Winter 2011 (1.9 MB PDF) - Angus Council

Housing news
Downsizing Incentive Scheme
We introduced our pilot Downsizing Incentive
Scheme (DIS) to give council tenants living in properties
with three or more bed rooms that they no
longer need, practical and financial support to move
to homes with less bedrooms.
There’s a huge demand across Angus for properties
with three or more bedrooms and we have a
limited number of homes of these sizes that we
can let each year. This means that some people
have to live in overcrowded and unsuitable
accommodation. At the same time, we know
that some people have lived in their homes for
many years but family members have moved out
leaving people with bed rooms they don’t use.
We know that some people want to move to
smaller homes but they can find it too expen sive
to move. This scheme is designed to help with
these costs. We have enough money for twenty
applications this year and all applica tions will be
on a ‘first-come, first served’ basis.
If you qualify for the scheme and we accept your
application, we’ll give you a grant of £2,500 to help
you with the cost of removal, carpeting, decoration,
telephone reconnec tion and new fittings such as
curtains and blinds.
Our leaflet about the scheme includes a short
application form that you need to complete. You
can get the leaflet from our website or from any
ACCESS office. Officers can help you complete
the form if you need help to apply. You’ll also
need to have a current housing applica tion
with us. If you need to check whether you
have a current housing application with us,
call the Common Housing Register team on
01307 474765.
There is money in our budget to pay another
12 grants up to April 2012. The UK government
plan to cut the housing benefit of everyone
living in social housing with bedrooms they
don’t need by as much as 23%. With this change
set to begin in the next two years, the time to
apply to the DIS is today. •
You can ‘downsize’ if -
• you’ve been an Angus Council tenant for at least one year;
• you rent an Angus Council property with three or more
bedrooms;
• you don’t need all the bedrooms in your current home;
• you don’t have any rent arrears;
• we are not taking any action against you because of antisocial
behaviour;
• you want to move to another council home with less bedrooms
than you have.
Visit our web site at www.angus.gov.uk/housing
for more information on the Downsizing Incentive
Scheme
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