Housing and
Homelessness
Strategy
2011–2016
In 2011, we produced a comprehensive Housing and Homelessness Strategy for 2011-2016. The aim of the strategy is to set out the Council’s approach to helping residents access good quality homes, which are affordable and appropriate to their needs. It also takes into account issues relating to empty properties and private sector housing so that all housing aspects are delivered against a single strategy.
Four key themes continue to shape the council’s strategic approach to tackling housing problems and preventing homelessness. These are:
The publication of Rushmoor’s 2011-16 strategy was at a time when government policy in relation to housing allocation and welfare reform was uncertain and the housing market depressed. The two subsequent strategy updates published in 2012 and 2013 explained the impact to residents’ ability to access appropriate housing and housing related services.
This update shares the Councils learning around Welfare Reform, which is evidently affecting demand on the housing service and we have examined the impacts under each of our Housing Strategy themes.
Housing supply and the delivery of good quality housing
Homelessness and homelessness prevention
Housing to meet the needs of specific groups
Neighbourhoods and housing standards
A newly commissioned Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) along with improved demand sample data collected by Housing Options and Housing Benefits has provided good quality data to inform this update.
The delivery plan enables the housing team to identify where we are performing well and where we need to make changes; it is the working document used to monitor the delivery of housing objectives. We use measurable targets when appropriate and include project progress made in partnership with our housing providers.
We maintain an open dialogue with stakeholders via a range of forums, which include:
Quarterly Registered Provider (RP) Liaison meetings on housing development
Bi annual RP Liaison Meeting on tenancy and neighbourhood management
Annual forums with private landlords and providers of Homelessness & housing advice Services such as Step by Step, The Vine and CAB.
Member led RP Review meetings with RP’s to enable better business and explore issues or concerns
Monthly briefings with the Portfolio Holder for Housing
Quarterly Rushmoor Health and Wellbeing Partnership meetings focussed on Health Improvement
Aldershot Urban Extension “Wellesley” achieved planning permission with 35% affordable housing agreed and 82 affordable housing units to be delivered in phase one
Capital budget of £200,000 is in place SHMA commissioned
Queensgate Farnborough - 53 new affordable homes agreed
Five empty properties brought back into use North Town - 84 units are on schedule to be delivered by the end of 2014, an additional 202 homes as phases three and four are fully funded Housing allocation scheme updated to include additional preference for military personnel
Night shelter pilot scheme delivered in partnership with The Vine assisting 23 people. Funding secured to run this project again from November 2014 to March 2015
Monitoring of bidding and lettings information is in place
Funding secured for ex-offender tenancy support via charity Jigsaw
Wheelchair accessible and adapted properties are now identified through lettings plans and Choice Based Lettings scheme
Housing officers have run several events, including a Landlords forum and information sharing sessions to promote the importance of home and fire safety as well as the safety implications of overcrowding First Wessex has delivered a retrofit scheme of 21 properties in Aldershot, part funded by energy company obligation
Eleven energy efficiency grants given to vulnerable clients 2013/14
Increased formal enforcement action is being taken by the Private Sector Housing Team for poor housing conditions with the caseload increasing from 2 in 2012/13 to 23 in 2013/14
The number of HMO Licences granted increased to 32 from 15 in the previous year.
Housing Supply and delivering good quality housing
Last year we reported that the new homes deliverylevels had started to improve and the recovering local economy, combined with the progress of strategic housing sites enabled this. We are starting to see an increase in the number of development enquiries coming forward from our housing partners, however actual affordable housing completions for 2013/14 was lower than anticipated due to delays in the delivery programme at North Town.
There were 286 new homes delivered in Rushmoor in 2013/14, 25 of which were affordable homes.
We anticipate 418 affordable housing units being delivered between 2014-17 as follows: (Source: Rushmoor Planning Services June 2014)
(Source: Rushmoor Affordable Housing Development Programme 2014 - 17)
New housing supply data 2010 - 2014
THEME ONE
Year Total housing Affordable housing
2011/12 173 98
2012/13 250 159
2013/14 286 25
Affordable rent 240
Shared ownership 115
Specialist - sensory impairment and learning disability 14
Specialist - wheelchair 2
Queensgate, North Town and Wellesley are priority strategic housing sites for the borough and the wider housing market; together they will provide 4,679 new homes, 1,983 of which will be affordable, by 2027. Queensgate
Queensgate continues to deliver a range of new homes in Farnborough, providing 399 properties in total. The Council and site owners, Inland PLC, are seeking to deliver a mix of house types and tenures, so as well as housing for sale there will be 20% affordable housing comprising 53 units for rent and 29 for shared ownership. Radian manages the 54 affordable homes provided to date. We are also hoping to provide extra care housing for older residents here in partnership with Hampshire County Council and Sentinel Housing Association.
Wellesley
Following the approval of planning permission in March 2014, groundwork is underway on the first phase. This is part of the large, phased development of former military land to the North of Aldershot previously known as the Aldershot Urban Extension (AUE). The Council is working in partnership with Grainger Plc and Grainger Trust to develop this brand new, carefully planned and well-managed neighbourhood, which will meet housing demand and aspirations as well as housing need.
The first phase will deliver 228 homes of which 80 will be affordable. We expect the first completions during 2015. A total of 3,850 new homes are planned and will be delivered through a 13-year development programme, 1,347 of these new homes will be for affordable housing with 808 for affordable rent and 539 for shared ownership and other intermediate tenures. A mix of unit types and styles will be constructed including, one and two bedroom flats, and two, three and four bedroom houses. There will also be some specialist accommodation.
North Town
North Town is a priority strategic site for North Hampshire, which has benefited from £10 million in Homes and Community Agency funding and £1.5 million of Right to Buy receipt capital to date. As the construction phases are completed, residents are returning to a transformed, modern and
sustainable neighbourhood.
Phases one to five will deliver 430 homes comprising:
Rent 277 Shared ownership 70 Outright sale 83 Rent 59 Shared ownership 94 Outright sale 143
Phase six will deliver an additional 226 homes comprising:
One hundred and fifty nine homes have been completed since 2013, which includes a
replacement-25 unit sheltered housing scheme, Alma House. A further 84 homes are due to be completed by the end of 2014.
Properties at North Town occupied by returning residents do not count towards the borough’s net housing gain and are not available to households in the Rushmoor housing allocation pool.
Some residents who moved off the estate, as part of the decanting process, are not planning to return to North Town as their circumstances have changed or they have settled in their new accommodation. This means First Wessex has a number of additional units, to make available to households in Rushmoor’s housing allocation pool.
Seven units were advertised on our Choice Based Lettings system in May 2014 and we expect a further 11 units to become available by December 2014. Help to Buy South is advertising shared ownership properties, with priority given to local residents. Data from First Wessex proves that this tenure is freeing up much needed private rented accommodation in the borough and therefore making an important contribution to meeting the wider housing need.
Accessing housing remains a challenge for newly forming households across all tenures. The current minimum income level required to access different tenures is:
Average earnings in the Borough are currently £24,519. Household incomes for residents in the Housing Allocation Pool are significantly lower with just under 70% of household incomes at below £15,000.
This provides a huge challenge for low-income working households, not in receipt of housing benefit, to be able to afford accommodation either in the private rented sector and increasingly now in the social housing sector following the introduction of affordable rents at 80% of open market value.
Affordability testing provides evidence to demonstrate affordable rents at 70% for one and two bedroom accommodation and 65% for three, four and five bedroom homes can provide a sustainable rent level for most households in housing need. Despite this evidence, developing registered providers bidding for Homes and Community Agency (HCA) grant through the 2015-18 bidding framework are required to maximise rental income by setting rents at 80% of open market value. The Council supports registered providers in their HCA funding bids and taking a proactive approach to secure HCA investment in the borough.
The impact of increasing private and now social sector rents in the borough is that more households need to claim housing benefit to maintain their tenancy, with significant cost to the public purse. This is expected to continue over the long term.
Tenure Minimum housing income required
Open market purchase £44,000
Shared ownership purchase (30% equity) £17,100
Private market rent £22,300
Affordable rent (80% Open Market Rent) £17,840
(Source: Rushmoor Affordability Background Information Paper and First Wessex Sales Team Data June 2014)
(Source: Rushmoor Housing Allocation Pool Data)
Under £10,000 45% £10,000 - £15,999 24% £16,000 - £20,999 11% £21,000 - £27,999 17% £28,000 - £40,000 3%
Housing affordability
Increase in number of households cleaming housing benefit 2009 - 2013
Strategic housing market assessment
Private rented accommodation 86% Affordable rented accommodation 7%
(Source: Rushmoor Housing Allocation Pool Data)
The Council has commissioned a new Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) jointly with Hart District Council and Surrey Heath Borough Council. We have also completed the consultation and are finalising the draft. The new SHMA will help the Council to produce up to date, evidence based Development Plan Documents and Supplementary Planning Documents. The report will also provide information on the housing needs of particular groups e.g. families and older people.
In the next year, we will be working on a policy response to the findings of the new SHMA. Linked to this we will also be developing our approach to encourage Registered Provider investment into the Private Rented market. We believe this will help to improve the supply of good quality, well-managed homes for Rushmoor residents to rent privately.
Welfare reform impact on this theme
Boosting supply
The number of households requiring financial help to secure and maintain their tenancy continues to increase. This is a symptom of the increase in rent levels in both the private and housing association sectors, which is expected to continue for the near Making sure that there is sufficient housing to meet the needs of our borough is a challenge. Overall housing delivery is constrained by the compact urban nature of the borough, the impact of the SPA and the more conservative lending policies of mortgage companies and those providing development finance. In response to this the Council has secured on going supply by:
Over the coming year we will be considering new and innovative schemes for boosting the supply of good quality private sector rented property drawing on the report from Sir Andrew Montague for DCLG on removing the barriers to institutional investment in private rented homes. This work will include consideration of whether there is a role for the Council as an investor or development partner and will aim to boost supply without recourse to public subsidy. These schemes will be tested against their ability to free up existing private rented homes for those for whom we have a housing responsibility, and the potential to provide a financial return.
Under occupation
From discussions with registered providers and the Council’s housing options and housing benefit teams, it is clear that the existing social housing stock does not provide enough one bedroom homes to meet the needs of all of the households affected by the Social Sector Size Criteria (Bedroom Tax).
This means that people are not able to downsize into social housing and it is evident that they are not moving to the private rented sector.
Research carried out with Rushmoor residents in receipt of Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) provides evidence that they are not working additional hours but are cutting back on other
essential household expenditure with implications for child poverty, fuel poverty and health.
The Council is concerned that continuing support to residents with complex needs (disability, rent arrears, under occupancy) with limited funding through DHP will create further benefit dependency.
Direct payments of benefits
Concerns have been raised by landlords about the impact of the direct payment of benefit at private sector landlord forums as they are aware of the potential financial impact this change has on them. Managing arrears and rent loss combined with providing debt advice and managing a higher tenant turnover increases the cost to their business. We need to encourage private landlords to continue to make their property portfolios available to residents in receipt of benefits and to ensure they have access to the right information and advice when they need it. Approving the development of 3850 new homes
at Wellesley including affordable housing
Approving the development of further new homes at Queensgate
Supported RPs in charging up to 80% market rent to provide funding for new development (subject to affordability assessments)
Homelessness and homelessness prevention
THEME TWO
Achievements of the year
The Housing Options Team assisted 138 households into private rented accommodation through the Council’s Rent Bond Scheme.
We opened a night shelter in Aldershot for the first time, which operated under the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP), providing accommodation for 23 street homeless people.
Demand for homelessness service
Last year we explained the impact of the increasing demand for the homelessness service and responded by increasing staff resources. This has enabled
Housing Officers to focus on homelessness prevention rather than crisis management.
Understanding the demand for the housing options team enables us to be prepared to provide the right help to our customers so we are running quarterly demand samples to inform us. The data provides us with the evidence to demonstrate that enquiries are being dealt with more efficiently, especially phone enquiries.
The additional staff resources has also allowed more time to be spent helping customers explore their housing options, preventing homelessness and less time involved in crisis management.
Housing Options staff can spend more time engaged in partnership working, referring clients to statutory and voluntary services to help them deal with other non-housing issues that impact on their ability to access and maintain their tenancy. The additional staff resources also mean that Housing Options staff can now engage with and support key outreach projects such as The Women’s Refuge, LIFE community house for young single mums and the night shelter.
Temporary and supported
accommodation
The Council’s 2011 Homeless Review and
Consultation showed that demand for temporary and supported accommodation was increasing and the Housing and Homelessness Strategy predicted that this would continue for the medium to long term. Demand for bed and breakfast increased from 59 to 132 households between 2011/12 and 2012/13. It reduced slightly to 100 during 2013/14 as we focussed our efforts to reduce this.
This year we have worked with a range of
housing providers to secure additional temporary accommodation. The Society of St James is working with Hyde Martlett to manage Brighstone House. This nine-unit community house was empty for a number of months but is now back in use and benefitting from specialist management.
We are working with Oak Housing Association and Grainger Trust to utilise empty properties scheduled for redevelopment at the end of the Wellesley
development programme. We have secured £255,000 from the Homes and Community Agency Empty Homes Fund and plan to make 45 units of temporary accommodation available from March 2015 for a six to seven year period.
The Vine managed the winter night shelter pilot out of “The Source” in Aldershot High Street; it opened between January and March 2014 under the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (open for three consecutive nights when the temperature drops below freezing). As well as providing basic accommodation to street homeless people as an alternative to bed and breakfast, the project also provided a free nutritious hot evening meal and breakfast, befriending and the opportunity for guests to access essential housing, health and support services.
The pilot helped 23 individuals, five of which were living in settled accommodation by the end of the project. Hampshire County Council Public Health Grant and Department of Communities and Local Government Homelessness Prevention Fund financed the project. We will be running the winter night shelter from November 2014 to April 2015 and will be working with The Vine to develop a sustainable funding model for the future.
Welfare reform for this theme
Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) has helped 138 people move into a private rented property through the rent bond scheme (deposit plus six months’ rent in advance) preventing homelessness and additional bed and breakfast placements. DHP is a limited fund.
The number of rent bonds issued has increased by 109% since 2011 and our concern is that increasing numbers of households relying on DHP support to secure accommodation is unsustainable and creating benefit dependency.
The Council’s Housing Benefit and Housing Options teams have worked hard to provide a positive response to the impact of Welfare Reform and are working closely with registered providers in respect of households affected by the Social Sector Size Criteria (Bedroom Tax).
We have identified those affected and held two seminars designed to give residents advice and support to empower them to find and secure mutual exchanges.
We are also making use of lettings plans on smaller sites to assist affected households in securing alternative accommodation. We have trained CAB volunteers on the housing allocation scheme and general housing options advice so they are able to give realistic advice to their clients.
Year rent bonds issuedNumber of
2011/12 66
2012/13 93
2013/14 138
This year we have seen an increasingly vulnerable client group seeking support from the Council to help resolve more than just their housing problems. Clients are presenting with complex needs including problems with significant debt, physical and mental health problems as well as drug and alcohol issues. We continue to work with our partners to ensure we understand the housing needs of specific groups and aim to achieve this by:
In the last year, we have:
Meeting the needs of specific groups
THEME THREE
Working with registered providers to manage the existing housing stock well
Planning new housing provision to meet identified needs
Developing housing advice and support services Making referrals to appropriate statutory and voluntary support services
Published the revised housing allocation policy which ensures appropriate priority is given to the armed forces in the Borough and attended events with the MOD to provide housing options advice to personnel leaving the armed forces
Delivered the older persons plan for Rushmoor and celebrated International Older People’s Day with a well-attended event at the Princes Hall
Arranged housing standards and safety awareness initiatives with the Nepalease community and held a Landlord Forum for Nepalease Landlords who provide private rented accommodation
Completed a gypsy and traveller accommodation assessment to establish the need for additional pitches and gathered data to identify suitable sites through a delivering planning document next year Run a winter night shelter for socially excluded rough sleepers between January and March 2014 in partnership with The Vine who are also providing outreach support work
Worked with the Society of St James Jigsaw team to help ex-offenders secure and sustain their tenancy
London & Quadrant Accent Peerless
Thames Valley Housing Association Sentinel
Developing neighbourhoods and housing standards
THEME FOUR
Achievements for the year
We have issued 32 Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licences which will help to maintain or improve standards in this type of accommodation. We have taken formal enforcement action to deal with 23 cases of poor housing conditions and overcrowding under the Housing Health and Safety Rating system (Housing Act 2004). We successfully prosecuted an HMO Landlord for breach of a prohibition order in a property that had been restricted to occupation by a single-family household. We held two landlord forums, one aimed specifically for Nepalease landlords where we were able to promote safe accommodation and explain the health and safety implications of overcrowding.
We investigated 100% of urgent complaints on the day of receipt and responded to 98% of complaints of poor housing within three working days.
Registered provider reviews
Registered providers (RPs) play an important role in the development and maintenance of good quality housing and neighbourhoods so we work closely with them to ensure good RPs continue to invest in the borough. Elected members lead the RP review which provides the opportunity to build working relationships with our partners and understand the impact of changing government policy on RPs and their business and residents. This year we made some site visits before meeting with RP
This year we reviewed:
The Community Panel report with the RP review findings is on the Council’s website. The Community and Policy Panel agreed to continue with the review process in 2014/15.
Housing standards
The private sector housing team is committed to ensuring good housing standards for tenants living in the private rented sector, the demand for the service remains high with the number of service requests increasing by 23% compared with the previous year.
Year services requestsNumber of
2012/13 406
2013/14 501
Housing standards
The Government announced its response to the technical housing standards review in March 2014. The review considered the current system of building regulations and how housing standards work together and what potential there was to free up the system and make it work more efficiently. The ministerial statement indicated that the government would move to a system of enforcing housing standards through building regulations with some optional regulations available to local authorities to meet specific local needs. The government has decided not to progress this within the current parliament.
Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs)
There are currently 105 licensed HMOs in the borough. The survey work reported last year identified two new HMOs in Aldershot. We are continuing to conduct targeted surveys in areas where we consider there may be poor quality or unlicensed HMOs.
We have seen an increase in the number of HMO s occupied by the Nepali community, which is why the Private Sector Housing team have carried out housing safety awareness work at a number of community-based events, anecdotal evidence from officers leads us to believe understanding of housing standards amongst Nepalese residents and Landlords
Disabled Facilities Grants (DFG’s)
Last year we spent over £650,000 to provide 114 disabled adaptations, jointly funded by
Rushmoor Borough Council and the Department of Communities and Local Government. The number of referrals for DFGs continues to increase and we are working with Hampshire County Council to secure funding for the programme next year through the Department of Health Better Care Fund.
Level access showers are the most frequently requested adaptations from occupational therapists, in the financial year 2013/14, 82 were installed.
Energy Efficiency
The introduction of Green Deal and reduction of funding for insulation generally has slowed down progression for residents carrying out energy saving improvements to their homes. We are promoting the Solent Green Deal Project to our residents but are finding that the perceived expense and unfamiliar financial process (loans are repaid through energy bill savings) is putting people off ; consequently, take up of Green Deal has been poor in Rushmoor and throughout Hampshire.
Fuel poverty
The Council part funds Rushmoor Healthy Living to provide fuel poverty, debt and energy advice to our residents. Both the Council and Citizens Advice Bureau are able to make referrals to this service.
Welfare reform impact on this theme
Following discussions with RPs we expect welfare reform to impact on neighbourhoods in terms of both the unit sizes developed and potentially the types of households who occupy them. Housing providers now seek to deliver greater levels of smaller homes to address under occupation, and reduce the risk of rent loss and have suggested that they will not be building larger family homes in the future. Demand for HMO style accommodation is also likely to remain high and it is increasingly likely that those living in both private and affordable rented accommodation will have no choice but to rely on benefit to help meet their housing costs.
Conclusion
The past year has provided many opportunities to unite with partners and develop some innovative housing solutions. While we are starting to see the benefits of the construction of more new homes, challenges and difficulties continue to demand that we really understand the impact of housing pressures to our residents and the local economy. We also need to build on our proactive, can do approach to meeting housing need with our partners and other stakeholders.
Housing and health
Building the right homes, to the highest standards in the right places is the foundation to ensuring good health through housing. The quality of the design and build of new homes along with interventions by the Private Sector Housing team to existing housing stock (housing standards, energy efficiency, aids and adaptations) provides a framework of guidance, enforcement and support to developers, homeowners, landlords and tenants to ensure safe and healthy housing conditions.
The housing team has worked with Rushmoor Health and Well-being Partnership to update the Health Improvement Plan and Older Person’s Plan for
Rushmoor. We have also promoted the importance of housing to the local public health agenda. Public health funding contributed to the running of the night shelter with proven health and well-being outcomes. We will be looking to develop ways of evidencing health and wellbeing outcomes through housing projects in the future.
