BHA Allocations Consultation '26

The BHA allocations policy sets out how we let our homes and how we prioritise people who register with us for rehousing. It sets out our legal obligations and the things we must consider when assessing housing need. You can view our current policy here, https://www.berwickshirehousing.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Allocation-Policy_December-2022.pdf

 

 

We review all our policies regularly and our allocations policy is due to be updated this year. This helps us make sure our policy continues to reflect:

• Current housing needs and demands, including any changes and pressures on local housing supply and demand
• Good practice guidance and legal requirements in Scotland
• Feedback from people looking for housing, our key partners and the communities we serve

If you’re already registered with us on These Homes, nothing will change while the consultation is open. Any updates to our allocations policy will be recommended to BHA’s Board and pending approval, would take effect later this year.

If you’re thinking about applying for a home, there is no need to delay as all registrations will be reviewed against any changes to the policy and all customers registered with us will receive notification from us of any changes to their priority passes once the new policy is in place and your registration has been reassessed.

We’ve set out the changes to the policy and background information to provide context for the proposed changes. Your feedback on our proposals matters and any comments you provide will be considered in finalising the future policy.

The consultation is open from Thursday 5 February 2026 to Thursday 19 February 2026 – please ensure you take time to read over the changes and provide your feedback. Thanks for your interest in this key area of BHA’s work, your voice helps ensure that our policy works for everyone.

BHA runs a choice-based lettings service through a digital lettings system called These Homes, which we manage with several other landlords known as ‘These Homes Collective’. Each landlord operates their own allocations policies within their respective areas. BHA is legally obliged to consult with our customers, housing applicants and any other interested groups or parties on any changes made to our allocations policy.

At the end of November 2025, we had 2179 active registrations.

This include:

• 9% of registrations for people under 25, 29% over 55, with the vast majority (62%) being between 25 and 54 years of age
• More than half (52%) of all registrations had a disability recorded, with 48% not listing any disability
• More than half (53%) of all registrations for one bedroom homes
• A quarter (25%) of registrations for two bedroom homes, with a further 15% for three bedroom homes
• 7% of registrations for properties of four bedroom sized and larger

 

Using our priority pass system, 959 (44%) of registrations had no priority:

• 16% of registrations had bronze pass priority including health need, specific need to be in communities and BHA customers moving from flats with shared entrances, or without gardens
• Around a third (34%) of registrations had Silver pass priority including health, overcrowding, underoccupancy and prevention of homelessness
• 5% of registrations had Gold priority currently including health, BHA customers experiencing relationship breakdown and statutory homelessness cases as assessed by Scottish Borders Council
• 1% of registrations had Platinum priority for the most urgent of housing need

What we’ve seen in the last 12-28 months The Scottish Government declared a national housing emergency in May 2024, with Scottish Borders Council (SBC) being one of thirteen councils to declare emergencies locally. We are experiencing huge demand for our homes and people are presenting with high levels of need. We have seen a rise in need from those suffering domestic abuse, homelessness, relationship breakdowns and people with unsecure tenancies. We have many people awaiting housing due to overcrowding and health needs and BHA must fulfil its legal duties around homelessness and rehousing those assessed by SBC.

We allocated 131 properties from December 2024 to November 2025 with an average of 107 applications for each property:

 

 

Our Scrutiny Panel, made up of current BHA customers, reviewed how we allocate our homes during 2025. The review highlighted the challenges that local people have in accessing our homes when their needs change. One of the recommendations was to introduce a Gold priority pass for overcrowding for BHA customers.   This review of policy and proposed changes will attempt to ensure that there is a reasonable balance between housing those in need and releasing some of our homes through transfers.

All passes and the proposed changes are set out in the table below:

What happens next?

Our consultation is open from Thursday 5 February 2026 until Thursday 19 February 2026. We’re looking for your feedback on the proposed changes. Please complete our survey below which has two questions: if you are in favour of the proposed changes, and a more open question which provides you an opportunity to comment on the changes which will be reviewed as part of our analysis. Any changes will be taken to our Board in February and priority passes will be reassessed against the new policy. This may result in a change to an applicant’s priority status.

You can take part in the consultation in the following ways:

• Complete our survey here https://tinyurl.com/BHAAllocationPolicySurvey26
• Respond to the proposals in writing to Berwickshire Housing Association, 55 Newtown Street, Duns TD11 3AU
• Call us on 0800 652 8104

Thanks for your views to help us shape the future of our allocations policy.