Housing in North Dorset

North Dorset District Council is a rural district situated in the north of the county of Dorset. There are 4 main towns - Blandford Forum, Shaftesbury, Sturminster Newton and Gillingham plus some 63 villages. The mix of tenure types in the district as at 2001 are

• 73% owner occupation
• 14% private rented and shared ownership
• 13% social rented

There is currently a total stock of 28,498 homes in the district but only 3,700 are social rented homes and these are all provided by the 19 Housing Associations or Almshouse Trusts that own properties within the district. The Council does not own any 'Council Houses' or temporary accommodation.

There is a limited amount of social rented housing, spread throughout the various towns and villages and an indicative distribution can be seen here - Housing Stock Distribution.

The Council holds the Common Housing Register for all housing associations operating in North Dorset and if you wish to register on a Housing Waiting list you must apply to the Council only (our Registered Social landlords do not generally hold their own waiting lists). The Council has a number of routes to rented homes and home ownership schemes, and will nominate priority applicants to Registered Social Landlords or introduce qualifying applicants to private landlords and/or developers.

Our Mission

Our mission is 'to be proactive in assisting people to prevent homelessness and to make clients aware of the housing opportunities within the district so that they can resolve their housing problems'.

Customer Service Standards

At all times we will strive to:

• Assist you with your housing needs.
• Provide you with all the necessary information you may require.
• Ensure staff are available to help deal with your housing inquiry.
• Ensure staff are available to see you by appointment at North Dorset District Council offices in Blandford, or at any other suitable venue by special arrangement
• See you on time if you make an advance appointment.
• Offer you a private interview facility should your inquiry be confidential.
• Register or acknowledge your Housing Application Form within 10 working days
• Respond to emails, FAX’s, or letters within 10 working days
• Answer your phone call within 5 rings
• In a service where supply outstrips demand we understand that frustration can run high at times and this can effect the way customers deal with us. The Council expects that each customer will treat officers with courtesy and respect and the officers will reciprocate that behaviour. However the Council will support any member of staff who takes appropriate and reasonable steps to remove themselves from the risk of abuse or harm. This could include - the termination of abusive or offensive calls, insisting that those who do not refrain from this language only contact the Council by letter or email. The Council reserves the right to take whatever measures are deemed reasonable to support its staff. All incidents will be recorded.

 
Contacting Housing Services

To be able to offer an effective service to all our customers, you can contact the Housing Services Dept in the following ways

• We operate an appointment system for all indepth interviews
• We are contactable by telephone on a duty officer rota between 9am and 2pm daily
• You can email us on housingcs@north-dorset.gov.uk
• You can fax us on (01258) 484388
• You can also obtain general information from the Customer Contact Team.

You can collect Housing Application forms from

• this website - download here
• the Council Office
• Signpost Housing Association offices at Blandford Forum and Sturminster Newton
• Citizens Advice Bureau at Gillingham
• Town Council Offices
• Sturquest (Sturminster Newton)
• Local libraries

Housing Benefit

Housing Application Form

Housing Benefit Calculator