Agenda item

The Director of Housing submits a report to provide an update on the progress of rent arrears within the general housing stock for the financial year April 2024 to March 2025.

The Housing Head of Service provided an annual overview on rent collection within the Council’s general housing stock covering the financial year (FY) April 2024 to March 2025. 

It was noted that: 

• The FY was marked by outstanding performance, with almost 99% of rent collected. When benchmarking with other urban authorities, Leicester had amongst the highest collection rates and lowest eviction levels. 

• By the end of the FY, £1.7m arrears were outstanding, which was 15% lower than the previous FY. Despite increasing pressures, rent rates remained lower than the previous years, and the housing team had managed to keep them steady. 

• Like most social landlords nationally, the Council faced significant challenges with the collection of rents and service charges because of the widespread deprivation and cost-of-living crisis, conditions which significantly affect Council tenants. 

• Notwithstanding the challenges, performance remained strong as only four (4) households were evicted in the past year, none of which were families. The Council continued to support people in sustaining their tenancies, with most evictions related to property abandonment, e.g. the tenant had already left 

• Since April 2024, 59 rental possession claims were instituted in court, which equated to an average of 5 cases per month, compared to pre-COVID averages of 80 cases per month. This reflected a 90% annual reduction, which was a significant accomplishment. 

• The Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) and Household Support Fund (HSF) played a vital role in achieving the foregoing successes. In the past year, nearly £1m was allocated to support approximately 1400 vulnerable tenants. An additional £800k had been allocated this year, and the Housing Division would continue to focus on targeting those who were most in need. 

• A key consideration for providing support was for the tenancies to be sustainable and for tenants to have the mechanism for managing future rent payments - there were payment plans in place to support this. Additionally, over 5,000 tenants had received support with utilities and food. 

• A key challenge was the roll-out of Universal Credit (UC). Currently, around 9300 tenants (constituting about 50% of Council tenants) were claiming UC, 52% of whom were in rent arrears. To manage this, a specialist team of Rent Management Advisors worked closely with the most vulnerable and complex cases. The team’s work was critical to tenancy sustainment, as in the past year, 1,111 referrals were handled (9% higher than last year’s), 77% of which were identified as having vulnerabilities.  

• Pressures from the rise in inflation and the ongoing changes to benefits were likely to intensify in the coming year. However, the Housing team remained confident in its position to navigate these challenges.  

The Deputy City Mayor, Housing, Economy and Neighbourhoods commended the performance for the FY, noting that it demonstrated the Council’s commitment to supporting its residents to remain secure in their tenancies and making effective use of processes and available discretionary funds.  

In response to questions and comments, the following points were made: 

• The effect of added pressures, like reduction in housing support and migration of 50% tenants to Universal Credit, would be mitigated against in some of the following ways: 

• By constantly evaluating the availability of the right resource within the team e.g. the establishment of the Rent Management Advisory team to fill service gaps.  

• The caseload of income officers would be constantly reviewed to allow for fresh perspectives on issues. Pop-up sessions had also been established.  

• Staff had also recently received training on Council Tax Support to better assist struggling tenants.  

• The HSF had a robust process for ensuring it was correctly allocated.  The Housing team was working with the Revenue and Customer support teams to identify the most vulnerable, and there was data sharing with DWP, ensuring early intervention and supporting with UC claims, so that tenants do not miss their transitional period. 

It was further noted that: 

• The £1m HSF referenced in the report was primarily used for rent arrears support, and in some exceptional cases, district heating arrears. There had been an additional amount allocated for food utility and heating. Historically, tenants were able to benefit from HSF once, but the current process allowed for discretional allocation, depending on the circumstances of the beneficiary. This process was subject rigorous scrutiny.  

AGREED: 

The Commission noted the report.