Private-rented affordability procedure in force on 22 July 2026
Case reference FOI2026/01874
Received 7 September 2026
Published 6 October 2026
Request
I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act to request the following information:
I am seeking recorded, non-personal information about the Council’s procedure for assessing self-sourced private-rented accommodation.
Please provide copies of the following recorded information, in the versions that were in force on 22 July 2026:
1. Any policy, procedure, workflow, operational guidance, officer guidance, manual, checklist, process map, briefing/training material or instruction governing when Guildford Borough Council’s Homelessness & Housing Options, Housing Advice or Homes4You services would assess the affordability of a private-rented property identified by a homelessness applicant.
2. Any recorded policy, procedure, guidance or instruction stating that, before the Council would assess affordability or consider financial assistance, an applicant was required to have done any of the following:
* viewed the property;
* obtained an indication from the landlord or agent that they were willing to consider the applicant;
* completed landlord/agent checks;
* submitted an offer that had been accepted or provisionally accepted; and/or
* had the property confirmed as available to that applicant.
3. Any recorded guidance identifying the precise threshold or stage at which an applicant should submit a self-sourced property to the Council for affordability consideration or possible financial assistance.
4. Any workflow, form, checklist, process map or officer instruction governing what should happen after an applicant supplies details of a prospective property and asks the Council to assess its affordability, including who is responsible for initiating any internal assessment, referral or financial-assistance consideration.
5. Any policy, procedure, guidance or criteria in force on 22 July 2026 governing assistance with a private tenancy deposit, rent in advance, bond/guarantee, landlord incentive or a reasonable/affordable rent shortfall.
6. Where any document responsive to points 1–5 changed between 8 July and 3 September 2026, please provide both the version in force on 22 July 2026 and the later version, together with any recorded effective date, issue date, revision date or version history held by the Council.
For each numbered point, please confirm whether recorded information falling within that description is held. If no recorded policy, workflow, guidance or instruction existed for a particular threshold or step, please say so expressly rather than creating a retrospective explanation.
I am asking for documents and recorded information as held, rather than for the Council to create a new explanation of the process.
Please include relevant material that was made available to frontline housing officers through internal systems or intranet resources where it contained the applicable procedure, but exclude individual applicants’ case records and personal data.
If the relevant information is already publicly available, please identify and link to the exact document/version that was in force on 22 July 2026 rather than only directing me to a general webpage.
If different procedures applied to Homes4You and the general Homelessness & Housing Options service, please provide the relevant material for each.
If you consider that compliance with the request as drafted would exceed the appropriate cost limit, please provide advice and assistance under section 16 before refusing the request, identifying which element causes the difficulty and how the request can be narrowed. If necessary, please prioritise points 1–4, as those are the core of the request.
Where a document contains exempt material alongside disclosable procedural information, please provide the remainder with appropriate redactions rather than withholding the document in full where possible.
Please provide the information electronically in its original format where reasonably practicable.
Response
Thank you for your recent request under the Freedom of Information Act.
Please find the answers to your queries below:
I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act to request the following information:
I am seeking recorded, non-personal information about the Council’s procedure for assessing self-sourced private-rented accommodation.
Please provide copies of the following recorded information, in the versions that were in force on 22 July 2026:
1. Any policy, procedure, workflow, operational guidance, officer guidance, manual, checklist, process map, briefing/training material or instruction governing when Guildford Borough Council’s Homelessness & Housing Options, Housing Advice or Homes4You services would assess the affordability of a private-rented property identified by a homelessness applicant.
Each case is assessed on its own merits through an individual assessment process. There are no specific documents or policies stating precisely when this would occur.
2. Any recorded policy, procedure, guidance or instruction stating that, before the Council would assess affordability or consider financial assistance, an applicant was required to have done any of the following:
* viewed the property;
* obtained an indication from the landlord or agent that they were willing to consider the applicant;
* completed landlord/agent checks;
* submitted an offer that had been accepted or provisionally accepted; and/or
* had the property confirmed as available to that applicant.
There is no written document or policy that specifically prescribes this. Each applicant would discuss this with the Case Officer and/or the Homes 4 You Team.
3. Any recorded guidance identifying the precise threshold or stage at which an applicant should submit a self-sourced property to the Council for affordability consideration or possible financial assistance.
No recorded document.
4. Any workflow, form, checklist, process map or officer instruction governing what should happen after an applicant supplies details of a prospective property and asks the Council to assess its affordability, including who is responsible for initiating any internal assessment, referral or financial-assistance consideration.
No recorded document.
5. Any policy, procedure, guidance or criteria in force on 22 July 2026 governing assistance with a private tenancy deposit, rent in advance, bond/guarantee, landlord incentive or a reasonable/affordable rent shortfall.
No recorded document.
6. Where any document responsive to points 1–5 changed between 8 July and 3 September 2026, please provide both the version in force on 22 July 2026 and the later version, together with any recorded effective date, issue date, revision date or version history held by the Council.
N/A.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team
Guildford Borough Council
Documents
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