Agenda item

This report seeks to update members on the progress of the Council’s allocation of properties since adoption of the new policy in July 2022 and an update on the implementation of a Choice Based Lettings system.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning presented the report which updated Members on the progress of the Council’s allocation policy which had been adopted in July 2022.  Since the current policy had been adopted it had become clear that further changes were required following the proposed introduction of a Choice Based Lettings service.   The report and associated appendices detailed the proposed changes to satisfy the allocation of housing stock utilising a Choice Based Lettings approach.

All those currently on the Housing Register would be required to re-register between the period 28 of August 2023 to the 25 September of 2023, with the new system due to go-live from the 23 of October 2023.  The re-registration request would be a validation of the current Housing Register list as to what people’s needs were as these changed over time.  Choice Based Lettings was a tried and tested method for a fairer and more transparent allocations process system which had been widely used across the social housing sector.

The Head of Housing stated that following the adoption of the policy in July 2022, it had felt prudent to bring the proposed changes back to Committee for complete transparency in relation to the proposed changes and Choice Based Lettings which was due to go live from the end of October 2023.  A strong communication drive would be implemented in respect of the need to re-register for all the Council’s tenants and those in the private sector wishing to go on to the Housing Register.  The Communication drive would start from the date of the meeting.  All people currently on the Housing Register would be written to with clear information on how they could access support should they have any difficulties around re-registration.  Events would be attended in four market towns to give advice and guidance about re-registering. 

The new Choice Based Lettings system would give transparency about what properties were available on a daily basis and on re-registering there would be a clear focus on housing need. The current six bands would be reduced to four bands.

Members welcomed the change to a Choice Based Lettings system and congratulated Officers on their work to date.  Concern was expressed by some Members about the “faceless” people at Grantham and that for those who lived outside of the Grantham area there was no face-to-face contact and that perhaps one day a week Officers could work from community hubs in specific towns such as Bourne.  Another Member was concerned about engagement with those who had learning difficulties or lacked communication skills, it was felt that these people may lose out. It was stated that Officers were aware that there were a number of people with special needs and triggers were in place to highlight these individuals.

It was reiterated that re-registering was a validation of housing need within the district in a fair and transparent way, and whether people still wished to be on the Housing Register. 

One Member questioned about those people registering between the dates or they had not read about the deadline.  The Housing Options Manager stated that these would be looked at and honoured where a valid reason could be supplied.

A further question was asked in relation to auto bid, band 1 and homeless persons to which the Housing Options Manager replied that each case would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

The Committee noted the proposed changes to the Allocations Policy and the current position and timeline for implementation of the Choice Based Lettings system and it was recommended that a future update on Choice Based Lettings would come back to the Committee prior to the system going live in October 2023.

Ø  Action

That an update on Choice Based lettings to come back to the Committee prior to the system going live in October 2023.