Agenda item

The Director of Housing submits a report to inform the Commission on the rent arrears progress within the general housing stock for the financial year, April 2023 - March 2024.  The Commission is recommended to note the contents of the report and to make any comments as they see fit. 

The Head of Service presented the report, and it was noted that:

·       The Local Authority collect around £90m from tenants in rent and service charges each year for its housing stock. As of 31 March 2024, there was around £1.97m rent arrears – 14% higher than the previous year. This is likely to have been attributed to the cost-of-living crisis but when compared to other Authorities with similar housing stock, rent arrears in Leicester was lower.

·       Tenants are supported by the income management team who have been successful in collecting rent and preventing areas fully utilising discretionary housing benefits and the household support fund. Further support has been provided to tenants who may be experiencing financial difficulties with grants for fuel, water and white goods.

·       The cyber incident in March was an additional challenge that significantly impacted access to IT systems and impacted rent arrears.

·       The total value of the top 500 cases was 18% higher than the previous year and there had been an upward trend in people not engaging or vulnerable people needing support.

·       The migration to Universal Credit is expected to impact around a further six thousand tenants and is a possible challenge forecast for this year. The team continue to successfully work with vulnerable tenants with the highest arrears and will ensure tenants are in receipt of eligible benefits in a timely way as part of the migration to Universal Credit.

·       The Local Authority has trusted partner status with the Department for Work and Pensions to secure alternative payments for vulnerable tenants and if identified to be struggling to seek support of the DWP quicker. 

·       Seven evictions were carried out during 2023/24 for non-payment of rent which is much lower than the national rate.

·       Challenges remain for 2024/25 but the team will continue to support tenants and allocate discretionary payments where available and Members were encouraged to share concerns with officers to investigate and identify possible support.

Members of the Commission thanked officers for their positive work and in response to questions and comments, it was noted that:

·       Rent management advisors work with tenants who may be struggling to pay their rent to identify eligible benefits and support applications. Advisors can also make referrals if seeking work to the Jobcentre to help find employment.

·       Evictions are rare and a robust process is in place to ensure all support has been provided to tenants from all relevant services, including children and adult social care. Final agreement for eviction is required from the Deputy City Mayor for Housing and Neighbourhoods. No families have been evicted from council properties and Members were encouraged to always share details with officers if they know of cases where families have been evicted.

·       Rent increases have not yet been considered for the coming year but there are a number of budget pressures on the service that will need to be considered when they are proposed. Assurance was provided that the Commission will be updated as part of budget discussions at the January 2025 meeting.

AGREED:

·       The Commission noted the report.