Two-Tier Housing Shame: Hartlepool Borough Councils Dirty Secret Exposed...
- teessidetoday
- Aug 2
- 7 min read
The Teesside & Durham Post lifts the lid on Hartlepool's 'broken' housing system, where its been found Housing Providers are skipping applicants on their own housing waiting lists in favour of a failed council run Choice Based lettings System, which a source claims, is being run with financial incentive's attached.
1st August 2025
An investigation by The Teesside & Durham Post has ripped the veil off a rotten social housing system scandal in Hartlepool, exposing a shameful two-tier allocation racket run by both Hartlepool Borough Council and local housing providers Home Group...
The scandal leaves desperate families, disabled individuals, and the homeless stranded on endless waiting lists, all whilst available properties are divvied off through backroom deals, mocking the very laws supposedly meant to protect the vulnerable & make the system of allocating social housing 'fair' & accessible to all....
A System Rigged for Applicants to fail: The Reality of Choice-Based Lettings in Hartlepool...
Choice-Based Lettings (CBL), introduced under the Housing Act 1996 and amended by the Homelessness Act 2002 and Localism Act 2011, was meant to revolutionise social housing. It promised transparency, fairness, and choice, allowing applicants to “bid” on properties based on need and priority. Applicants register, are then assessed, and placed into priority bands—Band 1 for urgent cases like homelessness or severe medical needs, Band 2 for high needs, and so on. Properties are advertised, bids are placed, and homes allocated to the highest-priority applicant....
Simple, fair, and empowering—or so it was supposed to be !
In Hartlepool, its been found that this system is basically....a sham. The Teesside & Durham Post uncovered a dual-track allocation process that systematically shafts vulnerable applicants, funnelling high-demand properties like adapted bungalows directly through The Hartlepool Homesearch Scheme, whilst those who applied directly with Home Group on their internal waiting lists (a company that's not supposed to be a part of the council run Hartlepool Homesearch Scheme) left in the dust.
This isn’t just incompetence—it’s a deliberate betrayal of trust, potentially breaching housing laws in the process and leaving lives in limbo.
The Two-Tier Scandal: A Case Study in Betrayal
Consider the story of a disabled couple, who registered on Home Group’s waiting list three years ago, & were not registered with Hartlepool Homesearch after giving up jumping through the endless hoops of the councils ever lasting bureaucracy & overly complex housing application process .
Applying instead with Home Group Ltd, through their direct lettings system they were Classified as Band 1 (Medical)—the highest priority—for their need for a two-bedroom bungalow to accommodate medical equipment,. When an unsuitable property was offered by the landlord 18 months ago, they respectfully declined it, thanking Home Group for the offer, & notifying the landlord as soon as they could so Home Group could offer the property to another disabled applicant in need.
They were assured by housing officials working for Home Group they’d be top of the list for the next suitable larger property, where 18 months later, In July 2025, a perfect bungalow became available. The couple waited for the call that never came.
They then discovered the property had been advertised directly on Hartlepool Homesearch seemingly where the property was to be awarded to an applicant with a lower priority that had been on Hartlepool Borough Councils waiting list for far less time than the applicant who's been waiting for years with Home Group....
This wasn’t a mistake by Home Group either—it’s part of a broader pattern of social housing scamming on Teesside. Our investigation found dozens of cases where adapted properties, as well as other High Demand Properties, have been diverted onto council-run CBL platforms, bypassing those on Home Group’s own internal waiting lists creating a Two Tier Housing System where those registered solely with Home Group believing them to be running their own housing allocations system being shafted by the housing organisation.
How the System in Hartlepool is Rigged
The Teesside & Durham Post’s findings lays bare the scale of the Choice Based Lettings scam being Operated in Hartlepool :
Secret Deals: Both Home Group Ltd & Hartlepool Borough Council have backdoor handshake agreements with each other, known as “nomination agreements”, this allows Home Group to secretly divert high-demand properties directly onto Hartlepool Homesearch, with applicants on Home Groups internal waiting lists never told that their chances at being housed directly through them are in fact slashed unless they register with multiple providers.
The way that Home Group are then divvying out their high demand homes to council run schemes means applicants registered solely with Home Group are never likely to be housed at all if applying direct on what they believe is a solely functioning allocations process being managed by Home Group..
Stock Manipulation: Home Group has been found to be funnelling its properties directly onto council run CBL platforms as preference over those who are waiting on their own housing waiting lists, allegedly lured by financial incentives. We managed to find evidence of thousands of pounds being paid by Hartlepool Borough Council directly to Home Group in just the first quarter of 2025 alone, raising concerns over corruption in the housing allocations system.
Transparency Blackout: Applicants are being deliberately kept in the dark about how properties are being allocated, violating the Housing Act 1996’s mandate for clear, fair processes. Properties rejected on CBL platforms have been found to be dumped back onto Home Groups website as available to rent, where these low demand properties are often found to be in high-crime areas, leaving those registered solely on providers such as Home Group perpetually short-changed, leaving applicants with the properties that Hartlepool Homesearch applicants dont want....
Vulnerable Hit Hardest: Vulnerable & Disabled applicants needing adapted homes are the ones being disproportionately screwed over by the housing providers practices. Properties they’ve waited years for are being handed to lower-priority bidders on council run CBL lists, whilst applicants registered only with Home Group Ltd on their direct waiting list left waiting ever longer, breaching the Equality Act 2010.
Two-Tier Injustice: Its been found that registering with both a housing provider’s internal waiting list such as Home Group and a CBL scheme such as Hartlepool Councils Hartlepool Homesearch Scheme actually gives applicants a 'leg up' at getting on the social housing ladder much sooner than those who just register with one provider, but those who can’t, or perhaps struggle navigate this housing labyrinth—are found often to be the ones losing out—where applicants are then punished by being overlooked for housing when a property is shipped out to a council run provider despite an equally or perhaps even more needing applicant requires the property. This creates a housing caste system, rewarding system tech-savvy applicants over those in greatest need.
The Human Cost
The fallout of this is devastating. Hundreds of applicants, from disabled individuals to overcrowded families, are losing out on homes they’re entitled to simply on the basis that housing associations are divvying out properties to Hartlepool Borough Council first to be allocated to applicants whilst scores of Home Groups internal applicants are pushed ever further to the back of the queue, shifting the goalposts at such pace that applicants simply cannot keep up with the changes, all leading to those seeking good quality appropriate housing losing out.
The two tier element of this scandal also become further clear when you take into account that both Home Group & Hartlepool Homesearch operate entirely different housing allocations policies, meaning applying to Hartlepool Borough Council means you're assessed with an entirely different criteria than Home Group, meaning you could (in theory) game the system to your advantage if one housing policy favours your circumstances the most, overtaking those on another housing provider who may not take certain elements of your housing circumstances into account.
The bungalow couple’s story is just one of many suffering years of waiting, dashed hopes, and a system being run by Hartlpeool Borough Council that literally seems to 'get off' on applicants despair.
By secretly shifting properties onto Hartlepool Homesearch, housing providers are artificially inflating demand on council platforms, where providers such as Home Group are themselves actually worsening the housing crisis, undermining the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023’s call for tenant empowerment and accountability.
The Legal Implications..
This scandal isn’t just immoral—it’s also illegal. The Housing Act 1996 outlines local councils & housing providers must ensure fair & transparent allocations. The Homelessness Act 2002 prioritises vulnerable groups.
The Localism Act 2011 allows local criteria but bans discrimination.
The Equality Act 2010 protects disabled applicants. The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 ensures housing allocation schemes remain accountable...
Hartlepool’s two-tier housing system, incorporating secret agreements with housing providers such as Home Group to advertise properties through the council first, whilst applicants wait forever on Home Groups own internal waiting lists appears to flout just about every piece of housing legislation in the book, inviting legal challenges and regulatory scrutiny.
A system broken beyond all imagination
Hartlepool’s housing system is a disgrace—a rigged system where the vulnerable are always set to lose, with providers like Home Group and Hartlepool Borough Council literally playing fast and loose with peoples lives & seemingly making up the rules as they go along..
Until reforms are made, Hartlepool's Broken housing system will remain a cruel, broken & corrupt mockery of fairness, leaving the most desperate to pay the price.
This is a shortened version of our report
Full Publication of our report will be published in September 2025
Sources:
Teesside & Durham Post Investigation (2025)
Housing Act 1996 (Part VI)
Homelessness Act 2002
Localism Act 2011
Equality Act 2010
Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023
Hartlepool Homesearch: www.hartlepoolhomesearch.co.uk
Thirteen Housing Group: www.thirteengroup.co.uk
