Cumberland Gate - Renting a home at Cumberland Gate

Renting a home at Cumberland Gate

All of the rented homes at Cumberland Gate will be let to applicants on Portsmouth City Council’s housing register. The City Council is responsible for deciding who the new rented properties will be let to and will nominate suitable households to each of the housing associations before construction is completed.

How do I join the Portsmouth Housing Register?

To apply for council or housing association accommodation in Portsmouth you need to be on the Portsmouth Housing Register. You don’t need to be living in Portsmouth to do this but the council will only register you for rehousing if your current accommodation is inadequate for your needs. With more than 7,000 applicants on the Portsmouth Housing Register most households face a very long wait as council and housing association lettings are in short supply.

To find out more about the Portsmouth Housing Register e-mail housing_options.org.uk or call 9283 4989.

How will the Council decide who is offered a tenancy at Cumberland Gate?

The process for selecting nominees to be offered tenancies at Cumberland Gate will be very similar to the banding system used to let council properties. Applicants will be selected firstly on the basis of their banding and secondly on the length of time they have been registered for re-housing. Applicants will only be considered for a tenancy at Cumberland Gate if they have included Fratton within their areas of choice and have indicated that they are willing to accept a flat.

Because of the large number of new flats being let the Council has agreed a special lettings plan which will operate alongside the usual banding system. The lettings plan will make sure that the new community at Cumberland Gate reflects a good mix of different types of household and properly reflects the local area. This may mean that the overall pattern of lettings is slightly different from what would have been produced based on a strict use of the banding scheme.

The City Council will contact applicants who are being considered for nominations and will only proceed where applicants actively want the tenancy of a home at Cumberland Gate.

What type of tenancies will be offered?

Many housing associations run ‘starter tenancy’ schemes and this will apply to all of the rented homes at Cumberland Gate. What this means is that new tenants will, for an initial period, have a ‘starter tenancy’. After twelve months, and assuming that the tenancy has been conducted satisfactorily, the tenancy will become an assured tenancy providing residents with long term security. The starter tenancy scheme makes it easier to take action against residents who breach their tenancy conditions and this means that it will be easier to curb any problems of nuisance or anti-social behaviour which might occur.