The Place and Innovation Select Committee are scheduled to meet to discuss the Homefinder Lettings Policy, including feedback from a recent consultation. The committee will also review the minutes from their meeting held on 10 July 2025.

Homefinder Lettings Policy Review

The committee is scheduled to discuss the Homefinder Lettings Policy (HLP), a joint policy with Mansfield District Council. The HLP sets out:

• Eligibility criteria for joining the Housing Register.
• How applications are prioritised.
• How vacant council properties are advertised, shortlisted and let.

A consultation on the HLP was conducted over a four-week period in July 2025, receiving 478 responses across Ashfield and Mansfield. The Public reports pack includes a summary of the feedback from this survey.

The report pack outlines several proposed major changes to the policy for the committee to consider:

1. Income and Savings Thresholds: A maximum income and savings threshold may be introduced to determine eligibility for the Housing Register. The proposed limits are £34,000 for a family and £25,000 for a single person or couple, or £10,000 in savings.
2. Homeowners: The report pack states that the committee may consider excluding homeowners from qualifying for the Housing Register, except those with a very urgent housing need and without the financial resources to meet their needs.
3. Housing-Related Debt: The committee may consider excluding applicants who owe £1,000 or more in current or former housing-related debt to a private landlord.
4. Local Connection: The report pack states that the committee may consider waiving the local connection requirement for survivors of domestic abuse or care leavers¹. To establish a local connection through family members, the family member must have lived in the district for 10+ years and must either provide the applicant with essential support or receive essential support from the applicant.
5. Housing Need Band 5: The report pack states that the committee may consider removing housing need band 5, which currently includes applicants with no identified housing need. The report pack notes that:

The reality is that in respect of all houses and almost all flats (except older persons bedsits) applicants in band 5 will never feature high enough on a shortlist to be offered a property.

1. Under-Occupying Social Housing Tenants: The report pack states that the committee may consider making social housing tenants in Ashfield and Mansfield districts who are under-occupying their homes eligible for housing need band 1.
2. Care Leavers: The report pack states that the committee may consider making Nottinghamshire care leavers eligible for housing need band 1, as part of the Care Leaver Offer.
3. Supported Housing Applicants: The report pack states that the committee may consider making applicants in supported housing who are ready to move on from supported housing eligible for housing need band 2.
4. 'Golden Tenant' Status: The report pack states that the committee may consider removing band 3 eligibility for the 'Golden Tenant' scheme for social housing tenants.
5. Families with Children: The report pack states that the committee may consider removing band 3 eligibility for families with children living above ground floor or lacking a garden.
6. Bedroom Standard: The report pack states that the committee may consider changing the age at which families with children of different sexes are considered eligible for an additional bedroom to 8 years old.

The report pack also lists other minor changes for discussion, including reasonable adjustments to ensure applicants can actively participate with the rehousing process, and adjustments to the definition of employment for demonstrating a local connection to the district.

Councillor T Hollis, Portfolio Holder for Strategic Housing and Climate Change, is the executive lead member. Phil Warrington, Assistant Director for Strategic Housing, and John Bennett, Executive Director - Place, are also named in the report.