Agenda item

To receive an update report from Richard Sorensen, Head of the Housing Advisory Service.

RECEIVED the report updating the Panel on Temporary Accommodation in Enfield.

NOTED

1.    Richard Sorensen (Head of the Housing Advisory Service) highlighted key issues, and the success of the Housing Advisory Service with focus on prevention of households moving into temporary accommodation. Shortage of supply of privately rented properties and a rise in rent levels had led to increased pressure on the service.

2.    James Newman (Director of Finance) highlighted the rise in use of commercial hotels for temporary accommodation, and the competition for accommodation with other local authorities and the Home Office actively procuring accommodation in Enfield. This had subsequently driven a rebounding budget pressure of around £6m in 2022/23.

3.    In response to Members’ questions, it was confirmed that the Council had not block-booked Edmonton Travelodge hotel, but was using a few of the rooms there; and that the Somewhere Safe to Stay Hub was for single men and was at Claverings.

4.    In response to further queries regarding the competition for accommodation, officers advised it was known that 347 households had been placed in Enfield, dispersed throughout the borough, but the Council did not have details and it was not known how much was paid to secure it.

5.    In response to queries regarding the recent sale of three non-performing Council assets, it was advised that these were in high value areas and required refurbishment work: they were being put back to use in the private housing market but they were unfortunately not viable for the local housing authority cohort.

6.    Officers clarified that landlords were exiting the market and their properties were being bought by first time buyers. This was having a knock-on impact on low-income households dependent on the private rented sector. The use of residential properties across Enfield had been researched. Around 3,000 privately-owned empty homes had been identified, and promotions sent to the home-owners offering support as landlords, to bring homes back into use. 41 properties had been brought back into use so far.

7.    In response to further queries regarding house-building solutions, it was advised that schemes such as Meridian Water were important, but not a key part of the solution. The Council was placing 40 households per month into the private rental sector, and that was still the most successful route.

8.    In response to the Chair’s queries, it was advised that original aims in respect of temporary accommodation use had to be re-looked at in the present circumstances, but that use of temporary accommodation should be seen as a stop-gap and should not be long term.

9.    In respect of the reference to a review of overall approach and ways of working, officers confirmed that it was estimated the Homelessness Prevention Strategy would be completed in around six months. The focus would be on how to protect the most vulnerable people. Resettlement out of London would have to consider areas away from the South-East. Encouragement of investors to property and the build to rent sector in the borough had also been looked into, but the circumstances were not favourable at the moment.

10. Officers did not consider that Enfield’s landlord registration scheme had been a cause of landlords exiting the market, as the cost was low in comparison to other changes at the national level in respect of tax, rent reform, and energy efficiency requirements.

11. Officers confirmed that Housing Gateway Ltd had been a successful Council initiative, and should have been referenced in the presentation.

12. Joanne Drew (Director of Housing and Regeneration) responded to a query regarding what may have been done differently in the past, advising that more funding of prevention may have been helpful. Before 2018 the service was crisis led and not equipped to be able to intervene earlier. It was also now made more explicit that people in temporary accommodation were unlikely to get a Council house. There was now more proactive work with the private sector, and encouragement of house building. Current developments at Bury Street West, the Alma Estate, Meridian Water, and Joyce and Snells were highlighted, though that was not a route for most people in temporary accommodation.