Housing & Homeless Challenges - Performance & VFM Scrutiny - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Housing & Homeless Challenges

• Performance & VFM Scrutiny

Committee

Dave Smith Customer First Director First Choice Homes Oldham

• 1. Housing Need and Demand
• Increase in demand - >19 000 register on – 69%

increase over last year

• c6000 with statutory reasonable preference need
• 7.5% overcrowded
• Why?
• Demographics/household formation
• Net Migration
• Affordability/welfare reform
• Access to credit/deposits

FCHO Responses

• 92 New Homes and plans for >820 new homes
• Diversifying products – market/sub-market sales

and renting, shared ownership, rent to buy to be invested

• Over £100m to be invested
• CAF and CBL Reviews completed
• Central Access Point
• New IT system - >£300k invested
• Lets to those in need from 40% to 75%+

FCHO Responses

• BGreen and Holts and Lees Early Adopter lead
• Co-funded Health, Care and Housing Offer
• Hospital2Home – over 120 supported
• HOOP – over 150 supported/over 30 rehoused
• HOOP – over 150 supported/over 30 rehoused
• A&E2Home – to prevent repeat presentations
• 100% funded disability living support service
• Funding 100% minor/ 50% major adaptations
• Now considering out of town placements and

mental health needs

• 2. Homelessness
• GM 60% increase decisions/40% acceptances
• 179% increase TA/361% rough sleeping
• Oldham 4800 homeless advice cases pa
• 91% increase decisions/83% acceptances
• B&B spend increased 182%
• Preventions only increased 5.4%

Homeless Reduction Act

• Comes into effect April 2018
• Focus on homeless prevention, early

intervention and support to all

• Extended duties/personalised housing plans
• Duties to start earlier and to more people
• Likely to result in >50% increase in demand
• Impact on resources and TA needs

FCHO Responses

• HASWAS contract with CAB – advice and

prevention

• Improving efficiency/new IT system – c£30k
• Increased TA - 8 units
• 82% of all homeless lets
• Increased staffing resources
• Housing First - female offenders/rough sleepers
• GMHP bid - rough sleepers social impact bond –

homes and funding

FCHO Responses

• Working with GM trailblazers to:
• Sharing data, systems, resources and approaches
• Local homeless hubs – out of hours
• GM wide social lettings agency
• Homeless Action Network – training and support
• Develop more Housing First Approaches
• Common Pathways for complex cases (MAPPA)
• Linking Health and Homelessness

• 3. Affordable Housing
• Social housing turnover reduced – c1200 pa
• FCHO voids all time low – 70 - 80 (0.6%)
• GM (1.5% vacancy rate)/Oldham (2%) is full
• Need c10 000 new homes pa in GM & 700 pa

in Oldham – currently building c300 pa

• 43% cannot afford market housing in Oldham

FCHO Responses

• Provide better advice and support – Disability

Living Service, Aids and Adaptations, Housing Options for Older People, Independent Living Options for Older People, Independent Living and Tenancy Support, CAB and debt

• Diversifying our offer – market, sub-market,

affordable renting and ownership, shared

• wnership, rent to buy, shared

accommodation, supported housing

• 4. Private Renting
• Growing importance of poor quality private

rented sector to meet need – >15000

• Low rental values, high investment need, poor

management and high turnover

• 14% not meeting HHSRS/17% disrepair
• 40% non decent homes/11% fuel poverty
• 46% BME/32% lone parents
• 49% unemployed/22% retired

FCHO Responses

• Tenancy Liaison Service
• Social Lettings and Empty Homes bid to OMBC
• 50% funded new Healthy Homes Project to help

improve health and reduce demand improve health and reduce demand

• GM wide Social Lettings Agency
• Acquiring properties (especially ex RTB’s)
• Private Sector Offer made to OMBC to do more

• 5. Oldham Economy
• No. of jobs reduced c9k since 2008
• Resident employment reduced by 4k
• Wages reduced/stagnant
• Temporary/zero hours employment increased
• Debt and graduate debt increased
• Other working tax credit and family benefits

reduced/ceased

FCHO Responses

• New Directions Service - Employment and Skills
• Delivering employment advice and guidance, skills training,

volunteering and work placements/apprenticeships

• 259 helped into sustainable work
• 193 volunteering placements provided – half helped into

employment

• 86 work placements/18 apprentices/traineeships
• Over £160m invested since transfer
• c50% local spend within 10 mile radius of OL1
• Over 85% of c400 employees with an Oldham postcode
• Further £100m+ to be invested into new homes

• 6. Welfare Reform
• Universal Credit – FCHO over 1200 live and over

700 on full digital UC

• Full digital 75% collection rate – increasing

arrears (232%), evictions (FCHO 15) and homelessness (69 cases to date)

• Less income to invest into new homes and

services

• Benefit cap (£20k pa) and benefit freeze means

larger families (FCHO 111) struggling to afford rent

Welfare Reform

• 18-21 year old – very limited housing cost

entitlement (FCHO 16)

• 21-35 year old – shared room rate of c£53 per

week – 3737 on housing register - will this now be scrapped?

• Supported housing/TA – now announced it

will be exempt from LHA restrictions

• Bedroom tax still in effect

FCHO Responses

• Tenancy affordability and credit checks
• Tenancy eligibility policy and checks
• 2 weeks advance rent/direct debits
• Introductory and fixed term tenancies
• Regulatory and loan requirement to protect

income streams and financial viability

FCHO Responses

• Offered more support through vulnerability and risk

assessments

• Additional income collection, advice and tenancy

support services – sometimes mandatory

• Offer basic banking and credit union services
• Offer employment support – sometimes mandatory
• Offer Keyring, Treshold, De Paul, Serco managed and

supported tenancies

• Fuel Poverty work – Warm Homes Oldham
• Shared accommodation pilot

• 7. FCHO Complaints
• Service Request & Resolution Process
• 2 day response time - reduced complaints
• 2 stage complaints process
• 10 working day response target
• Total 402 – 99.5% within deadline
• Members Enquiries -Dedicated Inbox
• 2 working day target – 10 day promise
• Total 428 – 97.2% within deadline

Some actions to consider

• Review the Oldham Housing Strategy
• Better understand and respond to future housing

needs, affordability and new housing policies

• Improve joint working with planning/private

developers to get more new homes built

• Develop and deliver GM/Oldham Homeless Strategies
• Develop and deliver a Private Sector Offer
• Better support and respond to Welfare Reform
• Develop better links between health, care and

housing – eg Mental Health, Step up/down accom’n