To approve the Housing Allocation Scheme for Herefordshire 2020.

The cabinet member housing, regulatory services and community safety introduced the report. She highlighted that the council was required to have an allocation scheme for determining priorities for allocating housing even though it did not currently own any housing stock. The delivery of the new scheme had been delayed due to difficulty with the IT system but this time had been used to further review the scheme and to take on board the requirements of the homelessness reduction act.

In discussion of the report it was noted that:

·         The operational housing team worked closely with strategic housing to ensure that the policy worked on the ground and discussions has also taken place with a range of internal colleagues and external partners in developing the revised scheme;

·         The housing associations had agreed in principle to pay for the addition of Band E for existing tenants and general applicants who did not have an identified housing need, the details of how this would operate were still under negotiation;

·         The equality impact assessment was queried and officers confirmed that individuals with disabilities would likely access housing through specialist schemes rather than Homepoint, and those who were unable to use a computer would receive support from the council or housing association to make an application;

·         There was an intention to include private landlords on the Homepoint system in future, once the initial phase with the housing associations had been delivered;

·         The new system had an increased character limit for information about properties and this should include the energy performance of the property, cabinet members requested that the importance of including energy efficiency information be raised with landlords;

·         The changes to the categories could lead to an increase in numbers on the waiting list however those in higher categories would still have preference, a longer waiting list might be seen as a more accurate reflection of need and would be reviewed after a year to judge the impact of the revised scheme;

·         Properties around the borders of the county would be listed according to which authority they paid council tax to;

·         The changes to criteria giving priority for military personnel were introduced by the government in a series of measures to support them and their families;

·         Post graduate students might be eligible if they could demonstrate their local connections and employment status;

·         Medical needs would be considered based on the information provided by applicants and referred to experts such as an occupational therapist, housing staff would not be assessing medical conditions but would make decisions on the information and expert advice provided.

Group leaders were invited to comment. The reasons for the delay to the implementation of the new system were understood and the implementation of the new scheme was welcomed.

It was agreed that:

(a)  The revised Housing Allocation Scheme at Appendix 1 is approved;

(b)  Any minor amendments to the scheme necessary to enable implementation are delegated to the Cabinet member housing, regulatory services and community safety.