Agenda item

The Committee was reminded that at its meeting held on the 11^th May, 2018 it had endorsed the preparation of a Regional Homelessness Strategy and the report presented to it that day outlined the key themes and priorities on how Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Powys would prevent homelessness over the coming years.

The following questions/issues were raised on the strategy:-

·        The Interim Head of Homes and Safer Communities in response to a question on the average time scale for rehousing people presented as emergency homeless advised that was approximately 3-4 months. He assured the Committee that, in such circumstances, bed and breakfast accommodation was only used as an emergency, with the majority of presenters being housed in quality temporary homes.

·        The Interim Head of Homes and Safer Communities in response to a question on the introduction, in December 2018, of Universal Credit for all new benefit claimants within Carmarthenshire, advised the authority was aware of the potential impact that could have on its housing tenants and would be monitoring the situation on a weekly basis.

·        Reference was made to the Council’s Housing Lettings Agency and to whether its services were being sufficiently promoted to the private sector having regard to the fact the 160 properties currently managed was less than the previous 180.

The Interim Head of Homes and Safer Communities advised that having regard to the fluidity of landlords entering and leaving the social lettings  environment, the number of properties managed by the authority had remained relatively stagnant over the previous year. He assured efforts were continually being made to encourage private landlords to take advantage of its service, which was offered as a Bronze, Silver and Gold package. Discussions were also on-going as to how those packages could be made more attractive countywide.

·        Reference was made to the use of Information Technology to prevent homelessness, and the database operated by some English local authorities to monitor and identify individuals at risk and to share information with other housing providers and the third sector. The Housing Advice Lead advised that discussion on adopting the English model had been undertaken with the Welsh Government which had agreed to its roll out across Wales.

·        The Interim Head of Homes and Safer Communities in response to a question on the provision of single person accommodation advised whilst the current model sought to concentrate single person accommodation in specific areas, such as Station Road, Llanelli, it was recognised that approach could adversely impact on vulnerable persons. In light of that recognition, examinations were being undertaken on the feasibility of moving away from larger concentrations to providing more manageable smaller dispersal units that were still situated close to services.

·        Reference was made to the proposal within the report for the authority to adopt community based support provision to help prevent homelessness. Clarification was sought on the format of that provision and if it would include community based engagement officers.

The Interim Head of Homes and Safer Communities advised that prior to the introduction of community based support, an audit would be undertaken to assess current levels of provision and how it could be best utilised.

·        Reference was made to the statement within the report that ‘landlords are reportedly leaving the market’ for various reasons. Clarification was sought on whether that was a contributory factor to the 444 increase in Carmarthenshire in the numbers of households triggering homeless duties between 2015-16 and 2017-18.

The Interim Head of Homes and Safer Communities confirmed that landlords were leaving the market and the rental market varied across the county making it difficult to assess trends or future market direction. The authority did however liaise with the landlords via the Landlord Forum as part of its approach to preventing homelessness. Whilst some landlords were leaving, it was stressed that overall, the rental market within the county was operating from a relative position of strength.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the Homelessness Strategy be endorsed and recommended to the Executive Board for approval