When you apply for council housing, you can also ask to be considered for a nomination to one of the housing associations that have properties in Wrexham County Borough.

We use the same criteria for selecting applicants for nomination that we use for allocating council properties.

Nominating means we recommend applicants from our waiting list to become new tenants of empty housing association properties.

As we can’t help everyone who applies for housing, requesting a nomination to a housing association could increase your chances of re-housing.

How do nominations work? 

Housing associations are required by the Welsh Government to help us find accommodation for those in need.

We have agreements with lots of housing associations to provide nominees for a certain percentage of their properties that become empty (the percentage varies depending on the housing association).

The associations contact us when they know that a property is becoming empty and they need us to nominate.

We provide them with a nominee for each vacancy, selecting applicants who have:

• requested that type, size and location of property
• indicated on their housing application form that they’re interested in being nominated
• the greatest priority according to our lettings policy.

If you’ve been selected we’ll write to let you know that we’re passing your details on to the housing association, and that they’ll be contacting you soon.

In most cases the association will arrange to visit you before deciding if you’ll be offered the property. If you’re successful, you’ll receive an offer of tenancy in writing and will be asked if you wish to accept it.

Once you’ve accepted an offer of housing association accommodation we will remove your application from our waiting list.

If you declared yourself as homeless to us and we had a legal duty to help you secure accommodation, you’ll be informed that the offer of tenancy from the housing association ends our duty (this will be because we believe that the property is suitable for your needs).

You may ask for a review of this decision.

You can also make an application for housing directly to a housing association.

Some housing associations manage their own waiting lists and applying directly to them won’t affect your application for council housing application in any way.

Another way to increase your chances of moving to a more suitable home is to apply for a mutual exchange. If you have a secure tenancy with us, you have the right to apply to swap houses with another tenant of any council or housing association.

We’ve joined Homeswapper, a national service where you can search online for other tenants who want to swap homes.

If you’re interested in applying for a mutual exchange, you can register or find further information on the Homeswapper website (external link).

If you’re in work, on a low income and unable to afford to buy or privately rent a home on the open market, renting from us might not be your only option.

You may be able to buy a property through one of our affordable home ownership schemes.

We currently run the following schemes...

• Shared Equity
• Shared Ownership
• Homebuy
• Affordable Rent
• Plots for Sale
• Discounted Sale

To find out if you’re eligible for these schemes and to get further details you need to register on the Tai Teg website (external link).

You could also consider renting a property from a private landlord.

You may be able to apply for Housing Benefit to get some help towards your rent, but if you’re claiming Universal Credit, any money that you receive to help pay your rent, will be paid directly to you. It will then be your responsibility to arrange to pay this money to your landlord.

Private rented accommodation is normally advertised in local newspapers or can be found through a lettings agent.

Our local lettings agency provides a service to those households who may not be able to access private rented accommodation without help. 

We work closely with the councils housing options service and can only take referrals from them. If you are eligible then we may be able to help you find accommodation in the private rented sector.