Decision

1. 
TDC agreed to a deficit grant to Porchlight of
£140,256 for 2024/25, with a commitment to negotiate two
further annual grants for 2025/26 and 2026/27.
 
2. 
TDC negotiated a grant funding agreement that
commits Porchlight to letting all Thanet vacancies to TDC nominees
and includes specific outcome measures about the service to be
provided.
3. 
TDC nominates people who are owed a homelessness
relief duty or full homelessness duty and that this duty is
discharged alongside the offer.

Reasons for the decision

· 
TDC will save a significant cost in relation to the
current provision of TA.
· 
TDC would not be responsible for the collection of
rent or Housing Benefit, which would be done by
Porchlight.
· 
The council would be able to discharge its on-going
homelessness duties and the units would not be included within the
council’s report TA numbers.
· 
Porchlight would have greater funding
certainty.
· 
The tenant would have greater security of tenure,
being issued with an AST rather than a TA licence.
· 
The tenant would be prioritised in band B on the
housing register (leaving supported housing) rather than band C
(leaving TA).
· 
The accommodation is in Thanet, unlike a significant
proportion of the council’s TA.

Alternative options considered

There is no
requirement for the council to take any action in relation to these
homes,however it is very likely
that they would no longer be used for vulnerable homeless
singlepeople if TDC takes no
action. Of the 41 homes, 9 are owned by Porchlight and 32
areowned by Registered Social
Landlords (RSLS). It is likely that the RSL owned units would
bereturned to general needs
affordable housing, mostly likely configured differently,
potentiallyfor families rather
than single people (for example: A single house let to a family,
rather thanrooms let to single
people). The Porchlight owned units could be managed in the same
wayor even lost to the affordable
housing sector altogether, and sold or let at a market
rent.
 
The nightly cost of
the council supporting single homeless people in nightly paid
temporary accommodation, using current arrangements is £42
per night. For 41 single people in nightly paid accommodation, the
gross cost would be £628,530 p.a. With around 23% recovered
from housing benefit. If we do nothing we are likely to see these
costs increase, as some Porchlight residents would otherwise
require nightly paid temporary accommodation.