Decision:
Cabinet RESOLVED to;
2.1 Approve the new draft Placement policy for temporary accommodation and Private Rented Sector Offers (PRSO) attached at Appendix A.
2.2 Agree delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Housing to make minor amendments (i.e., slight wording changes to make more accessible, formatting etc.) in consultation with the Executive Mayor and Cabinet Member for Homes.
Minutes:
The Executive Mayor introduced the report advising of the council's statutory responsibility to secure safe and suitable accommodation for specific groups of homeless households. The challenges in securing affordable housing were noted. The proposed Placement Policy for Temporary Accommodation and Private Rented Sector Offers (PRSO) would outline the criteria for prioritising households for housing, both within Croydon and when necessary, in other areas both inside and outside of London. The policy would focus on supporting those most in need, whilst balancing the difficult realities of housing availability and affordability.
Deputy Executive Mayor and Cabinet Member for Homes, Councillor Lynne Hale advised of the spiralling costs of private rented accommodation and whilst not a statutory requirement, the good practice of adopting a policy for temporary accommodation and the PRSO. It would provide transparency and context to the council's approach to accommodating homeless households, particularly regarding out of area placements.
The proposed policy would allow the council to find more homes which are affordable and sustainable and help to prevent repeat incidents of homelessness.
The policy proposed three key objectives:
Corporate Director of Housing, Susmita Sen commented that the policy would provide officers with clear guidance and consistency and would also form part of service's recovery plan to manage resources more effectively.
Shadow Cabinet Member for Homes, Councillor Chrishni Reshekaron welcomed the policy but raised concerns regarding the three zones where households could be placed (Zone A - within Croydon, Zone B - within neighbouring boroughs with 90 minutes travel time, Zone C - other London boroughs and outside of London) which did not prioritise families with children attending schools in Croydon within Zone A. They asked if the impact of a 90-minute journey on young children travelling for their education had been considered and if a shorter period such as 45 or 60 minutes included in other London Borough's policies had been considered.
The Executive Mayor responded that the intention of the policy was to support families in Croydon and get them the right accommodation that they need.
Director of Housing, Homelessness Prevention & Accommodation, Beatrice Cingtho-Taylor advised the timings within the policy had been considered and benchmarked to understand what was reasonable. Many policies considered 90 minutes to be within a reasonable period, this was in line with DWP travelling time for employment and was the housing industry standard.
Cabinet RESOLVED to;
2.1 Approve the new draft Placement policy for temporary accommodation and Private Rented Sector Offers (PRSO) attached at Appendix A.
2.2 Agree delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Housing to make minor amendments (i.e., slight wording changes to make more accessible, formatting etc.) in consultation with the Executive Mayor and Cabinet Member for Homes.
Supporting documents: