Durham Access to Social Housing (DASH)

You may be eligible for Special Priority on the DASH wait list if:

• You are or have been a victim of human trafficking.
• You are living with someone who is abusing you or your children.
• You recently stopped living with someone who was abusing you or your children.
• Your immigration sponsor is abusing you or your children.

You must be willing to live apart from this person forever.

You must give us proof of the abuse from someone that is working with you professionally. We also need proof that you live with or used to live with the person who is abusing you.

Apply for Special Priority

You may be eligible for Critical Priority on the DASH wait list if you have extraordinary and unusual costs that other people on the wait list do not normally have. These costs must be ongoing and must make it unreasonable for you to pay market rent.

Your costs must be costs that other people on the wait list don't normally have. You cannot get Critical Priority because of things like high rent, high electricity bills, credit card bills or other debt, car payments or phone bills.  The costs must be ongoing and extraordinary and there must be no private or public funding available to assist.  

Critical Priority is rare. Eligible Critical Priority applicants can still wait several years for an offer of housing because they are placed on the wait list after Special Priority applicants.

For more information about Critical Priority, see the Durham Social Housing Directive 2004-03 Critical Priority.  If you want to apply for Critical Priority, contact Durham Access to Social Housing.

People who are living in an RGI unit that is too large for them are considered overhoused. They must transfer to a smaller unit, and will be offered a transfer before other applicants on the DASH wait list.

If you disagree with a decision about your placement on the DASH wait list, you can appeal to the Regional Review Panel.