Agenda item

To receive a report from officers – Ricky Belott, Head of Housing Supply, Cheryl Russell, Director of Resident Services and Equeye Robertson, Area Manager (South), Housing and Modernisation on policy and practice on mutual exchange housing options.  Report and Appendices A, B & C.

Under this item the commission heard from Councillor Stephanie Cryan, Cabinet Member for Council Homes and Homelessness and also received a report from supporting officers Ricky Belott, Head of Housing Supply, Cheryl Russell, Director of Resident Services and Equeye Robertson, Area Manager (South), Housing and Modernisation on policy and practice on mutual exchange housing options.

Councillor Cryan explained to the commission that there is a lot of room for improvement on policy and practice on mutual exchange housing options in terms of lack of awareness amongst the residents, ease of access to these options and the council’s initiatives to drive mutual exchange housing options.

Councillor Cryan further informed the commission of the benefits of using a holistic approach on mutual exchange housing options as a way to decrease the pressure on the housing waiting list of 16,000 residents by bringing together residents who might have mutual needs of upsizing or downsizing. The current prescriptive approach of the councils only allows residents to mutually exchange if they are willing to downsize to a property which is the council’s estimation of their housing needs, often residents are not willing to choose this option as they could require extra bedroom for other reasons e.g. children moving back in with their parents due to relationship breakdowns, visiting grandchildren.

The commission also learnt from Councillor Cryan that there is an action plan for housing mobility (Appendix C) which involves investing in technology to make it easier for people to access as the current mutual housing exchange information is hard to find. The commission also learned about a scheme from the Mayor of London which offer mutual exchange housing to coast and country side which can be better advertised through the Council website. One of the proposals being considered is to launch a localised pilot program to introduce residents with mutual housing needs.

The commission then had questions around the following points

·  Plan for residents struggling with debt, rent arrears or service charges

·  Radically incentivizing mutual exchange housing options

Ricky explained to the commission that the income team has been looking at flexibility and working with the household, maximising their payments and their incomes, looking at payments history, and incentives for residents willing to downsize. Incentives gained as a result of downsizing could be used to pay rent arrears, in addition referrals to financial inclusion team for residents struggling with rent arrears to rent arrears funding sources.

The Chair suggested looking into radically incentivizing mutual exchange housing such as writing off rent arrears which could possibly result in financial savings for the Council. Councillor Cryan explained to the commission that there are benefits in radically incentivising mutual exchanges releasing the some of the pressure on the housing waiting list and also that the Council currently pays private sector for temporary accommodation to fulfil some of the housing waiting list demands.

Equeye explained to the commission that the team behind mutual housing exchange is looking at ways to externalise the process to make it easier for residents to access these services drawing inspiration for websites such as Home Swapper. The commission also understood that financial barriers such as rent arrears is one of the major issues facing mutual exchange housing.

Cheryl informed the commission that there is greater synergy and drive in mutual exchange housing options as a result of the amalgamation of the area management teams and housing solutions team, on the technology side software will be available to all residents and partners in the near future. The commission also understood that frameworks are needed for incentivising mutual exchange through writing off rent arrears, however this needs to be done on a case by case basis.

The commission made suggestions to officers to involve Tenants and Residents Associations (TRA), Tenancy Management Organisations (TRO) in the consultation for mutual exchange housing options.

On collaborating with neighbouring councils to widen the pool of mutual exchange housing options the commission learned from officers and members that there would be merit in exploring the options of collaboration but barriers of differing needs and politics within councils do exist and this needs to be explored on a London Councils’ level. On local collaboration within one other neighbouring borough officers explained that it first needs to be pilot within Southwark with the existing data and evidence base, there is a lot engagement taking place with residents for evidence gathering.

The commission also discussed the idea of holding council run events on a larger scale to further bring residents together who could possibly have mutual housing needs. Officers explained that there is a need to communicate and spread awareness giving mutual exchange more visibility within the community.

The commission also learned from officers that residents with rent arrears can be referred to officers within the housing solutions team, however the mutual exchanges housing options is voluntary and residents might be apprehensive about starting these conversations.

On feedback from residents registered on the council mutual housing exchange webpage, reports from the website service providers have so far been inconclusive as a variety of reasons have been listed for failing to locate the right property. The commission also learned from officers’ that successful mutual exchanges are primarily a result of people who are looking to downsize for genuine reasons such as kids have grown up and moving away, financial incentives is not always factor for downsizing. The commission also made suggestions to officers on giving residents more specific information on mutual exchange timelines for finalising, relocation costs, decorating costs and incentives for exchanges.

The commission learnt from officers that mutual exchanges only progress once both the residents are happy and safe with conditions, there are some motivators and barriers that could be explored further, additionally mutual exchange can be done even in chains of more than 2 properties. There is reluctance from some older residents due to personal attachments to the property.

The Chair then summarised the commission’s recommendations:

Recommendation 1: that the Cabinet Member for Council Homes and Homelessness investigates a more radical approach to financially incentivizing mutual exchange housing options, which would help address local housing need.

Recommendation 2: that the Cabinet Member for Council Homes and Homelessness investigates the possibility of holding local and borough wide mutual exchange events facilitating exchanges, addressing local housing need

Recommendation 3: that the Cabinet Member for Council Homes and Homelessness engages with Tenants and Residents Associations (TRAs) and Tenancy Management Organisations (TMOs) lobbying them to more widely disseminate information about mutual exchange opportunities and support available.

Recommendation 4: that the Cabinet Member for Council Homes and Homelessness investigates the possibility of a formal agreement on mutual exchanges with neighbouring authorities to widen the pool and increase the chance of agreed mutual exchanges