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

Accessibility

We want you to be able to access our online services, including our website and our tenant app/portal in way that meets your individual needs.

We aim for our website, tenant app and portal to be compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard by design and continuously review our online services to ensure that they are accessible to all.

We ensure text is clear and simple to understand, and is compatible with browsers which enable you to:

Zoom in up to 500% without problems (On a PC to increase or decrease the magnification of pages, press Ctrl and ‘+’ to zoom in, and press Ctrl and ‘-‘ to zoom out. Press Ctrl + 0 to return to the default size).
Navigate with just a keyboard
Use standard screen reading software (On a PC right click and select ‘read aloud’.)

Web accessibility toolbar

Recite me is available on our website to allow users to customise and adjust elements to individual needs. It provides a user-friendly toolbar linked to the following features:

Screen reading to create audio content from text
Translation into over 100 languages using a choice of 65 ‘text to speech’ voices
Styling and customisation to change the look of the page including font style, colour, size and spacing
Reading aids including rulers, screen mask, magnifier, margins and a dictionary

We have completed extensive testing with a panel of website users, that have a wide range of access needs to ensure a smooth customer experience whilst using our website and tenant app/portal.

To speak to our Customer Services team in a language other than English, you can use our LiveChat located to the bottom right of the screen.

Reporting accessibility problems with our online services

If you have any problems using the website or tenant app/portal, or you think that we are not meeting your accessibility requirements, please contact us so that we can try to resolve the problem for you.

How to request content in an accessible format

If you prefer to speak to us about your accessibility requirements call us on 0800 587 4538. If you do not speak English and require a translator, we will dial in the BigWord service to assist us to deal with your enquiry.