referral form.

It's a good idea to ask yourself these questions before you join:

• Have you got housing need? Applicants who do not have any housing need may not be able to have a housing application. Click here for more information on what is considered a housing need.
• Do you currently live in Wolverhampton? Applicants who do not live in Wolverhampton may not be able to have a housing application. Click here for more information on what is considered a housing need.
• Are you prepared for a considerable waiting period before you find a new home? Other housing options may be quicker than registering with Homes in the City. Click here to explore your housing options
• Are you ready to evidence your circumstances and move? If you bid and are successful, we expect you to provide evidence of everything you’ve stated on your housing application and move in as soon as the property is ready to let.
• Can you afford to move? Bear in mind, apart from some homes advertised for City Homes, all homes are let unfurnished, without carpets, curtains or appliances.
• Can you afford the rent? You will need to pay one month’s rent when you sign for a tenancy - so make sure you have this money saved up.

If you have a successful bid and we make you an offer, you will need to be ready to pay your rent.

You may be able to get help with your rent by claiming Housing Benefit. You can work out how much Housing Benefit you would get by using the online benefits calculator.  The amount you get depends on things like - how many people are living in your home, their ages, income, work status and disability or illness. It is paid weekly, directly to your rent account. Be aware this will change when Universal Credit replaces the main working age benefits. 

If you get Housing Benefit it will be reduced if you: 

• are working age and you
• move into a property with more bedrooms than you need (this is sometimes called under-occupying or bedroom tax)

If you have one bedroom more than you need, your housing benefit will be reduced by 14 per cent. So, if your rent is £90 a week, you would have to pay the shortfall of £12.60 every week.

If you have two or more bedrooms than you need, your housing benefit will be reduced by 25 per cent. So if your rent is £90 a week, you would need to pay the shortfall of £22.50 every week.

Universal Credit was introduced in Wolverhampton in 2016 for single people claiming out of work benefits for the first time and will be rolled out to everyone else in the future.  

Universal Credit is a single payment, paid once a month, like a salary. It will include an amount for your rent, so you will be responsible for paying the full rent yourself. To claim, you will need a bank, building society or credit union account and an email address and access to the internet. When you sign for your tenancy, you will need to pay a month’s rent in advance so please make sure you have the money ready or start saving now.

People of pension credit age are generally not affected by under-occupation (bedroom tax) or Universal Credit. Different rules may apply to couples where one if of pension credit age and the other is of working age.

If you owe debts of more than £400 to a Council or Registered Provider or more than £600 where Universal Credit is a contributing factor may see their application suspended for a minimum of 3 months. If you owe debts to the council or a registered housing provider, please contact your landlord  as soon as possible and get a payment plan in place.

When you apply, we will ask you if you have arrears. If you are unsure, check before you apply. If we find that you have any debts to a council or registered housing provider that you have not told us about, your application could be considered as fraudulent. 

Before we make any offers we check your tenancy history with councils and registered providers. You could miss out on an offer if you have debts outstanding.

Your application will be assessed and you will be given a priority band based on your housing circumstances. We will consider the answers that you've give on the application and the supporting evidence that you provide.

There are five bands, ordered by housing need, simply called emergency+, emergency, band one, band two and band three. People in the emergency+ band have the highest priority and people in band 3 have the lowest.

Find out more on the your banding and how we allocate pages.

You will be allocated a band based on the answers you give on the application form, and the supporting information that you provide. Find out more on the your banding page. 

Local connection will only apply to a set percentage of new build homes on each new build scheme. This will be stated in the advert. The Allocations Policy states what counts as a local connection. You can find this in the Downloads section.

When you join Homes in the City you can choose the one area you wish to claim a local connection to.

Your registration letter will tell you the property types you are eligible for. The rules for children sharing a room are:

• Children of the same sex can share a bedroom until they are 21.
• Children of the opposite sex can share a bedroom until they are 9.

Yes you can save the application and log back into it to complete at a later date, however if you do not log in and complete within 28 days this application will be closed.

If you like a home we are advertising, you may want to begin 'bidding'. There is no exchange of money involved in the bidding process; it is simply a way to express your interest in a property. Find out more on our How to bid on properties page.

You are expected to bid on a regular basis. If you are not actively looking for a home and have not made a bid for a home six months, your application may be deferred.

If you do not bit for homes, you will not be re-housed.

You can see currently advertised properties on this site.

Homes are advertised each week, from 6pm on Tuesdays until 10am on Mondays.

Homes are advertised on this site each week from 6pm on Tuesdays until 10am on Mondays. Look at the adverts and tell us which properties you like by ‘bidding.’ You can make up to three bids each week. Find out more on our how to bid page.

Once you have registered you may need to take our are you ready online course before your application is assessed and made live.

You may also need to provide supporting information to confirm that you are eligible to join the housing register due to your nationality or immigration status. If we require supporting information we will request this when you apply.

We may also have to undertake an assessment of whether you should be excluded from the housing register due to previous tenancy breaches or anti-social behaviour.

Please bear in mind the following groups may no longer be able to have an application under the City Council Allocations Policy:

• People who are Subject to immigration control
• People who are incapable of holding a tenancy in law
• Applicants with no recognised housing need
• Applicants with no connection to Wolverhampton – i.e. they don’t live in W’ton or haven’t lived in W’ton for the last 2 years
• Applicants with income/assets above the set limit – at present if the main applicant earns more then £48,000 or the applicants have assets (including equity or savings) over £16,000 they won’t be able to have an app

• Are you ready to move? If a home is ready to let we expect you to move in immediately.
• Can you afford to move? Bear in mind, apart from some homes advertised for City Homes, all homes are let unfurnished, without carpets, curtains or appliances.
• If you are offered a tenancy you will have to pay enough rent to cover the period from the day you sign your tenancy up until the end of the first full week or month, depending on your payment pattern, before you are given the keys.
• Is the home in the right street in an area with the facilities you want?
• Is the home suitable for your needs?
• If you have children are there places available in local schools?

Once you have logged into your account, the adverts that are displayed are the ones that you are eligible for. If no adverts are displayed, it means that there are no properties available which you are eligible for, so please try again next week.

You can bid for a maximum of three properties per week. Try and use all your bids if possible.

Find out more on our How to bid on properties page.

You can bid from 6pm Tuesday to 10am the following Monday.

If you do not bid in time then you will not be considered for that home.

Yes. As long as bidding is open, you can add or delete bids. You just need to log on to your account to update your bids.

Being the first to bid makes no difference at all to your final position. Your shortlist position is determined by your priority, the number of housing needs you have, your waiting time and any preferences associated with that property.

Please Click here to see how we allocate our properties.

Once you have logged into your account, the adverts that are displayed are the ones that you are eligible for.

If no adverts are displayed, it means that there are no properties available which you are eligible for, so please try again next week.

Properties are normally let to the bidder in the highest band who has the greatest number of housing needs that have placed them into that band and has more waiting time than anyone else with the same priority and number of housing needs.

Please bear in min that 5% of homes are advertised to applicants in Band 1 and 5% of homes are advertised to applicants in Bands 2/3 so homes advertised in this way are likely to be allocated to people in these bands.

Also when properties that are adapted to a disabled persons needs are advertised we must consider applicants that require the adaptations before we consider other applicants.

For ground floor properties we must consider applicants that need a ground floor home due to a medical condition or disability before other applicants.

Families are consider ahead of couples and single people for 2 bedroom flats and maisonettes.

You can check this by looking back at the previous adverts in the reports section.

The other reason may be if it was advertised as an immediately available property, advertised on a first come first served basis (see below).

These are properties that have been advertised before, but not let, so are advertised on a first come first served basis. When they are available, they will be advertised separately here on the website, so you can see which ones you can choose from and also included in the main property list, where you will need to bid on them.

Find out more on the immediately available homes explained page.

We allocate the homes we manage in line with City of Wolverhampton Council's Housing Allocations Policy. You can find this in the Downloads section.

Find out more on our How we allocate page.

You may be turned down, and we will contact the next bidder, for several reasons including if you:

• Have unpaid rent or other housing debts
• Failed a pre-leaving inspection of your current home if you are a council or registered provider tenant.
• Cannot provide the evidence needed to support your application when we ask for it.
• Have not told us of a change in your circumstances.
• Have told us something misleading or incorrect, or failed to tell us something that would affect your application.
• Do not meet a requirement of a local lettings variation or plan.
• Are not eligible for the property type, size or age group.
• Had legal action taken for breaking your tenancy if you are a council or registered provider tenant.

This is where the council has made a change to its Allocations Policy for a particular area or group of homes.

When we let these homes the additional rules will be applied when we consider the bids. The difference is that a local lettings plan is temporary and a local lettings variation is long term.

The property advert will state if there is a local lettings plan or local lettings variation and you can ask for a copy of the plan or variation.

No - but you can Log On to get personal feedback on your bids on this site. Find out more on our How did your last bid do? page.

When you log on, you can see the last three months of properties that have been advertised and what is happening to each one at the current time. If a property has been allocated, you can see the successful bidder's date of registration, band level and number of needs.

Find out more on our How did your last bid do page.

We cant tell you how long it will be before you make a successful bid. Things which will affect the time it takes include:

• The type and size of the home you need. Some types of home are in very short supply, for example 4, 5 and 6 bed houses.
• Whether or not that type of home is available in the area you want and how often they become available.
• The number of bids from other applicants.
• The band you are in, the number of reasons you have to be in that band and the length of time you have been in that band.

Please note that we may not be able to help you with a property due to the shortage of homes coming available for letting each week and the high demand for them. You will need to look at the other housing options which are available.

There is a very high demand for Council and Housing Association homes in Wolverhampton and far more people who want a home than there are homes available.

Less than 8% of those people on the housing register were rehoused last year.

Therefore if you have low housing need (Band 3) it is unlikely that you will ever be offered a home through Homes in the City. Also if you need a house or 2 bedroom bungalow you should expect a very long waiting period, even if you have high priority, as these properties are in the shortest supply and the greatest demand.

Remember you can bid for a home anywhere within the City of Wolverhampton and if you flexible about which area you would like to live in, it can improve your chances. In our experience it is customers that bid on 3 properties per week that they are willing to live in that are  the most likely to be considered for a home.  

Things you can do include:

• Try to bid 3 times a week from properties you’re eligible for but only bid for homes you want to live in – 2 refusals in 12 months will see your application closed for 6 months
• Consider properties in as wider area as possible
• Avoid limiting bids to small areas or specific property types when possible
• If you’re in Band 1 look out for properties advertised to customers in Band 1 as 5% of properties will be advertised to people in these bands
• If you’re in Band 2 or Band 3 look out for properties advertised to customers in Band 2/3 as 5% of properties will be advertised to people in these bands
• Consider flats and maisonettes as well as houses & bungalows where possible
• You can bid for ground floor properties however we must consider those that have a medical need for a ground floor property first
• You can bid for adapted properties however we must consider those that have a medical need for the adaptations present in the property first
• If you are a social housing tenant and have registered a local connection to an area look out for new build homes as 80%  of these home will be advertised to transferring tenants and of these 40% will be advertised to transferring tenants with a local connection to the area.
• Consider Housing Association properties advertised on Homes in the City as these organisations provide a very similar tenancy to customers in terms of security of tenure and rent levels to councils

Yes - you will be able to look round during an "accompanied viewing" before you make your mind up. Do not visit any property that we are advertising as there could be someone living there. If you visit a home without permission your bid may be removed.

If the property is ready to let, you will need to move in straight away so make sure you're ready.

Find out more on our viewings page.

Group viewings are organised to speed up the lettings process so new tenants can be identified more quickly. 

They are organised once the advertising cycle closes. Bidders of a property are invited to the group viewing so that they can look round and see if the property is right for them. If your bid is successful and the property is ready to let, you will need to move in straight away so make sure you're ready.

Please note: an invitation to a group viewing is not an offer of a property. 

Find out more on our viewings page.

We will contact you to arrange an appointment for a viewing. The advert gives you a rough guide about when the property will be ready for letting and viewings will usually take place near that date. 

Sometimes work is still going on to prepare the home for letting but it will be safe for you to view. Our lettings officer will contact you as soon as the property is ready to be viewed. If the property is ready to let, you will need to move in straight away after you have accepted the offer, so make sure you're ready.

Find out more on our viewings page.

If you refuse two properties in a 12 month period your application will be deferred for six months. This means that you will not be able to bid or be offered any properties during this time. Your priority may also be reviewed and reduced.

If you have priority due to homelessness and you refuse a new home, you must contact the Housing Options team within 21 days to discuss why the property is not suitable for you. If you fail to do this you may lose your priority.

We make sure homes to be let are clean, safe, secure and in reasonable repair but they are empty, so you will need to buy furniture, carpets and curtains and some may need to be decorated. Find out more about the Wolverhampton Homes Lettable Standard. (Other housing providers will have their own lettable standards.)

We know that not everybody has access to the internet or is comfortable using a computer. If this is the case you can help a friend or family member to join or make bids on Homes in the City. It is important that you have their permission and you explain everything to them during the application and bidding process. 

You must update your application straight away if your circumstances change. This includes a change of address or people joining or leaving your household. Use our update form giving all the details and upload copies of any documents. Your banding level might change because of your change in circumstances, we will let you know if it does change.

You do not need to complete a new housing application unless your application has been closed for more than six months or you have been rehoused using your application. 

Find out more on our Bidding page.

You should let us know about your pregnancy after your three month scan. We don't need any evidence before you add the pregnancy but we will need to see evidence, in the form of the green book, if you are offered a home while you are still pregnant.

Adding a pregnancy can change your eligibility: i.e. a couple would no longer be eligible for one bedroom properties but your priority will not change until your child is born and you have updated us (i.e. band 2 for lack of a private garden).

To let us know about your pregnancy, please update your details.

To request a review you must contact us within 21 days of the date you are notified of the decision and the reason for it.

If you want additional information to be taken into account, you can provide it in writing when the review is carried out. We will normally tell you the result of the review within 56 days.

A TMO is an organisation set up by tenants and leaseholders to manage their own homes on behalf of the Council. TMO s can also be know as EMB (estate management board), TMC (tenant management co-operative) or a Housing Co-operative.

There are three TMO s in Wolverhampton

• New Park Village TMC
• Dovecotes TMO
• Bushbury Hill EMB.

On 27th September all applications made before 2nd August 2021 that were assessed in line with the old allocations policy will be closed.

Moving forward we will be focusing on processing applications received before 27th September from those who have informed us, when they applied, that they had a previous live application. Once all of these applications are processed, which should be before 11th October, we will then process all applications received before 27th September from those applicants who have advised us that they did not had a previous live housing application. Following this we will process all applications from applicants who register after 27th September. 

If you have not made a new application and you want to continue to be bid for homes, go to join Homes in the City to complete a new application. We will continue to transfer previous application waiting time onto new applications as long as they are made before 31st December 2021.

To Request your Application/ bidding number.

You will need to get in touch using this Contact Us Form.

You will need to get in touch using the Contact Us Form. You will be able to provide us any information and additional supporting documents through this form.

This website tells you everything you need to know about how to join Homes in the City, how to bid, what happens once you've placed your bid and how to improve your chances of a successful bid. Please make sure you have read our Homes in the City explained pages and the frequently asked questions on this page. 

If you have read all of our frequently answered questions and you have a question which is not answered here, please contact us.