Agenda item

5.1     This item was moved forward on the agenda to be discussed directly after agenda item 3 (Brockley PFI – mid-year review).

5.2     Genevieve Macklin introduced the report to the Committee. The following key points were noted:

·      The allocations policy was last reviewed in 2012. Since 2012 the waiting list for social housing has increased by 23%. Issues around the availability of housing have intensified. There has been a reduction in the annual number of available lets. There are also issues around the funding of new housing supply.

·      The Council is committed to using all available tools to alleviate problems with the lack of available housing, and the allocations policy is one of the tools the Council can use.

·      One of the proposed changes is that the requirement for a local connection is increased from 2 years to 5 years. Exemptions for those who served in the armed forces will remain. This change would not apply retrospectively.

·      The criteria for when the Council would need to consider a young person living with their family as requiring their own bedroom would change from 18 years to 21 years.

·      People on the waiting list would no longer be offered a property at the point where they would be in 4 weeks of rent arrears. People would still be allowed to bid for properties but would only be allowed to move after the arrears had been cleared. This is a simplification of the current policy.

·      All residents who are currently on the housing register would be consulted before any changes to the allocations policy could be implemented. Implementation of the changes would not occur until the autumn.

5.3     A member of the public made a representation to the Committee. The following key points were noted:

·      Greenwich Council had changed the criteria for its local connection in its allocations policy and had been challenged in the courts.

·      Local Authorities should not be able to use their local discretion to exclude people from the housing waiting list who have been determined to fulfil the priority criteria.

·      Greater detail should be provided in the report to clarify which rules would apply to which cases, as different rules apply to homeless people and other people on the housing register which makes the allocations policy a complicated matter.

·      An equality impact assessment should be provided to enable full consideration of the issues before a decision is made.

5.4     Nina Morris (Lettings and Support Services Manager) commented. The following key points were noted:

·      The local connection requirement of having lived or worked in the borough for 5 instead of 2 years applies to people on the housing register under section 6 of the Housing Act. However, different rules apply to people who have applied for housing under 7 of the Housing Act which the Council has a duty to house because they are or are at immediate risk of becoming homeless. For homeless applicants, the requirements for a local connection are that they have lived in the borough for 6 months out of the last year or 3 out of the last 5 years.

·      There is also an exemption in place for people who are employed in the borough, so they can still fulfil the criteria for having a local connection.

·      The council has taken legal advice on the proposed changes to the allocation policy which indicated that under these changes the Council would still fulfil its legal requirements. 

5.5     Genevieve Macklin, Madeleine Jeffery (Private Sector Housing Agency Manager) and Nina Morris answered questions from the Committee. The following key points were noted:

·      The changes to the definition of need for a bedroom would apply to all new and existing housing applications where people, who are already part of a household, so for instance children growing up in a family that lives in social housing. Different rules regarding the definition of need for a bedroom apply to people that apply to be on the waiting list that are single.

·      If people reject three consecutive offers for housing, the proposed policy would be that they are suspended from the waiting list for a year and unable to bid for properties. After a year, their circumstances would be reviewed to see if they would still fulfil the criteria to be placed on the housing register and whether they’re priority status had changed. Data is being collated on how many people reject three offers of housing.

·      If someone is on the housing register under a homelessness application, they are subject to a limited offers rule of ‘one offer only’.

·      The Council operates a combined register, so the list of approx. 9,000 people waiting for social housing includes the approximately 1,700 residents currently in temporary accommodation.

·      In some circumstances people can be living in temporary accommodation that is subsequently offered as a permanent residence. This can happen when people are for instance offered temporary accommodation in Lewisham Homes residencies, and only if the accommodation is suitable.

·      The rent arrears rules only apply to people who currently have rent arrears of 4 weeks or more, but would be applied to every application on the waiting list.

·      The majority of temporary accommodation is provided in bed & breakfasts accommodation, which cannot become permanent.

·      The Right to Move quota would be calculated based on the Council’s Annual Lettings Plan. The Annual Lettings Plan is used by the Council to estimate how many yearly lets are likely to be available. A percentage of the available lets each month is selected to be used to fulfil the Right to Move quota. Housing moves across London are counted towards this quota.

5.6     The Committee made the following comments:

·      It should be clarified in the report whether any of the proposed changes apply to people who are on the housing register under section 6 of the Housing Act, section 7 of the Housing Act or whether the changes would apply to both.

·      It should be clarified in the report whether the limited offers rule of one offer (paragraphs 6.9 and 6.10) and the limited offers rule of three offers (paragraphs 6.18 and 6.19), applies people who are on the housing register under section 6 of the Housing Act, section 7 of the Housing Act or whether the changes would apply to both. 

·      It should be clarified in the report that the rent arrears rules (paragraphs 6.16 and 6.17) only refer to people that have current rent arrears, and not to people who have ever had rent arrears that have since been cleared.

·      It should be clarified under the section for bedroom standard (paragraphs 6.20 to 6.22) that any proposed changes allow exemptions for people with medical and/or special needs.

·      It should be highlighted in the report that there is the possibility that temporary accommodation provided outside the borough can become permanent if it is fit for purpose so people are aware of this possibility.

5.7    RESOLVED: that the Committee noted the report, and that officers would provide the clarifications requested in paragraph 5.5 to the report when presented to Mayor and Cabinet for a decision.