Raglan Housing has launched a new web-based affordable home-finding service for tenants looking to move to another part of the country for employment reasons or in search of larger or smaller accommodation in the local area.
The free matching service – one of the first property marketing portals to be offered by a housing association – is available to Raglan tenants and applies to rental properties owned by the association across England. A wide range of different properties will be advertised.
Raglan is delivering the new service in partnership with HomeHunt, a national affordable rental home website where people can browse and apply for properties on offer from social landlords around the UK.
“Registration is a free, one-off process and the website is really easy to use and search,” explained David Hall, Raglan Regional Director for Neighbourhood Services. “Once a resident is registered on the system, their property requirements are matched with those of others people who also want to move home. They can then view the matched properties online and bid for or be shortlisted for consideration for these. When a matching new property is listed, there is an automatic alert.”
Raglan is using HomeHunt as an internal transfer scheme for residents and giving particular priority to people looking for a smaller home, or wishing to move further away to take up a job offer. While only Raglan tenants can bid for Raglan properties, they can bid for properties advertised by other social landlords as well.
“Finding affordable rental accommodation is a hugely frustrating and time-consuming process for most people. This new online home-search service enables residents to quickly find a property that matches their requirements anywhere in the country at the touch of a button. It also supplements the opportunities that residents already have to move either through a mutual home exchange or by registering for a move with their local choice based lettings register.”
Raglan Housing owns and manages over 12,000 homes across the South East, South West, Midlands and East of England.
Anyone looking for affordable rental accommodation can register on HomeHunt at: www.homehunt.co.uk.
