Housing Options- general information and advice

A few years ago the council changed from the old old points based register to a choice based lettings scheme called LOCATA. The LOCATA scheme includes five other West London boroughs and eleven housing associations to help people find new homes for themselves.

LOCATA gives members a greater choice because members can choose which properties thay want to bid for and can also bid for properties not in the borough they live in.

Once you have been registered on Locata and your application has been assessed your application will be placed in one of four categories (known as bands) of housing need reflecting your priority for housing.The bands are A,B,C and D with members in band A having the highest priority and band D members no priority. 

When the assessment has been completed you will receive written notification of your banding, your priority date and how to place bids. You can then search for a home and bid for suitable available properties. 

Vacancies are advertised in a fortnightly free magazine called Locata Home. Members can bid by telephone, text message and coupon or on the Internet. 

Locata Home is available from:

• Libraries  
• Civic Centre Access Harrow (main reception)  
• Housing Services reception, Civic 2 Building  
• Community Mental Health Team receptions at Atkins House (Marshall Close, Harrow), Honeypot Lane Centre (839 Honeypot Lane, Stanmore), and The Bridge Day Centre (Christchurch Avenue, Harrow) 

You can choose properties outside Harrow by bidding for properties advertised on the Cross Borough and Housing Association pages of the magazine. 

You can see whose bids have been successful by looking at the results page of the magazine. Doing this will help you assess how quickly you might be housed.  

If you have difficulty in bidding for properties we can explain how you do this. For some vulnerable people we can help you bid for suitable properties. 

You can get more detail of the LOCATA scheme by reading our Lettings and Transfer scheme. 

Registering
You can register online by visiting the LOCATA website at www.locata.org.uk.  If you prefer not to complete the form online we can send you one by post or you can pick one up from the Civic Centre (our details are on the right).