Local Lettings Plan

Wheatley Court

1. Introduction

    1.1. This plan applies to all lettings at Wheatley Court, Cromwell Road, Redhill. The Lettings Plan will govern the selection of applicants for all initial and subsequent lettings at Wheatley Court including bids placed in Home Choice and direct offers by the Council. Wheatley Court comprises 32 flats let at affordable rent and managed fully by an external management organisation on behalf of the Council.

2. Aim of the Local Lettings Plan

    2.1. The primary aim of the local lettings plan is to achieve a balanced and sustainable community at Wheatley Court.

    2.2. The Council’s Housing Register and Allocation scheme states under (9.2) that the Council may apply a local lettings' policy to a property or group of properties for initial lettings. The result of any local lettings plan adoption may mean that applicants in the highest band may not be considered first, and preference may be given to applicants with a lower housing need and or effective date. The policy explains that the aim of a local lettings' policy is to create sustainable and balanced communities while making the best use of affordable housing and:

• to provide a mix of working and non-working households
• to meet a specific housing need in the borough, for example applicants under occupying family accommodation
• to provide a mix of family and household sizes on a scheme to address housing management issues, for example the reduction of anti-social behaviour
• to support other Council initiatives such as regeneration areas in the borough

    2.3. To meet the range of different household sizes and types, some properties may be under-occupied against their relative potential occupancy. For example, some units are 2-bedroom four person bed space, these may be allocated to successful households requiring 2-bedroom accommodation but are a two or three bed space household such as one adult and one child requiring separate bedrooms.

3. The offer of homes

    3.1. The following paragraphs describe the selection criteria to be taken into account when determining offers of accommodation in this scheme and whether to bypass or refuse to make an offer an applicant under the Allocations Policy and local lettings criteria.

    3.2. Employment criteria

    3.3. To achieve the aim of the letting plan and to create a balanced and sustainable community, a proportion of tenancies let under this lettings plan will contain households in stable employment. The Council will seek evidence of this.

    3.4. For first lettings of the affordable rented units, the percentage of applicants offered tenancies who must be in employment will not be below 70%. The definition of employment is set out below:

    3.5. Self-employed households must demonstrate they are in receipt of working tax credits, or they make profit and work regularly, and keep business accounts which can be provided on request.

    3.6. Affordability

    3.7. All applicants for the properties will be subject to an affordability assessment and this means that meeting the employment criteria does not guarantee an offer of tenancy is made. It is important that potential tenants can meet all the costs associated with managing a tenancy and running a home, therefore applicants who are unable to show the tenancy is affordable will not be offered one. To assist with this assessment applicants must provide evidence of sufficient independent funds (not benefit related) to show they can afford the property, which includes rent, service charges and associated living expenses.

    3.8. Where there is evidence that demonstrates an applicant isn’t properly managing their finances, an offer will not be made. This could include a history of rent arrears or other debt that hasn’t been repaid on a regular basis. Applicants will be considered where they have debt and have been working with a charity or support agency for a period of time and are repaying debt consistently for a period of time, the debt is at an affordable level, and they can demonstrate the new tenancy is affordable.

    3.9. The purpose of the affordable assessment is to support long-term successful tenancies and to prevent households becoming at risk of or homeless due to housing affordability issues.

    3.10. Rent arrears

    3.11. Households with rent arrears are not routinely allowed to join the Council’s housing register. During the shortlisting process, if a household is found to have rent arrears with the Council, private landlord, social landlord or other party, that are not a result of waiting for a housing benefit or universal credit application to be assessed, the household will not be considered for the offer of a tenancy. In accordance with the Council’s allocation policy, the household may be notified of the Council’s intention to remove their application from the register. However, each case will be assessed on its individual circumstances and there may be exceptions.

    3.12. Conduct

    3.13. The purpose of the Local Lettings Policy is to create sustainable, balanced and cohesive communities within the new development scheme. Offers will not be made in the following circumstances:
• There is a history of anti-social behaviour within the previous 36 months, and legal action was or could justifiably have been taken. This could include domestic abuse, harassment, or other violent or criminal offences.
• The applicant has a history of or has existing substance, including drugs and or alcohol misuse issues, which could have resulted in anti-social behaviour or criminal proceedings. Each case will be carefully considered taking into account all relevant circumstances.

• The applicant has caused significant damage to a property during a tenancy.
• The applicant is a Scheduled Offender as defined by Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). Each person will be considered on a case by case basis on completion of a risk assessment for a particular property through the local MAPPA arrangements.
• The applicant has been subject to legal proceedings as a perpetrator of domestic violence or abuse.
• The applicant has been threatening, abusive or persistently vexatious toward any employee of Reigate & Banstead Borough Council, or any partner agency.
• The Council has documentary evidence that the applicant has breached the terms of a former tenancy, for example using their property for illegal or immoral purposes, running a business without permission, committing tenancy fraud, subletting a property, not adhering to covenants, or failing to use a property as their sole or principal home.

    3.14. Each case will be considered on its own merit taking into account all relevant information provided by key partners, support workers and Police.

    3.15. Support Needs

3.16. Support needs of applicants and members of their households will be considered and supporting documentation assessed. Offers will not be made in the following circumstances:

• The applicant requires support in order to sustain a tenancy, and a sufficient confirmed support package is not in place prior to offer.
• The applicant has failed or is refusing to engage with relevant support services in relation to an existing or proposed support package.
• The applicant’s needs (either physical or mental health) exceed what our service can provide after considering all the relevant information from key support providers or professionals.
• The applicant has bid for a property that does not meet their immediate needs, for example where the applicant needs adaptations which cannot be made to the property.
• Where the needs of the individual may present risk or create a negative impact on the immediate community.

    4. Concerns and Complaints

    4.1. Any concerns raised about this local lettings plan will be responded to by Reigate & Banstead Borough Council. Complaints made to the council will be managed in accordance with the council’s complaints policy. Details are available at www.reigate-banstead.gov.uk.

    5. Monitoring process

    5.1. To ensure the local lettings' policy is successful, all lettings will be monitored during the first two years of letting as follows:

• level of voids at any time
• levels of rent arrears
• analysis of any significant anti-social behaviour issues
• analysis of housing management activity on the scheme including the service of notices