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.

In 2022/23 we invested over £9m in our repairs service enabling us to respond to and carry out over 30,000 repairs for our customers.

In partnership with the government and social housing decarbonisation fund we have invested over £1.4 million to super insulate 109 properties providing customers with homes that are much more efficient providing greater degrees of thermal comfort and savings on energy bills.

Local offer

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

100 percent of communal areas are shared spaces with a valid fire risk assessment

100 percent of homes with a valid gas safety certificate

96 percent satisfaction with planned home improvement work

97 percent of repair appointments made and kept

15.93 days to complete repairs on average

96 percent of repairs completed right first time

100 percent of homes met decent homes standard | 100 percent of fire risk assessments completed on time

792 energy improvement works completed in homes | 183 fire doors replaced

276 kitchens installed | 115 heating systems replaced

In 2021/22 you worked with us to scrutinise and improve our damp and mould repairs service, and we worked with you again this year to review our policies and procedures in relation to damp and mould to improve them still further. In 2022/23, we ramped up our commitment to ensuring our customers are safe in their homes and took a proactive, zero tolerance, approach to reports of any level of damp and mould in our homes. We carried out treatment or improvement works to 532 homes to minimise the risk of damp or mould, with the work continuing into 2023/24.

We listened

You told us through feedback and satisfaction surveys that our process for handling repairs for damp and mould overall could be better.

We acted

We worked with tenants to help us develop our Damp and Mould Policy and improved our supporting procedures. We agreed timescales with tenants that we would work towards to ensure homes are promptly inspected when damp or mould is reported. Our inspectors now have specialist equipment to help identify and diagnose damp , and we are ensuring urgent/serious cases are dealt with as a priority and in a timely manner as well as reviewing these cases to learn what we can improve to help prevent serious damp and mould issues. We introduced our tenancy visit programme to ensure you receive a visit at least once every two years and included a damp and mould check within the visit so we can keep you safe in your home.

We listened

You told us that our choice of wet rooms was dated and that you wanted more choice about the type of wet rooms that we would install in your homes.

We acted

We consulted with you to review the design specification of our wet rooms. You helped us to identify modern styles that have a longer life cycle that were both more practical and appealing so we could develop and roll out an improved service offer for tenants in need of a wet room.

We listened

Ensuring your home is safe for you to live in is a key priority for us. We invited you to be involved with influencing and shaping our policies relating to health and safety in the home, to make sure they meet your needs whilst also meet the legal framework that governs health and safety in the home (for example, annual gas servicing, checks on electrical wiring etc).

We acted

We reviewed all of our key health and safety policies with you to ensure they remained within health and safety guidelines while also meeting your needs. As a result we implemented new policies for Asbestos, Electrical Testing, Fire Risk Assessment, Gas and Heating, Lift Safety and Water Hygiene.