Deborah White, West Kent Housing Association

Lifetime Tenancies

The West Kent Housing Association Housing and Communities Director explained that the decision not to adopt a general policy of fixed-term tenancies had been difficult. However, lifetime tenancies would be more likely to allow residents to put down roots and provide stability. Fixed term tenancies of 5 years had been adopted for properties of 4 bedrooms and above and any tenancies for adapted properties would only be for so long as they were required. West Kent Housing did not currently intend to introduce more fixed term tenancies but would monitor these and monitor what impact the policy had elsewhere.

Concerns were raised by Members that lifetime tenancies would make it more difficult to evict residents who committed anti-social behaviour. Lifetime tenancies also meant that residents may have properties for longer than required while other families fell into need. The Director advised that Officers did visit residents every 5 years to discuss whether the property was still appropriate to their need and 30 families had moved out of social housing in the last year. If introduced, fixed term tenancies would only apply to new tenants.

In response to a question the Director confirmed that West Kent Housing would take action against persistent non-payers of rent, however Courts would usually grant only suspended orders initially.

A Member, not on the Committee, proposed that tenancy agreements include a clause stating that the tenancy would end once the property exceeded their need. The Director agreed to consider this. Such clauses already existed for properties with adaptations.

The Committee agreed that they were not in favour of lifetime tenancies and asked West Kent Housing to consider this position. The Chairman requested that the Director return in a year to update the Committee on the matter and the Director agreed to take their comments back to West Kent Housing Association’s Board.

Allocation Policy

The Homes and Communities Agency required registered providers of social housing to have clear policies on allocations. The Council’s Allocation Policy established who would be eligible to join the housing register, while the West Kent Housing Allocations Policy sought to determine who was appropriate for their properties. The Chief Housing Officer advised that the two policies had been designed to work together and were constantly reviewed for effectiveness.

The Director advised that under the Council’s former Policy the housing register had over 2,000 applicants. The Council had since introduced a requirement to show a local connection and it was no longer an open register so this number had reduced to approximately 560. There were about 470 vacancies per year and 300 would be for Sevenoaks. Therefore some properties were not in great enough demand and it could be slow for them to be let. This was a new problem since the amendment to the Council’s Allocation Policy and would be considered when it was reviewed again.

Concern was raised about low paid workers and whether they would be eligible. The Director confirmed that the Council’s Policy would consider them eligible so long as they qualified on the income criterion, the local connection and that they had a housing need that could not be met elsewhere.