We are carrying out some essential upgrade work on your My Livin app on Sunday, 10 May from 10am. This may cause some features such as My Rent Account and My Repairs to become temporarily unavailable. You can still get in touch with us using Contact Us.

We expect all app features to be back up and running by Sunday 10 May at 2pm. Thank you for your patience whilst we make improvements to your My Livin app.

Volunteering And Work Experience

If you have some free time and would like to help your community, volunteering could be for you. We can also help you to gain new skills by being placed in the workplace.

Solan Connor Fawcett Family Cancer Trust

Become a part of Team Solan and provide help and support to families affected by cancer.

View apprenticeships

Durham County Carers

By volunteering for Durham County Carers, you can make a big difference to the services they provide across County Durham and Darlington.

Visit Durham County Carers

Age UK County Durham

If you want to meet new people, learn a new skill or do something different with your free time, you can make a difference to the community by volunteering with Age UK.

Visit Age UK County Durham

Durham Foodbank

Volunteers are the driving force behind foodbanks. There are thousands of volunteers across the UK, helping The Trussell Trust Foodbank Network get emergency food to people in crisis. They want you to enjoy volunteering and there are lots of ways for you to get involved.

Visit Durham Foodbank

Supportive

Supportive offers and supports successful volunteer transport schemes in County Durham and the North East of England. Could you give back by becoming a volunteer driver with Supportive?

Visit Supportive

Work experience

We can match your work experience requirements to a placement where you can gain new skills and expand your CV.

Citizen's Advice

Volunteering with Citizens Advice is a fantastic opportunity to leverage your skills and experience to assist others in your area.

Visit Citizen's Advice

Durham Community Action

A one-stop shop for volunteering that provides support and opportunities across a wide spectrum of interests across County Durham.

Visit Durham Community Action Find latest opportunities

Junction 7

Do you want to volunteer with other local residents to provide a crisis intervention programme for residents of the West Ward and the surrounding area?

Junction 7 is actively looking for volunteers to provide help with food parcels, emergency credit on gas and electric accounts, furniture packages, and other practical help and support.

Visit Junction 7

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.