We short-list up to five people to view each property. If you are short-listed, then we will contact you by phone to arrange a viewing. Viewings are at short notice, so it is very important that we have your correct phone number so we can contact you. You may miss out on a viewing if we are unable to contact you in time. If you change your telephone number, please let the Lambeth Service Centre know by phoning them on 020 7926 4200..

You may be invited to view a property at the same time as other bidders. We will indicate to you which of you has first refusal, second refusal, and so on. Properties are advertised as soon as the property is vacated, so there may still be works being done to the property to make it ready for letting when you view it.

Please note that if your are successful bidding for a property we may invite you to attend an interview and may visit your home to verify your circumstances and eligibility. If your circumstances have changed, or the details you provided on your application form are not correct, this may result in your points being reduced, in which case you may not be offered the tenancy. You are advised not to give notice on your current home or incur any expenses, such as buying new furniture, until you have actually signed the tenancy agreement for your new home.

Although there is no penalty for turning down a property after viewing it, please consider very carefully before refusing it. If you change your mind later it will be too late, as the property will have been offered to someone else who wanted it, someone who has fewer points than you!

If you are invited to view a property, please make sure that you bring some personal identification with you.

Please read the advertisement carefully before bidding.

Check you are happy with the location, floor level, whether there is a lift, number of bedrooms and size of the property. Check if there are any restrictions set out in the advertisement text, for instance, if there is a minimum age limit, medical criteria or if there is restriction on the size of household that can apply. If you have a disability, then please note any comments in the advertisement regarding access, such as entrance st eps or whether the property has a lift.

You can bid for more than one property each week but you will only be shortlisted for one property, so please ensure that you would be equally prepared to accept all properties you bid for, as you will have no choice regarding which property you may be shortlisted for.

When you bid for a property you are expressing a serious interest to be offered a property, so please only bid for properties that you would be prepared to accept if offered. If you bid for a property that you know you would not accept if offered, then you have wasted your bid.

The Bedroom/Bedspaces figure for a property tells you both the number of bedrooms and the size of these rooms. A double room is 2 bedspaces, and a single room is 1 bedspace. So, a property described as 3/4 means it has 3 bedrooms and 4 bedspaces, which means it has one double and two single bedrooms.

If you want to, you can accept a Council property that has fewer bedspaces than the number of people in your family, but Housing Associations will not accept households larger than the number of bedspaces.

Demand for Council and Housing Association homes in Lambeth far exceeds supply. For this reason we are only able to offer housing to a small proportion of the people who apply to us. The people that we do help may have waited many years. Therefore we positively encourage you to consider other housing options. For advice on your housing options visit http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/HousingPlanning/HousingOptions/

This website comes in 8 languages apart from English: Arabic, Bengali, Cantonese, French, Polish, Portuguese, Somali and Turkish. To change to one of these languages, please click on the tab marked “Languages” at the top of this page. The Home Connections automated telephone service has instructions in a wider range of languages: English, Arabic, Bangla, Cantonese, French, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Somali, Spanish, Sylheti, Turkish, Twi, Urdu, Vietnamese and Yoruba.

The following table shows the number of households currently on the housing list (including existing tenants seeking transfers), together with the number of lettings in 2011/12.

The following table shows the number of households offered housing in 2011/12.

These are the average points levels for successful bidders in 2011/12 for allocation groups which have a points system (Group H and Group D).

Group H (Mainstream Housing Register)

Group D (Mainstream Transfer)