Agenda item
Bromford Housing presentation
Purpose
To receive a presentation and update by Bromford Housing.
Recommendation
To note the presentation given to Members and provide feedback as necessary.
Minutes:
The purpose of this agenda item was to receive a presentation from Bromford Housing.
The Homeseeker Plus Lead officer presented an overview of the HomeseekerPlus choice based system and the Local Connections criteria was explained along with the Allocations Policy and Verification Procedures.
The Committee noted that the HomeseekerPlus choice based lettings system had been commissioned in 2016 and consultation of the Common Allocations policy had taken place in 2019 and reviewed in 2021.
The Committee noted that the Local Connections criteria was applied to Affordable Homes allocation and considered the history of residence, and family and employment connections including membership of the Armed Forces. There were also ‘special circumstances’ including those fleeing domestic abuse, victim of modern slavery and other reasons prioritising residency in the area (e.g. Ukrainian migrants).
The Committee noted that Affordable Rent properties were available at 80% of the market rate and Social Rent properties were available at 60% of the market rate, although it was recognised that the ‘market rate’ was particularly high across the Cotswolds
The Associate Director Localities at Bromford provided an overview of Bromford Housing Association that owned around 5,000 (approx. 80%) of housing association rented properties across the district.
The Committee noted new properties were usually added through S106 agreements or those built by Bromford themselves and 70 new (Shared Ownership/Affordable Rent or Social Rent) properties had become available during 2021/2022.
The Committee noted that in the past two years Bromford Housing had created more Social Rented homes than any other Housing Association across the country.
The Committee noted 229 properties were offered for let in the Cotswold District in the previous financial year with vacated properties typically being ‘turned around’ within 38 days.
The Committee tenants were required to adhere to conditions within a lease or tenancy agreement particularly regarding not engaging in anti-social behaviour.
The Committee noted that the removal of a tenant from a property ultimately required a Court judgement decision, and this usually required a significant file of evidence that may had taken a long time to compile.
The Committee noted that Covenants place on properties (such as) ‘tenants should be local and in full time work’ were adhered to by Bromford, however where CDC choose not to enforce outdated Covenants, e.g. ‘working from home is not allowed’, Bromford respect these decisions.
The Committee noted that around 40 homes were currently empty (in addition to properties scheduled for demolition and redevelopment).
The Committee noted that Bromford Housing had a ‘damp and mould task-force’ that could act quickly to complete surveys and identify where remedial action was required.
The Committee noted that a definitive ‘Time to Fix’ list did not exist however emergency fixes were responded to within a day, and there was a target of ‘within 5 days’ for a first visit to determine what action was required.
The Committee requested a complaints procedure clearly showing how tenants could report issues and escalate them when necessary.
RESOLVED: The Overview and Licensing Committee meeting noted and thanked Bromford Housing Association for their presentation given and provided feedback as necessary.
Supporting documents:
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