Agenda item

[To receive a report on the impact of the new Housing Allocations Policy].

[Report is marked: To Follow]. 

The Chair invited the Deputy Director of City Housing and the Service Lead – Housing Strategy to give their presentation

The Deputy Director of City Housing began the presentation by explaining that Housing Strategy had 650 enquiries a year from Councillors and MPs about housing allocations, in addition to customer enquiries.

The Service Lead – Housing Strategy gave some background information on the Council’s Housing Allocations Policy, which was rooted in the Housing Act 1996. The Council’s Allocation Policy was managed through a choice based lettings scheme (CBL), called Homes in the City, implemented in 2007 and under yearly review. The aims of the new policy were as follows:

Ensure people in the greatest housing need have the greatest opportunity to access suitable housing that best meets their needs.

·         Make use of a range of housing options and tenures to prevent and alleviate homelessness.

·         Make best use of the Council’s and partner registered providers housing stock.

·         Manage applicants’ expectations by being realistic about stock availability, to support them in making informed choices about their housing options, and the extent to which they are able to express reasonable preference.

·         Ensure that the Council’s legal duties and corporate responsibilities are met and that they contribute to delivering the Council’s priorities.

The revision of the Council’s Allocations Policy had been towards a focus on those in the greatest need of social housing. The current waiting list data showed 4,930 on the list, prior to the changes to the Allocations Policy, the list had over 11,000 applicants.  The introduction of a new band, called “Emergency Plus” recognised not only homeless, but people with significant additional needs such as disabilities who needed adapted homes. The Service Lead – Housing Strategy then went on to discuss the supply and demand of Council Housing. They explained that demand was outstripping supply, with less than 900 homes becoming available by the end of the financial year (2022 – 2023). Of highest demand were two and three bedroom houses and bungalows, whereas 67% of the properties that became available across the previous year were flats and maisonettes.

Statistical data showed a yearly rise in applications for social housing as a constant trend. The Lettings Team received the highest number of enquiries from MPs and Councillors through Wolverhampton Homes. Void turnarounds were delayed during the pandemic during its peak, however this had been improving monthly since. City housing and Lettings team were open and transparent with each other and this collaboration worked well.  The Council continued to prioritise the increase of affordable housing supply in the City, with multiple schemes in support of this aim. Between 2021 and 2022 the Council bought 28 former Council Houses back into available stock, as of this financial year six properties had been bought and a further seven were in the process of being bought. Private Sector housing had contributed 20 empty homes back into use in the first two quarters of 2022-2023. New build housing development activity, funded by the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), continued with the first phase of new homes being delivered in Heath Town. There would be 40 new homes - 16 x four bedroom houses and 24 x two bedroom houses. The Small Sites Programme would develop a number of small in-fill sites and bring forward a further 34 units of accommodation. In addition, there were two community led developments within Bushbury and Heath Town estates, that would result in a further 14 new properties.  The Council’s wholly owned housing company, WV Living, delivered approximately 200 new homes a year and endeavoured to deliver 25% affordable housing where possible. The Marches, Wednesfield development had brought forward a total of 266 homes – 99 for outright sale, 100 Help to Own, 29 Affordable Rent and 28 Shared Ownership. Hampton Park, Bushbury will bring forward 178 homes – 133 Outright Sale, 29 Affordable Rent and 16 Shared Ownership. All affordable units were owned and managed by the Council through its managing agents.

The Deputy Director of City Housing added that she had been to see the new build houses in Heath Town, specifically the 2 to 4 bedroom houses and semi-detached houses. She praised the new houses being built and extended an invite to the Panel to visit the site if interested. She stated that the earliest ones being built would be ready in February 2023.

The Service Lead – Housing Strategy explained that all new builds would have, as part of their Local Lettings Plan, a percentage of housing allocated to people who already live in the area and that this was to ensure communities didn’t get broken apart through re-developments to areas.

The Service Lead – Housing Strategy asked the Panel to decide how best Housing Strategy could help Scrutiny further understand Housing and Housing Strategy; this included items such as data gathering and sharing, methods of communication, and supporting Councillors with residents housing enquiries.

The Chair thanked the Deputy Director of City Housing and The Service Lead – Housing Strategy for their presentation and sought further information on the buyback scheme, enquiring if these would be bought at market price.

The Deputy Director of City Housing explained that residents could buy their Council home as part of the Right to Buy Policy. After 2 years, if the house went onto the market for sale, the Council had first rights to consider purchasing. An independent financial assessment would be done on the property and considerations were made about any alterations that would need to be accounted for financially in the event of the purchase. Should the property be deemed strategically relevant to the Council, then Housing Strategy use their allocated budget to buy back and develop the property to bring it back into existing Council housing stock.

A Councillor thanked the team for their presentation and expressed satisfaction with housing developments that had occurred in areas he was responsible for. The Councillor asked for clarification on Housing Policy in regard to resettlements of people in areas they were deemed to have a local connection.

The Service Lead – Housing Strategy answered that the policy applied to new build estates and that when an older estate had been knocked down and re-developed, it could uproot and change community dynamics. To mitigate these impacts and to try maintain community cohesion, the Council attempted to re-house those uprooted during developments back into the new homes that have replaced their former estates.

The Councillor replied praising the team for building on Brownfield sites within the Wolverhampton Local Authority area, rather than relying on the South Staffordshire overflow new build estates. He said that it took the Housing team around 15 days to reply to him on average and asked if it would be possible for replies to become quicker, but was keen to stress a 15 day turn around was not a terrible response time.

A Councillor recounted some of the difficulties her residents had with applying to the housing register and putting bids on houses. After investigation by the Councillor it turned out many residents were doing it wrong. The Councillor requested training to allow her to understand residents housing problems better and potentially avoid sending enquiries to the housing team. The Councillor suggested such training could be included in the induction process for new Councillors. The Councillor then referred to older policy where those moving in to a social housing area often needed to have local contacts, which the councillor felt aided community cohesion. The Councillor believed this piece of policy to be dropped however, now that the newer requirements focused on those most in need. The Councillor asked why this decision had been taken.

The Service Lead – Housing Strategy replied agreeing with the Councillor that training would be beneficial, she said she would enquire into capacity to decide if training could be incorporated more broadly into Councillor induction programs and at occasional community outreach events. The Deputy Director of City Housing stated that the policy requirements changed during the 2020 review to meet the newer objectives, which focused on giving those in the greatest need the greatest opportunity to be housed under the Local Authority. The original aims came into conflict when the local connection policy was still in place, given limited housing stock, it had to be reviewed to meet the needs of the City. There was a legal responsibility to prioritise the homeless, veterans, domestic abuse victims and so on. Housing nationally had become increasingly residualised due to lack of supply and Wolverhampton reflected the trend.

A Councillor made the point that one of the biggest challenges residents faced was getting in contact via phone with managing agent, Wolverhampton Homes. He said residents would wait at length on the phone, with response times being poor. Whilst he agreed additional training for Councillors would help, he argued that the housing experts should remain the housing experts and that the move to digital and website based contact did not help those who were not technologically literate or those with vulnerabilities. The Councillor explained that if the response time and customer service from Wolverhampton Homes could improve, he believed less inquiries would be sent to Councillors and Members for Parliament and this would reduce pressure on the Council’s Housing Strategy Team.

The Service Lead – Housing Strategy replied saying she had taken the Councillors points on board. The Councillor further mentioned that Wolverhampton Homes phone handlers were informing residents to contact their Members for Parliament to escalate their cases quicker, which was not the right way of doing things when the managing agent should be dealing with the enquiry. The Service Lead – Housing Strategy asked if they could contact the Councillor outside of the meeting for further discussion and investigation into this matter.

The Deputy Director of City Housing added that the Housing Strategy team could consider developing a dashboard access application for Councillors so that they could see what social housing stock was available in their wards, this would help them answer residents inquiries quicker and give them more information.

A Councillor raised the local connection policy removal, explaining that whilst he understood the pros and cons with regards to removing the policy, it did reduce community networks and other networks, such as informal caring capacity within a family unit or the local school. The Councillor explained that due to low stock in some areas, there had been displacement for some families, especially if a family grew. The housing size they require would be available in their local area, forcing them to have to move to the other side of the city and causing a multitude of issues. The Councillor asked if it was possible for those residents who refused to move, having things like room separation or a loft conversation to help adapt the house to their needs.

The Service Lead – Housing Strategy understood and agreed with the points the Councillor raised, she answered that she would need to come back to the question at a later date to answer.

The Deputy Director of City Housing said that the banding process for Local Lettings Policies did take into consideration instances of multiple needs. She added that adaptions could not often be done to older stock houses due to health and safety reasons.

A Councillor asked if the number of empty properties managed by Wolverhampton Homes could be provided to the Panel. The Councillor requested if information was available for Councillors on what areas people were moving into their wards from in the event of it being someone formerly external to the ward. 

The Service Lead – Housing Strategy confirmed they could obtain the information on the amount of voids, as well as increase the updates. The Deputy Director of City Housing gave examples of reasons for voids, such as those in need of repair to match the Lettings Standards policy. Reasons for voids would need to be given so a fair assessment could be made of void counts.

A Panel member said a lot of pensioners in social housing were living in 4 to 5 bedroom houses and asked if the Council was able to relocate them to smaller homes to free up larger houses for families.

The Service Lead – Housing Strategy replied stating that if the Council could build a lot of two bedroom bungalows, the problem would be solved. Bungalows were in high demand for residents who were downsizing. The Deputy Director of City Housing further stressed this point and said they were trying where they could to get properties built. The Housing Strategy department use their budget allocation every year to try to buy back and build as many homes as possible every year and where they can build the housing stock residents required. They also encouraged people to downsize where appropriate.

A Panel Member expressed their view that the Right To Buy policy had caused major problems for all Councils in the country. They stated that they felt that Wolverhampton Homes and the Council were doing their very best with the difficult situation they were in. The Councillor discussed proposals for an accreditation scheme of private landlords or multiple home owners in the City. He explained these property owners had around 4 to 5 thousand houses in the city which were lying empty. The scheme, which would cost them yearly to be apart of, would enable the managing agent to work with private landlords to allocate people into privately rented housing, which the Council had been able to verify as being up to Lettings Standard. The Councillor asked if this scheme has been further developed.

The Service Lead – Housing Strategy explained that the policy was launched a few years ago, but had some issues and went on hiatus for a few years whilst it was being reviewed. The Scheme was now back and fully operational and sat with the Homeless Services team. She offered to find out more information from the relevant team for the Councillor.

The Councillor praised the teams work and explained he understood the difficult circumstances they were under. He said his concern was those who were hidden homeless and said that the answer to the problem was that Councils need to be able to build more Council houses.

The Chair thanked the Housing Strategy Team for their presentation and answers. The Chair then confirmed the Panel would want to visit the new build houses.

Resolved: That the proposed interactive housing dashboard for housing information be proved to Councillors.