Bidding icons explained

Torie

Hi 
Hope everyone is having a great week, I have a question that I can't seem to find an answer to so I'm hoping someone here has the information, so I'm currently on the bidding list for Ashford Borough Council and a place I've bidded on one of the icons says homeless does anyone know what that means? Does it mean that the property is priortised for people who are at risk of homelessness or something else? Any information would be much appreciated.
Torie 

Roddy

Hi @Torie
This is a good question which will also hopefully receive some useful answers. 
Most borough councils seem to have their own sets of rules, however I would 'guess' that a Homeless Icon suggests that the property is available for a homeless person/s to bid for, as not all properties are. 

I have personally found this bidding-lark to be a waste of time mainly. It's not a fair system at all, and was probably designed to pass the buck onto the potential bidder rather than having the council address Social Housing like they should do. 

For example, about 7 months ago I bid on a property almost moments after it was listed. I was number 17 in the queue and of course I heard nothing and I wasn't successful. One month later the same property was listed again which must have meant that at least 16 people had either turned it down or were not eligible to bid on it. This time I was 3rd in the queue and I got to view the property. I was offered it 24 hours later and I move in next Wednesday... I can also add that the council themselves have been incompetent to the extreme during this time and they have either provided me with false information, contradictive ,and have halted any requests made by me until the very last minute, to the extent that my original removal date was lost due to administrative delays & errors which in turn cost me money and time which I simply don't have. Their ongoing incompetence has been inexcusable, from one department to the next. 

I hope that you're own bidding experience is successful, Torie. You should be able to ask questions via the bidding site itself, or by contacting the Housing Department. 

Priority to be successful will always be determined by your own immediate circumstances against the circumstances of other bidders, and I'm sure that whatever number you are in the queue, this will also still apply. I have seen a number of properties with as many as 40 bidders, and yet the same property will be listed again some weeks after. You cannot tell me that all 40 turned it down or that they were contacted. I doubt that anybody knows the answer either.    

Torie

Thanks for the information very appreciated, I have tried calling them but they are always very busy so super hard to get through, the flat that I'm rank 1-5 on the status says let direct instead of shortlisting like the others, I don't suppose you could shed some light on what that might mean? I'll will try calling the housing again on Monday and hopefully get somewhere. 

Adrian_Scope

Hi @Torie. From what I can see there are three groupings (Homeseeker, Transfer and Homeless) and the icons represent who is eligible to apply for each particular property. Most of the properties are available for H/T (which is anyone, on any list). 

I agree it's not particularly clear though whether the Homeless icon means homeless people are eligible to bid on a property or only homeless people are eligible for it. For example, my local council has a number of 'temporary homes' which are only available to those on the homeless register, intended for short stays. 

I hope you manage to get through to them and they're able to shed some light on the matter for you.