Purpose

A report of the Cabinet Member for Housing
Operations recommending a Private Sector Leasing Scheme to help
reduce the use of emergency accommodation.

Decision

(i) 
To approve the Private Sector Leasing Scheme proposal.  The scheme will aim to meet some of our current
demand for additional temporary accommodation which will assist in
reducing our use of costly emergency accommodation.  This scheme is one of the interventions that will
form part of our homelessness transformation programme.
(ii) 
To grant delegated powers to the Director of Housing
following  consultation with and the
Executive Director of Enabling Services, Executive Director of
Growth and Prosperity, the Director of Legal and Governance and the
Cabinet Member for Housing, to do anything required to support the
implementation of the proposal and to make minor amendments as
required.

Reasons for the decision

The number of households approaching the
Council who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and the number
of people sleeping rough is increasing. By implementing the PSL
scheme we will:
1.  Increase
the council’s housing solutions as a tool to prevent
homelessness and rough sleeping.
2.  Mobilise
housing solutions that contribute towards the councils cost
efficiencies.
3. 
Modernise the council’s delivery model/ toolkit to tackle
homelessness.
4.  Improve
the quality of accommodation solutions we use to intervene in
instances whereby we owe households a homeless duty.
5.  Reduce
the risks of people sleeping rough and living in unsuitable
accommodation which impacts adversely on the life chances of those
we serve.
6.  Help
harness partnership working with private sector
stakeholders. 

Alternative options considered

The Council could decide not to proceed with a
PSL scheme, but it is in the Council’s interests to consider
all alternative options of temporary accommodation.
 
Given that the Council has an extensive
housing waiting list and unprecedented demand for temporary
accommodation, this would be a missed opportunity to meet a small
proportion of that need.
 
Several local authorities already operate
Private Sector Leasing Schemes and use the scheme as an established
model to help increase temporary accommodation options.