Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the head of health and housing. 

The committee considered the head of health and housing’s report on the council’s housing allocation policy.  The government had published for consultation a revised draft code of guidance on the allocation of affordable homes.  This would become statutory advice to councils on their housing allocation policies.  The report set out the council’s response to the consultation that had been submitted by the March 2012 deadline. 

As background information, the report also summarised the existing housing service provided by the council.  The committee welcomed this and asked questions for clarification.  The committee noted that currently, the council had to accept all applicants to the housing register (the waiting list), even if they had no local connection.  The council had a choice-based letting scheme, which allowed people more choice over where they would like to live, compared to the previous scheme where people had no choice of property, and had to accept what they were offered.  Following a request from a councillor, the head of service agreed to supply information about the numbers and categories of people on the housing list and the housing stock and turnover. 

The committee noted the council’s response to the government’s draft revised code of guidance but suggested that in future, instead of a joint response with South Oxfordshire District Council, separate responses might carry greater weight, even if they were the same. 

The committee noted that the Localism Act had given councils a greater degree of discretion to exclude some people from their housing registers, such as:

·        Owner/occupiers who owned a property outright, unless there were exceptional reasons to allow their application

·        People who had the financial capacity to solve their own housing needs

·        People who did not have a local connection with the district (i.e. did not live or work in the district), unless there were exceptional reasons to allow their application

Following another request from a councillor, the head of service agreed to supply information on the guidance the council followed when assessing a person’s financial capacity. 

The draft code of guidance gave councils discretion on how they prioritised applications.  The code had suggested giving enhanced priority to armed forces personnel if they were in urgent housing need.  However, the committee noted that the council already gave priority through the Oxfordshire Armed Forces Covenant. 

The draft code also gave councils discretion on giving additional priority to people in work or looking for work that contributed to the community.  However, officers wished to see the final code of guidance before recommending any change to the policy on this issue and on giving enhanced priority to armed forces personnel.  Councillors asked that these issues were brought back to the committee for reconsideration at a later date; the head of service agreed. 

The committee noted that the council’s existing policy already gave greater priority to under-occupation and overcrowding cases.  This had also been suggested in the draft revised code. 

In answer to a question from a committee member, the officer reported that it might be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7