How does rent setting policy fit into Flintshire’s wider housing strategy?
Our Housing Strategy and Action Plan 2019-24 for the development and management of our housing stock of 7,300 properties sets out three priorities:
- increase supply to provide the right type of homes in the right location
- provide support to ensure people live and remain in the right type of home
- improve the quality and sustainability of our homes.
The council’s Housing Revenue Account’s (HRA) 30 year Business Plan covers our council house building ambitions, maintenance and stock improvement programmes as well as environmental improvements, neighbourhood management issues including anti-social behaviour, income collection and customer involvement.
Since the summer of 2015 under our Strategic Housing and Regeneration Programme we have delivered nearly 400 new social and affordable homes, 134 affordable ownership shared equity units working with private developers and seen Flint town centre transformed with 62 affordable rent and 30 social rented properties replacing an ageing concrete clad maisonette complex.
New initiatives for tenant management and new housing districts focusing on tenants needs are now in place, along with a refocused accommodation support service.
From 2020/21 the Welsh Government’s five-year rent policy requires social landlords to prepare an annual assessment of affordability, cost efficiencies and value for money as part of any rent uplift to be applied each year. This has been taken into account in the Housing Revenue Account business planning process with significant progress and innovation in our approach to the management of our housing stock in a number of areas.
Rents
The new average rent band proposed by Welsh Government (ref. table below) would take the average rent paid in Flintshire County Council’s social housing stock in 2020/21 to £96.57, just above the low end of the target rent band.
| 2020/21 target rent band | |||
| Average rent | Low end | Mid-point | High end |
| Flintshire | £ 95.82 | £ 100.87 | £ 105.91 |
The previous rent policy enabled the council to apply rent inflation plus £2 per annum for any tenants paying under the target rent band for their property. Flintshire currently has just over half its properties under the target rent band. The majority of tenants currently paying under target rent are those in three-bed houses and bungalows and those in smaller properties and flats are generally at target rent.
The new rent policy requires affordability for all tenants to be taken into account when setting rents, though it is important for the council to maximise rental income to invest in new homes and improve existing stock. With this in mind, we are utilising the flexibility available in setting the level of rents for individual tenants, to bring affordability into line for all tenants.
This ensures that no individual tenant will pay more than the maximum allowed under the policy and will address the disparity between rents under and at target rent, making charges to all tenants more equitable. The effect of this will be a lower inflationary increase for tenants already paying target rent and off-set the additional impact of any service charge increases.
Capital programme
We are upgrading council-owned properties to Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) and much of our housing stock has already reached this standard as we ensure that properties are:
- in a good state of repair
- fitted with Secure by Design Doors and A-rated windows to provide additional safety and security
- provided with new heating systems, including where possible external wall insulation along with loft insulation top ups and air source heat systems.
Properties are also being provided with kitchen and bathroom upgrades to a high specification.
Our WHQS Environmental Works Programme, is focused on external areas creating attractive and safer surroundings.
Specialist housing
Specialist, or accessible housing meets the needs of specific groups of people, including those with disabilities and older people who have become less mobile. By investing in and adapting people’s homes, we are providing our tenants with increased independence and dignity.
The council has a specialist housing register to identify all the households where there is a physically disabled resident requiring accessible housing.
There are also a significant number of households on the wider single access route to housing (SARTH) requiring low-level adaptations to enable them to stay at home longer and remain independent.
Working with partner housing associations we have already rehoused 47 households into more suitable accommodation, a real success story for partnership working.
Housing intervention team
Early intervention can prevent or reduce arrears and help protect tenants at risk of homelessness and relieve pressures on other council services and our team was established in September 2018 as a pilot project aiming to take this forward.
The teamwork with council tenants who have rent arrears under £600, on mutually agreed goals to improve their quality of life by building confidence in their abilities and encouraging them to undertake tasks by themselves.
To date the team has worked with 246 tenants to maximise their ability to pay their income in a number of ways, for example by agreeing affordable repayment plans. The success rate of the project so far is in excess of 75 per cent.
Commitment
Our Housing Strategy for 2019/24 will build on previous achievements within the context of the current challenges we face, such as welfare reform, the increase in ‘hidden’ homeless and increasingly limited resources. We remain committed to the principle that a good quality home is at the heart of individual and community wellbeing.