SEN

Questions

Please add your question by clicking 'Add question' below. A member of our Networks Team will then ensure that your question is uploaded to the website and emailed to all our SEN members to seek answers for you. If you have any difficulties please contact the Networks Team at networks@hqnetwork.co.uk or call 0845 4747 004.

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• Private housing strategy 11-10-11

  One of the network's members (a retained stock local authority) is about to draft a new private housing strategy to sit beneath their housing strategy and would like to ask for you help with some best practice examples for consistency.
  
  Have you recently updated your private housing strategy – with a particular emphasis on enforcement and empty property policies?
  
  If so would be willing to share your strategy and give a few details about your approach towards the updated strategy?
  
  We will, of course, provide a summary of the good practice – and details of how to access any strategies and policies sent in to the network.

  Member of SEN

  There is 1 answer

• Reviewing Strategic Housing Service 11-08-11

  We are reviewing our strategic housing service and would be interested to hear from anyone who has done the same and has found particularly efficient ways of delivering homelessness services, housing options, private sector renewals, private rented housing services, and policy/performance services. Are any members able to share with us structures that have particularly worked, or methods of service provision that have led to savings without compromising service delivery?

  Emma Cooke of North Somerset Council

  There is 1 answer

• Charging for development services through S106 agreements 21-07-11

  One of our members has an issue over whether to charge developers in respect of covering or re-couping costs when negotiating affordable housing. So:
  
  Do you charge developers through S106 agreements to cover your costs in respect of negotiating affordable housing?
  
  If so, do you work on a 'rate per dwelling' basis or do you have a different approach?

  Member of SEN

  There is 1 answer

• Crash pads to deal with emergency homeless cases 24-06-11

  We are currently researching the idea of trying to get crash pad facilities within our area to deal with single person homeless cases for a short period of time to allow them to find alternative accommodation.
  
  Has anyone set up a crash pad scheme and if so, would they be willing to share their experience with us in regards to the obstacles and challenges faced in setting up such a scheme and the successes that they have had with the scheme when the crash pad was up and running.
  
  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

  Paul Roberts of North Warwickshire Borough Council

  There is 1 answer

• Strategic tenancy policy 22-06-11

  I am interested to know whether any local authorities are writing their strategic tenancy policy now prior to the Localism Bill receiving Royal Assent. For those local authorities waiting until later in the year are you writing interim policies to help inform RPs as to your likely policy position?

  Caroline Mallinson of Bath & North East Somerset Council

  There is 1 answer

• Commuted sums 07-06-11

  Has anybody written or developed a policy or procedure for spending commuted sums? Any help or advice would be appreciated.

  Melanie Taylor of Mansfield District Council

  There is 1 answer

• Housing advice service - customer satisfaction feedback 12-05-11

  I am interested to hear about methods and approaches that have been used to ascertain customer satisfaction linked to homelessness services. This includes at what point during the homeless application has feedback been requested, levels of success in obtaining feedback and how the information has been used to influence service delivery.

  Fiona Robson of North Tyneside Council

  There is 1 answer

• Site viability assessments for affordable housing delivered through planning obligations 16-03-11

  I am keen to hear from people about how they assess the individual site viability of housing developments where there is a planning requirement to deliver affordable housing. Do you do this 'in house' or do you commission external assessors? Do you do it collectively with other local authorities? If you do commission an external valuer is the cost of this charged to the developer? Are you able to provide me with indicative costs? We have completed an affordable housing viability study to provide indicative levels of viability across our LA area but I'm keen to know what you do for individual sites.

  Linda Lacy of North Tyneside Council

  There is 1 answer

• Private rented sector access schemes 27-01-11

  Do any local authorities have any experience of private rented sector access schemes? Is this something that anyone is considering setting up, in the capacity as a lettings agent? If so, how did you go about setting this up, do you have any useful advice or guidance and are there concerns about competing against the private sector?

  Cheska Asman of Newark & Sherwood District Council

  There are 2 answers

• Outsourcing housing strategy functions 18-11-10

  Do any local authorities have any experience of outsourcing the housing strategy functions? Currently many LAs outsource actual needs assessments, stock condition surveys, housing market assessments, site viability studies, etc: but what about the actual function of commissioning these tasks, the collating of various additional information such as CBL data, and then turning this into policy and strategy documents? Any help or comments would be gratefully received.
  
  Thanks

  Andy Bate of Wirral Met Borough Council

  There are no answers

• Mortgage guarantee support 27-10-10

  Sheffield City Council is exploring the possibility of setting up a mortgage guarantee scheme for first-time buyers wanting to buy properties for sale on the open market on our regeneration schemes. One of the biggest barriers to sales is people getting mortgages as they can not raise a 20% deposit. We are investigating whether we can underwrite the value of the deposit for five years in case of default, so that the applicant can get a 100% mortgage. Has anyone else done this or anything similar?

  Christine Rose of Sheffield City Council

  There are 5 answers

• Clauses to restrict sales of new build properties to private landlords 25-10-10

  Does anyone have any clauses or covenants they use to restrict the number of private landlords or Buy to Let landlords that a developer can sell new properties to? We want to maximise the number of properties available to first time buyers on a scheme. Also, does anyone require that private landlords in blocks of new build flats should all use the same management company to try and ensure some consistency of standards?
  
  Many thanks
  
  Christine Rose, Sheffield City Council

  Sheffield CC SEN of Sheffield City Council

  There is 1 answer

• Affordable housing delivery without public subsidy 19-10-10

  Are any members aware of any affordable housing schemes that have been delivered without any public subsidy? I am very interested in any cross-subsidy schemes (successfully delivered over, say, the last five years), but not schemes wholly procured through s106 agreements at nil subsidy.

  Tim Southall of Bristol City Council

  There is 1 answer

• Examples of service specifications for temporary accommodation management 22-09-10

  Stratford-on-Avon DC is an LSVT strategic housing service and we are re-tendering the temporary accommodation management service. We would be grateful if you could forward examples of service specifications for the management of temporary accommodation to assist us in drafting our own specification.

  Nick Cadd of Stratford upon Avon District Council

  There is 1 answer

• Examples of good local authority housing service websites 15-09-10

  Does anyone know of any examples of good local authority housing service websites? I'm particularly looking for strategic housing authority websites, where access to DFG, Home Renewal Grant and/or homelessness or housing options services is successfully supported through online forms, information and other tools.

  Kate Skillicorn of Copeland Borough Council

  There are 2 answers

• Changing from variable service charges to fixed service charges 20-08-10

  We are in the process of changing over to fixed service charges for our general needs residents who have assured tenancies. We would like to know if anyone else has already been through this process successfully and how this was achieved.
  
  Many thanks

  Sharon Lyseight of Fortunegate Community Housing

  There are no answers

• Estate grading strategy 05-08-10

  We are reviewing our estate inspection system to include a clear and transparent grading system. We currently use a gold/silver/bronze system in some areas. However, our challenge is to create a system that will be flexible with respect to the fact that different estates have opted for different levels of service and pay differently accordingly, and fair on the caretakers who may be judged on the results of this grading. I was wondering if anyone else had implemented a system recently addressing these issues?
  
  Many thanks

  Tom Conlon of Affinity Sutton Group

  There are no answers

• Income thresholds within CBL allocation policies 21-07-10

  With reference to the definition within PPS3 of persons who are in need of affordable housing, ie, that they are unable to access market housing to buy or rent, we are seeking to incorporate this need threshold within our allocation policy. Some local authorities apply a top income threshold, or use a formula to define an affordability threshold. We are seeking to find out about this practice and experience to help inform our approach.
  
  Are there any members who can assist please?
  
  Regards

  Lizzie Cox of Bath & North East Somerset Council

  There is 1 answer

• S106 agreements for affordable housing 02-07-10

  Does anyone have examples of model S106 agreements for affordable housing that they can share with us? We'd like to see clauses relating to the full range of affordable housing: social rent, shared ownership, shared equity, low cost homes for sale (as per the PPS3 definition), intermediate rent, commuted sums and off-site provision.

  Julia Orton of North Tyneside Council

  There are 3 answers

• Low cost homes for sale 02-07-10

  In terms of low cost homes for sale, do councils base these on discount below open market value (which, in high priced areas, may not be affordable) or average income and earnings? If it's the latter, what source and type of data is used, eg, lower quartile earnings from ASHE and how do you apply this to different types of housing, eg, one-bed flat as opposed to three-bed house?

  Julia Orton of North Tyneside Council

  There is 1 answer

• % target for affordable housing lifetime homes 09-06-10

  We are currently reviewing our targets for Lifetime Homes for affordable housing.
  
  We would be interested to hear from anyone who has a target of between 50-100% Lifetime Homes.
  
  What were the cost implications and how easy was it to incorporate target into s106 agreements? Did you lose affordable housing units as result, eg, you can fit ten Lifetime Homes on a site, but 13 affordable units not to Lifetime Homes standard?
  
  Thanks

  Graham Davey of Teignbridge District Council

  There are 3 answers

• S106 Agreements and cascade mechanisms 22-04-10

  We have recently had a developer submit an application for additional units on a site already under construction. An economic viability study showed that delivery of affordable housing was not viable at usual industry profit margins.
  
  However, as the developer had already commenced construction at a less-than-usual profit margin, we have been able to show that delivery of some shared ownership units is viable without compromising the lower profit margin, subject to grant subsidy being made available.
  
  The developer has accepted this and we are now trying to draft the S106 Agreement.
  
  Does anyone have any wording for a cascade mechanism that deals with the scenarios of availability of full, nil and somewhere-in-between grant subsidy, that they would be willing to share with me? And has anyone used provision to make a developer bid for subsidy in a timely manner where delivery of affordable housing is dependent upon this?

  Mel Brain of West Berkshire Council

  There are no answers

• Cross boundary developments 16-04-10

  I have been approached by a private developer who wants to do low-cost home ownership in our borough. They plan to build 18 homes on an equity share basis on what could be termed as an exception site. Our forward planning team have obviously asked for us to prove need for this, but have an added concern that it borders with another authority and that we could end up helping to meet their needs.
  
  My question is has this happened to anyone else and what action did you take? In my mind, ensuring that some of the affordable housing goes to our residents in what is a highly-priced area, then this has to be better than rejecting the site on those grounds and ending up with nothing.
  
  I do have to state that we will struggle proving the need for 18 low-cost properties, but if we were to work in conjunction with the neighbouring authority, surely it could benefit both.
  
  I appreciate that I may be living in a dream world with rose-tinted glasses and please feel free to let me know that, but I just think that there has to be a solution that would benefit all.

  Paul Roberts of North Warwickshire Borough Council

  There are 4 answers

• Strategies for dealing with empty homes 23-03-10

  We are looking to contribute to the repair of some long-term empty homes in exchange for tenancy rights.
  
  We are looking at two possible options for this scheme:
  
  i) We grant a proportion of agreed renovation costs in exchange for tenancy nomination rights at Local Housing Allowance type levels for a set period, or
  
  ii) We lease the properties from the owner on the basis we do the repairs and manage tenancies until our investment and management costs (or an agreed proportion/amount of them) are recovered.
  
  If anyone has any experience in this area and have tried these remedies or alternatively come up with a different route that they are willing to share, we would be very grateful to hear from you.

  Paul Roberts of North Warwickshire Borough Council

  There are 2 answers

• Village green applications 23-03-10

  I was wondering whether anyone could advise me in regards to a problem that we are experiencing on one of our developments.
  
  The villagers in regards to this piece of land threatened to apply for village green status and the local authority, the HA that we are working with, and the contractors, worked very hard with the villagers to agree what would go onto the land and the villagers agreed to withdraw the village green application based on these discussions.
  
  The problem that we now have is that we are near the end of agreeing sale contracts for the land and the contractor is now stating that they will not go ahead with the purchase unless the local authority gets indemnity insurance against the possibility of a village green application even though they have been involved in the consultation right from the beginning.
  
  We are now having problems trying to get indemnity against this due to recent press on village green applications and the scheme is on the verge of collapsing. I was wondering whether anyone had experienced any problems similar to this and any suggestions of a way forward would be extremely welcome.

  Paul Roberts of North Warwickshire Borough Council

  There is 1 answer

• Setting up a customer panel 27-11-09

  We are currently in the process of developing a joint housing strategy incorporating Mansfield, Ashfield and Newark and Sherwood; and as part of this development we are intending to set up a customer panel, to provide a customer perspective on the progress of the joint strategy. I am therefore seeking any good practice around governance and panel arrangements, ie, membership and terms of reference; and was wondering if any other SEN members can provide any useful information, practice approaches or a terms of reference template for a panel of this nature?

  Melanie Taylor of Mansfield District Council

  There are 5 answers

• Stakeholder survey for housing options service 18-11-09

  We are currently looking into reviewing our stakeholder survey specifically about the services that the Housing Options service provides; and I was wondering if anybody would have a copy of a stakeholder survey could adapt at all? I have been trying to approach other councils but not with much luck really

  SEN member of SEN

  There are 2 answers

• SLA/agreement 30-09-09

  Does anyone in strategic housing from a council, who have retained their stock, have an SLA or similar type of agreement with their landlord function that they are willing to share?

  Julia Orton of North Tyneside Council

  There are 5 answers

• HA preferred partners good practice and pitfalls 26-09-09

  In regard to having HA preferred partners, what I would like to know is if you have any examples of best practice and if there are any pitfalls we should be aware of and where you have had success and problems?

  John Goody of Mid Bedfordshire District Council

  There is 1 answer

• Local authority mortgages 25-09-09

  Has anyone recently introduced (or re-introduced) local authority mortgages in response to the tightening of lending (especially shared ownership mortgages)?
  
  Or have you provided mortgage guarantees to other lenders (eg, credit unions) so that they can offer mortgages?
  
  If so, please can you share experience about your key objectives, how you went about it and any pitfalls you came across?

  Nick Hooper of Bristol City Council

  There is 1 answer

• S106 agreements 14-08-09

  Does anyone have any experience of re-negotiating S106 documents in response to the recent economic downturn and if so, what mechanisms are you putting in place to claw back affordable housing provision?

  Victoria Kay of North Somerset Council

  There are 6 answers

• Local Lettings Policies 10-08-09

  Does anyone have any examples of Local Lettings Policies that they have used for particular housing developments (eg, those that are high density or rural exception sites or flatted developments), especially those which have been advertised on Choice Based Lettings?

  Khyati Vaughan of Aylesbury Vale District Council

  There are 4 answers

• Supporting people to move for work 05-08-09

  Does anyone have experience of helping people to move to take up work? I am working with a council with very limited housing supply who are keen to join up thinking around employment and housing, to help people find work and accommodation in other areas, potentially anywhere in the UK.
  
  If you already run such schemes, what do you do? How do you support people to find accommodation in other areas? Have you built relationships with councils or landlords in other areas?

  Suzanne McBride of HQN

  There are 2 answers

• Affordable housing database 10-03-09

  Can anyone recommend a database that is used to record data and produce reports (eg, figures needed for HSSA and LAA monitoring) on affordable homes?
  
  I am particularly interested in those which link to the planning database, Uniform.
  
  Thanks.

  Khyati Vaughan of Aylesbury Vale District Council

  There are no answers

• Developing older person's strategies 10-02-09

  During 2009 we will be developing an older person's strategy and older person's housing strategy, We are interested to find out about good practice examples which are up to date. Also whether local authorities have tended to link older person's housing strategies into the mainstream housing strategies or the wider agenda linked to an older person's strategy and rural examples would be useful.

  Helena Evans of North West Leicestershire District Council

  There are 4 answers

• Bringing empty properties back into use 05-01-09

  Do any local authorities give grants to RSLs to bring empty homes back into use. If so, how do they justify value for money on the grant they give? For example do they copy grant rates that HCA use? Do they have a maximum grant that they give? Do any arrange leasing through RSLs rather than purchase?
  
  Thanks
  
  Steve.

  Steven Knowles

  There are 5 answers

• LA financial support for HA modifications 05-11-08

  Have any local authorities given financial support to HAs for extending or converting specific properties to allow large families to remain in their current home? If so, details of how this worked would be very helpful.

  Steven Knowles

  There are no answers

• Research and the credit crunch 29-09-08

  Our LSP is interested in undertaking some research into the impact of the credit crunch in the district - specifically looking at what the potential impact is locally, and what they could put in place to address the likely issues. Has anyone conducted any similar research at a district level? How useful was it? Who carried it out for you?

  Mel Brain of West Berkshire Council

  There are no answers

• Criteria for Criminal Record Bureau Checks 19-9-08

  We are looking for examples of good practices with regards to criteria for CRB checks. Whilst we have a corporate policy we are looking to refine it for Housing staff and contractors. Do organisations insist on checking all housing staff or only those who are in frequent contact with vulnerable clients? What is your criteria and how does it impact on your recruitment timescales and finance?

  Helen McCabe of Basildon District Council

  There are no answers

• Neighbourhood management strategies 11-09-08

  Stoke on Trent City Council are currently looking at effective neighbourhood management strategies and are trying to find out what authorities currently have a good strategy in place already.
  
  Can you advise me either which authorities to contact or where to find this information.

  Maxine Cleeton of Stoke on Trent City Council

  There is 1 answer

• Primary Care Trust funding 17-06-08

  Are there any local authorities that receive funding from Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) towards their Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) spend?
  
  Also is there any research work out there that shows any links between carrying out DFG work and potential savings to PCTs through reduction in hospitalisation etc?

  Rob Purser of Mansfield District Council

  There are no answers

• Delivery of Allocations Function 25-02-08

  The delivery of our allocations function is currently contracted out to our LSVT RSL under a SLA. We are looking to undertake a review of this agreement and have been informed that there are transfer RSLs who specialise in this area of service delivery through multiple agreements with various Local Authorities for the delivery of their allocations functions. We wish to identify such a RSL who could act as a 'critical friend' in this review process. Please can you let me know if you are aware of one who would be suitable?

  David Randall

  There are no answers

• Resident consultation 12-02-08

  We are planning to write a new housing strategy this year and have an open
  day event coming up in April which will be attended by both tenants and non
  tenants and which will be based around residents calling in for a short
  while and browsing round the stalls. We would like to use the event to find
  out what local people think about the priorities for housing in the
  district and are thinking that we could distribute a short questionnaire on
  the day.
  
  Do any organisations have experience of undertaking such a consultation at
  such an event? If so, what was involved? Was the process effective? Did it
  produce any useful data for use in the strategy document?

  Belinda Ford of Wycombe District Council

  There are 4 answers

• Shared ownership service charges 24-01-08

  We are trying to avoid having the situation where service charges are too high to make shared ownership units developed under a section 106 agreement be affordable. This could deter RSLs from taking on the affordable units (thus providing the developer with a potential opportunity to get them back as market units). We would be grateful to find out how this problem has been addressed elsewhere.
  Due to pressure from the developer we have an extremely short deadline on this so would be grateful to hear from SEN members as soon as possible.

  Steven Knowles

  There are 5 answers

• Private sector stock condition surveys 24-01-08

  I would like to hear from any members who are considering their information needs on private sector stock conditions, and are considering NOT doing a sample survey along traditional lines.
  
  We have used the BRE stock modelling method, as a way of scoping the work needed, and have now formed the view that a borough wide stratified sample condition survey costing some £60,000 could be a waste of resources, for little additional information.
  
  I would be interested to hear from any members who have made this type of decision or are actively considering it.

  John Lucas of Bedford Borough Council

  There are 2 answers