Transcript Slide 1

Stock Utilisation In Practice –
a best practice session on
Under-Occupancy
Stock Utilisation In Practice –
a best practice session on
Under-Occupancy
 John Carthew,
Managing Director, Housing Partners
 Anne Duffield,
Head of Policy and Housing Options, Northwards Housing
 Cathy Caves,
Housing Access Manager, Milton Keynes Council
 Karen Page & Dawn Johnson,
Central Allocations, Nottingham City Homes
 Andrew Wood,
Senior Operations Manager, Walsall Housing Group
 Denise Garbutt,
Housing Manager, New Linx Housing Trust
Stock Utilisation in Practice
A Best Practice Session on under-occupancy
Under Occupancy by the numbers
• 423,000 (by two bedrooms or more)
– Source: English Housing Survey (2009-2010)
• 70,409 unused bedrooms
– Source: HomeSwapper (17th June 2011)
Under-Occupancy
• Housing Benefit: from April 2013 Local Housing Allowance
Rules will apply for social housing tenants of working age
Under-Occupation of
accommodation by
One Bedroom
Two Bedroom
Number of claimants
530,000
150,000
RightSize
• Match under-occupiers with overcrowded tenants
• E-mail alert when a tenant registers with HomeSwapper who is underoccupying
• All your under-occupiers and overcrowded tenants in one on-screen
report
• Keep detailed notes on the support/care needs for each tenant listed
• Search and match a specific local authority district or all tenants
• Publish incentives to move for under-occupying tenants
John Carthew
Managing Director
Housing Partners
Stock Utilisation In Practice –
a best practice session on
Under-Occupancy
Anne Duffield
Head of Policy and Housing Options
Northwards Housing
Northwards Housing
• A partial ALMO established in December 2005 to deliver decent homes
• Managing 12,500 in North Manchester
Governance
• A Board of 12; 3 Local Area Panels and 350 employees
• 3* Inspection result – Jan 2009
Location
Challenge
• Cover 8 political wards north from the city centre
• Communities amongst the most deprived in the country
• A regeneration area with half the area covered by HMR Pathfinder
• Our customer profile 17% BME and 39% disabled
• From Decent Homes to Decent Neighbourhoods
• Worklessness - unemployment well above national average
• Improving services and quality of life
• Community cohesion
www.northwardshousing.co.uk
www.wates.co.uk
www.northwardshousing.co.uk
Under Occupation
• Allocations Policy
• Joint project with other partners
• Building what people want
www.northwardshousing.co.uk
Allocations policy
• Manchester operates one housing register across 17
partners.
• From December 2011 the majority of those partners will
operate the recently launched allocations scheme.
• Will bring the benefit of being able to downsize across
partners easily.
www.northwardshousing.co.uk
Allocations Policy
• New policy launched in Feb 2011.
• Explicit recognition of under-occupation as a housing need.
• Band 1 given for those applicants giving up a 3 bed or bigger family home and
willing to accept a 1 bed or 2 bed larger “non family” property.
• Band 2/3 given for those applicants wishing to downsize by one bedroom
(recognising possible future welfare reform implications)
www.northwardshousing.co.uk
Project work with
partners
• Project was in place for 2010/11 across 9 partners.
• Played different roles – some had tenants that needed help to
move, some partners would donate properties into the scheme.
• 2 Housing Options Officers and a part time team manager.
• Based geographically.
• Good relationship building with partners and helpful to have this
coordination across partners.
www.northwardshousing.co.uk
Project work across
partners
• Key messages from this:
- Understanding under-occupation is a necessary part of
developing a strategy to tackle it.
- Employing the right incentives is essential. We found that
was rarely money.
- Case management approach was helpful
www.northwardshousing.co.uk
Achievements
• Carried out 312 housing options interviews.
• 106 under occupiers moved over the year. Some with help
and others themselves through understanding CBL process.
• Project linked to overcrowding – 64 households who were
severely or acutely overcrowded also were helped to move
– some into the released larger properties.
www.northwardshousing.co.uk
Key things to think
about
• Identifying households, factors that would encourage them
to move and their preferences.
• Providing targeted support to those seriously considering a
move.
• Access to the “right” housing to downsize into.
• Use of exchanges where possible.
www.northwardshousing.co.uk
Use of new build
projects
• Northwards was lucky to have 2 exceptional projects in
2010/11.
• 32 new 2 bed bungalows funded through the LANB round
1. 30 of these were ringfenced to those current tenants
who were over 60 and in a 3 bed or larger house. Medical
needs given priority.
www.northwardshousing.co.uk
www.northwardshousing.co.uk
Whitebeck Court
• Flagship DoH funded Extra Care scheme.
• 91 x 1 and 2 bed apartments.
• Local marketing campaign generated huge amounts of
local interest – database of over 250 interested people.
• Released 26 family type properties.
• Gave 91 people a new lease of life!
• Who would want to downsize to here…..
www.northwardshousing.co.uk
www.northwardshousing.co.uk
www.wates.co.uk
www.northwardshousing.co.uk
But they did to here!
www.northwardshousing.co.uk
Summary
All 3 of these initiatives have worked together to make a real difference.
Lots of lessons learned and has given partners lots of ideas to take away and embed
within their own organisations.
New build was a luxury at the right time and helped 56 people downsize to a brand new
home.
Allocations policy will make it easier in the future for applicants to be able to downsize
as they have either additional or reasonable preference set out within the allocations
scheme.
www.northwardshousing.co.uk
Stock Utilisation In Practice –
a best practice session on
Under-Occupancy
Cathy Caves
Housing Access Manager
Milton Keynes Council
Subjects to be covered
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Specific aim in Housing Options & Allocations Scheme
Monitoring of demand & supply to understand shortfalls
Sources of under occupied properties
Incentives
Success
Housing Options & Allocations Scheme
• Specific reference in the scheme to award preference to those releasing
social rented properties and looking to move to smaller properties
• Same preference is given to those releasing adapted properties but can
be given preference even if moving to similar size or larger property
• Scheme allows preference to be given for “urgency”. This can be
interpreted as properties which are needed urgently to meet demand
Demand & Supply
• Milton Keynes Allocation Scheme operates without a waiting list
• Only those assessed where we have to house or have a prospect of
being housed are registered
• At present at any one time approx 500 in the queue to be housed
• Of those 50% usually have a pre- allocation of a Council or Registered
Provider property
• Shortfall is balance of unallocated applicants compared to expected
voids
• MKC actively looks to release property size and type to match what is
required to make up shortfall
Sources of Under Occupied Properties - Homeswapper
• MKC utilises data held on Homeswapper and which is available for
download as a spreadsheet
• Data is regarded as current and reliable as it has been created by
tenants interested in moving
• Spreadsheet shows number of current bedrooms, bedrooms needed and
adapted properties
• Spreadsheet has property address and current contact details for tenant
• This data is used to identify properties needed and to contact those
wishing to move
• Specific Officer tasked to make contact and negotiate moves
Sources of Under Occupied Properties - Advertising
•
MK@Home Summer 2011
Is your home too big?
Has the family flown the nest,
leaving you in a large property
that is expensive to run and heat?
We have lots of people in need of
good-sized family housing so that
they and their children can thrive.
If you would like to ‘down-size’
to something smaller and more
manageable and help a young
growing family into the bargain,
we would love to hear from you.
Please call Carole now on 01908
252112 and we can discuss how
we can help you.
Incentives
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MKC does not pay per room released
MKC does not have a menu of sums paid for specific items
MKC does not pay a lump sum
MKC does talk to the individual and find out what help is needed to
achieve a move.
• Most frequently it is practical help and support to arrange gas, electricity
phones & bills
Successes
• 44 households moved who freed up family or adapted housing during
2010/2011
• Further 92 households registered and interested in moving on
• Ability to use Registered Provider “over 55’s schemes” to target under• occupation
• Last year we freed up 44 units at a cost of £11,000 and the cost of
adapting family properties – estimated saving of £50,000
• Questions?
Stock Utilisation In Practice –
a best practice session on
Under-Occupancy
Karen Page &
Dawn Johnson
Central Allocations
Nottingham City Homes
Role
Pathfinder Project
Harrogate conference 2011
Positive outcomes
24 over occupied families
Nine, two bedroom houses
66 under occupiers
Four, four bedroom parlours
35 three bedroom houses
15 four bedroom houses
Harrogate conference 2011
The way forward
Harrogate conference 2011
Thank You
Harrogate conference 2011
Stock Utilisation In Practice –
a best practice session on
Under-Occupancy
Andrew Wood
Senior Operations Manager
Walsall Housing Group
Overcrowding and Under-occupation
Overcrowding and Under
Occupation Project
Charlotte Brittain and Helen Brookes
Overview
• Rationale
• Baseline figures
• Project Scope
• Definition of overcrowding / under occupancy used
• Project Delivery
• On That Subject
Overcrowding and Under-occupation
Rationale
Rationale – for doing the presentation
• Different levels of awareness of the project across the business
• Different understandings of overcrowding and under occupation
• Build links with the Estate Management teams to offer a comprehensive
service to customers
Rationale – for doing the work
• Walsall Council’s Housing Needs Study Update (2007) highlighted that the
highest category of housing need was for overcrowding, with 4.1% (4.263)
households recorded as overcrowded.
• 34.6% (35,710) households were recorded as under occupied with showed
an increased need for social rented properties and larger homes.
Overcrowding and Under-occupation
Project
Scope
Project Scope
• To reduce the number of households living in severely overcrowded
conditions, or who under occupy their 3+ bedroom property, (as per the
Bedroom Standard) – including non whg households
• To support customers to move to a
suited to their individual needs
property more
• To increase the number of properties
available for priority
moves, based on
under occupation or overcrowding
Project Scope
• Deficit of 2 or more bedrooms = severe overcrowding
• Surplus of 2 or more bedrooms = under occupation*
• However…
…anyone looking to downsize from a 2
bed house to a flat or bungalow may still
be eligible for a gold Band priority
through choose and move.
Project Scope
• Each couple or single adult aged 21+ should have sole use of a bedroom.
• Between the ages of 10 and 20, two adolescents of the same gender can
share a bedroom.
• Under 10 years of age, two children, regardless of gender, can share a
bedroom.
• Any unpaired person should have sole use of a bedroom.
Overcrowding and Under-occupation
Project
Delivery
Project Delivery
• Verify all severe overcrowding / under occupation cases.
• Work with customers to advise on their rehousing options and prioritise their
cases with a Gold Band as appropriate.
• Develop a working relationship with external partners,
Service, other Social Housing
Private Rented
Sector
such as the NCO
Providers, Walsall Council and the
Project Delivery
• Develop an “incentives” scheme to assist people to be able to move –
providing help to cover rent arrears, repair costs, skips, gardening work etc,
where they meet the criteria.
• Provide support with people to bring their property up to a reasonable
condition
• Meaning, we can work with people who may initially fail an exit
inspection
Project Delivery
• During the project to date, we have assisted 121 customers in high housing
need to find more suitable accommodation and released at least 44 family
homes.
Under Occupation
Housed through the project
Housed through Choose and Move
Yr 1 (2009 – 2010)
5
46
Yr 2 (2010 – 2011)
39
40
Over Crowding
Housed through the project
Housed through Choose and Move
Yr 1 (2009 – 2010)
37
56
Yr 2 (2010 – 2011)
40
50
Project Delivery
• As part of the application verification process, we have also cancelled a few
applications that were no longer active…
Under Occupation
Cancelled
Yr 1 (2009 – 2010)
311
Yr 2 (2010 – 2011)
190
Over Crowding
Cancelled
Yr 1 (2009 – 2010)
581
Yr 2 (2010 – 2011)
255
Overcrowding and Under-occupation
On that subject…
On that subject…
How you can help…
…everyone is busy and has quite enough of their own work…
• BUT by passing on details of households who are
overcrowded or under occupying, we can help to reduce
YOUR workload.
At risk of stating the obvious…
• Overcrowded households may have an increase risk of
internal damage and noise nuisance, as well as familial
stress.
• Moving them into a larger property can reduce this
At risk of stating the obvious…
• Under occupied households may have an increase risk of
trips and falls, damp in unused rooms, incidences of
sleeping downstairs (causing complications with gas fires
etc.)
• Moving them into a smaller property can reduce this and
can reduce energy bills and rent costs
What you need to do…
• Pass on the details to Charlotte Brittain (for overcrowding)
and Helen Brookes (for under occupation in properties with
3+ bedrooms )
• Tenants / Applicants name
• Telephone number / contact details
• Family size
• Property size
• Any other relevant information
Questions?
Contact Details
[email protected]
[email protected]
0300 555 6666
BVC, Thames Road, Blakenall, WS3 1LZ
Stock Utilisation In Practice –
a best practice session on
Under-Occupancy
Denise Garbutt
Housing Manager
New Linx Housing Trust
Questions?
Stock Utilisation In Practice –
a best practice session on
Under-Occupancy