Your rent charges will change on 7 April 2025. If you receive Universal Credit, you'll need to sign into your online account and update your housing costs. If you don’t have an online account, you can call the UC Helpline on 0800 328 5644. Money Support

Frequently asked questions

How do I apply for a Livin home or bungalow?

We advertise all of our available homes on our Find A Home page, simply visit this page for more information.

Before you can place a bid on one of our homes, you must first have an active account with the relevant Choice Based Lettings Scheme. Almost all our homes are located in County Durham and therefore are allocated through the Durham Key Options scheme. Durham Key Options (DKO) is a partnership between Durham County Council and landlords across County Durham.

We have a small number of homes which are located outside Durham, these are all advertised through Tees Valley HomeFinder, Hartlepool HomeSearch and Darlington HomeSearch; They are similar to Durham Key Options but we do not process applications registered for these schemes. If you wish to register an application for homes advertised in this area, please apply directly.

Once your application is approved, you will then be able to bid on homes that meet your needs. You can access the application form directly by visiting the relevant Choice Based Lettings system.

How long will it take for my application to be processed?

We aim to start processing your application within 10 working days. If we require any further information after this point, we will contact you to ask for this. Once we have received all the required information we will notify you of our decision within 20 days, and if accepted we will activate your account. You can also check your application status online by logging into the DKO portal.

How can I get involved with Livin and help to shape services?

To find out more about the different ways you can get involved, please visit our getting involved section.

Can I apply to buy my home under Right to Buy?

Tenants who have been with Livin since before the transfer from Sedgefield Council in 2009 may have the “Preserved Right to Buy” their property. Full details of the scheme are available on the Government Right to Buy website. If you are thinking of applying, please contact us.

Can I apply to buy my home under Right to Acquire?

If you have been a tenant for 3 or more years you may have the right to buy your property under the Right to Acquire scheme. Full details of the scheme are available on the Government Right to Acquire website. If you are thinking of applying, please contact us.

More FAQ's

31 Aug - 2023

Over 5,000 tenants benefitting from new My Livin app

This year we launched My Livin app and portal, designed to give you convenient, reliable, easy access to more of the services you need.

We kept the ability to report repairs, pay your rent, contact us, and we added trackable repairs and enquiries, live rent balances, direct messaging and push notifications. We introduced a streamlined registration and login process including facial and finger identification. We also opened up registration to those of you who are not tenants but would like to contact us digitally and track your enquiry.

In the first six months we are happy to say over 5,000 of you, our tenants have registered and are actively using My Livin to manage your tenancies. Over 2,000 of you who are not yet tenants or need to speak with us have also registered. Since its launch over 22,000 rent balance enquiry checks have been made, 6,000 repairs reported, and 3,000 online requests submitted.

Nicola said: "The app is very user-friendly and easy to navigate. I'm able to do what I need to quickly and efficiently."

Samantha said "Using the App is easier than ringing up and shows me each job and my rent account all in one place"

Margaret "It is convenient, easy to use, and it is excellent for repair requests and appointments. A lot of useful information is at hand.

This is just the beginning, in the next 12 months we will be introducing:

My Surveys - giving you access to the surveys you have received and completed with us
Enhanced trackable repairs - giving you the capability to track our repairs operatives as they make their way to your home to complete your repair
Apple Pay and Google Pay - giving you more options to make payments on your rent account
Enhanced contact us - giving you more options to contact us about the things that matter to you the most
Digital welcome - giving you the ability to track your journey into your new home

If have not yet registered for My Livin you can access using the online portal, or download the My Livin App from the App Store or Google Play.