Frequently asked questions

How do I apply for a Livin home or bungalow?

We advertise all of our available homes on our Find A Home page, simply visit this page for more information.

Before you can place a bid on one of our homes, you must first have an active account with the relevant Choice Based Lettings Scheme. Almost all our homes are located in County Durham and therefore are allocated through the Durham Key Options scheme. Durham Key Options (DKO) is a partnership between Durham County Council and landlords across County Durham.

We have a small number of homes which are located outside Durham, these are all advertised through Tees Valley HomeFinder, Hartlepool HomeSearch and Darlington HomeSearch; They are similar to Durham Key Options but we do not process applications registered for these schemes. If you wish to register an application for homes advertised in this area, please apply directly.

Once your application is approved, you will then be able to bid on homes that meet your needs. You can access the application form directly by visiting the relevant Choice Based Lettings system.

How long will it take for my application to be processed?

We aim to start processing your application within 10 working days. If we require any further information after this point, we will contact you to ask for this. Once we have received all the required information we will notify you of our decision within 20 days, and if accepted we will activate your account. You can also check your application status online by logging into the DKO portal.

How can I get involved with Livin and help to shape services?

To find out more about the different ways you can get involved, please visit our getting involved section.

Can I apply to buy my home under Right to Buy?

Tenants who have been with Livin since before the transfer from Sedgefield Council in 2009 may have the “Preserved Right to Buy” their property. Full details of the scheme are available on the Government Right to Buy website. If you are thinking of applying, please contact us.

Can I apply to buy my home under Right to Acquire?

If you have been a tenant for 3 or more years you may have the right to buy your property under the Right to Acquire scheme. Full details of the scheme are available on the Government Right to Acquire website. If you are thinking of applying, please contact us.

More FAQ's

Providing Quality Sustainable Homes

We aim to provide you with safe, warm, high-quality, and sustainable homes.

To achieve this we provide choice and deliver accessible, convenient, reliable and responsive maintenance services to ensure your home is maintained to a high standard.

During the year we invested £7.9 million in the repairs service. As the cost of living began to rise and due to economic uncertainty, we invested in the energy efficiency of over 200 homes, reducing carbon emissions and energy bills.

Local offer

We will provide you with safe, warm, high – quality and energy efficient homes. More local offers.

Achieving our targets for 2021/22 was challenging with a backlog of repairs resulting from successive lockdowns, adverse and extreme weather and issues with the availability of materials for repairs. In 2021/22, performance didn’t achieve targets for our repairs service satisfaction, speed of repairs and completing repairs at the first visit. Despite these challenges, we delivered over 31, 500 repairs last year (up from 29, 000 in 2020/21) and throughout the year we ensured that crucial services to keep you safe were maintained to a high standard.

During 2021/22 we acted on your feedback to improve our services by introducing extended repairs appointments to 7pm Monday to Friday and on a Saturday morning to increase availability and provide more convenient services. We also introduced proactive contact and improved our processes to respond to damp repairs.

We listened

You told us through feedback and satisfaction surveys that our repairs and maintenance service overall could be better.

We acted

We worked with four tenants to scrutinise the repairs service and working together we introduced seven service improvements including improved diagnosis of repairs by our customer services team so that when you report a repair our operatives will be allocated the right amount of time and materials to complete a repair right first time.

We listened

You told us what investment is important to you for your home.

We acted

We published our set Asset Management Policy and Strategy which set our priorities for the next 3 years to bring our homes up to EPC band C standard. We also offered more options to you such as a greater choice of bathroom and kitchens and a bigger focus on making homes more energy efficient.