The Head of Housing and Communities introduced the report which sought to agree that the current Housing Allocations policy remained in place, and asked Members to note the temporary suspension of the Housing Register for one month and for arrangements to be put in place for vulnerable households. She explained that when the original policy was considered by Cabinet in 2020, it was agreed that the policy be reviewed. The result of the review was that the policy was working effectively and was relieving homelessness for those most in need. The Head of Housing and Communities said the policy had not caused additional work and the report included data on this.

The Head of Housing and Communities said that as part of the review, legislation changes and case law were considered and no additional changes to the policy were necessary as a result.  She advised Members that there would be a changeover of the software system that managed the Housing Register and the Housing Options service. The new system, ‘Huume’, which all Kent authorities were moving to, would require all data to be transferred from one system to another appropriately, resulting in the temporary suspension of the Housing Register for one month. The Head of Housing and Communities said there would be a process in place to assist vulnerable residents and those in high need, but the suspension would not have a detrimental effect.

Members asked questions and raised points including:

·         What measures were in place if the changeover took more than a month?;

·         how many were on the current Housing Register waiting list?;

·         had there been changes to the circumstances of those now on the Housing Register, compared to 2 to 3 years ago?; and

·         the breakdown in host families assisting Ukranian refugees had led to more families presenting as homeless across the country.

In response, the Head of Housing and Communities said the system had been planned and tested and it was only the data that was being transferred.  The Housing Options Policy and Performance Officer said that the changeover was across the whole of Kent, would only take a few days and would be live from 1 July 2023.  She added that there were currently 1,447 live applications.

There was a discussion on the future needs for housing and how the Council’s policies assisted this. The Head of Housing and Communities said some clients presented as homeless, whilst others presented with a housing need.  She said the Housing Register would pick up a wider scope of people including those in accommodation with overcrowding issues or living in inappropriate housing.  The Head of Housing and Communities said that affordable, available housing was required and new housing needed to be built as those on the list who were helped would always be replaced by others with a housing need.  She referred to working with Housing Associations to tackle long ‘void’ periods which were exacerbated by the availability of materials and tradespeople.  The Chair added that it was also in the best interests of Housing Associations to reduce void periods as they received no income during that time. 

The Head of Housing and Communities reminded Members that residents needed to meet eligibility to go on the Housing Register. She said the private rental sector was becoming unaffordable and more volatile, and people were looking at other options, and if they met the criteria, social housing was an attractive option. 

The Chair proposed the recommendation which was seconded by Councillor Angela Harrison.

Resolved:

(1)  That, based upon the review undertaken the current Housing Allocations Policy remained in place.

(2)  That the temporary suspension of the Housing Register be suspended for one month and the arrangements put in place for vulnerable households be noted.