MIDDLESBROUGH COUNCIL

EXECUTIVE REPORT

Report Title: Common Allocations Policy

Executive Member for Regeneration and Economic Development:

Charles Rooney

Director: Kevin Parkes

Date: 19th January 2011

PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

  1. The purpose of this report is to seek approval for acceptance of the revised sub regional Choice Based Lettings (CBL) scheme Common Allocations Policy. The policy provides the framework for the operation of social housing lettings in Tees Valley.
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
  1. It is recommended that the Executive Member for Regeneration and Economic Development approves the formal adoption of revisions to the sub regional CBL Common Allocations Policy.

IF THIS IS A KEY DECISION WHICH KEY DECISION TEST APPLIES?

It is over the financial threshold (£75,000)
It has a significant impact on 2 or more wards / X
Non Key

DECISION IMPLEMENTATION DEADLINE

  1. For the purposes of the scrutiny call in procedure this report is

Non-urgent / X
Urgent report

If urgent please give full reasons

BACKGROUND AND EXTERNAL CONSULTATION

Choice Based Lettings Scheme

  1. Middlesbrough Council is a member of the Compass Scheme. This is a sub regional Choice Based Lettings (CBL) scheme, which operates social housing lettings throughout the Tees Valley.
  1. In addition to Middlesbrough Council, the Compass partnership is comprised of:

a)Erimus Housing;

b)Stockton Borough Council;

c)Tristar Homes;

d)Hartlepool Borough Council;

e)Housing Hartlepool;

f)Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council;

g)Coast & Country; and,

h)Darlington Borough Council

Representation from local Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) is also featured within the partnership by an officer from Endeavour Housing Association. The group adopted a partnership agreement that set out the purpose and governance of the group and the requirements of each partner, including financial contributions to the scheme.

  1. The reason for having a sub regional scheme is to provide greater choice and mobility to customers. All the partners within the scheme have adopted the Common Allocations Policy; the aim of having a single policy is to provide a consistent approach to the letting of properties in the Tees Valley for both applicants and other stakeholders involved with the scheme. An additional benefit is that this is more cost effective and efficient for participating organisations. The Policy sets out who is eligible to join the Housing Register and how priority is decided when allocating a home.

Policy and Scheme Operation

  1. The Policy was developed by the partners to incorporate all relevant policy and legislative content. It was adopted by the Executive Member at Middlesbrough Council in July 2008, and thus enabled the implementation of the sub regional CBL scheme in July 2009.
  1. The way in which CBL operates is that the participating organisations advertise their vacant properties on a weekly bidding cycle. The local authority housing partners advertise 100% of their properties whereas the RSLs advertise only 50% of their vacant stock. Applicants to the scheme then place bids upon the property in which they would like to live. A banding system is used for the purpose of ranking an applicant's priority, and priority is assessed upon application, and determined according to housing need. The property is usually allocated to the applicant household that is considered to have the highest level of need; however, in a tie break situation, e.g. where two applicant households are considered to have an equal level of need, the household that has been registered on the scheme the longest would then be allocated the property.

Policy Review

  1. It was agreed that a review of the policy would be carried out after six months, following the implementation of the scheme. A sub-regional task group was formed to carry out this review, and a programme developed for reviewing all sections of the policy.
  1. The main and pertinent suggested policy amendments are detailed in paragraphs 12 to 18; these were consulted upon with a range of stakeholders across the sub region. The collated stakeholder response to the consultation is then summarised at paragraphs 19 to 26. An expanded report on the consultation process and feedback responses is attached at Appendix 1.

Cumulative Need

  1. Case law recently clarified that ‘cumulative need’ is not now an essential component in local authority allocation schemes.Cumulative need is defined as compounded multiple housing needs.

Band 1+

  1. Presently, Band 1+, the highest priority band, is awarded to all household members who are being decanted from regeneration areas, and ranks above all other bands giving an overriding priority for rehousing. The policy review suggested that a fairer system would be for priority band 1+ to be awarded only once per household, to the main householder.

Local connection

  1. Local connection is defined as having an attachment, such as living, working or having close family, in a particular area. The review suggested that the criteria be refined and aligned with homelessness legislation, i.e. that a local connection is established where an applicant has lived in the local authority area for 6 out of the past 12 months or 3 out of the past 5 years, instead of the current 5 years in any previous period.

Persons leaving the Armed Forces

  1. Guidance upon the Housing & Regeneration Act 2008 recommended that any applicant who needs to move to suitable adapted accommodation because of a serious injury, medical condition or disability, including mental health issues as well as physical issues, sustained as a result of service in the Armed Forces should be given a high priority banding. The review proposed this category be added to Band 1.
  1. Further guidance also clarified that, for those leaving the Armed Forces, local connection should also be awarded where an applicant has resided in a local authority area as a result of a former posting in the area while serving in the Armed Forces, in addition to the criteria mentioned at paragraph 14.

Local Lettings Policy

  1. Statutory guidance[1] upon social housing allocations for local authorities in England enabled the ability for registered social landlords to implement local lettings policies where this is in the interests of achieving sustainable communities. Examples of this might include dealing with concentrations of anti-social behaviour, and/ or creating mixed communities by setting aside a proportion of vacancies for applicants who are in employment.

Property of the Week

  1. The review proposed that the current ‘property of the week’ feature, which allocates hard to let properties on a first come, first served basis, be removed as the ICT system cannot accommodate this.

Consultation and Outcomes

  1. Following the policy review, consultation was carried out with a wide range of stakeholders to inform the final content of the updated policy, a draft of which is attached at Appendix 2. The responses and comments received were then combined, and the amendments that were agreed to be included in the revised policy were based on the majority vote for each.
  1. Of those who provided feedback to the consultation, 81% of people preferred to dispense with ‘cumulative need’ and use a date order system for ranking within each band instead.
  1. The consultation established that 72% agreed that Band 1+, should only apply to the main householder, and not other household members. If they wanted to submit separate housing applications to the main householder, however, they would be assessed and awarded a priority on based on their circumstances. Examination of the potential impact of this change has highlighted that of households affected by regeneration schemes, only a handful have chosen to live in separate accommodation when they have been re-housed, and that it is unlikely that demolition activities would be adversely affected.
  1. The consultation also established that 82% agreed with the refinement of the local connection criteria to apply only to people who have been living in the area for 6 out of the past 12 months or 3 out of the past 5 years.
  1. Feedback to the consultation found that 85% agreed that applicants who require rehousing due to serious injury, medical condition or disability sustained as a result of service in the Armed Forces should be awarded Band 1 priority.
  1. Stakeholder feedback showed strong agreement for enabling the ability to implement Local Lettings Policies on certain estates to tackle identified issues such as anti-social behaviour.
  1. There was strong agreement also for the ‘property of the week’ feature to be removed from the policy, as it cannot be facilitated by the current IT system.
  1. Other comments raised during consultation which have been agreed sub-regionally for amendments in the policy are:

a)it was deemed to be unpalatable to bracket army leavers and prison leavers together in the same priority banding; and,

b)the term ‘overlooked’ for clients who have low level rent arrears or anti-social behaviour was deemed to be inappropriate, as it is generally applied to vulnerable client groups.

Social Housing Reform

27.A number of social housing reform measures have been proposed by the Government, in the recent Communities & Local Government consultation paper, Local decisions: a fairer future for social housing. A number of key changes are proposed to allocations’ frameworks, to ensure they are aligned with local priorities. These include:
a)the introduction of fixed term tenancies for new housing association tenants, although certain tenants may be offered longer or tenancies on existing terms if they are transferring;

b)for tenants whose fixed term tenancies are due to end, assistance may be given to enable them to access either private rented or low cost home ownership accommodation;

c)empty properties that are brought back into use may be leased by housing associations and offered as social housing tenancies;

d)applicants to whom a homelessness duty is accepted may be offered short term fixed tenancies within the private rented sector; and,

e)social housing waiting lists may be limited only to those who have an urgent or high need for rehousing.

It will be necessary within a future policy review, therefore, to consider the reforms that are agreed following consultation, and how they will be implemented at a local level within the policy framework.

EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT

28. An assessment was completed in respect of the impact of the Compass Allocations Policy. It is considered that the positive impact that would be engendered by implementation of the Strategy, would promote equality of opportunity, by aligning the policy with guidance and the preferences expressed by stakeholders in the consultation process and those endorsed by the CBL partnership steering group.

OPTION APPRAISAL/RISK ASSESSMENT

29.There is a legislative requirement for the Council to publish an allocations policy; it is considered, therefore, that it would benefit the Council to adopt the revised Common Allocations Policy to meet this requirement. Failure to adopt the revised policy would result in the Compass partnership not being able to progress implementation of the revised policy, or to make the necessary alterations to the ICT system. This may affect the strategic partnerships that the Council has with the other partners involved in the scheme.

FINANCIAL, LEGAL AND WARD IMPLICATIONS

30.Financial – amendments to the policy will result in a number of changes that will need to be made to the existing ICT system. It is not expected that these costs will be excessive, and all partners involved in the scheme will make an equal contribution. For prudence, an amount of £5,000 has been set aside within the Homelessness Grant, and also by all the other Compass partners, to enable the changes to be effected; it is unlikely, however, that the full £5,000 from each partner will be required in full.

31.Ward Implications – Adoption of the Policy would enable its implementation and a consistent approach to social housing lettings across all wards.

32.Legal Implications – Adoption of the Policy would enable the Council to meet legislative requirements in respect of allocations policies.

SCRUTINY CONSULTATION

  1. A report was presented to the Economic Regeneration and Transport Panel on 18th October 2010. An overview of the policy, its development and the recent consultation on the proposed amendments were provided to the Panel; positive comments were received by Panel members.
RECOMMENDATIONS
  1. It is recommended that the Executive Member for Regeneration and Economic Development approves for formal adoption the revised sub regional Common Allocations Policy.
  1. That in light of ongoing social housing reform, a further policy review will take place and an updated report will be provided highlighting any further amendments.
REASONS
  1. Adoption of the revised Policy is recommended in order:

a)to enable the Council to meet its commitments in respect of the existing scheme;

b)to ensure that the policy is reflective of guidance that has emerged since the original policy was developed;

c)to ensure that the policy is reflective of stakeholder feedback provided during the consultation process; and,

d)formal approval is necessary to enable the ICT system to be updated with the policy amendments.

BACKGROUND PAPERS
  1. The following background papers were used in the preparation of this report:

a)Tees Valley Common Allocations Policy;

b)Tees Valley Sub Regional CBL Consultation Report;

c)Allocations of Accommodation: Choice Based Lettings, 2006;

d)Fair & flexible; statutory guidance on social housing allocations for local authorities in England; and,

e)Housing & Regeneration Act 2008.

AUTHOR: Sharon Caddell

TEL NO: 01642 729369

______

Address:

Website:

1

[1] Fair & Flexible; guidance on social housing allocations, CLG, 2009.