Where to get more information
Need help or more information? River Clyde Homes have a 24/7 Customer Experience Team who can offer you assistance. You can contact them on 0800 013 2196.
To apply for housing with River Clyde Homes you need to complete a registration form online here.
Getting Online
If you need some help to get online the Future Skills team can help. Technology is great, but only when you know how to use it. Future Skills can help! Future Skills provides free 1 to 1 support to gain digital skills and access the internet. We can meet you in a library, community centre or we can visit you at home.
Whether you need to get an email address, compare prices online, keep in touch with family and friends, apply for housing online or manage your Universal Credit account, we will tailor our advice to suit you.
You can call us on 01475 788915 to have a chat and arrange an appointment.
Other landlords offering social rented homes
• Abbyfield – 0300 303 3194
• Bield Housing Association – 0131 273 4000
• Blackwood Housing Association – 08457 125865
• Cloch Housing Association – 01475 783637 (ICHR)
• Larkfield Housing Association – 01475 630930 (ICHR)
• Link Housing Association (managed by Larkfield Housing Association) – 01475 630930 (ICHR)
• Oak Tree Housing Association – 01475 807000 (ICHR)
• River Clyde Homes Housing Association – 0800 013 2196
• Trust Housing Association – 0131 444 1200
• Key Housing Association, The Square, 70 Renton Street, Glasgow G4 0HT
Inverclyde Common Housing Register (ICHR) provides access to available homes from Oak Tree Housing Association (HA), Cloch HA, Larkfield HA and Link HA.
Home ownership
Owning your own home has the advantages of giving you choice about where you live. In Scotland you will need a solicitor and a mortgage lender – usually a bank or building society to buy your own home. You should ensure that you have considered the long- and short-term costs of being a home owner. Estate agents can provide details of properties for sale and many have websites. A useful website with more details of how to buy your own home is the Citizens Advice Bureau’s Advice guide Buying a home - Citizens Advice Scotland.
There are a number of affordable home ownership options available and more information on these can be found on the Scottish Governments website.
• Low Costs Home Ownership schemes
• Low Cost Initiative for First Time Buyers (LIFT)
• Help to Buy (Scotland) Affordable New Build Scheme
• Rent to Buy
Mortgage to Rent Scheme
If you own your home and in danger of having it repossessed the Home Owners Support Fund maybe able to help you. Under the Mortgage to Rent scheme, your home may be bought by a Housing Association and you will continue to live there as a tenant, paying a monthly rent. Mortgage to Rent is administered by a central Scottish Government team. For more details see the Home Owners' Support Fund on the Scottish Governments website.
Homelessness
If you are homeless or you believe that you may become homeless in the next 2 months, you should approach the Homelessness Service at Hector McNeil House, Greenock. If you would like more information, please contact Homelessness on 01475 715378 (select option 4) for out of hours service please call 01475 715880.
You can get advice and assistance for a range of housing issues from the Inverclyde Homeless Service:
• Rent or mortgage arrears
• Been asked to leave your home
• Leaving care or prison
• Sleeping on someone’s couch
If you think you are in danger of being evicted, having your home repossessed or losing your home for any other reason, the you should get help and advice as soon as possible. There may be options available to you that you are not aware of.
The following agencies can provide you with advice and information to help you if you think that you are going to lose your home:
• Money Advice Scotland – Tel: 0141 572 0237 Website: http://www.moneyadvicescotland.org.uk/
• Legal Services Agency, 9 Sir Michael Street, Greenock PA15 1PQ Tel: 01475 725665
• Consumer Credit Counselling Service – Tel: 0800 1381111 Website: http://www.stepchange.org/
• Shelter Scotland Tel: 0808 8004444 Website: http://scotland.shelter.org.uk/
• National Debt Line – Tel: 0808 8084000 Website: http://www.nationaldebtline.org
Domestic violence
You can contact Homelessness Services, daytime 01475 715365 (option 4) or out of hours 01475 715880. Scottish Women’s Aid is the lead organisation in Scotland working towards the prevention of domestic abuse. They play a vital role campaigning and lobbying for effective responses to domestic abuse. You can contact Inverclyde Women’s Aid by telephone: 01475 888505.
Other organisations you may wish to contact for support:
• Samaritans – 08457 909090 website: http://www.samaritans.org
• Inverclyde Women’s Aid Sexual Abuse Service – 01475 888110
• National Rape Crisis Helpline – 0808 801 0302
• Special Needs in Pregnancy (SNIPS) – 01475 633777 Ext: 4833
• ManKind Initiative – 08707944124 Website: http://www.mankindcounselling.org.uk
• National Domestic Abuse Helpline – 08000271234
• Men’s Domestic Abuse Advice Line – 08088010327 Email: [email protected]
• Legal Service Agency – 01475 725665
Welfare benefit advice
Due to changes in Welfare Reform all new claims for working age claimants will require a claim for Universal Credit. Universal Credit is administered by the Department of Working Pensions (DWP) and aims to make the welfare system simpler by replacing six benefits and tax credits with two payments per month.
Applications to Universal Credit must be made online. You can find the link to apply for Universal Credit www.gov.uk/apply-universal-credit. To apply for Universal Credit, you must have a bank account and an email address.Remember to include details of your rent when you claim Universal Credit so that your housing costs are included in your claim.
For assistance claiming Universal Credit call the Future Skills Team on 01475 788915.
If Welfare Benefits advice is required, please contact:
• Inverclyde Advice First, HSCP, Hector McNeil House, Clyde Square, Greenock, PA15 1NB Tel: 01475 715299
• Financial Fitness, 29 West Stewart Street, Greenock, PA15 1SH Tel: 01475 729239
• MacMillan Welfare Right Services, HSCP, Hector McNeil House, Clyde Square, Greenock, PA15 1NB Tel: 01475 715299
Mutual exchange
A mutual exchange is when a social housing tenant exchanges homes with another tenant looking to move home. Exchanging properties can take place between two tenants of social landlords anywhere in the UK. It is, however, necessary that both landlords give permission for the exchange to take place.
You can try and gain interest in a mutual exchange by word of mouth, advertising online, advertising in shop windows etc.
This type of move is particularly useful for tenants who:
• Are interested in a move to a different area
• Are looking to find a more suitable home
• Need a smaller or larger home
• Are looking for a quicker method of transfer
All tenants have a legal right to request permission to carry out a mutual exchange. We will not unreasonably refuse this. However, under certain conditions you may not be able to exchange e.g. rent arrears, number of bedrooms, adaptations. Your social housing landlord will have their own mutual exchange form – usually available on their website or from their office.
