Agenda item

Report of the Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health

Recommendations:-

1.    That the five proposed amendments to the Allocation Policy detailed below be approved:

(a)  Amend the banding related to homelessness households to award a higher band as detailed in section 2.2.6 of the report.

(b)  Amend the downsizing policy to award Band 2 status to Council or Housing Association tenants who are under occupying their home to move to a property with at least one less bedroom (a ground floor flat or a bungalow will require a medical assessment).

(c)  Amend the quota of advertised properties in Band 2 from 50% to 60%, reduce the quota of advertised properties in Band 3 from 40% to 30%, and retain the 10% quota for Transfers.

(d)  Amend the rule for single people who are Council or Housing Association tenants living in a flat who are expecting their first child to be eligible for family accommodation on the production of the MATB1 form.

(e)  Amend the local connection rule to give a person a local connection if their Grandparents or Primary Carer live in Rotherham and have done so for the last three years. There will be a validation process asking the applicant to provide proof of the Grandparent’s address and confirmation that they are in regular contact with them.

Further to Minute No. 101 of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 4^th February, 2019, consideration was given to the report which detailed how the Council was required to allocate social housing according to a published Allocations Policy which had been drawn up according to the Housing Act 1996, Part VI and Part VII as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002, the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 and the Localism Act 2011.

Rotherham Council’s Housing Allocation Policy was last fully reviewed in February, 2017. The policy outlined who could seek re-housing through the Local Authority, the properties they could apply for and how people were prioritised for available homes.

There were certain circumstances when the Allocation Policy needed to be adjusted.  These included when there were legislative changes, if there were changes in supply and demand or when equality data informed the Council that the Council needed to change the way properties were allocated. The five proposed amendments, as detailed, addressed some of these issues and would also help to prevent homelessness earlier, reduce waiting time for households with a medical need and apply consistent approaches within the policy for people who wished to move to a smaller home.  

Cabinet Members welcomed the amendments and particular the one for  single people who were expecting their first child to be eligible for family accommodation on the production of the MATB1 form rather than having to wait until the baby had been born.

This report had been considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board as part of the pre-scrutiny process who were in support of the recommendations, subject to the following amendment to recommendation (e) being made, “a close family connection” to replace “Grandparents or Primary Carer” and that the Cabinet should require Strategic Directors to ensure that equality analyses (where required) were attached to reports submitted for pre-decision scrutiny and determination by Cabinet.

Resolved:-  That the five proposed amendments to the Allocation Policy detailed below be approved:-

a)          Amend the banding related to homelessness households to award a higher band as detailed in section 2.2.6 of the report.

b)          Amend the downsizing policy to award Band 2 status to Council or Housing Association tenants who are under occupying their home to move to a property with at least one less bedroom (a ground floor flat or a bungalow will require a medical assessment)

c)          Amend the quota of advertised properties in Band 2 from 50% to 60%, reduce the quota of advertised properties in Band 3 from 40% to 30%, and retain the 10% quota for Transfers.

d)          Amend the rule for single people who are Council or Housing Association tenants living in a flat who are expecting their first child to be eligible for family accommodation on the production of the MATB1 form.

e)          Amend the local connection rule to give a person a local connection if a close family connection lived in Rotherham and have done so for the last three years. There will be a validation process asking the applicant to provide proof of the close family connection’s address and confirmation that they are in regular contact with them.