Issue - meetings

Social Housing Rent Policy

 

 

Meeting: 22/01/2015 - Council (Item 698)

698 Use of Urgency Powers pdf icon PDF 34 KB

This report details a decision made by the Chief Executive under the urgency provisions contained within the Constitution.

Minutes:

Discussion:

 

This report provided details of a decision made by the Chief Executive under the urgency provisions contained within the Constitution, in relation to the setting of rents for 13 new build Council dwellings.

 

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Rodney Chambers OBE, supported by the Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance, Councillor Jarrett, proposed the recommendations set out in the report.

 

The Leader undertook to ensure that the local Ward Members were invited to view the new properties, following concern that this had not yet happened.

 

Decision:

 

The Council noted the report.

Meeting: 28/10/2014 - Cabinet (Item 6)

6 New Rent Setting Policy 2015 pdf icon PDF 80 KB

Minutes:

Background:

 

This report provided details of the Government’s new rent setting guidance for Social Housing that would be effective from April 2015. The report set out proposals for a new rent setting policy and information about the options open to the Council to increase rents for council tenants in households with taxable income of more than £60,000 per year. The report also sets out proposals for defining bedrooms when these were on the ground floor in houses.

 

It was noted that the Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee had considered this matter over two meetings, initially on 26 August 2014 and then on 7 October 2014, and section seven of the report set out details of the Committee’s discussion. Details of consultation with tenants were set out in section six of the report and it was reported that a Tenant Forum in August 2014 had raised no significant objections to the policy.

 

The report also informed Members that the Chief Executive would be asked to consider the use of his urgency powers to agree rents for 13 new build council dwellings currently under construction, which would be ready for letting in early 2015. This was necessary before the normal Housing Revenue Account rent and budget setting annual process in February 2015 and the next full Council meeting in January 2015.

 

Decision number:

Decision:

177/2014

The Cabinet agreed:

a)                 where properties are let to new households with a yearly taxable income of £60,000 or more, the rent payable will be based on “affordable” rents from April 2015.

b)                 from April 2015 bedrooms will only be counted as bedrooms if they are not on the ground floor of a property, with the exception of the properties listed in Appendix A to the report.

c)                 discretion be applied to those households who receive compensation or a one off redundancy payment which exceed £60,000.

d)                 social housing rents for existing stock with rent increases in 2015/2016 based on the social housing rent formula of CPI + 1%.

e)                 social housing rents for newly built or acquired Council Housing with rent increases in 2015/2016 based on the social housing rent formula of CPI + 1%.

f)                   to continue to move properties to formula rent when void.

g)                 the retained 1-4-1 Right to Buy receipts, and any future retained receipts within the timescale for the new homebuilding project to be used to part fund the Housing Revenue Account new build programme.

 

The Cabinet noted the proposals that the Chief Executive (using urgency powers (in place of referring this matter to Full Council)) should set the rent for 13 new building properties on various former Council owned HRA garage sites across Medway and arrange for this to be subsequently reported to Full Council.

Reasons:

 

The Council needs to have a clear rent setting policy in place to ensure the right income levels are charged to Tenants of the Council own housing stock that complies with Government Legislation and Guidance.