Who can join the housing register?

Anyone can apply to join the register and become our tenant. However, there are certain circumstances where we may not agree to you joining the register. These are if:

You do not fulfil the UK residency criteria;

You or a member of your household have behaved in an unreasonable way including anti-social behaviour, harassment, damage to council property, violence to staff, rent arrears or debts; or

You are under 16. People who are 16 and 17 can join the register. However, we may not offer you a tenancy until you are 18.

Before we make a decision, we will take all your circumstances into account.

Can I join if I’m a EEA worker in the UK?

You may be allowed to join but there are still checks we have to make.

Can I join if I’m not from the EEA?

You may be allowed to join but there are checks we have to make which include your right to be in the country and your employment status.

Can I join if I’m an asylum seeker?

You cannot join the housing register unless you have been granted permanent asylum in the UK.

Yes – we allow applicants from all over the UK to join but unless you have a local connection with Barnsley or are moving here for work or to give/receive support, we will only award you the lowest priority band.

You can ask us to consider your application but we may reject your application unless you can prove that:

• You have repaid or are making agreed payments to reduce debts; and
• You have had a settled period of housing for a reasonable time after your eviction and can provide a good reference.

You can ask us to consider your application but we may reject your application unless you can prove that:

• You have repaid or are making agreed payments to reduce debts; and
• You have a recent good history of paying your rent/mortgage.

Yes – but you need to be sure that you can afford to run a house.

Before you put your name on the register it may be worth downloading the cost of running your own home leaflet which gives you an idea of the costs involved in running your own home.

Yes but when we are assessing your priority we will consider whether you can resolve your housing needs. For example if you become disabled and need a bungalow, we will check if you can you afford to buy a bungalow before awarding medical priority. It may mean we award you lower priority.

We would only allow you on the list if you were intending to use the council house as your main home.

We aim to tell you in 20 working days if you can join the register. If we cannot meet this timescale we will contact you to let you know.

You can ask us to review a decision we have made about your application by completing our Appeal Form.  You must do this within 6 weeks of us making a decision.

You can also write to us:

Berneslai Homes

PO Box 627

Barnsley

S70 9FZ

Or you can ring us on: 01226 787600

When you contact us we will need to know:

• your name,
• your address,
• your housing application reference number;
• the reason(s) why you disagree with our decision; and
• any other information you wish to take into account when looking at you appeal.