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

Transforming Customer Experience and Digital Services

Customer Experience

We aim to always deliver reliable, convenient and easy to access services and keep you informed about things that matter to you.

Here’s how we are doing…

Performance

Tenant Satisfaction Measure

89.69%

Overall satisfaction (TP01)

83.83%

Satisfaction that the landlord keeps tenants informed about things that matter to them (TP07)

90.62%

Agreement that the landlord treats tenants fairly and with respect (TP08)

Key stats

Local offer

We will always try to answer queries at the first point of contact, and when this is not possible, we will let you know who will be dealing with your query and provide updates until the query is resolved. In 2023/24, we resolved 91.4% of all digital and non-digital customer enquiries at First Point of Contact. Where we could not answer the initial enquiry, we contacted 85.3% of customers back within two working days.

Complaints and Feedback

We know sometimes things go wrong and when they do, we aim to put them right as quickly as possible and learn from our mistakes so we can do better in the future.

Find out more about complaints and feedback in 2023/24.

Complaints and feedback in 2023/24 Complaints and feedback in 2023/24

Customer Voice

We encourage customer feedback, place listening to our customers at the heart of what we do and ensure our arrangements enable tenants to engage and influence in a meaningful way to continuously improve services.

Find out more about customer voice in 2023/24.

Customer Voice in 2023/24 Customer Voice in 2023/24