Applying for Housing
Bedford has a number of Registered Providers
of Social Housing, with bpha being the largest provider.
There is no Council owned housing in Bedford as all of the
Council’s Housing was transferred to bpha in 1990.
Registered Providers are also known as Housing
Associations. Between them, Housing Associations own around
10,000 properties in Bedford. Some Housing Associations
provide housing specifically for older people.
To apply for Housing and to be included on the
Housing Register you will need to fill in an application form which
you can get from bpha or from Bedford Borough Council’s Housing
Options Team.
Contact Details:
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BPHA
Pilgrims House
Horne Lane
Bedford
MK40 4NY
Tel: 0330 100 0272
Email: bpha.org.uk
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Housing Options Team
Customer Service Centre
2 Horne Lane
Bedford
MK40 1SJ
Tel: 01234 718058
Email: housingadvice@bedford.gov.uk
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There is a high demand for Social Housing in this area and the
Council has to ensure that it is provided for those who need it
most and who are unable to buy a home or rent from a private
landlord. To do this the Council has to have an allocation
scheme which sets out who can apply for social housing and who will
be given the highest priority for any vacancies. A summary of
the allocation scheme can be downloaded here;
Link
to Housing Register Summary booklet
Since 2009 the Council and bpha have worked in
partnership with other Local Authorities and Housing Associations
covering the whole of Bedfordshire to provide a common allocation
scheme and a new way of letting properties. The Partnership
is called Bedfordshire Homefinder
The leaflet below will tell you everything you
need to know about the way that Bedfordshire Homefinder allocate
social housing vacancies.
Link to Bedfordshire Homefinder Guide
People with a low band (3 or 4) or with a low
number of needs will have to wait a long time for a property as
there will be other people who will have a greater priority.
If you are going to have to wait a long time, you should think
about saving for a deposit to rent from a Private Landlord.
The Bedfordshire Homefinder website will give
you further details of the properties available each
fortnight. Once your application has been accepted and you
have been registered you will be given a pin number and told how to
express an interest in any of the properties advertised. This
is called “bidding”.
link to Bedfordshire
homefinder website
Most of the Housing Associations with housing
in Bedford let all of their properties through Bedfordshire
Homefinder, so you do not need to apply separately. However a
small number still operate their own Housing Registers and their
website details are as follows:
Circle
Anglia
Hastoe
Jephson
Guiness-Midsummer
Places for
People
Nottinghill
Housing
Genesis Housing
Group
Accommodation for Older People
Anchor
Bedford
Citizens
Housing 21