Issue - meetings

To consider the responses received to the consultation on the proposed Strategy, to note that no changes are necessary as a result of the consultation responses, and to recommend the Strategy to the Council for adoption.

RECOMMENDED:

(a)       That the revised Housing Allocation Policy, as attached as Appendix 4 to Report Item 5 to the Cabinet, be approved for adoption; and

(b)       The Executive Head of Governance and Regulation be authorised to sign off the re-registration period as complete and to activate the new allocation policy and housing register at the earliest opportunity.

The Cabinet recalled that on 5 December 2018 (Minute 55 refers) they had recommended to the Council that a new draft Housing Allocation Policy should be published for statutory consultation.  The consultation had run from 15 January 2019 until 20 February 2019 and further details were set out in section 3 of the report.  This included consultations with a number of specific groups, as set out in paragraph 3.1.2.  Of the 250 responses received, 88.8% had been from current Homesearch applicants.  A summary of the responses received, together with the Council’s responses, was attached as Appendix 2 to the report.  A link to the web page showing all responses received was provided in the report.   The majority of the respondents had confirmed that they believed the allocation scheme should, in future, allocate this scarce resource on the basis of housing need and not only the time spent on the waiting list.

It was noted that no changes to the policy were needed in response to the consultation exercise.

Members were advised that, following adoption of the new Policy, the procurement of a new IT system would be finalised, followed by a period of implementation, to include re-registration of all applicants and the re-assessment of their applications.  This process would take several months.  In the interim period, allocation of housing would continue to existing housing register applicants only, with no new applications being accepted until applications opened for the new register.  Any urgent needs would be assessed and assisted separately.

The new allocation policy sat within the general Housing Strategy which contained a strong commitment to provide an additional 600 homes for local people by 2026.  In addition, the Council would itself be operating a shared-ownership scheme to assist local people to move on from sequential short term tenancies into more secure accommodation.

RECOMMENDED:

(a)       That the revised Housing Allocation Policy, as attached as Appendix 4 to Report Item 5 to the Cabinet, be approved for adoption; and

(b)       The Executive Head of Governance and Regulation be authorised to sign off the re-registration period as complete and to activate the new allocation policy and housing register at the earliest opportunity.