Purpose

To approve the amended Private Sector Housing Grants and Assistance Policy 2023

Decision

THAT:
1)The amended Private Sector Housing Grants and Assistance Policy 2023 (see appendix A) is approved in order to enhance the services available to eligible residents.
2)The new Housing Assistance Grant conditions 2023 are adopted for use to explain the terms of the grants (see Appendix B).
3)The existing Disabled Facilities Grant 2017 conditions remain unchanged and are retained for use (see appendix C)

Reasons for the decision

To enable the Council to deliver the mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant Service and associated Discretionary Housing Grants and Assistance.

Alternative options considered

Retain the existing Private Sector Housing Grants and Assistance Policy from 2017, and do not amend the policy to incorporate the changes described in the background section. This will not enhance the services available to eligible residents and will limit the ability to be able to spend the sizeable budget for mandatory Disabled Facilities Grants and discretionary assistance
Develop an alternative Private Sector Housing Grants and Assistance policy to incorporate alternative proposals. The proposals outlined in the Policy at Appendix A have been developed in conjunction with other Nottinghamshire Local Authorities with the aim of delivering a consistent service across the County.