East Kilbride Housing Association

Your home

We have 613 properties to rent in East Kilbride, of which only around 30 become available each year.

Your home

Homefinder

EKHA is part of the South Lanarkshire Common Housing Register, along with South Lanarkshire Council, Cathkin Braes Tenant Management Co-operative, West of Scotland Housing Association, Clyde Valley Housing Association, Melvillie Housing Association, Clydesdale Housing Association, Cairn Housing Association & Arklet Housing Association.

The big advantage for you is that you can apply to all nine of the Homefinder landlords by completing just the one application form. Each landlord may have slightly different rules and priorities for allocating their properties. We allocate our properties to the applicants(s) with the highest points at the top of one of the of the 5 lists we use.

View Home options Tool for details about East Kilbride and the type of stock available.

If you want to apply for a home in South Lanarkshire and be placed on the Homfinder list you need to complete a Home Options self assessment.

The HomeOptions tool helps you find the options that may be available for you in South Lanarkshire. It asks a set of questions including household size, income and type of house and takes about 15 minutes to complete. You will then be given a personalised
action plan of your housing options including a personal reference number. Keep a note of your memorable date and personal reference number so you can go back to it anytime.

If you register with an email address, your action plan will be automatically emailed to you and you can print it. You will find the link to the housing application form at the end of your personal action plan, in the next steps section. If you don’t have time to fill it in straight away, you can return to it at any time using your personal reference number and memorable date on the Home Options tool.

Home options Tool form Applying for a house

Mutual Exchange

Homefinder isn’t the only way to get a house. As a tenant of a social landlord you can ask to carry out a mutual exchange. This is where two social housing tenants (this
includes council tenants) swap properties to help meet their changing household needs. The application forms you and the person you want to swap with need to complete and hand in to us are displayed below.

Important to note: without exception, there is criteria to meet and you need approval of both landlords before an exchange can take place.

All social tenants looking for a mutual exchange in South Lanarkshire (and further afield) need to register with House Exchange:

houseexchange.org.uk

housing-ex

House Exchange are the leading not-for-profit mutual exchange service for Council and Housing Association tenants.

It’s quick, easy and instant – but remember, as stated above, you need approval from both landlords before an exchange can take place. Visit house exchange to get your swap underway.

For more information on Mutual Exchanges contact us at [email protected] or call 01355 227751 and press option 3.

FAQ

How do you handle my personal information?

Our Fair Processing Notice explains what information we collect, when we collect it and how we use this. During the course of our activities we will process personal data (which may be held on paper, electronically, or otherwise) about you and we recognise the need to treat it in an appropriate and lawful manner. The purpose of the notice is to make you aware of how we will handle your information.

If you require this document in a different format (audio, large print, braille, translated into another language or in sign language) please let us know.

How do I end my tenancy?

You are required to give 28 days notice as per your tenancy agreement. You can let us know by email, write to us or give us a call if you wish to terminate your tenancy and we will send you form to complete (or you can download a form below).

We will organise a pre-termination inspection, at a time that is suitable for you, and it will be carried out by our Maintenance Officer and a Housing Officer. This inspection visit should take about 15 minutes and the purpose is for you to raise any issues and for us to carry out an inspection of the property before you terminate the tenancy. If there is any damage that isn’t obvious to see, please let the Maintenance Officer/Housing Officer know (for example, holes in doors or walls) and also let them know if you have carried out any alterations to the property in the time you have been in your tenancy. There is a possibility that any damage noted could be a re-chargeable repair, but we will discuss this with you in more detail at the inspection visit if this is the case.

On the date of termination of tenancy the Maintenance Officer and Housing Officer will collect your keys from you at the property and will take final utility meter readings. At this visit, we will also take a last look over the property and discuss any issues that may arise from this final inspection.

On the date of termination of tenancy, please make sure the property is clean and tidy and clear of all your belongings. This includes washing down all surfaces, woodwork and sanitary ware. Please also make sure your bins/recycling bins are empty and not
contaminated. If you are leaving bulky items for collection by South Lanarkshire Council, please ensure collection has been arranged and have your SLC reference
number to hand.

Here’s a link to a termination of tenancy form, for you to use:

I can’t afford my rent. What can I do?

Talk to us! The worst thing you can do is ignore the problem. We are here to help. Our staff will help you to manage your money, claim any benefits you may be entitled to, and come up with a reasonable repayment arrangement.

EKHA has a Tenancy Sustainment Officer who can help our tenants with benefit
applications, budgeting, give debt advice and ensure you are receiving all the money you should be. If you are an EKHA tenant and would like an appointment, we can speak to you over the phone or come to see you in your home.

For an appointment with our Tenancy Sustainment Officer, please call 01355 227751 and press Option 3 or email [email protected]

My upstairs neighbour is very noisy. What can I do?

Talk to your Housing Officer about this and they will do what they can to help. It could be as simple as speaking to your neighbour on your behalf.

Call 01355 227751 & press Option 3 or email your Housing Officer –

Louise – [email protected]

Megan – [email protected]

You can also contact South Lanarkshire Council, Noise Team between the hours of 6.00pm – 3.00am on 0800 242024.

I want a bigger/smaller house. How do I get one?

    If you want to apply for a home in South Lanarkshire and be placed on the Homfinder list you need to complete a Home Options self assessment. See Homefinder above for more details.

How do I make a complaint?

Go into the Document Library and find our EKHA Complaints Procedure. If you have any questions about making a complaint, please contact the office.

HOW DO I NOTIFY YOU OF CHANGES TO MY HOUSEHOLD?

If you have any changes to your household you MUST let us know as there is paperwork you have to complete. Call us on 01355 227751 or complete the form on the link below and someone will be in touch to discuss this further.

Click here to notify us of changes to your household and initiate contact from one of our Housing Management staff.

MAKING A STAND AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

EKHA has pledged to Make a Stand against domestic abuse, along with hundreds of other housing associations. We are committed to take action to support people
experiencing domestic abuse. If you are experiencing or living in fear of domestic
violence you can contact one of these agencies for support and advice:

Help for Women: Women’s Aid South Lanarkshire and East Renfrewshire, 24 hour
helpine 0800 027 1234 or check out their website www.wasl.org.uk

Help for Men: Call 0808 801 0327 Monday-Friday 9am-5pm or check out their website www.mensadviceline.org.uk

Find a copy of EKHA’s Domestic Abuse Policy in the Document Library, in the Policies folder.

EQUALITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS

We are committed to promoting an environment of respect, understanding,
encouraging diversity and eliminating discrimination by providing equal opportunity for all.

See EKHA’s Equality and Diversity Policy here.

If you wish to find more about human rights visit the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) website. This link will take you to the page that will tell you what human rights are, how human rights help you and where they came from – from this page you can navigate their website for guidance’s and information about human rights: here.

CCTV

If you are considering installing CCTV, you must do so within the law relating to
recording devices and people’s right to privacy. Please read more information about the law relating to CCTV here: ico.org.uk. As with all alterations to an EKHA property, if you want to install CCTV equipment (within the confines of the law, as stated in the link above) you must first get permission from EKHA to do this.