Agenda item

Referring to minute 482 of 8 October 2013, and following a review, to approve the continuation of the Homefinder Internal Lettings Agency.

RESOLVED

That the internal lettings agency (Homefinder) be continued.

Further to minute 482 of 8 October 2013, the Cabinet considered the report circulated with the agenda and the replacement appendix circulated with the supplement to the agenda (copies attached to the official minutes).

Mrs Taylor introduced the report, explaining that the problems of finding suitable rented accommodation in the private rented sector were well documented. In addition to high rents, there was the added complication that landlords were reluctant to take on Housing Benefit tenants.

Homefinder had been set up to assist the Council to meet the challenges that arose from the Localism Act 2011 and other welfare reforms and to discharge its homelessness duty.

Homefinder had two main objectives :-

(1)  To set up a letting agency by offering a three tiered service to landlords as set out in the report. In all three tiers, the Landlord received rent at the Local Housing Allowance Rate. This, admittedly, was less than the market rent but landlords participating at the Gold Level had the advantage of knowing that the rent was guaranteed, which mitigated the lower rent.  Also, the tenant had the benefit of private accommodation that had been inspected by Environmental Health and had the necessary safety requirements.

(2)  Homefinder also provided a tenancy sustainment service to help prevent tenants from becoming homeless. To date 40 tenancies had been successfully sustained. These were families that could otherwise have ended up homeless with the Council having to provide them with temporary accommodation.

The unit cost of preventing homelessness via Homefinder was £850 compared to the cost of up to £3,150 for placing a homeless household in bed and breakfast for 10 weeks. This was apart from the social costs of such placement which could result in social and medical problems as well as criminal activity and anti social behaviour.

The figures in the Report showed the success of the scheme. It was disappointing that more landlords had not taken up the Gold Homefinder and solutions were being looked at to make the Gold scheme more attractive.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Mrs Apel (Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee) explained that the Committee had considered a similar report on 2 June 2015 and supported the continuation of the Homefinder scheme.

The Chairman asked about the reference at the end of the Appendix to consideration whether it might be advantageous to offer a full management service at no charge to the landlord in order to entice landlords to provide accommodation at an affordable rent.

Mr Dunmall (Housing Operations Manager) replied that the lost income would depend on the number of properties managed by the Housing Operations Team. If the Team provided a free full management service on 100 properties, after say 4½ years, then the income forgone would be £56,000 per year.

At the Chairman’s invitation, Mr Oakley asked whether the Council required higher standards of accommodation, fixtures and fittings and whether this might inhibit landlords from participating. Mr Dunmall replied that an inspection was carried out before properties were admitted to the scheme. However, the Council also offered a full accreditation scheme for higher quality properties, which became eligible for a grant of up to £4,000 to bring them up to the higher standard.

RESOLVED

That the internal lettings agency (Homefinder) be continued.