Agenda item

The Director of Housing submits a report detailing the housing support offered and provided by Leicester City Council housing services to its tenants.

The Director of Housing submits a report to the Commission to provide detail on the housing support offered by Leicester City Council Housing Services to its tenants.

The Head of Service for Housing presented the item and the following was noted:

• The report highlighted the support offered to LCC tenants
• At present, there were 19.500 tenants in Council accommodation. For some, there was no need for further support however, it was noted by the Head of Service that more tenants were presenting with complex needs.
• The authority attempted to target some support towards tenants who were considered the most at need, this was due to them not having friends, family or other support networks available. It was commented that the STAR team had a specific criteria in place to assess need amongst tenants referred.
• The tenant journey was highlighted. It was explained that the journey would begin with the property lettings team, who would conduct an escorted visit with the tenants and provide information, such as how to do a meter reading, provide decorating vouchers if needed or helping tenants to apply for benefits and community support grants, if they were eligible. The team provided information about fire and water safety as well as the conditions of tenancy. Around 800 escorted visits took place each year.    
• The next step was led by the Tenancy Management Service through its Housing Officers. The sensitive lets process attempted to put new tenants in suitable areas and aimed to prevent vulnerable tenants from being put in an area where they did not feel safe.
• Housing Officers conducted property visits to newly moved in tenants within the first 6 weeks of the move in date. This was to check that the tenant had moved in successfully and that they were aware of their responsibilities as a Council tenant. The first visit process was currently under review after feedback from the Tenant Scrutiny Panel who requested that the process was more tenant focused.
• During the first visit to newly moved in tenants, Housing Officers would conduct a welfare assessment and make a referral to the appropriate support agency, if it was needed. If the Council became aware at any point that a tenant was vulnerable, then an assessment would take place. In the previous year, 1,259 Welfare visits were conducted. Pop up Housing Offices were also useful in allowing tenants to self-report issues to Council Officers. The Council also adopted a new vulnerability policy and began storing the identified vulnerabilities of Council tenants, so they were considered when planning services.
• The STAR Service had existed for 25 years and provided wrap around support for tenants. Last year, the service helped 641 vulnerable tenants with issues such as self-harm, hoarding and self-neglect. Several cases were listed in the report to show first hand, the results of the service. Help Beyond Housing worked alongside the STAR Service to assisted 121 tenants with multiple needs such as drug and alcohol abuse and poor mental health.  Another project of the Help Beyond Housing Team was the Zip trainer accommodation which supported tenants and taught them to live independently. Since the commission last visited the accommodation, there were several tenants who had graduated and moved out into independent accommodation.
• Teams had done an excellent job with a 96% tenant sustainment rate which was believed to be one of the highest in the country. The Income Management team ensured that 99% of the rent owed to the Council was collected while also supporting the most vulnerable tenants to maintain benefit claims. In the last year, 883 households were supported and rent arrears were reduced by £372,000 

Comments:

• The topic of Pop-up Housing Offices was highlighted by the Vice Chair, who requested further detail on the progress of the project. The Head of Service advised that they were still proving to be popular with tenants and that 6 monthly reviews were taking place to track their progress. The Deputy Mayor advised that several other services had requested to join the Pop-Up Housing Offices which demonstrated the success of the project.
• Members asked about the current number of void Council properties and the average time that properties were void. The Director of Housing explained that void properties were at their lowest level in 6 years with 342 properties currently being void in contrast to 19,500 properties that were currently occupied by tenants. The average void time for properties was 110 days. While this was probably a longer period than other authorities, it was detailed that during this period, complex renovations such as rewiring, capital works including new kitchen and bathrooms and removal of asbestos was conducted. Some of which could not be done with tenants in the property or greatly inconvenienced tenants if they were living in a property at the time of the work. Therefore, the Director believed that these reasons justified the longer void period.
• Members requested further detail on the average time that new tenants would spend on the waiting list. The Director of Housing advised that he did not have the accurate information to hand at the meeting as it was not directly relating to the report, but he advised that it will be provided after the meeting.
• The support provided to tenants with complex needs was commented on by Members, who wished to learn more about the current level of unmet need in the City. The Head of Service elaborated that the waiting list for STAR was currently 30 individuals. If emergency support was needed however, then this would be provided but a full case would not be opened, and the tenant would remain on the waiting list to be assessed. The work conducted by the Help Beyond Housing Team which was part funded by Public Health was praised for its work by the Head of Service. It was elaborated that they were able to pick up some of the more complex cases and have added extra capacity to the area.  
• The Chair sought additional information on the average wait times for support services such as Star and if there were any underlying causes of the wait time, namely resources or recruitment. The Char also asked for more information about the criteria used by the STAR team when assessing cases. The Head of Service said that she did not have an exact wait time for STAR but could come back with the information at a later date. It was again stressed that in high need emergency cases, the STAR team would act immediately. 
• The Chair also raised the subject of Trainer Accommodation which had proved recently proved successful and whether there were any plans to increase capacity from the 11 sites currently in use. It was advised that the Supported Housing Manager was looking into further provision which could be made to increase capacity and that talks were being held with Adult Social Care to reclaim some of the Housing sites which they currently utilise.

AGREED: 

1.    The report was noted by the Commission.