Attached is a Housing Performance Update report for Q1. The Panel is asked to consider the report, and NOTE it, having AGREED any recommendations to Cabinet arising from it.

Councillor Diko Blackings, Cabinet Member for Affordable Housing, Housing Security and Housing the Homeless, CouncillorMike Rowley, Cabinet Member for Citizen Focused Services, and Richard Wood, Strategy and Service Development Manager have been invited to present this item.

Richard Wood, Strategy and Service Development Manager, presented a Housing Performance update report to the Panel, taking in the activity of the Housing service area, but also Housing-related service areas.

For the Council’s activities around rough sleeping and homelessness the challenging situation of undertaking its work in a new way, through the pandemic and the ‘everyone in’ policy was noted. Housing’s current focus was on getting those people who had been taken off the streets moved on into longer-term accommodation. The pandemic had brought increased presentations of people as homeless, but with changes such as the end of the eviction ban, the furlough scheme and the recommencement of evictions that number was liable to remain elevated. Despite the challenges, however, securing accommodation was proving successful, with 252 having been moved on to date. Since the publication of the report Canterbury House had been vacated, and attention was being turned to those housed at the YHA. The Council’s work was being supported by a successful bid for RSI funding from central government, which would partially be used for a social lettings pilot to trial enabling access to private lettings from former rough sleepers. Overall, number of rough sleepers was reducing, with 24 recorded at the last count in Q1, down from 62 in 19-20. Other KPIs about temporary accommodation and successful outcomes from homelessness prevention interventions were also being met.

Traditionally the Council’s affordable housing targets were reported on annually. However, owing to the long term work needed to deliver housing developments it was deemed more appropriate to have a four year target instead to drive performance, set at 1200 affordable homes. In the first quarter 49 affordable homes had been delivered, compared to 123 in the entire year prior.

The main focus around the Council’s own housing stock in terms of KPIs was over decarbonisation and retrofitting, with the aim that fewer than 46% of homes would be rated below an EPC rating of C for 21-22. Compared to a baseline of 54%. This is being supported by financial investment from the council, alongside bidding for grant funding from central government, a successful bid for LAD1B fund means work can get underway on 240 properties with the worst performing properties being targeted first.

In response to the presentation the Panel raised a number of questions. Assurances on the steps being taken to ensure harder-to-house rough sleepers were sought as the ‘everyone in’ policy was starting to be wound down. This area was recognised by officers to be a challenge, but the ambition was to make every person leaving temporary accommodation at the YHA an offer of suitable accommodation, which would be supported by funding through both the Next Steps accommodation programme, and the Rough Sleeping accommodation programme. This funding could be used not only to provide accommodation itself, but support to the individuals in their accommodation. Floyds Row would also, once repurposed, be able to temporarily house and support a number of individuals.

Challenge was provided by one of the Panel’s guests, Tony Buchanan, over the meaning of successful housing of homeless individuals as he had received reports from a number of individuals stating that their accommodation was not supporting their recovery. One of the discoveries of the ‘everyone in’ exercise was the size of the hidden homeless in Oxford, sofa surfing rather than being street homeless. Successful housing was determined by the security of that housing, suitable for their needs and affordable within benefit allowances. It was recognised, however, that getting people with lived experience to feed into Council services was extremely important, and that with the challenges of Covid this may have reduced relative to the engagement there had been before with the Lived Experience Advisory Forum.

Clarity was also sought over the meaning of successful outcomes relating to those owed a homeless prevention duty. Definitions in this area were determined by government and were not set by the Council but included at-risk individuals being allowed to stay in their current property for over six months, or rehousing at-risk individuals before they became homeless. Those who don’t get a positive outcome and become homeless the council will continue to work with and support them under a homelessness relief duty. Other outcomes recorded include losing contact with households.

The Panel made enquiries over the Council’s retrofitting plans, specifically over whether the improvements did indeed lead to lower bills, and the degree to which tenants were involved in decisions over which specific types of retrofit were undertaken, particularly in relation to ground-source heat pumps. In response, the focus of measurement around retrofitting was on EPCs, but improvements to EPC ratings would inevitably lead to reduced bills. The exact quantum of those reductions would not be known, however. For ground-source heat pumps, previous pilots had shown them to be relatively unsuccessful locally, although technology was always improving so requires continued monitoring and review. A wider point made clear by other authorities undertaking retrofitting projects on a wider scale had been how crucial involving tenants in discussions over changes to their homes was. Officer experience to date showed that time invested in understanding tenant needs paid dividends in terms of reduced disruption and higher satisfaction by the tenants. Despite a time pressure from central government, the Council had asked for an extension to ensure that tenants could be suitably consulted with.

Following questions around rent-arrears levels the Panel welcomed the news that the Council’s earlier intervention process was working well and despite the pandemic levels of rent arrears were in line with pre-pandemic figures.

It was AGREED to make the following recommendation to Cabinet:

1) That the Council, as Covid restrictions ease, increases the breadth and depth of its engagement with the Lived Experience Advisory Forum and other similar groups in shaping Council homelessness services.