Shortlisting and Offers
Once the bidding period has closed on a Tuesday night, bids for each property are sorted automatically based on the eligibility criteria. Full details of how we allocate properties can be found in Sheffield City Council’s Allocations Policy however in short:
- Properties advertised to Waiting Time – These properties will be offered to customers in Band D first in order of their effective date (oldest first). If no customers in Band D accept the property, it will be offered to the other bands in the following order: Band A, Band B, Band C, Band E.
- Properties advertised to Housing Register – These properties will be offered to customer with a priority in Band A first in order of their effective date (oldest first). If no customers in Band A accept the property, it will be offered to the other bands in the following order: Band B, Band C, Band D, Band E.
- Properties advertised to First Come First Served – These properties will be offered to the customer who placed their bid first regardless of their band or effective date. The customer must still meet the minimum eligibility requirements in order for their bid to be considered.
If your bid for a property was successful, we will contact you and invite you to view the property as soon as possible. We do not contact unsuccessful applicants however; you will be able to check your final bid position on the Sheffield Property Shop. You can do this by logging in to your account.
There are some circumstances where a customer may come in first position for a property however due to other circumstances such as a debt to the Housing Service or a history of anti-social behaviour, they are bypassed and are not made the offer. We will let you know if we bypass you for an offer and explain how you can rectify this.
Please note, if you make a bid for a property and your circumstances change or your priority ends during the bidding period, we will not offer you the property if you no longer meet the eligibility criteria.
What Happens When I Am Offered a Property?
When we offer you a property, we will invite you to an accompanied view. You will need to provide ID at the viewing. You will be given opportunity to look around the property and then decide whether to accept or reject the offer.
If you wish to accept the offer, the officer will arrange a sign up appointment for you to sign the tenancy agreement as soon as possible. Once you have signed the tenancy agreement, you will become the tenant and we will cancel your Social Housing application. You will be unable to re-apply for a period of 2 years.
If you wish to refuse the property, you may do so. We will remove the offer from your application and you will be able to bid for other properties. You are able to receive 3 offers within a 12 month period. If you are in Band D and refuse all 3 offers, we will place you in Band E for 12 months. If you are in Band E and refuse all three offers, your application will be cancelled and you will be disqualified for 12 months.
If you have a priority, you should contact your awarding officer before refusing any offers as this could lead to your priority being cancelled. Please contact us for further advice if this applies to you.
Where Can I Find Lettings Results?
Sheffield City Council publishes the results of each let on the Sheffield Property Shop website. This information lets you see how popular particular properties are by highlighting the waiting time held by the successful applicant. This should help you to gauge how long you may be waiting for a similar property. This will also help you to make more realistic bids in the future.