Frequently asked questions

How do I apply for a Livin home?

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.

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 Durham Key Options. If you’re still unsure how to do this, you can watch our helpful video which talks you through the process.

We have a small number of homes which are located outside Durham, these are all advertised through the Tees Valley Home Finder; This is similar to Durham Key Options but we do not process applications registered for this scheme. If you wish to register an application for homes advertised in this area, please apply directly.

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.

More FAQ's

Your Community

We work closely with tenants, residents, local community groups and a variety of other partners to build safe and stronger places for people to live, work and play.

Place-based projects

We want you to be able to support the place you live to reach its full potential, so we provide the funding for you to do that. Our support can be small or large and we welcome all applications to help improve the lives of others.

Apply for funding and supported projects Apply for funding and supported projects

Place-based improvements

We want to work with you and our partners to make beautiful, sustainable and thriving places that meet the aspirations of residents and produce a sense of pride and belonging.

View our improvement projects View our improvement projects

Our sustainability journey

We are committed to taking positive climate and ecological action through our Planet A Strategy. We are embedding environmental sustainability into all our operations to reduce our environmental impacts and carbon emissions.

Environmental sustainability Environmental sustainability

Community spaces

Our community spaces are accessible and available to all our tenants. We offer a range of activities in our buildings, for all ages and abilities from youth sessions to employability courses. We can also provide you with venues for your own activities.

View our spaces View our spaces

Estate inspections

We carry out regular inspections of estates in our communities to make sure our homes and properties are maintained to a suitable standard. We check internal and external communal areas, gardens that belong to our tenants, and we look out for abandoned vehicles and fly tipping.

Our estate inspection programme is available below and we really encourage you, residents and community stakeholders to come along and take part. The programme includes the start time and location of every inspection.

Estate inspection programme Estate inspection programme

Anti-social behaviour

Report anti-social behaviour Report anti-social behaviour

If you are experiencing anti-social behaviour or wish to report an incident that has occurred, we can help.

Open spaces

Report an issue Report an issue

We want our communities to be attractive places to live, so we work hard to keep open spaces looking neat and tidy.

Fly-tipping

Report fly-tipping Report fly-tipping

If you wish to report a case of fly-tipping within your surrounding area, please click on the button above.