Purpose

On the 16th October
2024, Cabinet agreed to a consultation regarding proposed changes
to the Allocation Scheme.
The Allocation Scheme is the
Council’s policy towards the distribution of social housing
setting out how an applicant can qualify, the level of priority
based on  housing need and how an
application can be made.
 
The proposed changes to the
Allocation Scheme were as follows;
 

Extending the
residency criteria to six years
Raising the banding
priority for Care Experienced Young Adults
Changing the entry
age into Sheltered Accommodation from 55 to pension age or above 60
with health/well-being issues
Reciprocal
arrangements to allow transfer with other Boroughs
Ability for the
Council to create a Lettings Plan-the papers contain a further
report setting out the Lettings Plan 2025/6
Changes in
applicants’ circumstances resulting in a change in a
‘priority band’
Response times to
applications lengthened to 30 working days
Re-instatement of the
annual review of the housing register
Ability for
overcrowded residents to bid down to a smaller property
Offers of
accommodation restricted to one.

 
The Council carried out a
comprehensive consultation through an online survey with residents,
housing associations and the voluntary and statutory sector and
followed this up with a schedule of meetings with key partners. The
survey showed broad agreement with all the proposals. 
 
The Cabinet agreed that if
there was agreement with the proposed policies then the matter
could be delegated to the Corporate Director for agreement and
permission is sought for this decision to be made.
 

Content

For the reasons set out in the
report and appendix, it is recommended that the Corporate Director
of Housing AGREED:
 
2.1.
    To any minor amendments
that are necessary, and agree, implement and publish the finalised
scheme (Appendix 1)
 
2.2.      Note the following
amendments to the scheme:
 
• The inclusion of statutory guidance with regards to the
treatment of Armed   Forces
personnel.
 
2.3.      Note
the results of the consultation included in the Housing Allocation
Scheme Consultation report (Appendix 2) and summarised in section
(6) of Cabinet report.
 
2.4.      Note the Equalities Impact
Assessment attached in Appendix 3