Agenda item - Consultation on use of empty council homes as Temporary Accommodation

52.1 Cllr Gill Williams, Cabinet Member for Housing, and Harry Williams, Director for People Housing Services, presented to the committee. The main points were:

• the exceptionally high levels of demand
• the social and financial impact of this demand
• the changes that the council wants to make including reducing the number of nightly paid units and increasing the number of council owned TA units
• improving outcomes for residents
• reducing the financial pressure on the council
• the ongoing consultation on the use of empty homes as TA
• the use of the committee’s feedback to shape the next phase and its inclusion in the report to cabinet in April

52.2 Cllr Lyons asked how the current numbers in TA compare with previous figures, asked how many of them were from Brighton & Hove, requested the number of voids and a list of them, and asked about the length of time for properties being voids. Cllr Williams said that the numbers in TA had gone up significantly, with very few from outside Brighton & Hove. She said that where people were from outside the city it was because the council had a statutory duty to help them, such as those from the armed forces or those experiencing domestic violence. She said providing a list of voids would cause problems. Harry Williams said that they had a statutory duty to help those who are homeless and would consider people’s local connections and if necessary, would send them to their own council. He said that the growth in those in TA was largely from single men with mental health problems. He said that he did not have the numbers on void turnarounds but could provide these.

52.3 Cllr Cattell asked for information about the process of spot purchasing. Harry Williams said that because of the demand they had to use any property and that spot purchasing providers would let them know when properties became available.

52.4 Cllr Sheard asked about the use of HMOs as temporary accommodation rather than turning them back into large homes as many single people would live in HMOs in the private sector. Cllr Williams said that they had looked at acquisitions and that many HMOs were no longer being used for student accommodation and could be turned into much needed four-bedroom council homes.

52.5 Jo Martindale asked about support for people living in TA. Harry Williams said that moving into a better home was support itself. He added that the Homelessness & Rough Sleeping Strategy included increased support for people in TA including wrap around care and help to move into permanent accommodation. He said that they were exploring more support for families in TA.

52.6 Cllr Sykes said that he was in favour of the policy and asked about its interaction with the allocations policy. He asked about the expected savings £665k to general fund with pressure on HRA of £500k, which is like a transfer from the general fund to HRA. Harry Williams said that the allocations policy applies to Homemove whereas this policy was using some of the properties that would have gone on them for TA. He said that there were already 260 TA properties in HRA account and it is normal to use HRA homes as temp accommodation and the rent would go back into HRA. Harry said the pressure on HRA was how quickly they could turn homes around.

52.7 Adam Muirhead asked how the council planned to mitigate the loss of HRA to ensure that this short-term solution for TA does not undermine the long-term goal of increasing supply and quality of social housing and support for young council tenants. Harry Williams said that the rental income coming from the properties will still sit in the HRA account. They have expert officers helping people to pay their rent. He said that they needed to be clear with cabinet that there would be a greater turnover of people because of the transient nature of TA. Harry said that it was not stopping them increasing supply and acquiring new homes.

52.8 Cllr Mackey asked if the policy would help families that are moved into TA in places like Eastbourne and those who have been in TA for a long time. Cllr Williams said that those in TA can bid on permanent homes and that they were increasing supply. Harry Williams said that they had successful housing solutions team. He said that they had demand that was greater than supply but that they wanted to increase the supply particularly for children.

52.9 Sara Fulford asked if the council was doing enough to prevent homelessness and about the impact on older people’s housing. Cllr Williams said that they had an excellent homelessness prevention team. Harry Williams said that prevention was the top priority and thy recognised that TA was not the solution. He said that seniors housing was exempt and would not be used for TA.

52.10 Cllr Shanks said that it would have been good to have seen the responses to the consultation. She also mentioned that TA isn’t quick and that people would be in there for a long time. She said that we needed action from the national government such as rent controls. She also asked if people would then be asked to bid on the TA homes that they were living in. Cllr Williams said that it was a problem that people were in TA for too long, but she said that at least they were in better quality TA. Harry Williams said that TA was not the solution but part of a process. He said that they had around 200 responses and that there was a mix of responses, which he would be happy to share after the consultation. He said that there were 5800 people on the housing register as well as 2200 in TA and that they had to balance them.

52.11 Dr Anusree Biswas asked about safeguarding and compound needs, issues such as domestic abuse victims, equity of access such as language or digital barriers, and about the standards that empty homes needed to meet. Harry Williams said that on safeguarding part of the housing assessment was to look at needs and link people with agencies as required. Regarding equity of access, he said that the criteria of access was set out in legislation and that they had a matrix to allocate fairly. He said that there was a list of standards for properties and as they were in control of the properties, they could meet them.

52.12 Fiona England asked about families in these TA properties and if there could be flexibility to allow them to bid on the homes that they would be living in. Harry Williams said that they would not be able to bid on the properties but could bid on other properties. He said that he did hear the committee’s views about whether the homes should be used as permanent homes. Fiona said that sometimes flexibility to allow people who have been in the properties for a long time might be helpful to the whole system. Harry said that they do have a direct offer ability under very exceptional circumstances, but it is used rarely to ensure fairness.

52.13 Cllr Shanks asked about the allocations policy and why couldn’t the people living in these TA properties for extended periods be given a preference for a permanent tenancy. Cllr Williams said that the point as that they don’t have much TA and that turning TA into permanent homes reduced the amount of TA. She said that they were building more homes and that these families could bid on other homes in the area. Harry Williams said that they were trying to transform the TA portfolio and needed to build more homes.

52.14 The Chair asked about the risks of extension, and the criteria for ending, amending, or extending the policy. Harry Williams said that the proposal was for a 12-month extension with a decision due to be made at cabinet. He said that the greatest impact would be on those currently on the register. He said if extended it would be 20% of properties in the year and that they would be trying to smooth it over the year to mitigate the impact.

52.15 The Chair asked how the council were engaging with people in TA now. Harry Williams said that they have had responses from people in TA and that email was the most effective way. He said that they had also engaged with the lived experience group, and the TA Action Group. He said that there was always more to do to engage more.

52.16 No specific recommendations were made by the committee. Feedback on the policy was provided during the discussion, and the draft minutes of the meeting will be shared as a response to the consultation.