Report CS18116

The Committee considered a report providing an update on homelessness pressures and a range of initiatives that had been undertaken during 2017/18 to manage rising budget pressures and address forthcoming challenges arising from the introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 and Universal Credit in Spring 2018.  It was also requested that £844k be released from Central Contingency to offset costs associated with homelessness and temporary accommodation budget pressures.

Homelessness and the provision of temporary accommodation continued to be an area of key concern for the Local Authority.  There were currently 1558 Bromley households in temporary accommodation (excluding those in supported accommodation as part of a rehoming pathway), with an anticipated full year spend on temporary accommodation for 2017/18 of £13.8M, with a net cost to the Local Authority of £5.8M.  It was expected that demand for temporary accommodation would continue to increase in the short to medium term, particularly in light of forthcoming legislative and financial changes.  During 2017/18, the Local Authority had achieved significant results in the prevention of homelessness including assisting households into private rented accommodation.  A number of initiatives to target homelessness and increase the supply of good quality permanent and temporary accommodation had been also introduced, including an early intervention model to identify and assist those at risk of homelessness, work to encourage private landlords to take up block booking arrangements and the provision of additional temporary accommodation units within the Borough and sub-region. 

The Director: Housing clarified that the refurbishment of Benedict House had created 40 units of temporary accommodation.

In considering the report, the Chairman noted that the Government had supplied a grant of £255k to meet new statutory requirements under the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, with an additional £9k grant for IT updates.  The Director: Housing confirmed that whilst the cost implications of IT updates relating to the new statutory requirements were likely to significantly exceed the allocated grant, a portion of the £255k grant could be used to ensure IT systems were appropriately resourced to deliver the new statutory requirements. 

In light of the current housing shortage, a Member queried whether consideration had been given to re-evaluating the extent and usage of the Green Belt across the Borough.  The Portfolio Holder for Care Services reported that all options had been explored in identifying how the Borough could meet its future housing needs but that there would be legislative implications to any proposed change of use of the Green Belt.  In response to a question from a Member, the Director: Housing advised that part of the Housing Service’s budget was allocated to Legal Services which funded a Lawyer to deal with housing issues.

RESOLVED that the Council’s Executive be recommended to:

1)  Release £844k for 2017/18 from Central Contingency set aside to offset the current homelessness and temporary accommodation budget pressures;

2)  Agree drawdown of the ring fenced grants as set out below: