The Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Commission of Newham Council will meet on Wednesday 26 February 2025. The meeting report pack includes discussion of the council's Homelessness Response Programme, its response to an inspection by the Regulator of Social Housing, and the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan.

Homelessness Response Programme

The agenda includes an update on Newham Council’s Homelessness Response Programme, which was initiated in November 2022 with the aim of reducing the number of households living in temporary accommodation.

The report notes that:

Along with most other London boroughs, Newham is experiencing a homelessness and housing crisis.

According to the report pack, Newham has the highest number of households living in temporary accommodation in London. In particular, the report attributes this to the borough’s high proportion of residents in the Private Rented Sector (PRS) and levels of overcrowding, as well as the number of people housed in the borough by the Home Office as asylum seekers.

The report summarises a range of measures that have been taken as part of the Homelessness Response Programme including:

• Bringing together teams related to housing need, including the Homelessness Prevention and Advice service (HPAS) and the Temporary Accommodation team, under an Assistant Director of Housing Needs.
• Implementing a TA Reduction plan to slow the rate of growth of temporary accommodation use.
• Creating a resettlement project, with the aim of: >Increas[ing] the number of households successfully resettled [from temporary accommodation] into suitable accommodation resulting in cost savings for the Council.
• Participating in a Test and Learn pilot, run by the Centre for Homelessness Impact, to use data to prevent homelessness.
• Implementing a range of AI and other IT innovations to streamline service delivery and support property sourcing.
• A redesign of the HPAS front door, including an analysis of the reasons people contact the service.
• Initiatives to increase the prevention of homelessness.
• Measures to improve decision making, including increasing the number of negative decisions made by the HPAS.
• A programme of acquisitions of properties for use as temporary accommodation.
• Exploring alternative supply options to reduce the cost of temporary accommodation.
• Lobbying central Government to take action to address the housing crisis.

The report also includes an update on the programme’s progress.

Regulator of Social Housing Inspection

The agenda includes discussion of the outcome of the Regulator of Social Housing’s (RSH) recent inspection of Newham Council. According to the agenda, the meeting will receive the inspection report, review the implementation of recommendations, and consider lessons learnt.

HRA Business Plan

The meeting will also review Newham Council’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan. An HRA is a ringfenced account, holding the money that the council receives from rent and charges to leaseholders. The HRA funds all of the council's expenditure on its council homes.

In particular, the agenda notes the impact of the following on the HRA Business Plan:

• The September 2024 Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures, which set the maximum increase for social housing rents.
• The Government’s consultation on future social housing rent policy.
• Changes to the Right to Buy scheme, including the reduction of the maximum discount available to tenants in London to £16,000.

The report notes the pressure on Newham Council’s HRA, stating that:

There is considerable pressure on our HRA, which, in common with other councils, faces severe pressure arising from inflation, interest rate rises, the necessary improvements in condition and energy performance of the housing stock, building safety regulation, and the council’s ambitions for housing growth to meet acute housing need. This is particularly critical for LB Newham as it accelerates improvements in its existing housing stock as part of its response to the Regulator of Social Housing’s (RSH) C4 judgement in October 2024.

The report also summarises an external review of the HRA Business Plan, commissioned from Housing Finance Solutions (HFS).