A void ready to let, waiting on a nomination
You work with several councils, each with its own nomination agreement. When a home becomes available, the lettings team emails the council's housing options team with the property details, or advertises through the choice-based lettings scheme. A nominee comes back days later, sometimes with incomplete information. The viewing is arranged, the nominee refuses, and the process starts again.
Nobody is quite sure how long the council has under the agreement before you can let the home another way, because the agreements were signed years ago and differ between councils.
Why nominations are slow
Each council has its own process, systems and contacts. Your lettings team has to remember which council wants what, and each exchange goes by email or through a portal nobody else can see. The agreed timescales and what happens when they pass are in documents nobody opens during a busy week.
- Property details are sent to councils in different formats.
- Nominee information arrives incomplete and needs chasing.
- Timescales in each agreement are tracked by memory.
- Refusals and reasons are not recorded consistently.
- Reporting nomination performance to councils is built by hand.
What slow nominations cost
Every day a ready home waits is lost rent and a household not housed. Disagreements with councils about timescales and refusals strain relationships you rely on. And the lettings team spends its time on emails and phone calls rather than on the applicants themselves.
The nominations tracker we build
- Each nomination agreement is recorded: council, areas and property types covered, share of lets, timescales at each stage and what happens when they pass.
- When a void reaches a stage you choose, the tracker prepares the property details in the format each council asks for and sends them, or prompts for advertising through their scheme.
- Nominations from councils are recorded against the property, whether they arrive by email or portal, with the nominee's details checked for completeness.
- Your pre-tenancy checks and affordability assessment are listed as tasks for the lettings officer, with anything missing requested from the council in one go.
- Timescales run from each stage, with reminders before they pass and a clear notice when a home can be let another way under the agreement.
- Offers, viewings, refusals and reasons are recorded, so the story of each let is complete.
- Nomination reports for each council are produced from the tracker, showing lets made, timescales and outcomes.
| Point in the process | Handled by email | With the tracker |
|---|---|---|
| Home available | Email to council | Details sent in the council's format |
| Nominee received | Details incomplete | Completeness checked, gaps requested |
| Timescale | Remembered or missed | Reminders and notices |
| Refusal | Noted in an email | Recorded with reason |
| Reporting | Built by hand | Produced per council |
Nomination agreements and your allocations policy stay as they are. The tracker applies the terms you enter and does not interpret them for you.
What the lettings team gets
Every void awaiting a nomination is on one screen with the council, stage and days remaining. Councils get consistent information and consistent reports. Disputes about timescales are settled by the record rather than by memory, and homes waiting too long are visible while there is still time to act.
Does this sound like your nominations?
- You work with several councils, each with a different process.
- Nomination details go back and forth by email.
- Agreement timescales are hard to track.
- Refusals and reasons are not recorded consistently.
- Council reports take time to put together.