Sevenoaks District Council


Sevenoaks' holistic housing agency

One effect of the recession is that private landlords are making more homes available to council tenants. This is something that Sevenoaks District Council is using in its efforts to prevent homelessness.

In a recession it becomes more difficult to rent out or sell a property. For local housing authorities there is a bright side to this. Landlords who would not previously have taken on social housing tenants become more open to the idea.

Sevenoaks is capitalising on this by snapping up properties for its private sector letting scheme. The council can lend money for a deposit, bond - to insure against damage - and first month's rent to individuals and families. This enables them to enter the private rented sector (PRS).

Preventing homelessness

Pat Smith, Head of Housing, says the scheme has been "exceptionally successful" in preventing homelessness. In the two years to March 2009, 138 applicants were provided with these ‘deposit, bond and rent in advance' loans. The landlord gets a tenant and regular income from the property: they may even qualify for a discretionary grant for repairs.

"Landlords have become more amenable to looking at affordable rent," says Pat Smith. "In the past there was something of a stigma about putting social housing tenants into private sector properties, but that has gone."

If the applicant does not receive housing benefit, they pay the money back over time. "We use the scheme for people who are potentially homeless, to avoid them going down that route."

Professional and supportive

Local landlord Janet Norman says:

"Prior to this initiative I was renting my property out, but not to council tenants. I had approached a couple of housing associations to see if they wanted the lease on a long-term basis. But none were interested because the property is a little out of the way."

Norman says she has been "very happy" with the service offered by the council and with the tenants referred to her.

"The council has been both professional and supportive. It's just a shame that they have to rely on private landlords to ensure they have an adequate supply of homes."

A holistic approach to housing

Pat Smith would eventually like to advertise the private sector letting scheme properties on the choice-based letting publication. This would be sent out to housing register applicants and social housing tenants.

"It's a holistic approach to housing, so applicants can see what is available under both social housing and the private sector letting scheme - therefore providing more choice."

Sevenoaks District Council is introducing a property-based accreditation scheme to ensure that the housing it recommends is in good condition under the housing health and safety rating system. Accreditation will be carried out by the private sector housing team, and ultimately only accredited homes will be recommended under the private sector letting scheme.

The council also holds regular private landlord forums, says Pat Smith:

"These are very successful and enable the council to engage more effectively with the private sector. They are chaired by the portfolio holder, Councillor Carol Clark, who takes a very proactive role in housing services."

Bringing empty homes back into use

The district currently has up to 600 empty homes. With limited opportunities to develop new housing, the council's Services Select Committee recently led an in-depth scrutiny review into the empty homes situation. Councillor Bryan Harrod, Committee Chair, says this helped members to take ownership of the issue.

As a result of the review, the target for bringing empty homes back into use was doubled to 20 a year, and a new empty homes strategy and action plan was written.

Various ‘pots' of money - from the district council, county council and the regional housing pot - are being used for empty homes work. The district council, under its ‘granting homes' scheme, can provide owners with up to £20,000 for approved work. In return they must agree to rent the property to a homeless family for three to five years at an affordable rent.

Alternatively, using Kent County Council's ‘no use empty' funding, repairs will be paid for as long as the owner then sells the property - so returning it in good condition to the marketplace - and pays the loan back.

Through all these initiatives, says Pat Smith, Sevenoaks is aiming to minimise the effects of recession and reduce homelessness.

"We are trying to encourage and empower people to plan their own housing, but to do that we need to provide them with choice, advice, information and support."

Contact

Pat Smith, Head of Housing
Sevenoaks District Council
email: [email protected]


Published in July 2009.