Finding a new home through the CGA's Select Move service
The Community Gateway Association's Select Move service helps people make their next move to a CGA home as quickly and easily as possible.
Here's how it works:
Step 1 - The customer fills in an application form and registers with Select Move
Step 2 - They are put on a list (called a 'band') of people wanting to move home
Step 3 - Lists of homes to rent are published in the Select Move Property Shop, at the CGA's neighbourhood housing offices and on the Select Move website
Step 4 - The lists come out every two weeks on a Monday. From the date the list is published, customers have got nine days to show their interest in individual homes advertised.
Step 5 - After the closing date, the Select Move team looks at how many people have shown an interest in each home advertised.
If only one person has shown an interest in a property and they are suitable, they'll get an offer.
If more than one person is interested in a home, the customer who most closely matches the property requirements will get the offer. If more than one person is still suitable, the person registered with Select Move the longest will be successful.
Download the Select Move Guide
Visit the Select Move website
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Swapping homes with another tenant or tenants
CGA tenants (and other housing association tenants) who want to move within Preston can advertise their home on the exchange list at their neighbourhood housing office. It's also quick and easy to put a notice in local shops or community notice points.
To improve the chances of finding someone to swap with, it helps to give details of:
- The type of home lived in (such as a house or flat) and number of bedrooms
- Which area, or street, the home is in
- Any special facilities that might make the property attractive to other people (such as a new kitchen, garage, big garden)
- What type of home is wanted, and the number of bedrooms needed
- The area(s) that would be considered
- Anything else that is important to the household.
Download the Find out about... swapping your home leaflet to find out how tenants can look for a swap, and what to do once they've found somebody to exchange with. The leaflet is also available from any of the CGA's offices.
Found someone to swap with? Download the application to exchange homes with another tenant form within the Find out about... swapping your home leaflet.
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Buying a home
Community Gateway Association tenants who want to buy their home may be entitled to do so through one of two schemes:
- The Right to Acquire
- The Preserved Right to Buy
The Right to Acquire This scheme gives some housing association tenants the legal right to buy the home they currently rent. It's based on a grants system. Both the property, and the tenant living in it, must qualify for a purchase to be made under the Right to Acquire.
The home must either:
- Be a property which transferred from Preston City Council to the CGA or
- Have been built by the CGA on or after April 1 st 1997, with a grant from the Housing Corporation (a national body) or
- Have been bought by the CGA on or after April 1 st 1997, with a grant from the Housing Corporation.
The tenant must also meet one of the following rules:
- Have spent at least two years as a public sector tenant, or in housing provided by the armed forces (if you were a tenant before January 18 th 2005) or
- Have been a public sector tenant for at least five years (if your first tenancy started on or after January 18 th 2005)
- Live in a self-contained house or flat, which is your only or main home.
To apply for the Right to Acquire, tenants should fill in an application form and return it to the CGA. This form is available from the CGA's head office, any neighbourhood housing office.
The CGA will check the application and confirm:
- If the tenant is entitled to buy their home under the Right to Acquire
- If they're entitled to buy, the purchase price of the home currently rented, based on a market valuation
- The price discount the tenant is entitled to. This is a fixed amount, set by the Government.
Download the Find out about... buying your home leaflet to find out more about the Right to Acquire. This leaflet is also available from the CGA's head office and neighbourhood housing offices.
The Preserved Right to Buy
The Preserved Right to Buy gives some CGA tenants the legal right to buy the home they currently rent. Only former secure tenants who transferred to the CGA qualify; new CGA tenants can't buy their home under this scheme.
The Right to Buy is based on a discount system. This gives tenants a discount on the purchase price of their home, based on the number of years spent as a council or housing association tenant. The discount grows each year, until the maximum level is reached. Where tenants transferred from Preston City Council to the CGA, their discount will keep growing.
To apply for the Preserved Right to Buy, tenants should fill in an application form and return it to the CGA. This form is available from the CGA's head office or any neighbourhood housing office on request.
The CGA will check the application and confirm:
- If the tenant is entitled to buy their home under the Preserved Right to Buy
- If the tenant is entitled to buy their home, the purchase price of the home currently rented
- The price discount the tenant is entitled to, based on their length of time as a CGA and council (or other housing association) tenant.
Download the Find out about... buying your home leaflet to find out more about the Preserved Right to Buy. This leaflet is also available from the CGA's head office and neighbourhood housing offices.
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