Agenda item

To consider a report by the Director for Communities, copy attached as item 9

Before the Committee was a report by the Interim Director for Communities, a copy of which had been circulated to all members, a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as item 9. The report before members outlined progress made against the commitments in the Housing Strategy 2020-2023 ‘Enabling communities to thrive in their own home’

The Head of Housing was present to answer questions

A member asked the following question: Could an update be provided please on the 'Discharge to Assess beds' scheme please and how has this initiative been impacted by the pandemic? Members were told that WSCC held that data, however it could be reported that the move on from the Discharge to Assess Bed scheme had continued with those on the scheme being rehoused in the private sector with the support of the scheme with no one on the Discharge to Assess scheme needing to make a homeless application. ‘The Discharge to Assess’ scheme had faced some challenges with private sector landlord supply, which was an issue across all homelessness services in the South East of England, a steady flow in the scheme had been maintained.  Worthing Borough Council was beginning an In-patient needs trial with WSCC, SPFT, OTs and Psychiatric Clinicians to identify as early as possible those with a housing need to improve discharge planning for this group.

A Member asked the following question: Could an update be provided on the development of the accommodation for homeless people at Rowlands Rd and Downview Rd? Members were told that Rowlands Road had recently been handed over from the contractor to enable the fit out programme to begin. Furniture was currently on order and being delivered to be assembled on site. Occupation of the homes was expected in December. The flats at Downview Road were complete with the contractor awaiting final NHBC (insurance) certification before handover could occur. The final inspection was recently undertaken and handover was expected shortly

A Member asked the following question: The number of homeless people in temporary accommodation is increasing month on month with increasing numbers presenting multiple needs and action is needed to address the needs of our most vulnerable members of our community and is an area of work that is identified as a need by DLUCH through our Rough Sleeper Initiative work. How much does the Council currently spend on emergency temporary accommodation? The expected net cost of temporary and emergency accommodation for 2021/22  was: Adur - £584,300 (based on accommodation costs of £1,250,480 and rental income of £666,180) Worthing - £1,529,550 (based on accommodation costs of £2,947,240 and rental income of £1,417,580) Overall the service was expected to cost in 2021/22 net of any grants and rental income: Adur - £336,900, Worthing - £1,060,450

A Member asked the following question: Re acceptable living conditions and Regulation -.You note that between October 2020 and September 2021, that you have received 323 complaints from tenants about their poor housing conditions in the private sector. As part of your strategy commitment to driving up accommodation standards in the private rental sector you have indicated that between October 2020 and September 2021  there were  36 completed HHSRS assessments undertaken, that 82 formal notices to landlords were served and that there were three successfully defended FPN appeals,  with 1 appeal lost. This forms a total 121 successful enforceable interventions on behalf of tenants. However, this also indicates that there were 222 complaints not upheld. Would you please outline what forms of interventions might the remaining 222 complaints have received in order to reinforce the commitment made by the council to driving up the standards of landlord accountability. Can you also please tell us if there are any records maintained relating to the different categories of accommodation that complaints are made against, especially in relation to complaints against landlords of licenced HMOs?

(c) Finally, is there any form of record maintained to identify landlords for which repeat complaints of poor housing conditions are made by their tenants? a) A proportion of the complaints about living conditions received during this period would still be under investigation and may yet result in formal assessments and the appropriate enforcement action being taken. The rate of complaints received accelerated in the latter part of the period under review. A further Fixed Penalty Notice had just been confirmed by the Tribunal, for example. In respect of other interventions, all complainants would be contacted and if an inspection is indicated as needed this would be carried out. If the conditions were as a result of the tenant’s lifestyle for example, then appropriate advice will be given. Complainants would also be signposted to other services who may be able to help with applying for financial assistance or advice. Some complaints only related to advice and this was freely given. Complaints may also relate to housing association properties in which case a more informal approach may be indicated in the first instance and formal actions taken if not resolved. It was also the case that some complainants would not respond to contacts and these properties are kept on record should further complaints be received.

b) The Authorities did not currently keep records differentiating between types of property or tenure since the Housing Act 2004 itself is tenure neutral. The Authorities received very few complaints from occupants of licenced HMOs since the licensing process was designed to deliver safe properties.

c) The majority of landlords in Adur & Worthing only had single properties, but complaints about addresses were kept on the CRM database so that repeat complaints about properties could be identified. The approach was, however, designed to ensure that once an intervention had occurred no later work should be required. The Council was aware of some landlords with larger portfolios who had problematic properties and complaints relating to these were prioritised when received.

A Member asked the following question: Agenda page 16 - Paragraph 5.1.2 -

It is stated that 52% of homelessness cases were prevented and 33% were relieved. Is this cumulative, what happens to the other 15% of cases and how many cases altogether? 52% was the cumulative figure for homeless cases in the year 2020-2021 of households where a prevention duty was accepted; the total number of cases where a ‘prevention duty’ was accepted is 60.  33% was the cumulative figure for homeless cases in the year 2020-2021of households where a relief duty was accepted; the total number of cases where a relief duty was accepted was 120. The other cases then have their applications assessed to establish if the council owes them a ‘full housing duty’; if a full housing duty was owed then the household remained in temporary accommodation until they were rehoused; if the council did not owe a full housing duty, if there were children in the household the housing duty was transferred to children's services, if there weren’t any children in the household then they were supported to access housing through the Rough Sleepers Team.

A Member asked the following question: Agenda page 17 - Paragraph 5.1.3 -

How many of these cases (see Q1) were identified by TellJO and how much has the TellJO system cost to purchase, maintain and run? Once identified by TellJO, what support is available to these families starting to experience financial difficulty? Members were told that Para 5.1.3 referred to funding being secured, TellJo was in the procurement phase as the Countywide funding pot is in process of being disseminated to D&Bs to implement locally. Support available to families experiencing financial difficulties would vary depending on needs; examples of support available would include connecting to claim DHP and/or Council Tax Support, support from OneStop, CitA, Pathways Home, referral to Emergency Assistance Grant, support to manage debt / get debt advice, referral to housing team for homeless prevention support which included access to COMF secured to help people with meeting rental costs.

A Member asked the following question: The report talked about the implementation of protocols and assessments to prevent homelessness leaving care. Beyond protocol and assessments, what practical support is available to these individuals due to their evidenced increased risk factors relating to homelessness? Care Leavers were provided support from WSCC Leaving Care and Young People Services. WSCC had an obligation to provide support to care leavers through a Personal Adviser up to age 25. The protocols ensured that WSCC services and Districts and Boroughs work together to meet the housing needs of care leavers in Adur and Worthing. All eligible care leavers are given Band A on the housing register as a recognition of our ‘corporate parent’ responsibilities. In addition the Young Persons Panel (separate panels for each area) attended by the councils, WSCC and providers where housing plans for this group are agreed, including for complex cases.

A Member asked the following question: The report mentions short term funding from WSCC for debt and financial inclusion work. However, its short term funding for a long term problem that is set to increase in severity. How will Adur ensure the continuation of this service once funding from WSCC has ended? Members were told that Autumn Recovery work and COMF Delivery Group would use the data from the outcomes achieved from the work to inform how we delivered services going forward. Tools such as LIFT and Telljo would assist in identifying and intervening, as early as possible, more households experiencing financial hardship. The lessons learned from the Autumn Recovery work would inform how the  deliver services and work with community groups in the future, including helping people back into employment.

A Member asked the following question: Agenda page 22 - Paragraph 5.3.4-7

Having 'floated off' 16 tenancies since the council is no longer responsible to the landlord for rent guarantees and simultaneously acknowledging that tenants and landlords are returning to a market where rents are continuing to rise and LHA rents have been frozen, how are we ensuring that these landlords are not subsequently increasing rents to market value and returning our families to housing crisis? The Committee was told that The Council had no powers to prevent landlords from increasing property rents. Landlords who joined the Opening Door Scheme were aware that the setting rent at levels that tenants could afford prevented arrears or the need to evict tenants, costs of which they are unlikely to recover. The scheme was not suitable for every landlord, therefore care was taken in admitting landlords onto the scheme. Both landlords and tenants ‘floated off’ could still approach the Council for support.

A Member asked the following question: Years on from your original transformation plans, Councillors are still getting reports of tenants with horrendously poor service, recently from 10 days without heating, at least 5 weeks for a whole sheltered housing block with heating or hot water, and one resident 7 months now without a boiler. When exactly will this change and how? The Transformation Programme had begun with deliverables and the structure for the change in place by January 2022, which was the leadership team in Housing who would also be dually project managers to deliver the changes to people, processes, culture and digital improvements to systems within the scope of the programme. The visible improvements would begin then, with regular updates for members within the governance. There was a problem resolution group led by the Head of Housing with all leads in the service participating weekly to deal with issues that were brought forward which were rectified all as soon as possible, with tenant and councillor kept fully informed in the process. Changes would be made to processes, changes to the way work was delivered and to monitoring within the transformation.