Prioritisation criteria

There are three considerations that will inform the prioritisation of households, in the following order:

  1. Local connection
  2. Economic activity
  3. Consideration of medical need for ground floor flats or wheelchair accessible home: applicable to one 3 bed house only.

Local connection

Priority will be given to households with a local connection to East Malling, West Malling and Offham ward and Kings Hill ward, in line with the definition of local connection in the Council’s Housing Allocation Scheme.

Households in temporary accommodation (TA) will have their local connection considered based on their last settled accommodation before placement in TA, or through family or employment. This is to ensure they are treated fairly, regardless of where they are placed in TA.

Economic activity

This plan aims for 50% of homes to be let to economically active households; where the lead or joint applicant is permanently employed.

Applicants will be required to evidence their employment information to Sage as part of the offer and pre-tenancy checks.

Suitability or medical need for ground floor units and wheelchair accessible home

Ground floor flats: to reflect the fact there is no lift servicing the two blocks of flats in this provision, households with a relevant medical need will be given priority for ground floor flats if they meet their needs, subject to the prioritisation criteria in A and B.

Wheelchair accessible home: there is one home, a 3 bed house, built to meet building regulations M4(2) to provide a home suitable for a wheelchair user. This home will be prioritised for households with an evidenced medical need for an accessible home, above all other prioritisation criteria set out in this LLP.