Rural Local Connection

In some areas we take rural local connection into account when we decide who to offer the property to. Sometimes we give prioirty to people who have a rural local connection to the village or parish where the property is.

Who has a rural or parish local connection?

You may have a local connection to an area or parish if:

• you have lived in the area for a number of years
• you have family members (parents, siblings or children) who have lived in the area for a number of years
• Exceptional reasons

How we take local connection into account when letting properties

We consider your local connection before your priority band. If we advertise a property in a rural parish connection area, we will usually offer the property to people with a local connection to this parish in the first instance. Only once all the people with a local connection to the parish have been considered would we offer the property to people with a local connection to surroundings parishes and after that, other bidders in band order.

Local lettings plans

Sometimes a local lettings plan will override the normal local connection criteria. Where this is used, it will be clearly stated in the advert.

Section 106 Agreements

Sometimes a property may be linked to a Section 106 agreement, this is a legal agreement agreed to when those properties were originally given permission to be built. If local connection criteria is specified in one of these documents it will override the normal criteria. Where this is used it will be clearly stated in the advert.