Guide to bidding on properties
When you can bid
Bidding is available from 12:01am on Fridays – 11:59pm on Mondays. You do not need to stay up to bid as once the bidding cycle closes properties are allocated by band, effective date, and housing need priority, not on a first come first served basis.
When the bidding cycle is open you will see the screen below.
When the bidding cycle is closed you will see the below screen which will tell you how many days until the next bidding cycle opens.
How to bid
You must have an Active Homeseeker application to be able to bid on advertised properties. Log into your Basildon Choice account using your current reference number, password and memorable date. You can do this in link below.
https://www.basildonchoice.org.uk/HouseholdLogin
Once you are logged in click on ‘Eligible Properties’ to view all properties you can bid on.
This will now show you all properties available for you to bid on that week. You can place bids on a maximum of 3 properties during each bidding cycle.
Searching for properties
To refine your search, you can input your postcode and then use the option to search within a certain distance of your post code or property address (i.e. 1 Mile, 5 Miles).
When you find a property that you wish to bid on, click into the advert and look through the specifics to see if it is suitable, for example how many bedrooms, weekly rent and location. You can also see your queue position which can change at any time until the cycle ends depending on which other applicants have placed a bid.
Placing and withdrawing bids
If you wish to bid press the ‘Apply for property’ button.
Once you have read and accepted the warning text your bid will be placed, and you will see the message below.
To view your open bids please press ‘Open bids’ as shown below.
This will show a list of all your open bids as below. You can also withdraw your bid from this section by pressing the ‘Withdraw selected bids' button.
You can use this option check your potential bidding positions on different properties and move your bids at any time until the bidding cycle closes.
