Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee

BOROUGH OF POOLE

COMMUNITIES OVERVIEW & SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

28TH JANUARY 2014

PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE DORSET HOME CHOICE HOUSING ALLOCATIONS POLICY

PART OF THE PUBLISHED FORWARD PLAN: No

1. PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

1.1 The purpose of this report is to advise the Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee of the proposed changes to the Dorset Homechoice Allocations Policy following stakeholder consultation.

1.2 The report advises the Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the impact proposed changes will have to Poole’s housing register and the how households who no longer qualify will be affected.

1.3 The report takes into account policy changes which are recommended in the guidance from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) dated June 2012 entitled: “Allocation of accommodation; guidance for local housing authorities in England” and the new provisions of the Localism Act 2011 which enable local authorities to make changes to their allocation policies to take account of local circumstances and issues. Regard has been given to DCLG consultation, November 2013, recommending authorities apply residency criteria when considering applications for housing registers.

1.4 The report builds on previous reports to this committee during 2013.

2. RECOMMENDATIONS

2.1 That members recommend the revised policy attached at Appendix A for approval by Cabinet on 11th February 2014 and onward referral to Council.

3. DORSET HOMECHOICE BACKGROUND

3.1 Dorset HomeChoice is a choice based lettings scheme that covers the whole of the geographical area of Dorset (excluding East Dorset and Christchurch). The partnership is made up of 6 local authorities and their partner housing providers. Applicants may join the housing register and are prioritised into one of four bands according to their need (Bronze, Silver, Gold or Emergency).

3.2 Properties are advertised on the Dorset Homechoice website and applicants may bid for the property they wish to live in. The property will usually go to the applicant with the highest need. Since Dorset Homechoice went live in April 2012 the Partnership has regularly monitored and reviewed the scheme. This has included consistency checking, improving working procedures and learning from any issues that have occurred. The Dorset wide Partnership agreed to review its common practices and Policy once Dorset Homechoice had been in place for 12 months to enable the Partnership to learn from experience and listen to stakeholder feedback whilst being mindful of the introduction of the Localism Act 2011 and DCLG guidance.
3.3 In June 2012, the Government issued further guidance to local authorities in England requiring them to have regard to the guidance in relation to their function to allocate accommodation under Part 6 of the 1996 Housing Act. It sets out how authorities should:

-Give preference to social housing tenants who under-occupy their accommodation

-Determine which applicants do or do not qualify for an allocation enabling local authorities to manage expectation by excluding people who have little or no prospect of being allocated accommodation

-Maintain the protection provided by the statutory reasonable preference criteria which ensures that priority for social housing goes to those the greatest need

-Relax local connection rules for members of the armed forces and former service personnel where the application is made within 5 years of discharge;

-Consider how they can support families who want to work and those unable to work who are contributing to their community in other ways

-Consider how they can support families trying to adopt or foster where a bedroom is needed to enable Children Services to meet their duty.

3.4 The Borough of Poole has the following Housing Register and allocations demands, as at January 2014.

5,283 applicants registered on its waiting list

This represents a 28% increase in applications from April 2013.

338 units of accommodation have been available to allocate during 2013 calendar year.

198 (59%) were general needs housing properties

140 (41%) were sheltered housing properties

Only 6% of those currently registered are rehoused each year, mostly to those in the highest bands.

4. CONSULTATION

4.1 The Dorset HomeChoice partnership consulted stakeholders during a 6

week period during September – October 2013 of their views of proposed changes to policy. There were 249 responses in total with the majority coming from applicants.

4.2 The majority of respondents agreed with the policy changes proposed with the exception of one proposed housing register qualification criteria, outlined below.

5. POLICY CHANGE PROPOSALS AND CONSULTATION RESPONSES

5.1 To meet the Government’s requirements as set out in the Allocation of accommodation; guidance for local authorities in England, and to allow the authority to apply its own residency connection criteria in accordance freedoms set out with the Localism Act 2011,the Partnership is recommending that the following summary policy changes be made. Consultation responses are detailed following each policy change.

5.2 Introduction of the following qualification criteria to join the register

a)No qualification if there is no local residency connection

b)No qualification if applicants have adequate financial resources

c)No qualification for those that are more than 8 weeks in rent arrears

The majority of responses agreed with the above qualification criteria

d)No qualification if adequately housed / occupy suitable housing

The majority of responses disagreed with this criteria. Across the partnership, 60% of households maybe affected by this policy change. It is probably not surprising to therefore see the majority disagreeing. Many such applicants wish to stay on the Housing Register as a safety net but have no prospects of ever being rehoused through this route. It is therefore felt that removing these applications and offering housing options will help manage expectations for those requesting social housing, as well as removing the administrative burden that such a high number of applications currently place on the service.

5.3 Changes to banding

A number of banding changes are proposed. The key changes are listed below:

a)Silver band need to move for support – additional requirement that this will only apply where significant harm would result

b)Silver band need to move for work – remove this criterion for applicants to the Borough of Poole and North Dorset District Council.

c)Bronze band sheltered housing – add criteria that those that would otherwise be adequately housed can join the register if they require and are eligible for sheltered housing.

d)Bronze band other housing related debts – addition of criteria to place applicants in bronze band where they have other housing related debts (such as previous rent deposit loan payments) and are not maintaining payments to clear these debts.

The majority of responses agreed with these changes to banding

5.4 Local residency connections:

a)All applicants must have lived in the Borough continuously for at least 2 years. (Households who need to move out of the borough to avoid homelessness will be considered exempt where their move is temporary).

b)Applicants out of borough are able to demonstrate the need to move to Poole for essential and critical receipt of support where significant harm would result if this was not provided. This will only apply where immediate family associations are confirmed to have resided in Poole for the past 5 years continuously.

The majority of responses agreed with these changes to banding.

5.5 Local residency exceptions:

The partnership recommend the following exemptions exist to assist those households where the local authority may have existing social care, homelessness or safeguarding responsibilities, particularly in emergencies.

a)Applicants accepted under a full duty as accepted homeless by a Dorset Home Choice local authority

b)Applicants are assessed as having an urgent (emergency) need due to an imminent risk of domestic abuse, threats to life, racial or homophobic harassment, extreme anti-social behaviour, vulnerable witnesses or any other significant and/or immediate need for a move to more suitable social housing alternative accommodation

c)Applicants who due to institutionalisation, hospital admission or other regulation (for example Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements, Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference, Witness Protection) and where only social housing is deemed to be the only suitable accommodation option.

d)Applicants accommodated in supported housing in the Borough of Poole and requiring move-on to social housing recommended by Children’s services (including Care Leavers, foster carers) or Adult Services (including Learning Disability Team and Locality teams)

5.6 The following criteria have been laid down in legislation covering Armed Forces and will be placed within Silver band, where applicants;

• Are former members of the Armed Forces that have left the services in the last 5 years;
• Are serving members of the Armed Forces who need to move because of a serious injury, medical condition or disability sustained as a result of their service;
• Are bereaved spouses and civil partners of members of the Armed Forces leaving Services Family Accommodation following the death of their spouse or partner;
• Are serving or former members of the Reserve Forces who need to move because of a serious injury, medical condition or disability sustained as a result of their service;
• Are former family members of Armed Forces/Reserve forces that have been separated/divorced in the 12 months prior to the date of application.

5.7 Bedroom size eligibility

Applicants will now be assessed against the following bed size criteria:

One bedroom for each person or couple living as part of the household with the following exceptions:

• Two Children under 16 of the same gender are expected to share
• Two Children under 10 are expected to share regardless of gender
• A disabled tenant or partner who needs a non-resident overnight carer will be allowed an extra room.
• Foster carerswill be allowed one additional room, so long as they have fostered a child or have become an approved foster carer within the last 52 weeks.

This change is in line with the Housing Benefit bedroom size calculation and will ensure that applicants on Housing Benefit are not being nominated for properties that they may not be able to afford in terms of receiving Housing Benefit for the full number of bedrooms that the property contains.

5.8 Refusals

The introduction of greater penalties for those that refuse 2 or more offers of accommodation for example being placed in bronze band.

The majority of responses agreed with these changes to banding arrangements.

6. IMPACT ANALYSIS OF PROPOSED CHANGES

6.1 Currently anyone who wishes to join the Dorset Home Choice housing register can do so (unless they are ineligible due to immigration status or because of unacceptable behaviour).

The Localism Act has given Local Authorities more freedom to better manage their waiting lists by giving them the power to determine which applicants do or do not qualify for an allocation of social housing in order to meet local needs and local circumstances. Local authorities are now able to operate a more focused list which better reflects local circumstances and can be understood more readily by local people. It will also be easier for authorities to manage their register and offer alternative housing advice, assistance and options to those who don’t qualify and manage unrealistic expectations by excluding people who have little or no prospect of being allocated accommodation.

6.2 As explained in section 3.4 only 6% of those currently registered are rehoused each year,often to those in the highest bands.

6.3 Proposed changes to the Policy will not enable applicants to be accommodated any more quickly as the supply of accommodation remains severely limited. The proposed changes will create a register that more accurately reflects local housing needs and one which is able to better target assistance to support those in greatest housing need via the Housing Options service.

6.4 The introduction of qualifying criteria regarding a local residency connection does affect a large number of applicants (see below) however there is no indication that any particular protected characteristic group (as per Equality Act 2010) are unduly affected by this change.

As at January 2014 there were;

2,119applicationscurrently in bronze band for no local connection

1,687 banded in bronze for being adequately housed/no housing need

93 banded in bronze for adequate financial resources.

80 currently considered ‘in borough’ applicants due to employment in Poole

Of the 5,283applications on the housing register in January 2014, we expect to retain a register of around 1,300 to 1,500 applications.

6.5 Each local authority within the Dorset HomeChoice partnership is applying subtle differences to local residency connection criteria, however all are based on the principle of a minimum 2 year residency test. A sample testing exercise found 3% of households with a housing need would fail a residency test. These applicants will be directed to the Housing Options service or the local authority housing service in their area of residency.

6.6 As per members previous recommendation, working in the local area will not satisfy a local residency connection, nor will needing to move to Poole for employment, education or training. This will mean 80 of the current applicants on the housing register will no longer be eligible.

7. IMPLEMENTATION AND NEXT STEPS

7.1 Applicants will be notified of the change to their application in phases, in order to best manage demand for enquiries.

7.2 Applicants will have the opportunity to request a review of the decision to remove them from the housing register. Advice and support will be available using an advertised telephone helpline during the transition, with face to face appointments or home visits offered where reassessment of complex housing needs or where particularly vulnerable households, are identified. Households affected and engaged with Adult and Children’s social services teams can be contacted through their respective worker.

7.3 To ensure agencies are made aware of the changes in advance, Housing and Community Services will run workshops/awareness sessions to update other services, agencies and partners on the changes, explaining how applicants may be affected and what support and alternative housing options will be available to them.

7.4 Housing & Community Services expect to manage the increase in demand and enquiries during the policy transition by recruitment of temporary support staff. Reassessment of applications will be carried out by existing officers.

8. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

8.1 A common policy across local authorities and shared IT system minimises potential expenditure. The Borough of Poole contribution to changes are forecasted to be £5,250. Resources have been identified within Housing & Communities budgets to meet these costs and the cost of additional temporary staff.

8.2 Ongoing administrative costs for the scheme are met by participating landlords via property advert charging. The partnership holds a small contingency resource to use for specialist legal advice.

9. LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

9.1 There are no direct legal implications.

9.2 Statutory guidance contained in the 1996 Housing Act, advises that applicants who fit within certain priority groups should be regarded on authorities housing registers. The new proposals mean for example that the policy will no longer allow applications to join the register who are from households living out of the local authority area, even though they may be overcrowded, suffering disrepair or in housing need due to medical / welfare circumstances.

9.3 The partnership has sought Counsels legal advice on this specific issue, as policy change recommends exclusion of some priority groups who do not meet local residency connections. The partnership is satisfied that, with Counsel’s advice, the policy is lawful, as long as specific exceptions are prescribed, such as those fleeing domestic abuse or homeless.

10. RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS

10.1 By excluding applicants who either have no local connection and no housing need or no housing from the register there may be a small risk some “hard to let” sheltered properties will remain empty for longer. Housing & Community services are already working closely with landlords to ensure schemes which are not in high demand are considered for review.

10.2 To mitigate the risk of challenge of decisions to remove applicants from the register, Housing & Community Services will offer policy awareness sessions to a range of agencies. Applicants will receive advice and support by telephone and offered face to face interviews or home visits where appropriate.

11. EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS

11.1 The partnership policy changes are subject to an EQIA which has been undertaken and will be published on the Dorset home choice website.The equalities assessment does not indicate any further action required to address any issues arising from the changes that are being proposed to the policy.

11.2 Vulnerable groups who are assessed as adequately housed, without local residency connections or with sufficient financial means that will be excluded from the register, will be contacted in writing explaining decision to remove from the register. Applicants will be offered the opportunity of reassessment of changes in circumstances and review of decision. Applicants removed from the register will be directed to the councils Housing Options Service.

11.3 Adult social care or Children’s service teams who have applicants open to them and affected by the change will be contacted to explain the implications of any change.

12.CONCLUSIONS

12.1 The policy changes outlined in this report will help to develop a housing register

that better reflects those in housing need in Poole. It ensures local people with needs

are prioritised for social housing. It removes the unnecessary administrative burden

the local authority currently maintains by registering, verifying and reviewing over

3000 applicants whoare never likely to be rehoused. The policywill assistthe

service in managing expectations bytargeting services to assist households resolve

their individual housing need.without creating false expectation.

12.2 The Councils Housing Options service will be developed as a gateway to assess the appropriateness of household registering on the list or seeking alternative housing options and assistance.

Report Author: Ben Tomlin, Housing Services Manager ext 3414

Contact officers:Ben Tomlin, Housing Services Managerext 3414

Cally Antill, Head of Housing & CommunityServicesext 3440

Background Papers

Appendix A:DorsetHome Choice Common policy v3.4

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