Agenda item

The Director of Housing and the Assistant Mayor for Housing submit a report which seeks the comments of the Housing Scrutiny Commission on the proposals to carry out a review of the Housing Register and the Allocations Policy.

The Director of Housing and the Assistant Mayor for Housing submitted a joint report which sought the comments of the Housing Scrutiny Commission on the proposals to carry out a review of the Housing Register and the Allocations Policy.

The Chair, Councillor Newcombe, withdrew from the meeting at this point following his declaration of interest. The Vice-Chair, Councillor Alfonso, took the Chair.

Caroline Carpendale, Head of Service, presented the report and highlighted the following points:

·         There were 11,000 on the Housing Register but only around 1,500 had a realistic chance of receiving an offer of accommodation;

·         A significant further loss of properties was anticipated under the ‘Right to Buy’ scheme;

·         The register required review to ensure it was fit for purpose, and to manage customer expectations;

·         There were 2,500 applicants on the two lower bands, with 43% of those having little or no chance of receiving accommodation, and 50% of who had shown little or no activity online for 6 months.

·         Under the Council’s Housing Allocations Policy households were assessed and placed in one of four bands depending on housing circumstances and need. The proposal was to remove existing households on bands 4 and 5 with little or no need;

·         Overcrowding and under-occupation rules would also be looked at;

·         Benchmarking had also been undertaken with Derby, Nottingham and Northampton relating to how their register looked and how housing allocation was managed, and if they had already taken steps to remove some households from their register.

In response to Members’ questions, the following information was given:

·         Information was produced every six months on average waiting times in each band for different sizes of property. The information changed over time, and would be provided to the Housing Scrutiny Commission at a future meeting;

·         A major change to the register would go to full consultation for a minimum of six weeks. Information on how many tenants would be left on Bands 1, 2 and 3, and waiting times were not available. Members were asked to note that 43% of applicants were in bands 4 and 5, so would reduce the number of those on the register by approximately half. The three remaining bands would also be configured. It was not intended to give those removed from the register the opportunity to challenge the decision;

·         The Housing Allocations Policy was complex, and it was intended to make it more transparent and straightforward. Vulnerable persons under the Inclusion Strategy would still be helped with the bidding process. Extra staff at York House had assisted with completion of online forms. Members were concerned that assistance was not provided at St Peters and St Matthews housing offices, and that assistance at libraries was not always good. They were informed forms could be completed over the telephone if people were struggling to fill in forms.

The Director of Housing said that a corporate review of Advice Services was underway and the Housing Division had been asked to feed into that review to ensure it met the needs of customers and tied in the Housing service provision.

In response to a question the Assistant Mayor for Housing stated the authority could not suspend ‘Right to Buy’ and that the Government had made it clear any attempt to circumvent government policy would not work. He said it was disappointing the Council would continue to lose properties through the scheme. Housing Associations were being forced to accept and would also lose properties through Right to Buy. He added that the 1% reduction in rent could not replace properties lost through the scheme.

The Head of Service informed Members that on Bands 4 and 5 there had been no lettings of family sized accommodation during 2015/16 or in the last 6 months. Also, the 81 lettings of one-bedroom lettings had tended to be sheltered accommodation, and with none in the last 6 months for Band 5. Detailed information on the number of lettings for each band would be circulated to Members.

The Chair thanked the officer for the report and noted the proposals contained in the report, and looked forward to an update report at a future meeting following consultation on the proposals.

AGREED:

that;

1.    The report be noted;

2.    An update report be brought to a future meeting of the Scrutiny Commission, to include average waiting times in each band for different sizes of property.

Councillor Newcombe was called back to the meeting at this point, and took the Chair.