Council to prioritise local working residents in new housing allocation scheme

May 15, 2012

The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham is to consult on a new housing allocation scheme which it says will prioritise local, working residents who make a positive contribution to the community.

The Conservative-run local authority said it also planned to break the link between a homelessness application and a social housing tenancy “due to the perverse incentives the current system can create”.

Fixed-term tenancies will be introduced for new social housing lettings, although Hammersmith & Fulham said it would still make secure tenancies available for the most vulnerable residents.

The council pointed out that it has one of the highest proportions of social housing in London, with around 33% social rented compared to a London average of 25% and a West London average of 21.5%.

Hammersmith & Fulham also said it would start building homes again after a 30-year absence. “These properties will be sold at a discounted market rate to those on low to middle incomes who live or work in the borough and might struggle otherwise to get onto the property ladder,” it said.

The plans in more detail propose that:

The new scheme of allocation will give greater priority “to those who are working, those in training leading to employment and those making a significant contribution to the community, eg ex-service personnel and foster carers”;
Access to the council’s housing register will be restricted to those that have a local connection to the borough of at least five years together with a clear housing need. Only people with a reasonable prospect of being housed will be accepted on to the register;
Where an applicant or applicants’ income or combined income are greater than £40,200 and may have assets and/or savings that are sufficient to access low cost home ownership or other intermediate housing options, then an applicant or applicants will generally not be eligible to access the housing register;
Those who do not qualify will be given a package of advice and assistance about their housing options;
The current method of bidding for properties through a choice-based lettings system will be replaced by a four-tier system of ‘assisted choice’ where applicants will be offered a number of housing options. “This may include a social housing tenancy, but could also feature accommodation in the private sector or the opportunity to buy a HomeBuy property.” If an offer is declined, this could be reflected in an applicant’s status on the housing register;
There will be fixed-term tenancies of five years for new social housing lettings. This will be reduced to two years where prospective tenants are: aged between 18 and 25; have a history of anti-social or criminal behaviour; are an economically active household of any age where the allocations scheme or a local lettings plan had designated a special case for working households or people making a community contribution including where this is being provided as a launch-pad into home-ownership; or where the registered provider is seeking a market or intermediate rent;
Existing tenants will be unaffected except in some cases where they request a transfer;
New tenancies in sheltered accommodation and for those with special housing or health needs will still be on a secure basis;
Many tenancies will be renewed but the council will review how the tenancy has gone and whether the circumstances which led to its being granted still apply. “[It] will also encourage good behaviour and greater contributions to community life and the local economy. All this will be taken into account in deciding whether to grant a new tenancy”;
Accommodation will still be provided for vulnerable homeless people but there will no longer be an automatic link between an homelessness application and a social housing tenancy. “Instead, the council will assist homeless people into the private housing sector”.

Cllr Andrew Johnson, Hammersmith & Fulham’s cabinet member for housing, said: “These proposals are about rewarding hard working families who are local to the borough. At the same time we will continue to house elderly people and others who are vulnerable.

“We want to give people a hand up and not a hand out. We fundamentally believe that social housing should be a platform of aspiration which enables progression into other forms of housing, such as low cost home ownership, rather than a destination in its own right.”

Cllr Johnson acknowledged that the current system of deciding who lives in social housing had successfully provided for the most vulnerable, but claimed it had also created disadvantaged communities “by producing concentrations of people on benefits with disproportionately high levels of unemployment”.

On the issue of homelessness, Cllr Johnson said Hammersmith & Fulham would continue to provide a service for the most vulnerable residents who have no other option than to declare themselves homeless.

“However, we propose to clamp down on those who think that making themselves homeless is a quick and easy way to secure a council home at the expense of someone who is more deserving,” he added.”

A consultation on the proposals, which went before the council's cabinet in April, is to be launched shortly.