Purpose

To seek approval to standardise the
methodology for charging rents on all accommodation currently owned
or leased by the Council that is used as Temporary Accommodation
(TA) and to introduce set charges for those clients placed in bed
and breakfast and other nightly charged accommodation.

Decision

That the Portfolio holder:
a)Agrees to standardise the rent levels charged for all Council
owned and leased temporary accommodation from the 1 April 2024 to
ensure a consistent approach and methodology to rental charges for
1, 2 and 3 bedroom properties.
b)Agrees that the weekly rent level charged should be set by
applying the relevant Local Housing Allowance rate as of 1 April
2024.
c)Agrees to introduce a weekly maintenance service charge of
£10.00 per week for all Council owned and leased
accommodation.
d)Agrees that 4 weeks’ notice is given in writing to current
tenants informing them of the new rent levels.
e)Agrees that all new tenants placed in temporary accommodation are
charged the new rental levels immediately.
f)Reconfirms that households that are not entitled to or do not
claim Housing Benefit (HB) when placed in bed and breakfast
accommodation or other nightly charged accommodation, are
automatically charged a weekly rent of £98.08.
g)Reconfirms where the household does not receive the full
entitlement of HB, a weekly rent amounting to the difference in
their HB entitlement and the full rent of £98.08 is
administered.

Reasons for the decision

To ensure all TA is charged the same weekly
rate based upon the size of the property.
To revise existing rent levels that have not been appraised or
updated for several years.
To introduce a maintenance service charge which will part fund the
ongoing essential works needed at the properties. This will ensure
the homes remain compliant with Health and Safety Regulations and
can be easily let once they become vacant and reduce void
periods.

Alternative options considered

An alternative to the proposal at paragraph
2.1 would be to keep the Council owned and leased rents at their
current levels. This option would not standardise the current rents
meaning properties with the same number of bedrooms would continue
to be charged different rates.
Alternatively, another option would be to increase the Council
owned and leased rents proposed in paragraph 2.1 using May 2024
inflation rate of 2.0%.