Agenda item

Report of the Cabinet Member Better Homes

This report sets out the context, aims, delivery proposals, process, estimated budget and proposed governance for the Overcrowding Strategy. The proposals will enable the Council to provide more support to overcrowded families and buy back former Right to Buy (ex-Council) homes in Borough to increase the number of bedrooms and bed spaces so that more overcrowded families on the housing register can be accommodated in Council homes, using receipts from small and/ or unsuitable properties.

Consideration was given to the report of the Cabinet Member Better Homes

Gavin Haynes, Director of Property Management, took the meeting through the report and he along with Councillor Meric Apak, Cabinet Member Better Homes, and Glendine Shepherd, Director of Housing, gave the following key responses to questions:

·       The Council would assess the number of bedrooms the applicant needed. The Council would compare this with the number of rooms that were currently available for the sole use of the household and which could be used as bedrooms. The Council would count any rooms other than bathrooms, toilets, self-contained kitchens and utility rooms. This would help the Council to decide if the applicant qualified for overcrowding points. The Council reserved the right to decide how they could make best use of the rooms available to the household and to change the application accordingly.

·       Where a room which could be used as a bedroom measured less than 50 square feet, the Council would award additional overcrowding points, this would be done on a case-by-case basis.

·       There are 3 levels of points for overcrowding. The applicant could only receive one award.

·       The Council would be seeking to help more under occupiers in social housing to downsize or relocate by incentivising the process. Funding would continue to be provided for 2 dedicated posts ‘Under Occupying Older Tenants Advisors’ in the Housing Needs Group, who provided advice and support to council tenants over the age of 60 years to downsize. Evidence from a pan-London 2022 survey confirmed that support provided by officers to potential downsizers, which was bespoke to their individual needs, had the greatest impact upon numbers of homes freed up. The Neighbourhood Housing Officers (NHOs) would begin annual tenancy visits and initiate conversations with under occupiers of all ages about downsizing or mutual exchange. Downsizing moves would be closely monitored on a quarterly basis to evaluate success. Camden’s lump sum financial incentives to downsize were competitive and some of the most generous in London. There would be a review to consider how best to utilise this fund, to help cover the costs of moving and starting again in a new home, based on individual needs.

·       A further strand of the programme would explore solutions for the conversion and/or refurbishment of high-cost, otherwise unsuitable properties or in-situation solutions for the applicant (e.g. using bunk beds, knocking through rooms to create a further bedroom, merging homes to create a bigger home). The Council had a small number of large family homes that had substantial repair costs. The policy could generate resources to bring such homes back into use as social housing without impacting severely on the Council’s budgets. Each property would be assessed on its merits and work would also be undertaken to secure grant where possible, e.g. for retrofit work, or resources for conversion work from the Affordable Housing Fund (generated through s.106 agreements).

·       The Council had an on-going community investment programme that sought to ensure that affordable and social housing was being built in the borough. On-going information on the programme and specific schemes were considered by the scrutiny committee on an as and when basis.

·       Neighbourhood Housing Officers would give tenants advance notification that they would be making a visit. Whilst there they would have conversations with the tenant regarding their needs and support requirements, but also be aware of whether the home was being fully occupied. Neighbourhood Housing Officers would also undertake unannounced visits if tenants do not respond to appointment suggestions.  

The scrutiny committee welcomed the proposals contained in the report and the support that would be given in helping vulnerable and people with disabilities should they wish to use the scheme.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted