Latest news

Current Housing Register Application Processing Time

Published: Monday 11 December 2023

Please be aware that due to an unprecedented number of applications at this time, it is currently taking a lot longer for applications to be processed. We currently expect to process applications within 20 weeks of submission.

We are only able to process applications in the chronological order in which they are submitted to us.

A member of the team will contact you by email when your application is being processed.

Kind Regards

The Housing Needs Team

Local Connection Criteria for housing register applicants

Published: Wednesday 9 March 2022

Persons applying to join South Oxfordshire’s housing register need a local connection to the district.

Applications received without a local connection to South Oxfordshire district, including applicants who only have a local connection to other districts in Oxfordshire, will not be assessed unless there are exceptional circumstances.

For the purposes of inclusion to South Oxfordshire District Council’s housing register, local connection is defined as:

  • current and permanent residence of choice in South Oxfordshire district, for at least six months.

  • previous residence of choice in South Oxfordshire district for either six months out of the last twelve or three out of the last five years.

  • current residence of choice of close family member for at least five years in South Oxfordshire district. Family members are defined as parent, adult children and siblings

  • current, permanent employment in South Oxfordshire district that is at least 16 hours
    per week

Full details of the council’s housing allocation policy are available on the council’s website.

Any changes to the local connection criteria qualification will be notified on this website.

GDPR - Policy Update

Published: Wednesday 30 May 2018

GDPR - Our Commitment to you

South Oxfordshire District Council understands the importance of ensuring that personal data, including sensitive personal data, is always treated lawfully and appropriately and that the rights of individuals are upheld. 

We are required to collect, use and hold personal data about individuals to fulfil our statutory obligations, delivering services and meeting the needs of individuals that we deal with. This includes current, past and prospective employees, service users, members of the public, councillors, our contractors and partners and other local authorities or public bodies.  Some personal data will appear on file records, which by law we are required to keep and make publicly available.

If you would like further information on the Councils Privacy Policy please see through the following link.

New Website!

Published: Wednesday 25 May 2016

We are pleased to announce the launch of our new Homechoice website. It has an improved look, is more user-friendly and features a mobile phone version. It will also have regular news and information updates.

A new feature of the website is our Housing Options & Advice wizard. By completing the wizard you will instantly receive Housing Options and Advice tailored to your individual housing circumstances. You can find the wizard here or by clicking on the link at the bottom right of the homepage.

Please be advised that from 25th May the web messaging service will no longer be available. Instead you can contact us by e-mail at: housing@southandvale.gov.uk  We aim to respond to enquiries within 10 working days.