Issue - meetings

Purpose of Report

To propose an amendment to the Housing Assistance Policy, suspended in March 2015, to temporarily reintroduce the minor works grant scheme.

Decision

That the Executive:

(1)          Adopts the proposed amendment to the Housing Assistance Policy set out in Appendix 1 of the report and that housing assistance be made available under the terms of the amendment and under no other part of the policy.

(2)          Agrees that the term of the policy amendment be extended to 31 March 2018 and then from 1 October to 31 March annually thereafter, subject to funds in future years, and that any grant applications approved in the time up to and including that date be paid on completion of the works.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Alternative options considered and rejected were noted as follows:

·         to lift the suspension of the policy. The current policy was adopted in 2007 and no longer fully reflected the Council’s corporate priorities. The staffing resources currently available to the Council would prevent the effective delivery of the assistance;

·         to lift the suspension of part of the policy. The current policy made generous provision for grant aid and required a high officer input to deliver the service. To make the Decent Homes Grant universally available could expose the Council to a high financial burden. The staffing resources currently available to the Council would prevent the effective delivery of the assistance;

·         to make no financial provision for assistance. To make no provision and have a policy of ‘no assistance’ could expose the Council to a challenge of not having considered and fulfilled its statutory duty.

Reason for Decision

All local authorities were granted the power to provide ‘housing assistance’. The City of Lincoln Council had a Housing Assistance Policy but this was suspended in March 2015.

The Policy Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 26 March 2015 considered an appraisal of the Housing Assistance Programme since its adoption in 2007 and expressed the desire that some form of assistance should continue to be made available. In October 2015 and October 2016 members agreed to fund emergency works through use of an amended Minor Works Grant, until the end of the relevant financial year only. Four applications were approved in each of 2015/16 and 2016/17. It was proposed that a similar arrangement was made for this financial year and on a yearly basis by means of an amendment to the existing policy. This would mean that the City Council had not placed itself in a position of having a universal answer of ‘no’ to applications for assistance. The proposal sought to limit officer involvement with the proposed works and to allow applications to be determined swiftly, with the Council’s role being strictly that of a funder and homeowners themselves being responsible for management of the works.