Agenda item

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning informed the Committee that there had been significant progress towards the Council’s Corporate Priority of Housing that Meets the Needs of all Residents. He paid tribute to the work of the Housing Team which was led by Craig Spence, the Acting Director of Housing and highlighted the following:

-       That the Council was moving towards coming out of housing special measures.

-       That the Choice Based lettings system would be introduced from 23 October 2023 which allowed applicants to actively bid for properties they were interested in.  Housing authorities across the country had been using the system for a number of years and work was currently being undertaken to verify the housing register.  To date 780 applications had been received in the first two weeks to reapply to remain on the housing register.   Residents had up until 3 October 2023 to reapply to remain on the Housing Register.

-       Voids had been highlighted at the last meeting of the Committee and the time taken from a tenant leaving a property to a new tenant taking over the occupancy which was over 100 days on average.  The average sector voids time was half this figure.  As the Committee were aware a Voids workshop was arranged with the Acting Director of Housing and the Housing Team for Members of the Committee and any other Member interested in Voids.  The workshop had enabled Members to have a better understanding of how voids were tackled and the challenges faced due to the lack of investment in the properties over a long period of time.  Progress in the backlog was being made and in the last three months more properties had been let then had been received back.  In the last month over 30 voids had been relet which was the best turnaround since February 2022.   He referred to the Chairman’s plans to hold future workshop/briefings on housing issues and challenges. 

Under the Right to Buy scheme, between 40 and 50 homes were lost from the housing stock a year.  This had diminished the housing stock as they were not been replaced with either new builds or purchases.  At the last Cabinet meeting steps had been taken to make £1 million from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) available, to purchase suitable homes as they became available.  Progress on new build projects was also being made, with building work starting next month on four, one bed apartments in Stamford and also 20 new homes in Swinegate, Grantham.

-       Reference was then made to the closure of the Urban Hotel in Grantham and its use as temporary accommodation for 290 Afghan refugees.  The Housing Team had worked closely with colleagues from Lincolnshire County Council and had successfully secured alternative accommodation for the refugees, outside the district, mainly in the Birmingham area.  Work by the dedicated Officer and the team involved had been recognised by the Home Office.

-       The Local Authority Housing Fund Initiative from the Government had been utilised to purchase 21 houses to meet the Council’s obligations to house Ukrainian’s and Afghans who had been invited by the Government to seek refuge in this country.  The Housing Team were asked to identify suitable properties and 12 newly built homes were purchased in Langtoft.  News of the purchase had not been universally welcomed in Langtoft and a public meeting was arranged in Langtoft to which the Acting Director of Housing, the Deputy Leader, the Chairman of the Housing OSC and the Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning attended. It was explained how the purchases had come about and questions were answered.  The following week a letter was sent by the Council to every property in Langtoft explaining the reasoning and the funding behind the homes.  The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning made it clear that the purchases were completed in line with well established processes and procedures of the Council.  An assurance was given at the public meeting that an examination of the purchases and the Council’s communication strategy would be carried out with a view to learning any lessons which could be used for future purchases.  Discussion had taken place with the Acting Director of Housing, the Director of Growth and Culture and the Communication Team and the Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning suggested to the Chairman of the Committee that the Housing OSC add the them to their work programme.

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member for his presentation. 

Questions were then asked about the response rate in respect of numbers on the Housing Register to which the Acting Director of Housing responded that there were 1,583 on the register, and the response rate so far was good and it was confirmed that further communication was being carried out.  Concern was expressed by some Members in relation to those people who were on the register who had special needs and completion of the necessary paperwork to continue to be on the Housing Register.  The Acting Director of Housing stated that this was being addressed with the right tools being put in place so that help and assistance could be accessed and given to those who needed it through the dedicated project team, whether that was by telephone calls or home visits.

The Chairman indicated that the purchase of the housing at Langtoft could be added to the Committee’s work programme.

A further comment was made about the Choice Based Letting process and those vulnerable residents on the system.  It was confirmed that those who couldn’t access the system for any reason would receive the necessary help and guidance from the team managing the system.