Hardworking residents to benefit from housing springboard?
by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
18/02/2008
Exciting new plans to prioritise hardworking local people for council homes were debated at a public scrutiny meeting last week.
As part of the council’s drive to create a housing ladder of opportunity for all improvements are being proposed in the way residents apply for council housing.
The pioneering changes to the housing allocations policy could affect potentially hundreds of people over the course of the next few years. The proposals, which will be widely consulted on with residents, include giving a fixed number of new lettings to residents who are training or actively seeking to get back into paid employment.
Also on the table is a proposal to give additional preference to people who have lived in Hammersmith & Fulham for five or more years. H&F has one of the most transient populations in Britain, with more than 30,000 new people moving into, and the same number moving out of, the borough each year.
“If we want to build strong, mixed and sustainable communities we need to prioritise hard working local people when considering applications for council housing,” says Council Leader, Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh. “It is true that we are boosting the number of low-cost homes to buy but we also need to transform council housing from a lifelong destination into a springboard to home ownership.”
John Hills in his influential study Ends and Means: The Future Roles of Social Housing In England identified that between 1981 and 2006 the proportion of social tenant households in paid employment fell from 47 per cent to 32 per cent. Additionally he identified that employment rates of residents living in social housing with particular or multiple disadvantages are substantially lower than those of people with similar disadvantages but living in other tenures.
Two of the larger estates in H&F have just 43 per cent of the working age population in employment while the borough-wide proportion was much higher at 63 per cent.
H&F Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Adronie Alford, says, “Hammersmith & Fulham is already an exciting place to live and work. Its economy is growing, we have a thriving cultural and sporting scene and a high rate of new business start-ups. However, we face real challenges too. This is a borough of contrasts where too many people feel that the ladder of opportunity has slipped away. Changes to the housing allocation scheme will help potentially hundreds of normal hardworking local people to take their first step up that ladder.”
The plans could also see the introduction of sensitive lettings policies to benefit neighbourhoods blighted by crime and anti-social behaviour. And, in exceptional circumstances, people who cannot meet the five year rule but who can demonstrate an essential need to live in the borough on health or welfare grounds will also be prioritised.
Councillor Alford added, “In its current form social housing drives down aspiration – this council is about driving up aspiration. We make no apologies for having a plan that deals with our own housing challenges – that’s what our residents want and expect.
“Only recently the new Housing Minister also expressed a desire to promote employment among council tenants. The rate of employment related mobility within social housing is strikingly low. The housing ladder of opportunity has been pulled away and, in H&F, we mean to put it back.
“Following last week’s excellent scrutiny committee we will now be doing further extensive consultation with residents and other partners so that everyone’s views are heard. If we are truly to create a borough of opportunity this council believes that the housing allocations system needs to proactively reward local residents who are actively seeking work.
“Council housing can be a great safety net to help get people back on their feet, but that should be all it is. Council housing is a springboard – not a destination – and these proposals will enable hardworking local people to help themselves. Of course if, after we have consulted everybody, we do decide to press ahead with these plans we will ensure that there are no disproportionate impacts on any particular community.”
Local authorities are required by the Housing Act 1996 to have a scheme of allocation for determining priorities and for defining the procedures to be followed in allocating housing. H&F’s scheme was last published in September 2005 and the council believes now is the time to reconsider the application process.
