Housing and Neighbourhood Partnership
18th September 2012
Pointing you to affordable
housing in the TeesValley
TeesValley Sub Regional Choice Based Lettings Scheme
Common Allocation Policy Review 2012
- Consultation Document
Comments to be submitted by email to:
E mail:
Alternatively, please submit in writing to:
Caroline Wood, Housing Options Manager
16 Church Road,
Stockton-on-Tees
TS18 1TX
Telephone: 01642 526639
All comments to be received by 24th September 2012 please
Compass Common Housing Allocation - Policy Review 2012
- Introduction
The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has issued a revised Code of Guidance in regards to how Social Housing Providers allocate their properties.
The Compass Partnership have considered the revised Code of Guidance, Welfare Reforms and the Localism Act 2011 and have identified areas within the Common Allocation Policy which need amending to ensure that it is fit for purpose.
This review will also take into account the views of housing applicants, tenants, staff, service users, other stakeholders and supporting agencies throughout the Tees Valley Sub Region.
A common allocation policy ensures that people are consistently assessed when they apply for accommodation and that properties are allocated according to the published policy.
The Compass Tees Valley CBL partnership is represented by:
- Coast & Country
- Darlington Borough Council
- Erimus Housing
- Hartlepool Borough Council
- Housing Hartlepool
- Middlesbrough Council
- Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council
- Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council
- Tristar Homes
- Accent Foundation
- Home Group
- TeesValley Housing Association
- Endeavour Housing Association
The traditional Registered Housing Providers are also represented and will also be actively involved with the review of this policy
2.Assessment of applications
The law states that we must give priority or ‘reasonable preference’ to certain categories of people who have more urgent housing needs than others. The Compass policy has a number of bands which represent different levels of housing need and priority for housing. An assessment of an applicant’s circumstances is undertaken to assist with making a decision which band they are placed into. There are 5 bands to the Compass CBL scheme, which are listed in detail in the table at the end of this summary for reference.
Government advised changes to the Common Allocation Policy, resulting from the Code of Guidance 2012
The Government has advised housing authorities to give Additional preference to:
- Former members of the Armed Forces, Serving members of the Armed Forces, Reserve Forces who are or will be homeless and assessed as institutionalisedor need to move because of a serious injury, medical condition or disability sustained as a result of their service.
Also
- Bereaved spouses and civil partners of members of the Armed Forces leaving Services Family Accommodation following the death of their spouse or partner
These proposals will be adopted within the new Compass Common Allocation Policy.
3.Summary of additionalproposed changes to the
Compass Common Allocation Policy
The additional proposed changes have been listed in the summary below together with the reasons for the suggested changes and what they will mean to people applying to join the Common Housing Register or to those already registered.
The corresponding feedback questions have been added underneath the proposed changes to assist you with completion. Please indicate by placing a cross (x) in the relevant box and adding your comments where applicable. Thank you.
Section 2.3: Applications not accepted due to unacceptablebehaviour
Suggestion for Section Heading to be amended to: Eligibility to join the housing register - Qualifying/Non-Qualifying Persons rather than Applications not accepted due to unacceptable behaviour
Background to proposed changes to this section:-
We have always used the ‘Unacceptable behaviour test’ as a basis on which toassess whether we will allow an applicant to join the Compass housing register(Assessed as eligible to join).
The ‘Unacceptable Behaviour Test’* relates to an applicant’s conduct in relation toholding a tenancy, paying their rent, if they have caused any anti-social behaviourand/or have any housing related convictions.
This test has been repealed (abolished) since we last reviewed our policy.
Housing Authorities have been given the power to determine what classes of persons are or are not qualified to be allocated housing (s.160ZA – page 8 in CLG guidance).
Applicants that are eligible to join the scheme will be referred to as ‘Qualifying
Persons’ and those that are assessed as not being eligible will be referred to as‘Non- Qualifying persons’.
Eligibility to join the housing register- Qualifying/Non-Qualifying Persons
When considering ‘Non-Qualifying persons’ we feel that we should still take into account unreasonable behaviour linked to a persons housing.
We are happy to still apply the same ‘ineligibility criteria’ to assess whether someone would be ‘Non-qualifying’ or ‘Qualifying’. However, we would appreciate your comments on what categories of behaviour should disqualify an applicant.
This could include people that have not made any attempt to address their housing debt* or have committed serious acts of anti-social behaviour such as, gang nuisance, hate crime, noise nuisance etc. and have not made any attempt to modify this behaviour.
* Housing debt could include current rent arrears, former tenants arrears or
rechargeable repairs (if a tenant has caused damage to their property).
In all instances we would investigate the circumstances surrounding the housing debtand/or the anti-social behaviour issues.
Question 1)
What type of behavior should disqualify an applicant?
Please include your comments below:
Comments ______
______
______
Section 3: Assessing Housing Need
Under-occupation – Band 1 and Band 2 Priority
Background to proposed changes to this section:-
We currently give priority to Compass partner tenants if they are under-occupyinghouses.
They are awarded Band 1 priority if they are under-occupying by 2 bedrooms andBand 2 priority if they are under-occupying by 1 bedroom.
With the introduction of welfare reform, people of working age with an extra
bedroom will have a reduction in their housing benefit and will need to pay for
this extra room.
This will result in a 14% reduction in housing benefit for those under-occupying by 1 bedroom and 25% reduction if they are under-occupying by 2 or more bedrooms. This applies to all property types not just houses.
Question 2)
Do you think that social housing tenants* that are deemed to be under-occupying andwill be subject to the under-occupation charge, be given additional priority on the scheme for all property types?
* If their landlord is one of the Compass partners
Agree [ ]Disagree[ ]
Comments ______
______
______
Under-occupation – Band 1 and Band 2 Priority
We current give priority to social housing tenants* if they are under- occupying houses.
(* If their landlord is one of the Compass partners).
Question 3)
Should we widen this priority to include tenants of other registered providers within the TeesValleywho are not full members of the Compass Scheme?
Agree [ ]Disagree[ ]
Comments ______
______
______
Property Size Requirements
Background to proposed changes to this section:-
We currently use the ‘bedroom standard’ as a measure to ascertain whether you are overcrowded or not.
The following table shows the current bedroom criteria set out in the Compass CommonAllocation Policy and used by the Department of Work and Pensions as opposed the criteria that will be used within Welfare reform.
Our Current Policy states / Welfare Reform –One room is required for:-
- The main householder/s will be assessed as requiring their own bedroom, even if s/he is a single parent andthe property occupied only has bedrooms 110 square feet or 10 square metres or larger. However the main householder/s will be expected to share a bedroom with a child under the age of 12 months where they are occupying a bedroom of this
- An Adult Couple
- A single person aged 21 or over will be assessed as requiring their own bedroom.
- Any other adult (aged 16 or over)
- Two children under the age of 10 (whether of the same sex or not) will be expected to share a bedroom
- Two people of the same sex aged 10 to 20 will be expected to share a bedroom
- Two people of the same sex where one is aged between 10 to 20 and the other person is aged less than 10 will be expected to share a bedroom.
- A person under the age of 21 will be assessed as requiring their own bedroom where they cannot be
- Any two children of the same sex, aged
- Any two children under 10 years-old,
- Or any other child
Question 4)
Should we adopt the same criteria as outlined in welfare reform to ensure consistency when calculating the number of bedrooms required?
Agree [ ]Disagree[ ]
Comments ______
______
______
Financial Hardship/Affordability
Background to proposed changes to this section:-
As a result of Welfare Reform/changes to their benefits, people may struggle to afford to pay for their current accommodation.
Question 5)
Should we awardpriority to people with affordability issues?
Agree [ ]Disagree[ ]
Comments ______
______
______
Voluntary workers/contributing to the community
Background to proposed changes to this section:-
The new Code of Guidance allows Housing organisations the flexibility to award additional preference to people who contribute to the community e.g. voluntary workers (Section 4.27 page 23).
Question 6)
Should we give some preference to households in low-paid work?
Agree [ ]Disagree[ ]
Comments ______
______
______
Question 7)
Should we give some preference to households in voluntary work to acknowledge their contribution to the community?
In all instances we would ensure that before we give any priority or preference tovoluntary workers, there would be certain criteria that would need to be met.
For example: An applicant would need to work for a recognised voluntary/
charitable organisation and be able to provide supporting documentation to
confirm how long they have worked there and the number of hours they work.
Agree [ ]Disagree[ ]
Comments ______
______
______
Prospective adopters, foster carers and special guardians
Background to proposed changes to this section:-
We currently award Band 1 priority to adoptive parents/prospective adopters. The Code of Guidance, section 4.30, page 23, now includes reference to Foster Carers and Special Guardians as well as adoptive parents/prospective adopters.
We will expand this category to include Foster Carers and Special Guardians but also wish to consider the eligibility for properties of a certain size/type.
When considering Housing Need we currently calculate the number of current household members so that applicants can bid on properties that match the household size e.g. a couple would usually only be able to bid on 1 or 2 bedroom flats – not family accommodation with 2 or 3 bedrooms.
Question 8)
Do you think that prospective adopters, foster carers and special guardians should be allocated accommodation to reflect their future needs?
Agree [ ]Disagree[ ]
Comments ______
______
______
Number of reasonable offers of accommodation
Background to proposed changes to this section:-
Section 4.8 of the Common Allocation Policy currently states: If 3 reasonable offers of accommodation are unreasonably refused, then applicants with a priority banding will have the priority removed.
Due to demands on Social Housing and the number of unreasonable refusals thatwe receive, we could consider a ‘one reasonable offer policy’ to applicants in thereasonable preference bands (Bands 1+,Band 1, Band 2or Band 3).
This would mean that, if an offer of accommodation is deemed to be suitable andreasonable, but is refused by an applicant in either Band 1+, Band 1 Band 2or Band 3, we would reduce their priority on the scheme by placing them in the band below their current priority.
* An appeal could still be put forward by the applicant and a reassessment completed
Question 9)
Do you feel that a ‘one offer’ policy would be appropriate?
Agree [ ]Disagree[ ]
Comments ______
______
______
Number of reasonable offers of accommodation – continued
Where applicants have worsened their own circumstances eg; made themselves intentionally overcrowded, should their priority be reduced for a 6 month period.
Question 12)
Should applicants that have worsened their own circumstances
be placed in a lower band for 6 months?
Agree [ ]Disagree[ ]
Comments ______
______
______
Property Eligibility/shortage of family houses
Background to proposed changes to this section:-
In consideration of housing demand issues within the TeesValley and the impact of Welfare Reform changes, we are proposing to remove the restrictions on those eligible to apply to bid for flats.
Question 10)
Should we consider allowing families to bid on any type of property which meets with the number of bedrooms that they need?
Agree [ ]Disagree[ ]
Comments ______
______
______
Thank you for taking the time to read the summary of the policy review and for completing the questionnaire. A full copy of the Common Allocation Policy is available on the Compass website:
Priority Band Table
The following table outlines the categories included within each band:
Band 1+Category / Definition
Home loss through regeneration (decants) / People losing their home due to a recognised regeneration scheme within any one of the local authorities within the sub region; this includes council tenants, registered social landlord tenants, private tenants, and owner occupiers
Band 1
Category / Definition
Statutory homeless and homeless prevention / People who are assessed as statutory homeless and in priority need; people threatened with homelessness after 28 days; people who need to move on urgent medical grounds; people who need to move on welfare grounds; people living in unsafe or unsanitary housing conditions and there is a high risk of harm; people leaving HM Forces; people suffering from Domestic Abuse; social housing tenants of one of the partner landlords that are under-occupying a house by 2 or more bedrooms; young people at risk; people leaving prison
Band 2
Category / Definition
High housing need / People living in overcrowded conditions and are 3 or more bed spaces short of requirements; people assessed as non priority homeless; people assessed as intentionally homeless; people who need to move due to a high medical need; social housing tenants of the partner landlords that are under-occupying a house by 1 bedroom; people with a child or children under the age of 10 occupying accommodation above ground floor level; people who need to move on hardship grounds;people sharing facilities (e.g. those living in hostel/B&B accommodation.
Band 3
Category / Definition
Other housing needs and efficient use of the housing stock / People leaving ‘tied’ accommodation with one of the partner organisations within the sub region;; people who have suffered a relationship breakdown; people who are 1 or 2 bed spaces short of requirements.
Band 4
Category / Definition
No or low level housing need / People assessed as having no identified housing need; people assessed as having low level housing need.