Agenda item

The Director of Housing submits a report on the annual rent arrears progress within the general housing stock.

The Director of Housing submitted a report on the annual rent arrears progress

within the general housing stock. 

The Head of Service attended the meeting to assist with discussions.

Key points included:

• It was highlighted that the total tenant rent arrears for general housing stock were £1.57 million compared to £1.7 million in the previous year. This represented a reduction of 8%. The rent collection rate was 98.96% which was exceptional, considering the backdrop of the cost of living.
• The team successfully administered £946,428.81 in Household Support Fund (HSF) awards which assisted tenants impacted by the cost-of-living crisis. The fund supported 1,500 households of this 600 were families, 200 had disabilities and 700 had complex vulnerabilities.
• The team used multi-channel communications to contact tenants. It was noted that the team conducted 120 phone calls, sent 100 emails and 100 letters a day to tenants. They also conducted 786 home visits in the last year.
• It was stressed that the improvements had been seen in several areas. The number of tenants who owed 7 or more weeks of rent had reduced from 477 to 285. The average arears per debtor had reduced from £226 to £215 and the total value of arrears owed by the top 500 debtors had reduced from £440,000 to £424,000.
• At the end of March 2026, 10,482 tenants (which was 57% of council tenants) were claiming Universal Credit (UC) of that total, half were in rent arears. A further 17% were on housing benefit.  As UC was paid one month in arrears it was noted that there were usually technical rent arrears on some tenant accounts and tenants often had pre-existing arrears when they applied for UC. The Income Support Team coordinated with partner agencies such as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Job Centre Plus to help mitigate rent debt and support tenants. 
• There was a team of 8 Rent Management Advisors (RMA) who were responsible for supporting the most vulnerable tenants. As part of this role, the team helped tenants manage tenant benefit claims, helped set up email accounts and encourage tenants to undertake digital learning. The team handled just under 1000 referrals last year, with 75% coming from households with at least 1 vulnerability. At the time, 727 cases were successfully closed and 200 were ongoing. The RMA function resulted in the reduction of £524,000 in rent arrears and 77% of tenants have said that they increased in their confident and ability to manage benefit claims.
• It was stressed that the housing department only sought possessions as a last resort. In the last year 90 cases were submitted to court for possessions which was 90% lower than pre-covid levels where on average 80 cases were submitted a month. Last year 5 tenants were evicted from council properties which was from 4 cases the previous year.
• The Head of Service commented that this figure was lower than the national average. The low evictions rate alongside the high collection rate of income underlined the hard work of the housing team and it was advised that there had been positive feedback from tenants.

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

• Members requested clarification as to why there was such a discrepancy between percentage of stock and rent arrears for Beaumont Leys, compared to other areas in the city. Officers commented that there was often a fluctuation in stock and arrears for areas and that it was often difficult to trend. Officers highlighted that there was often a spike in rent arrears during or just after the summer holidays. This was due to family expenditures increasing as the children were at home and then subsequently in the back-to-school period.    
• Members also asked about the engagement process for tenants who went into arrears. It was detailed that tenants are supported throughout their tenancy. Officers engaged in pre-tenancy interviews with prospective tenants, assessed their needs and signposted them to further support, if they were eligible. The Housing team employed a hands-on approach to tenancy support and reached out to tenants the second they went into arrears, by phone or with in person visits. The overall aim was to understand the situation of tenants and provide discretionary support if they were eligible.
• Members asked what processes were in place to enable officers to differentiate and focus on high need cases and how officers supported tenants with a language barrier. Officers advised that tenants were required to elaborate on their personal circumstances and provide accounts of their income and expenditure. It was noted that the full array of housing services was used to support tenants. Regarding language barriers, it was detailed that several officers in the department were fluent in other languages and the Housing department also utilised the support of the translation services team.  
• Members sought further clarity on how serious arrears cases were handled. It was explained that the crisis and resilience fund would be utilised in cases which met the guidelines but there was some flexibility in certain cases. Officers explained that high arears cases were highly scrutinised and evictions were only ever a last choice. The Hosing team engaged in a multi-agency approach with all services involved and made numerous attempts to reach out to tenants and resolve the issue without evictions.

AGREED:

1)    That members note the report.