Are the sheffield propertyshop breaching their own policies? i'm compiling evidence which will eventually be sent to the sheffield star, i'm convinced that the SPS regulary breach their own rules I:E leaving houses empty even when people have put a bid in on that property and then re-advertising those properties at a later date because a suitable candidate could'nt be found the first time, even though the property should go to the next bidder on the list, [you get the picture] Anyway all your factual stories will be most welcome, lets do these guys...

I really wish you the best of luck with this darkscience as I have always believed the SPS have been breaching their policy.

I have consistently noticed that properties I have placed bids on have been put back on the SPS website and re-advertised.

When I called the SPS to query this I was told it was the same picture but a different property, which is really taking the pi*s, how stupid do the SPS think we are.

Surely even if 50 people have bid on the same property 1 person will eventually accept it so why on earth they dont they give people a chance to at least check the property out.

If I hear them claim "We are too short staffed to do this" I think I will spontaneously combust.

At the end of the day this system is not housing people as sucessfully as I would of hoped and with all the properties they have empty it is a major kick in the teeth for people with real need.

Jo

sound to me like the SPS sre waiting for the perfect candidate for each advertised property, if no one suitable comes forward they keep the property empty and re-advertise it at a later date.

I really need all the evidence i can get my hands on so come on people give me my ammo...

Best of luck to you dark science. i have being bidding on all types property for over 4 years with the property shop and have got no where.When i have phoned to check the status of my bid they have told me that over 200 people bid on each property and my bids are always 299 off the top of the list,so i got no chance. I still bidd every week even when i know i wont get anywhere!!!!:help: :help:



bettyboop

sorry if this upsets some people

hi, if a property is re-advertised this is possible because they have gone down the entire list and no body wants it, and it clearly states readvertised across the picture (hard to miss unless blind)

they do use the same pictures for blocks of flats masionettes high rises etc, pointless exercise to go out and take another one when clearly example hyde park there are hundreds of flats gives you an idea of what it looks like doesnt matter what angle its the same block in the end.

good luck with your case you will need it, you will be lucky to find anything that is not done by the book.

Property shop dont match properties this is done but qualified staff at a completely different location of sheffield and they are not allowed to VET tenants where as i believe Housing Assoc can

I bid on a property last may and it is still empty to this day, they are still awaiting decision! surely after all this time i or someone else who bid for this property would have been offered it. I must admit that the house has not been re-advertised on this occasion, but it seems to me that they are waiting for the perfect candidate.

There are a few more irons in the fire into getting the info i need, this is just the start...:thumbsup:

Are the sheffield propertyshop breaching their own policies? i'm compiling evidence which will eventually be sent to the sheffield star, i'm convinced that the SPS regulary breach their own rules I:E leaving houses empty even when people have put a bid in on that property and then re-advertising those properties at a later date because a suitable candidate could'nt be found the first time, even though the property should go to the next bidder on the list, [you get the picture] Anyway all your factual stories will be most welcome, lets do these guys...


Someone should do a survey on just how long it takes the council to advertise
properties once they are empty. I admit that some need to be cleaned/renovated etc. but even so some properties stay empty for weeks if not months. We noticed this a couple of years ago when a member of my family was bidding for properties in the Gleadless Valley area. It beats me why the turn around on property has to be so lengthly. The council is loosing rents, prospective tennants are not getting anywhere to live, you wouldn't see such delays in the private sector, perhaps it's about time all the council housing in Sheffield was turned over to some organisation that would get their finger out :rant: Rant over.

Your dead right Darkscience, if the people at the top of the list dont want a property it should be offered to the next ones down.

There's also alot of queue jumping too.

I bid on a property last year and was second on the list, the first people turned it down so it should have been offered to me but it wasn't.
It was offered to third family down. This third family was under offer of another house and apparently if you are already under offer of a property you are more or less out of the running for the current properties.

When I approached Sheffield Homes they had nowt to say, just passed me from pillar to post, yet I lost a property because I was under offer:loopy:

Luckily, I'm settled now in my ideal property after fighting for over a year.

Hope you get loadsa evidence and nail the b*****ds!

Someone should do a survey on just how long it takes the council to advertise
properties once they are empty. I admit that some need to be cleaned/renovated etc. but even so some properties stay empty for weeks if not months. We noticed this a couple of years ago when a member of my family was bidding for properties in the Gleadless Valley area. It beats me why the turn around on property has to be so lengthly. The council is loosing rents, prospective tennants are not getting anywhere to live, you wouldn't see such delays in the private sector, perhaps it's about time all the council housing in Sheffield was turned over to some organisation that would get their finger out :rant: Rant over.

The government are interested in what councils do, and one of the published figures for all local authorities is the turn round time for vacant properties - you can have a look at the info on SCC website, but the last published figures for June-Sept 2005 was around 50 days. This includes time to do repairs, advertise, make how ever many offers it takes to let a property (if the first person turns it down - it will be re offered, until its let)

Look under the housing/neighbourhoods bit of the website.
http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/your-city-council/policy--performance/key-performance-indicators

I went into First Point with a print-out of my biddings, showing them where some properties have been re-advertised a few weeks after I had bid on them and not been offered them. Their reply was that someone accepts the property for a week and then gives it up! Surely (if that was REALLY the case lol) it would make more sense to offer it to the next person down the list rather than readvertise it! :huh:

I went into First Point with a print-out of my biddings, showing them where some properties have been re-advertised a few weeks after I had bid on them and not been offered them. Their reply was that someone accepts the property for a week and then gives it up! Surely (if that was REALLY the case lol) it would make more sense to offer it to the next person down the list rather than readvertise it! :huh:

This is disgraceful but to be honest I really knew it wouldnt be long before they gave out this excuse.

But you are totally right, that the property should of been passed down to the next person on the list that bid on that very property as this is exactly what the SPS claim they will do.

I hope all our questions get answered when Darkscience compiles together this survey and report as it would be very interesting to hear the lame excuses on why they re-advertise properties and leave houses empty despite people placing bids on them.

Surely the turnaround on housing people should be a huge sucess with this bidding system because in theory it is a simple system, for example if there is a mainframe computer that tallys up all the bids on each house that is up for the weekly bid and places people in a queue based on their priority and waiting time, the people that then win the bid are asked to view the property and then they either accept or decline it, if they accept it then decline it after a week then the property is simply allocated it to the next person in line and so on.

How hard can this be, it seems pretty clear cut to me so why are we not seeing the results and why are properties still empty.

Jo

The government are interested in what councils do, and one of the published figures for all local authorities is the turn round time for vacant properties - you can have a look at the info on SCC website, but the last published figures for June-Sept 2005 was around 50 days. This includes time to do repairs, advertise, make how ever many offers it takes to let a property (if the first person turns it down - it will be re offered, until its let)

Look under the housing/neighbourhoods bit of the website.
http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/your-city-council/policy--performance/key-performance-indicators


thx for the link macbeth, maybe this performance is true for some properties but not them all, for example a source of mine points out that the turnaround time for an empty dwelling on a less desirable estate is less than that on a sought after estate, people could argue that this is because not as many people bid for the property on the less desirable esate, but people will also argue that the council are trying to get people in the vacant properties on the less desirable estates before they let the properties on the more sought after estates.

As for patchy's comments about the properties he/she's bid for being re-advertised before he/she has been offered them, well frankly it stinks, not only would it make more sense to offer these properties to the next person on the list it is actually there policy to do so, by not doing so and re-advertising these properties the SPS are clearly in BREACH OF THEIR OWN POLICY.
I would be most gratefull if you could e-mail me with the details of these properties patchy, this is exactly the kind of info i need........ deecees777@gmail.com

Like me, my best mate is a wheelchair user.

Two years ago, she was homeless. She bid, and bid for properties, but was unsuccessful. the council kept offering her non-accessible properties, (IE with steps up to the property etc, or that the wheelchair could not turn round in the entrance hall to get inside.) despite the fact that she had been assessed as requiring wheelchair access.

eventually, after over seven months of being homeless, a property was offered to her.

It had (some) level access (she still has to turn within the footprint of her wheelchair to get into her hallway! :R )

However, it is on the total opposite side of the city to her family and support network, and right on top of a hill, on the outskirts of north Sheffield, overlooking the peak district, where it gets very bleak, and exposed, and frequently cut off with the slightest bit of snow. Not ideal, at all, when you have mobility difficulties.

It's nonsensical.

PT

I've given up bidding every week, I'm gonna have to get a rented place and not eat to pay the bills. :rolleyes:
I went into have a rant at the guy in the SPS on Saturday....about how all of the First Come First Served places are always for over 60's or over40's age group. :|

yeh i had noticed that too, there was one very rare occasion that there was a first come first serve for over 25's and i hadnt been there long so i told them i was interested and i was still in third place and hadnt been quick enough :(

I put bids in for "bid period end" 14th FEB, some of the properties are still "Awaiting Decision" surely there should be a quicker turn-around than this.

I put bids in for "bid period end" 14th FEB, some of the properties are still "Awaiting Decision" surely there should be a quicker turn-around than this.

Yeah, I've put bids on in November which are still awaiting decision! :|

To me, they want their cake and eat it. As a single person, I'm entitled to live in a 2-bed flat or maisonette but not a 2-bed house? Someone suggested (elsewhere on here I think) that houses are allocated to those with kids because they have gardens, etc. Well no offence to those with kids but why should my choice not to have any, and at present not to co-habit, have any bearing on the property I am entitled to, so long as I pay my rent? I'm fairly certain that when I first registered on the list, even as a single person I was entitled to apply for any kind of property as that was the idea of the bidding system; no discrimination. On top of all that, for certain properties you have to be either over 40 or over 60 so even the first-come-first-served section is pointless :rant:

There's a property on the end of Hartopp Road at its junction with Daresbury Road which has been done up under the Decent Homes - it was empty when it was done up in the early part of 2005, and it is still empty.

My brothers girlfriend asked about an empty property that was near me wondering what her chances were of getting it and they said that it had already been let out. The thing is, the last date of bidding hadnt gone and was still in the property shop guide. Why advertise property when they know that its already been taken??:loopy: