Agenda item

1.     That the new Young Persons’ Housing Strategy 2016 - 2020 as set out in Appendix 1 of the report to Cabinet for a six week consultation period be approved.

 

2.     That approval of the Young Persons’ Housing Strategy 2016 – 2020 following consultation be delegated to the Assistant Director (Housing) in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing.

 

Decision

 

1.     That the new Young Persons’ Housing Strategy 2016 - 2020 as set out in Appendix 1 of the report to Cabinet for a six week consultation period be approved.

 

2.     That approval of the Young Persons’ Housing Strategy 2016 – 2020 following consultation be delegated to the Assistant Director (Housing) in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing.

 

Reason for Decision

 

To seek Cabinet approval for the new Young Persons’ Housing Strategy 2016 - 2020 (Appendix 1) prior to commencing a formal six week consultation period  and to agree appropriate delegations to approve the strategy following consultation.

 

Implications

 

Financial

 

There are no financial commitments made in the strategy, and the majority of the strategy relates to focusing, targeting, and maximising benefits from existing resources.

 

The strategy commits to exploring options to use some of its Housing Revenue Account (HRA) assets in different ways.  These could have some financial implications in order to be achieved and therefore the strategy recognises that an options appraisal with financial information would be required before proceeding.

 

Customer profiling commitments in the strategy feed into a larger piece of work in the housing service plan for 2016/17 that has already been budgeted for.

 

Value for Money

 

·   Direct costs to the Council

 

This strategy sets out evidence that younger age groups are currently presenting a direct cost to the Council due to:

-    The likelihood of experiencing housing need or homelessness; and

-    Difficulties sustaining council tenancies and likelihood of having rent arrears.

 

Reorganising / refocusing some of the housing service’s resources to target factors associated with these costs would produce a savings benefit to the Council in terms of improved income collection rates and reduced homelessness.

 

This sits within a wider context of trying to use evidence to focus resources on preventable causes of costs, as part of a move to make the housing service more proactive, flexible, and sophisticated.

 

Wider economic costs

 

The Council recognises the importance of its young people to its future economic success. 

 

The current housing market in Dacorum presents specific challenges to younger people at the start of their adult lives and careers.  Young individuals and families in unsuitable housing, or without suitable support to maintain a tenancy successfully, may experience high levels of anxiety in relation to their housing and financial situation, which may have knock on effects on many areas of life, including employment prospects, children’s wellbeing, and household health.  These effects have costs for the wider economic performance of Dacorum. 

 

Value for money savings can therefore be achieved through recognition of the needs of this group and focusing resources effectively.

 

Risk Implications

 

There are both direct cost and wider economic risks to the Council if it does not respond to the evidence about younger people and their capacity to resolve their housing need and sustain tenancies within Dacorum.

 

There is a financial risk to ‘doing-nothing’ and this strategy identifies how the Council can make use of its resources to invest-to-save.

 

Equalities Implications

This strategy has been developed to address the disproportionate level of younger people in the borough who are:

·        experiencing homelessness

·        struggling to resolve their own housing need

·        struggling to sustain their tenancy

 

Health And Safety Implications

If any new uses of housing assets are considered in order to meet this strategy’s commitments, then the health and safety of buildings and their geographical position will need to be assessed.

 

Corporate Objectives

Affordable Housing

 

Advice

 

The Portfolio Holder for Housing explained that the strategy was pulling many things together, many of which were statutory. She reported that the strategy had been through OSC and they supported it. This was a very good project to take forward.

The Assistant Director for Housing said there were no new resources for this; the service was just working in a slightly different way. It was felt that young people were disadvantaged at all housing stages and therefore they were trying to introduce new initiatives to address any issues.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Environmental, Sustainability & Regulatory Services said this was an excellent report which pulled all the existing threads together but there was lots of work to carry out in order to sustain it. With regards to the possibility of having a dedicated officer resource to focus on young people and families, who could have the appropriate links to HCC ‘Families First’, the Portfolio Holder felt that this was needed ‘yesterday’.

The Assistant Director for Housing said that there was lots of officer resource and a team had already been put together in the past as part of the tenancy section. It was thought that this work would fit into this team. He saw the future being more weighted around tenancy support.

The Group Manager for Strategic Housing added that there were currently 3 officers who worked with young people when in temporary accommodation so there was an option for one of those to become a specialist officer.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Environmental, Sustainability & Regulatory Services noted the disparate computer systems and asked if there were any opportunities to merge them together.

The Corporate Director for Housing and Regeneration agreed for this to happen and said it would benefit the totality of the service.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance & Resources said this was a very good strategy and asked if DBC had drawn on how other council’s did it.

The Group Manager for Strategic Housing explained that this was a holistic view from Central Government. Not many other authorities had such a strong suite of strategies such as DBC which ensures action plans are followed up and maintained. She felt that Tenancy sustainment was the future and they were already seeing benefits of those teams.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Finance & Resources asked if there was a qualification period in order for someone to receive help, for example did they have to reside in the borough for a certain number of years.      

The Group Manager for Strategic Housing explained that for 16-18 year olds there was a joint protocol with HCC and they had an immediate duty to help young people. For those above 18 years the local authority had a duty to help but there needs to be a 6 month local connection, if there isn’t then they would be referred to their previous local authority.

 

Consultation

Consultation took place with:

·       Cllr Margaret Griffiths – Portfolio Holder for Housing

 

·       Mark Gaynor – Corporate Director Housing and Regeneration

 

·       Elliott Brooks – Assistant Director Housing

 

·       Andy Vincent – Group Manager for Tenants and Leaseholders

 

·       Natasha Brathwaite – Group Manager for Strategic Housing

 

·       Strategic partners at the Council’s Homeless Forum

 

·       The planned six week consultation that this report is proposing would target:

 

·        All partners of the housing service

·        Tenants and leaseholders (in partnership with the formal committees)

·        Housing register applicants

 

Voting

 

None.