Issue - meetings

RESOLVED: That

1.  The Housing Renewal Policy 2023 attached as Appendix A to the report be agreed.

2.   The increase in the Home Improvement Agency fee from 12% to 15% be agreed.

3.  The Head of Housing & Regulatory Services in collaboration with the Lead Member for Housing & Health develops a priority framework to process Disabled Facilities Grants.

(See Record of Decision)

The Lead Member for Housing and Health introduced the report, which outlined the Council’s approach to delivering housing assistance and the statutory Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG).

The main changes proposed were to provide a discretionary budget to help the most vulnerable residents when the statutory provision was insufficient, and to increase the Home Improvement Agency (HIA) fee to support the increased autonomy proposed for the HIA as part of the DFGs provision, improving the service provided to residents. The fee had not been changed across the past 10 years. The Council’s Housing Service would then have increased capacity to tackle poor housing standards and housing safety, to have an active role in housing standards across all tenders. A prioritisation framework would be produced, with an example attached at Appendix B to the report. 

In response to questions, the Head of Housing and Regulatory Services stated that the Council had reduced the time to authorise DFG grant applications from 51 to 10 days. The proposed prioritisation framework would highlight the relevant applications and support the Council completing the work on it sooner. Any residents within Housing Associations could submit a DFG application in the same way as a homeowner or private tenant.

If the proposal was agreed, the Council and HIA would have monthly meetings to monitor caseloads, with the Lead Member to receive quarterly reports on the matter. The Lead Member for Housing and Health reiterated their ongoing communications with the housing team in maintaining an overview of the service.

The Committee expressed support for the proposals, with specific reference made to the prioritisation framework to support the most vulnerable residents that required housing adaptations.

RESOLVED: That the Executive be recommended to approve

1.  The Housing Renewal Policy 2023 attached as Appendix A to the report;

2.  The increase in the Home Improvement Agency fee from 12% to 15%; and

3.  The development of a priority framework to process Disabled Facilities Grants by the Head of Housing and Regulatory Services, in collaboration with the Lead Member for Housing & Health.