How to apply for Housing

Applying for a house

1. Registration

If you wish to be housed by the Council, you must first register with EdIndex, which is the housing register for Edinburgh; you can get an application form, from your local area housing office or housing association. If you would like help to fill in the form then please contact your local area housing office or housing association.

When you have completed your form, please return it to your local housing office or the central administration unit, their addresses can be found at the back of the application form.

Once we have received your application, we will send you a letter confirming that your details have been placed on the EdIndex register. This letter will also include you registration number, please keep this in a safe place as you will need it when applying for a house with the Council.

2. It’s your choice

The council has recently started a new letting scheme called EH – Your key to Choice. We now advertise all our available properties every fortnight in Wednesday’s Edinburgh Evening news as well as on the website www.edinburgh.gov.uk/keytochoice, which you can look at for free at your local library. Free copies of the supplement are also available at all of our local area housing offices.

If you see a property you are interested in, then you can bid for it by filling out a note of interest form. Forms are printed fortnightly in Wednesday’s Edinburgh Evening news or you can pick up a form at your local housing office or library. You can also register your note of interest on the web.

You can bid for up to three properties on your note of interest form, you can then email, post it or hand it into your local housing office or the central administration unit. For your bid to count your note of interest form must be received before the advertised closing date.

The adverts show the kind of household the home is suitable for, such as, a family with young children. They are also marked with Starter, Mover or both, for more information on which category you fall into please see below:

Starters are homes for people who are:

Homeless
Staying with a friend or relative
Staying in a hostel
Staying in supported accommodation
Having a relationship breakdown
Renting a house or flat from a private sector landlord

Movers are homes for people who are a:

Council tenant
Tenant of a Housing Association
Part of a joint tenancy with the Council or a Housing Association
Tenant of tied accommodation that is provided by your employer
Owner of a home (you may be paying a mortgage)

3. Further Information

For more information on which category you fall into, please contact your local area housing office.

If more than one person bids for a home, then the person who has been registered longest with us or has the longest tenancy will be offered the home. You will only be contacted if you have been successful, if you are unsuccessful then you can keep bidding for properties every fortnight until you find the home you like.

For further information on Choice, please contact your local area housing office.

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