Agenda item

Councillor D Nannestad,  Portfolio Holder for Quality Housing

a)    presented his report regarding activity and the achievements within his portfolio.

b)    advised that the report covered the following main points:

·         Homelessness

·         Tenancy Management

·         New Build / Allocations

·         Housing Improvement Programme

·         Housing Repairs

·         Supported Housing

c)    focussed his report on Allocations and highlighted the following main points:

·         Yvonne Fox, Assistant Director of Housing had been tasked with looking at the whole allocations system to improve practices and procedures.

·         The number of people on the waiting list had reduced due to a review of the waiting list that was taking place. which included removing people that had shown no signs of activity even though they had been contacted several times.

·         A lot of applications were pending due to applicants not providing the correct documentation.

·         A third of people on the waiting list were currently Council tenants but were looking to transfer to another property.

·         Part of the review would look at ways to improve how people applied to be on the waiting list.

·         The Allocations Policy would be revised.

Yvonne Fox, Assistant Director of Housing added:

·         She would be looking at customer journeys throughout the whole process to understand how the system could be improved.

·         The indicators that were used to measure performance were outdated as they were based on the manual allocations system that was previously used and did not reflect the updated online system, so these would be looked at.

d)    invited committees questions and comments

Question -  Could anyone apply to be on the waiting list?

Response – The requirement at the moment was that people had a connection to Lincoln, this did not have to be a close connection. The Local Government Authority advised Councils to look at how people were added to the list and this would be reviewed as part of the Allocations Policy.

Question: How many people were on the waiting list?

Response: There were currently 978 people on the waiting list.

Question: Referred to Performance Indicator number 171 in relation to the number of homelessness successfully relieved in the month and asked if this figure only included the Council or other Organisations as well?

Response: The indicator was when people approached the Council and presented as homeless. A personalised housing plan was produced for eachperson, they could secure a property with another landlord with advice received from the Council.

Question:  What was the cost to the Councilto place people in Bed and Breakfast accommodation?

Response: A significant proportion of the cost would be recovered from Housing Benefits.

Question: Did the Council have to have 4 bands within the Allocations Policy?

Response: There could be any amount of bands, it would be considered by the working group as part of the review of the Allocations Policy. Applicants needed to be provided with as much information as possible at the point of application to manage expectations.

Question: If people stopped bidding for properties would they be removed from the waiting list?

Response: If they did not bid during a 12 month period they would be sent a letter, if no response was received they would be removed from the waiting list.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.