Agenda item

Paula Burton, Housing Strategy & Investment Manager:

a)    presented Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee (HSSC) with a verbal summary on the details of a Downsizing Incentive Scheme (DIS) for Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee to review, prior to the introduction of a six month pilot.

b)    added that the option of a DIS was first discussed with HSSC in February 2023.

c)    confirmed that the scheme aimed to incentivise tenants to move to smaller accommodation more suited to the need and provide access to family housing for those registered on Lincs Homefinder.

d)    reported that the City of Lincoln Council had a statutory duty to assess and help those who qualified for housing assistance and demand continued to increase. The number of people registered for Lincs Homefinder for housing assistance for the past three years could be seen at paragraph 2.2 of the report.

e)    added that as of October 2023, over 500 secure tenants were deemed to be under occupying CoLC homes. The Council had collected household profile data and the figure was expected to increase.

f)      referred to Appendix A of the report which offered detailed information on the Downsizing Incentive Policy. This included eligibility for the scheme, policy statement, decision making and appeal process, relevant legislation, regulation or standards and the monitoring and evaluation of the downsizing scheme.

g)    requested HSSC review the DIS policy prior to the commencement of the six-month pilot. Following the six-month pilot, Post Implementation Review would be presented to HSSC to establish if the scheme had been a success and the next steps

h)    invited comments and questions from Members of the Committee.

Members discussed the content of the report, commented, asked questions and received relevant responses from Officers as follows:

Comment: Thanks offered to Paula Burton for an informative and well written report.

Comment: If a property was occupied by four tenants and the property was received back, the data may present as we had removed an individual from the waiting list four times. The policy seemed to give consideration to the number of bedrooms.

Response: The report confirmed at paragraph 4.3 that the benefits to the scheme included the reduction of the number of tenants under-occupying and subject to the 14% (one extra bedroom) or 25% (two or more extra bedrooms) under occupancy charge. It was not concerning 4 individuals but was about one larger property potentially resulting in a number of lettings to fill that property (the other properties that are transferring into the larger one and cascading down).

Comment: The incentive was very positive. In real terms, on a three-bed property, the downsizing incentive worked out to be approximately £4300. In addition, an applicant may receive further assistance with downsizing. It was noted that many people did not wish to downsize however the incentive was considerable. It was hoped that the scheme would encourage people to move and free up family homes.

Question: Would prospective eligible tenants be approached or would the pilot be advertised?

Response: A communications strategy would be rolled out in collaboration with Communications colleagues. This was planned to be arranged in December 2023 and go live in January 2024.

Comment: Many tenants in larger homes were elderly and therefore, may not use the internet.

Response: The Council were aware of those who were under occupying and contact with those individuals would be made. The Council would approach those in receipt of discretionary housing payments (bedroom tax).

Comment: Compared to other Council’s, the scheme was a very good one. Could HSSC receive an update in the next Quarter of the findings and progress of the scheme?

Response: Yes – an update would be brought to HSSC in the next Quarter.

Comment: Evidence showed around the Country, schemes such as the DIS needed considerable funding to get them off of the ground. Success was expected in small steps.

Comment: The DIS is a welcomed scheme that had been long awaited. With the data available, encouragement derived from connection. It was important to talk to individuals on ground level.

Comment fromDonald Nannestad, Portfolio Holder for Quality Housing: It was important to recognise that individuals would use the scheme in a voluntary way. It was a big step for individuals to move home, especially those that downsized from a four-bedroom home to a one- or two-bedroom home.

Comment: Tenants were entitled to their lifetime tenancy and that would be respected.

Question: What would happen to the discretionary housing payment if a move was offered but declined?

Response: It would be considered during the yearly review of the DHP.

Comment: Gave thanks for an excellent report. Was there any data to analyse who and how many people lived within Council properties?

Response: It was difficult to understand exactly how many people were overprovided for within Council housing stock.Information from Council Tax and Housing Benefit helped. Tenant knowledge needed to be improved and would be expected by the regulator from April 2024. From the new year, it would be important to review how often we visited properties within the Council’s stock; a large job as the number of properties totalled 7,800. Tenant knowledge was especially important in high-rise blocks due to fire safety regulations. It was illegal to sub-let. Consideration was given to data that could be used legally and Customer Services conducted routine checks. Tenancy services planned to visit properties and it was hoped that the majority of properties would be visited within the year. It may be the case that targeted properties were visited more than once a year.

Comment: Tenant knowledge was important and it was vital to know who lived within Council properties.

Response: Further to the Charter, there was now an expectation to have knowledge about tenants that was not expected before. Consideration would be given to how the data was obtained.

RESOLVED that the content of the report be noted.