Content

Decision
 
RESOLVED That Cabinet
recommended the Housing Allocations Policy (Appendix 1) to Council
for adoption as part of the council’s Policy
Framework
 
Reasons for
decision
 

1.    
To seek Cabinet’s
recommendation for the Housing Allocations Policy (Appendix 1) to
go to Council for adoption.

2.    
The main changes listed in Section
5 were presented to Policy Review Committee on 6th
March 2025 and were well received,
and were presented to Cabinet on 7th
May 2025 when approval was sought
to go out to public consultation.

3.    
The Draft Policy was published as
part of a public consultation and the results of the consultation
were presented back to Policy Review Committee on
9th
July. The consultation ran from
8th
May to 19th
June and the consultation feedback
is included as an appendix to this report (appendix 3).

4.    
There was 116 submitted responses
to the public consultation. All key changes (as described in
Section 5) were consulted upon. Each proposed change had a majority
agreement (either strongly agree or agree) from the consultation
feedback.

5.    
It was pertinent to note that
public feedback received regularly by the Housing Options team has
also been considered when initially developing these
changes.

6.    
Following the public consultation,
the revised Policy was now being brought back to Cabinet to seek
their recommendation to Council to add the Policy to the
Council’s Policy Framework.
 
Alternative Options
Considered
 
Cabinet could decide not to recommend the
Policy for Council’s approval which would mean the current
Policy remains in place. This was not recommended as the updated
Policy addresses updated housing needs and eligibility to allow the
council to best manage limited social housing stock in the
borough.