Agenda item

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Social Housing introduced a report on the outcome of a review of the Council’s Housing Allocations Policy, which had last been reviewed in 2014.

The Cabinet Member advised that the main drivers behind the review were:

·  To meet the Council’s statutory obligations to help those in housing need;

·  To make the best use of the scarce resources available;

·  To ensure that the Council used its housing stock to assist in meeting the needs of the whole community, including those supported by Children’s and Adult Social Care services;

·  To ensure that the housing stock was used effectively to reduce costs; and

·  To reinforce the positive characteristics of local people to engage in finding their own solutions to problems and to become independent and resilient;

With those aspects in mind, an analysis of current lettings and engagement with front-line staff had identified a number of proposed modifications covering the following:

1)  Some aspects of who may register with the applicant as a member of their household;

2)  The arrangements for dealing with cases referred to the Housing Options team for assistance from internal and external partners, to establish more collaborative working between the relevant parties so that vulnerable households could be dealt with in a transparent and well-planned way;

3)  Creating a smooth pathway that assisted older and vulnerable people’s access to the right accommodation for their housing and support needs;

4)  Giving Under Occupiers a higher degree of priority in order to release much needed family housing;

5)  Ensure that exceptional cases were dealt with in a transparent and equitable way; and

6)  Improve the access to B&D Reside homes, both rented and shared ownership, for local working residents on moderate incomes.

The Cabinet Member confirmed that the proposals would be subject to an extensive 12-week consultation with local residents, Housing Association partners and other stakeholders, following which the final proposals would be brought back to Cabinet for formal approval.  It was also noted that the new Allocations Policy would be applied to properties held within the B&D Reside portfolio.

Cabinet Members spoke in support of the proposed changes and the format of the consultation document, which they felt was easy to follow and understand.  The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration highlighted in particular the Council’s longstanding record of providing a good quality housing offer for its elderly and vulnerable population, while the Leader advised that Barking and Dagenham was the only Council in London to still be building new bungalows for its tenants.

The Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Approve the proposed changes to the Housing Allocations Policy for consultation with those affected, and relevant partners;

(ii)  Note that a further report setting out the results of the consultation and proposing a new Allocations Policy shall be brought back to Cabinet for final approval; and

(iii)  Delegate authority to the Director of Law and Governance, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Social Housing and the Director of Inclusive Growth, to approve any variations to Reside documents that are necessary to ensure that Reside adheres to the allocation policies as approved by the Council.