Agenda item

To consider the progress made in respect of the outcomes identified in the Housing Strategy Action Plan.

107.1         The report of the Head of Community Services, circulated at Pages No. 75-104, provided a summary of the key activities during 2018/19 and the changes in activity for year three of the Housing Strategy.  Members were asked to consider the progress made to date in respect of the outcomes identified in the Action Plan.

107.2        The Housing Manager advised that the Executive Committee had approved the Housing Strategy Action Plan for 2019/20 at its meeting in January 2019; this was attached at Appendix 1 to the report and included updated targets.  Members were reminded that the strategy contained four key priorities to meet the housing needs of the borough: increasing the supply of housing; prevent homelessness; meet the housing needs of specific groups; and improving the health and wellbeing of local people.  In terms of increasing the supply of housing, Members were informed that two modular housing projects had commenced on former garage sites with a planning application received for the site in Staverton and an application due to be submitted for the site in Winchcombe later in the year.  With regard to homelessness and prevention, the government had recently introduced a number of funding opportunities.  Tewkesbury Borough Council had led a partnership bid for the Ministry of Communities, Housing and Local Government private sector access funding along with the other Gloucestershire authorities and West Oxfordshire District Council and had been awarded £363,408 which it was hoped would assist 180 households in one year.  There had been a raft of other opportunities through partnership working and it was noted that Gloucestershire County Council had been awarded £553,289 of Rapid Rehousing funding to operate two ‘Somewhere Safe to Stay’ centres which would be located in Gloucester and Cheltenham and would link in with the countywide homeless single person pathways.  With regard to Universal Credit, the demand on discretionary housing payments had increased significantly and new claims during homelessness were resulting in higher costs to the authority whilst in emergency accommodation.  In relation to improving the health and wellbeing of local people, it was noted that new regulations had come into force in October 2018 altering the definition of Houses In Multiple Occupation (HMO) which required mandatory licensing.  This had resulted in 11 new applications which were currently being processed and, as part of these activities, an unlicensed HMO in very poor condition had been identified in Tewkesbury resulting in seven prohibition notices on individual units and an improvement notice on the entire building; Housing Services had rehomed the affected households and the landlord had been prosecuted for being unlicensed.  In summary, the Head of Community Services indicated that it had been a really big year and the Homelessness Reduction Act had been very resource intensive so the achievements in the strategy were extremely positive and the team had worked very hard.

107.3        A Member drew attention to Page No. 91 of the report which stated that Tewkesbury Borough Council’s rough sleeper figure for 2018 was one and he questioned what was being done in relation to that single person. In response, the Head of Community Services explained that this was calculated based on the number of people observed ‘bedded-down’ between 2300 and 0400 hours; in reality, between 30 and 40 people were homeless and rough sleeping within the borough at some point during the course of a year.  With regard to the one person referenced in the figures, it was noted that this individual had mental health problems and had been spending time in both Tewkesbury and Cheltenham Boroughs – the individual had now gone into supported accommodation.  Another Member drew attention to Page No. 94 and the actions to procure cost effective temporary accommodation within Tewkesbury Borough for accepted households with poor tenancy histories who were difficult to rehouse, including properties suitable for households with mobility needs, and to stop the use of private bed and breakfast accommodation except in emergencies, and questioned whether the homeless shelters would help to improve the situation.  In response, the Housing Manager explained that, unfortunately, it was not the people who continued to be vulnerable under the Homelessness Reduction Act who would use the shelters.  Bromford Housing would be providing 12 properties within its stock which would be suitable for use by homeless people; however, it would not consider more chaotic households, therefore this would not eliminate bed and breakfast use altogether.  It was noted that the Council was looking at purchasing a property for use as a HMO or similar but it was important to find the right property in the right place at the right cost.  In response to a query regarding how to ensure this was retained as temporary accommodation, as opposed to having someone move in and stay in the property, the Head of Community Services explained that Stonham Housing currently managed five properties on behalf of the Council; however, this would not continue beyond April 2020, therefore, they would either need to be managed in-house or the Council would need to enter into a partnership arrangement with another housing authority to take over their management.  His preference would be for the Council to have total control over the properties but this would be dependent on the outcome of the business case which was currently being worked up.  A Member questioned whether the action to eliminate use of bed and breakfast accommodation was realistic and was informed this was a government target and it was hoped that, with the assistance of Bromford Housing, this could be limited to emergency use rather than ‘business as usual’.

107.4         Members congratulated Officers on the amount of funding which had been secured and felt that more should be done to promote this.  It was subsequently

RESOLVED          That the progress made to date in respect of the outcomes identified in the Housing Strategy Action Plan be NOTED.