Agenda item

The Director of Housing submits a report to Members of the Housing Scrutiny Commission of progress on rent arrears from 3rd July 2017 to 1st October 2017.

The Director of Housing submitted a report on the Rent Arrears Progress over the second quarter from July 2017 to September 2017.

Zenab Valli, Income Collection Manager, Housing introduced the report and explained details regarding:

·         Rent arrears and the number of tenants affected by bedroom tax.

·         Arrears among those affected by the Benefit Income Cap had increased following lowering of the benefit cap.

·         10 evictions in total which were carried out for non-payment of rent from the second quarter. (The figure of 40 which was noted in the report as the figure for the previous year at the same point was clarified as an error). However, there had been a significant decrease in the second quarter compared to the first quarter mainly as tenants were reported to be paying their rent in a timely manner. Reference was made to the process of evictions and it was underlined that evictions were always a last resort.

Following questions and comments from the Committee, the following points were made:

In response to queries from rent arrears, it was noted that; 

·         The Income Management Team (IMT) had a focus upon high level arrears case queries however they had quality interventions as soon as tenants got in arrears.

·         Various initiatives were being tried to decrease arrears, including personal development support, encouraging Direct Debit (DD) sign up and payments and other alternative payment arrangements.

·         It was noted that there was six months to implement the new initiatives and review practices.

Queries were raised as to why more tenants were not taking up support services available to them;

·         The various support services such as Supporting Tenants and Residents (STAR) service which provided housing support for Council tenants in Leicester were discussed. It was noted that only some people chose to engage.

Discretionary Housing Benefit payments and encouraging more tenants to make payments by direct debit;

·         The Income Collection Manager, Housing noted that further promotions around providing initiatives for tenants to set up DD payments for instance over the phone may be possible.

·         The Director of Housing noted that it was mandatory for all new tenants to set up payments via DD.

·         In response to the queries, Commission Members were invited to attend the Housing Department’s Income Management Team (IMT) to see their work first hand.

Concerns regarding tenants being charged a fee for paying rent via Pay Point PP);

·         The Income Collection Manager, Housing detailed the various payment methods available which tenants may use to make rent payments as an alternative to Pay Point. It was made clear that retailers were not allowed to charge tenants and Leicester City Council (LCC) was working with the company Pay Point to target those shops that did try to charge. The attached poster is a notice to customers affected to report the matter directly to the Pay Point team.

Specific information was requested on the numbers of repeat offenders getting into arrears to be bought to a future meeting. The Director of Housing noted that this, in relation to capturing the number of court cases was an ongoing piece of work.

RESOLVED:

1.    Members to attend and spend time at/ with the Housing Department’s Income Management Team (IMT).

2.    The Scrutiny Policy Officer to forward the email sent from a Member to IMT regarding locations which were charging for rent Pay Point payments.

3.    That the contents of the report be noted.