Looking for a home

If you wish to apply for a City Corporation property, you must complete a housing application form. Once completed, the Housing Needs Team will assess you and award reasonable preference points.

Once you are on the Housing Register you will be able to bid on available properties using our choice based letting system. Homes are then offered to the bidder with the highest reasonable preference points.

There are a large number of households on the City's Housing Register and we are not able to offer a home to everybody who applies.

​Many people face a long wait for social housing and people with lower housing needs may not be rehoused at all. Because there are far more people seeking council and housing association homes than available homes, the City operates an allocations policy to ensure fairness in our decision-making.

The City allocates some applicants from the Housing Register to the Housing Associations with which we work in partnership, namely Guinness, Peabody Trust and Toynbee. This is also done through the Choice Based Lettings scheme.

A current tenant of the City of London Corporation Housing who is living in overcrowded accommodation or wishes/needs to downsize can apply for a transfer.

You can apply for a transfer using the same form as the waiting list, but you only need to send us proof of any additional family members in your household. We do not need you to send proof for any family members that were with you when you moved into your current property, however, please list the whole family on the form.

A City Corporation Housing tenant, who wishes to move to a property of the same size but in another location or estate, will need to register for a mutual exchange through HomeSwapper and/or through other online providers.

From 1 April 2016 City Corporation Housing secure tenants living in a studio property who are over 45 years of age are able to apply for a transfer into a one bedroom property.

Please ask the Housing Needs Team for more details on any of these transfer options. 

For information on the City of London Corporation's sheltered housing schemes, please view the Housing for older people webpage.

For more information on housing options please contact the Housing Needs Team or call 0207 332 1654 / 1237.

There is no shortcut to the waiting list, so you may need to make alternative decisions about your housing.

You can approach your local Citizens Advice, Toynbee Hall or other independent advice agencies for support.

Shelter can provide you with independent advice about what to do if you are homeless or having problems with your accommodation and may become homeless.​ 

If you are a City Corporation Housing secure tenant and wish to move to another flat you may be able to swap your home with another tenant. Swaps can be arranged to anywhere in the UK and can involve more than two households.

Once an applicant is no longer on an Introductory Tenancy, and becomes a Secure Tenant, they can apply for a mutual exchange. The Landlords of all parties involved in the swap will need to undertake some checks on the tenancy and the property before they can give their approval for the exchange to proceed. Before an exchange can proceed, all applicants should have no rent arrears and not be subject to any enforcement action.

If you are interested in moving via a mutual exchange you can register on Homeswapper. This is the largest database in the UK for tenants actively seeking to swap their homes. It is useful to have plenty of good photos of your home, plus a good description and also to list local amenities to attract potential swap partners. You can be as specific or general about where you wish to move but the more flexible you are about areas and types of properties the easier it will be to find a potential exchange partner.

If you are a City Corporation Housing tenant, once you have registered, the Housing Needs Team aims to authorise your account within 5 working days. There is no cost to City Corporation Housing tenants.

Following their introductory tenancy if all is satisfactory, City Corporation Housing tenants become secure tenants. City Corporation Housing does not offer fixed term tenancies. However some landlords only offer fixed term tenancies which do not necessarily guarantee continuation beyond a particular time. Tenants seeking an exchange should consider this possibility before agreeing to swap as they may have no guarantee of their home being available after this time. All parties to the exchange get the terms and conditions of their swap partner, this includes rent levels and service charges.

The City Corporation Housing allows exchange partners to transfer into a property which has one more bedroom than their assessed needs, however not all landlords will allow this. If you are in this situation you should check with your exchange partner’s landlord, or if they are a tenant of a Housing Association, their local authority.

Once you have found a suitable swap partner both parties should contact their landlord to start the process for the swap. For more details contact the Housing Needs Team.

If you would be interested in moving to a smaller property you may be able to downsize into another City of London Corporation property. If you do, you may be able to be paid a 'shift allowance' also known as a downsize payment.

The City Corporation has a number of tenants who are currently living in a property which is bigger than their needs. This may be due to their children growing up and leaving home. On our Housing Register, just under 60% of applicants need a two, three or four bedroom property. If this sounds like your situation, you may be pleased to hear that the City Corporation has a scheme to enable people to move to a property more suited to their needs. If you live in a property with two, three or four bedrooms but do not need all this space, you can apply for a downsizing transfer.

Your bedroom need will be determined by the size of your household. The City Corporation assesses need as follows:

• one bedroom for the applicant (and their partner)
• one bedroom for any additional adult couple
• one bedroom for any two additional people of the same gender aged under 18
• one bedroom for any two additional people of different genders aged 9 and under
• one bedroom for any additional person who is part of the household – this may not include relatives like cousins or non-dependent grandchildren etc.

If your application for a transfer is accepted you will be awarded downsizing points and would be in a good position to win a bid for a smaller flat. You could also be eligible for a shift allowance which is a payment of £2,000 for the first bedroom you give up, with an additional £1,000 for each additional bedroom you give up. This means if you are in a four bedroom property and only need a one bedroom, you would be giving up three bedrooms and could be eligible for a payment of £4,000. If you downsize via mutual exchange, you are not eligible for a shift allowance.

Payments are made within 28 days of you returning your keys to the property which is too large for your needs after you move to your new home. If you are in rent arrears the amount of your arrears would be deducted from your payment with the balance being credited to your bank account. If you would like to apply for a transfer or to discuss other housing options please contact the Housing Needs Team.