Content

12.1

The Assistant Director of Home First introduced
the report which noted that approval was provided from the Housing
Policy Committee on 23rd January 2025 date for proposed amendments
to the Private Sector Housing Assistance Policy (the Policy), which
was adopted in January 2020. The proposed amendments related to the
Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) funded assistance in the Policy,
including Mandatory DFGs and discretionary financial assistance.
The report also summarised proposed amendments, along with the
results from the public consultation.
 

12.2

RESOLVED
UNANIMOUSLY: That
the Adult Health and Social Care Policy Committee:-

a.   
Note that the Housing Policy Committee on 23rd
January 2025 considered and approved the following amendments to
the Private Sector Housing Assistance Policy (Appendix
1).

•      
Amendment 1 – Include Mandatory Disabled
Facilities Grants (DFGs) in the Policy.
•      
Amendment 2 – Introduce a local land charge
within the Mandatory and Top Up Disabled Facilities Grants
(DFGs).
•      
Amendment 3 – Changes to the Accelerated
Adaptations Grant eligibility, to be renamed as the Accelerated
Disabled Facilities Adaptations Grant.
•      
Amendment 4 – Removal of the Minor Works
Grant.
•      
Amendment 5 – Amend the purpose of the
Disabled Person’s Home Appreciation Loan.
•      
Amendment 6 – Changes to the Relocation Loan
to separate out the two purposes and reduce the loan amount for the
DFG element to a maximum discretionary amount of
£40,000

12.3

Reasons for
Decision

12.3.1

The Council have a statutory duty to provide
Mandatory DFGs, and powers to provide other financial assistance
for housing renewal at its discretion. The changes to the Policy
will enable the Council to effectively use the DFG budget to
prioritise Mandatory DFGs while offering further assistance when
necessary and to those most in need.

12.4

Alternatives Considered and
Rejected

12.4.1

The Policy could remain as it is with no
amendments, but there is a risk that the DFG budget would not be
sufficient and the statutory duty to provide Mandatory DFGs would
not be met.

12.4.2

Additionally, no change to Policy would mean we do not apply the
local land charge and do not recoup some of the funding to reinvest
in further adaptations. This option is therefore not
recommended.