Minutes:
The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Communities which sought Members views on Halton’s Tenancy Strategy as a draft document for further consultation.
The Board was advised under the terms of the Localism Act local
authorities had to develop a Tenancy Strategy setting out recommendations for
the type of tenancies that should be offered in the local area, the length of
those tenancies (if fixed term tenancies were proposed) and the circumstances
in which they should be offered and renewed.
The Board was further advised that the timescale for local authorities
to develop their tenancy strategies was proposed to be within 12 months
following enactment of the Localism Act (November 2011). Consequently, Registered Providers (PRs) were
able to start offering the new tenancies seven months before the local
authority must develop an approach recommending whether and, if so, how they
were used. For this reason, officers
have started to develop a Tenancy Strategy, on the understanding that it may
need to be revised as a result of any guidance published following enactment of
the Act.
It was reported that Officers had met with RPs in September 2011 to
discuss their respective positions with regard to the use of fixed term
tenancies. It was clear that RPs were at
different stages in terms of developing their own approaches, some more
advanced than others, and in some respects were looking to the Council for a
steer.
After much discussion, including the role of Affordable Rents and the
proposed Welfare Reforms in the equation, it was agreed that RPs would provide
examples, together with copies of early drafts of any Board reports on
affordable rent and tenancy policies.
The Council would then endeavour to pull together common themes with a
view to developing a permissive rather than a prescribing strategy e.g.
describing circumstances where it may be appropriate to use flexible tenancies.
In addition, it was
reported that a Strategy had been drafted which allowed RPs to make use of the
new fixed term tenancies should they wish to do so whilst at the same time
making it clear that the Council’s preference was to maintain the status
quo. The Strategy, set out in Appendix A
to the report, set the parameters for their use. The minimum
term for fixed term tenancies was proposed to be five years (in line with
current Government thinking) but RPs could extend this period if they wished.
The
Board noted the details of the Strategy set out in paragraphs 3.3.3 to 3.3.7 of
the report.
The
following comments arose from the discussion:-
·
It was noted that there
was a lack of 1 and 2 bedroom properties to rent in the area. In addition, it was also noted that a lot of
the ageing population were currently living in 3 / 4 bedroom properties and were
not in a financial position to downsize.
It was highlighted that any housing that was built would have to have
affordable rent;
·
It was noted that there
was no funding for new developments and alternative options would have to be
explored to increase the number of1 / 2 bedroom properties in the area;
·
It was noted that Halton Housing Trusts rent had increased and it was now
costing £95 per week to rent a three bedroom house, which was almost equivalent
to a mortgage payment;
·
Concern was raised that
Housing Benefit would be paid directly to the applicant in the future which
could lead to rent arrears; and
·
It was suggested that
conditions could be placed on future planning applications for the development
of houses that they had a number of 1 and 2 bedroom houses and affordable rent.
RESOLVED: That the report and comments be noted.
Supporting documents: