Decision details

Delegated Decision To Increase Investment In Private Rented Sector Accommodation To Reduce Numbers In Temporary Accommodation

Decision Maker: Cabinet

Decision status: For Determination

Is Key decision?: Yes

Is subject to call in?: No

Purpose:

This report seeks approval to invest £900k from the Temporary Accommodation Earmarked Reserve to secure 300 additional private rented sector properties (Direct Lets) over the next two years for the purposes of preventing homelessness or enabling households to exit Temporary Accommodation. To support this investment, it is recommended that additional operational and policy measures be introduced to further encourage voluntary acceptances of Direct Let offers

Decision:

1.    That approval be granted for £900,000 to be invested from the Temporary Accommodation Earmarked Reserve to secure 300 additional private rented sector properties (Direct Lets) over the next two years.

 

2.    That approval be granted for the service to pilot a dedicated PRS team for six months. The team will work intensively with different cohorts and trial different support offers so as to build the capacity of the service to encourage more households to accept Direct Let offers.

 

3.    That approval be granted to change the Housing Allocation Scheme to enable officers to backdate a household’s start date on the register to the date of the original Homelessness Duty acceptance, when households are subsequently accepted as Homeless within three years of having accepted an offer of a Direct Let. This change can be made by Cabinet Member authority.

 

4.    That Cabinet notes the risk to the General Fund of up to £9.3m over the next four years which arises solely from reductions in Government grants.

Report author: Administrator

Publication date: 09/10/2018

Date of decision: 08/10/2018

Decided at meeting: 08/10/2018 - Cabinet

Accompanying Documents: