Content

Salford City Council - Record of
Decision
 
I, Councillor Tracy Kelly, Statutory Deputy City Mayor and Lead Member for
Housing, Property and Regeneration, in exercise of the powers
contained within the Council Constitution, do hereby approve:
 

a.   
An amendment to the Allocations Policy to include a
new requirement for all owner occupiers who apply to register on
Salford Home Search - to be interviewed by the Housing Options
Service. The aim of that process would be to enable them to explore
and rule out all other possible solutions to meet their relevant
housing need.
 
Only in
exceptional cases would the applicant be accepted onto the register
when all other possible alternative solutions have been ruled
out.
 
If
the applicant refuses / fails to engage in those identified
activities / solutions and this renders them in housing need, the
applicant and their household would not then qualify for the
housing register.
 

b.   
An income limit set
to restrict applications from those applicants (and their partners)
who have an income greater than £80k (to mirror the financial
limits set for the purchase of affordable home ownership products,
for consistency).
 

c.    
A savings limit set to restrict applications from
those applicants (and their partners) who have savings greater than
£16k (to mirror the Housing Benefit cap of £16k, for
consistency).
 
The
Reasons are:
The ‘Allocation of
Accommodation: Guidance for local housing authorities in
England’ 2012 encourages local authorities to avoid
allocating social homes to those who already own their own home,
except in exceptional circumstances. In addition, the guidance
advises that financial resources available to a person to meet
their housing costs can be taken into consideration when framing
its allocation scheme.
 
However, it is clear from
individual cases registered on Salford Home Search that some owner
occupiers do have legitimate housing needs and the ability to
register some applicants increases the potential to prevent
homelessness and reduces the potential need for temporary
accommodation further down the line.
 
Therefore, a blanket ban on
home owners is not recommended. However,
officers are of the view that a case-by-case approach is warranted,
where alternative interventions are explored with applicants before
an application on the housing register is accepted,
first.

 

It is also recognised that there is every
possibility that an applicant could afford to purchase their own
home as a result of savings or an
income, but they still seek social housing. Given the severe
shortage of social housing, it is clear that
this scarce resource should be prioritised for those who
need it and who cannot afford to rent privately or purchase their
own home. Therefore, it is recommended that an income and savings
limit should be applied to applications as a qualifying
factor.
 
It is recommended that the income limit should be restricted to
the applicant and their partner and set at £80k to mirror the
financial limits set for the purchase of affordable home ownership
products, for consistency.
 
It is also recommended that
savings limits mirror the Housing Benefit cap of £16k, for
consistency.
 
Options considered and rejected were:
 
On balance, given the above, officers are of the view that a
blanket ban on owner occupiers from Salford’s housing
register, is not recommended. This would not be an equitable
approach to addressing housing need and would inhibit homelessness
prevention activity.
 
However, given the severe housing crisis and the varied profiles
of customers applying, officers are of the view that
Salford’s allocations policy should be changed.
 
Assessment of risk: Low
Numbers of applicants
affected by this change are low.
 
The source of funding
is: N/A
 
Legal
advice obtained:
Michael
Goulden, City Solicitor.
The Local Authority may decide
what classes of people qualify for admission to the Allocation
Scheme, pursuant to Part VI Housing Act 1996 (as amended), subject
to eligibility and exceptions laid down in Regulations. These
proposed amendments do not breach these legal
requirements.
 
Financial advice
obtained: N/A
 
Procurement advice
obtained: N/A
 
HR advice
obtained: N/A
 
Climate Change advice
obtained: N/A
 
The
following documents have been used to assist the decision
process:
Salford’s Allocations
Policy
 
Contact Officer:
Julie
Craik             
Tel. 0161 789 2143                
Email: julie.craik@salford.gov.uk
 
 
This decision is not subject to
consideration by another Lead Member.
 
The appropriate scrutiny panel
to call-in the decision is the Growth & Prosperity
Scrutiny  Panel.
 
 
 

Signed: Councillor Tracy Kelly                                              
Dated: 23rd January 2024
Statutory Deputy City Mayor and Lead Member for Housing,
Property & Regeneration
 

 
This decision was published on 23rd January
2024.
 
This decision will come into force at
4.00 p.m. on 30th January 2024, unless it is called-in in accordance with the
decision-making process rules.