At its meeting on 03 August 2020 the Panel requested an update on a number of items:

1)    The activity of the Lived Experience Advisory Forum and any joint working with the Council since the Housing Panel’s meeting in November 2020. Paul Wilding, Programme Manager Welfare and Benefits, will provide a verbal update and be present to answer any questions.

2)    The progress on the Champion Way community-led housing project since the Housing Panel’s meeting in November 2020. Dave Scholes, Housing Strategy and Needs Manager, will provide a verbal update and be present to answer any questions.

3)    The Council’s position regarding domestic rent arrears, particularly with a view to the end of the eviction ban. A note regarding the Council’s approach to debt recovery due to Covid-19 is attached (the relevant section is to be found under: Rent Arrears (House/Garage/ Leaseholders/OCHL/RGS). An additional note providing more detail and context around the process and support provided by the Council for those in rent arrears is also attached. Tanya Bandekar, Service Manager – Revenue and Benefits, and Phil McGaskill, Revenues Manager, will be present to answer any questions.

Further to its requests at the previous meeting, the Panel heard a number of verbal updates.

1)    Lived Experience Advisory Forum

Paul Wilding, Rough Sleeping and Single Homelessness Manager, gave a verbal update to the Panel on the activity of the Lived Experience Advisory Forum.

The Lived Experience Advisory Forum (LEAF) had been established by the Oxford Homeless movement on the basis of its belief in the importance of having people with lived experience of homelessness be able to work with and influence professionals around homelessness issues.

Activities from LEAF had been curtailed somewhat due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, two LEAF members were now part of the wider Oxford Homeless Movement’s steering group. A coordinator for the Forum had also been funded by Oxford Homeless Movement to support its work and monthly meetings for members were taking place. In terms of its work, LEAF had

-       Participated in research on how homelessness in Oxfordshire as a whole could be tackled through a housing-first approach, including training LEAF members to undertake interviews of homeless people, of which LEAF undertook 20.

-       Worked with the Blavatnik School of Government on magazine articles relating to co-production.

-       Worked with Aspire’s new housing project on governance to ensure systems were in place to allow the project to be tenant-led.

Having been newly appointed to the post of Rough Sleeping and Single Homeless Manager, Paul Wilding was keen that he would be able to work with LEAF in the development of services from the Council also.

The Panel asked questions about demographic representation on LEAF, and work with St Mungo’s on homelessness prevention. Regarding the latter, it was hoped that the new coordinator would help to raise the profile and reach of LEAF further, including on issues around services relating to homelessness prevention.

2)    Champion Way and Community Led Housing

Dave Scholes, Housing Strategy and Needs Manager, gave a verbal update to the Panel on the progress of the Champion Way Community Led Housing project and the wider Community Led Housing concept locally.

Since the Panel had received the report the previous November, the Champion Way site had received planning permission for four one-bed properties. An easement right had needed to be alterered. Heads of terms for the use of the site were being developed with the Oxfordshire Community Land Trust. Grant funding from the Oxfordshire Growth Deal was being sought, potentially with a top up from the Council via s. 106 developer contributions. On a strategic level, the Local Plan had been adopted, with a requirement for all sites of over 50 houses having to offer 5% of the space for Community Led Housing and self-build. The Council had also met with multiple Community Led Housing organisations, including the Community Land Trust, the Co-Housing group and the Collaborative Housing hub, where a protocol and shared understanding for information-sharing and taking sites forward was agreed, with one site being about two weeks away from being sufficiently progressed to be named. A report from the Growth Deal had been published, with officers in each authority looking at how to take the recommendations forward. As part of that the Council had also partnered with other districts to enable a County-wide approach, allowing feasibility studies for potential sites to be undertaken across the County. The biggest area of delay in the Community Led Housing area was in regards to the publicity and meetings with the public which had been planned but were paused due to the pandemic.

The Panel asked no questions.

3)    The Council’s management of domestic rent arrears during Covid

Tanya Bandekar, Revenue and Benefits Manager, gave a presentation to the Panel on the Council’s approach to domestic tenants in rent arrears during the Covid pandemic.

When the impact of Covid became apparent, the Council changed its approach to revenue-collection across the board, including domestic rent arrears, to allow for a softer approach. Rather than send official letters at a time when the courts were shut, the Council had softened its letters, encouraging those in arrears to contact the Council instead to discuss their situation. Alongside telephone calls, the softer approach had a positive approach that many tenants had shared their appreciation for.

Since March, when the courts had been shut, the Council had made no requests for possession. Though the courts had reopened, the Council had not recommenced its recovery processes. In total, the number of tenant over six months in arrears was 41, out of 7800 tenants. The Council’s recovery process did not involve seeking possession straight away, but seeking the court to give a suspended possession order subject to payment being made of the rent going forward and progress made against the arrears, a situation which allowed even those in significant arrears the opportunity to maintain their tenancy and not be evicted. Even those who fell further into arrears at this point would not be abandoned, but the Council would work with other services such as the Welfare Reform Team to support those individuals into work or ensure they were receiving the correct benefits. In 2018/19, 19 evictions took place out of a total of 185 court orders sought. A similar rate of 10% was found in 2019/20.

Assurance was provided to the Panel, and arrears levels compared to the same week in in 2018 were £70,000 higher, a small proportion of the total rent figure, particularly in light of the rent increase this year.  Of these, the majority were 0-4 weeks in arrears, a time-frame in which the workings of the benefits system could cause distortions.

The Panel sought to know the Council’s attitude towards the special circumstances of Covid and were informed that this was a pre-requisite for any court order, and that the Council was working with people in arrears to understand the causes, such as non-topped up furlough. Particular consideration would be given to those with families. The Council would work with advice agencies as well as the Welfare Reform Team, and also take steps with those on benefits to ensure that payments would be made directly to the Council to ensure non-escalation in arrears figures. It was possible to seek for payments for arrears directly too, but this would be dependent on the individual being left with sufficient money and was not guaranteed.

It was suggested that the Panel might have more things to discuss than in the time available with a verbal update. It was AGREED that there would be a dedicated item to the issue at the next meeting.