Agenda item

Context:

To seek approval to amend the Rural Allocations Policy.

Key Issues:

The policy was originally intended to cover small rural villages where there was little opportunity for households to find affordable housing.  Areas such as Llanfoist and the Severnside Settlements were never intended to be included and have had large housing allocations, both in the UDP and the LDP, which have allowed local people in housing need to have access to affordable housing. 

The criteria of the policy, as it currently exists, has caused difficulties for the Homesearch Team when allocating rural properties and has resulted in households with no housing need being allocated a property ahead of local households in genuine housing need.

Member Scrutiny:

·         In response to a question raised by a Select Committee Member regarding availability of affordable housing in the Llanelly area, it was noted that Llanelly Hill falls within the remit of the Brecon Beacons National Park (BBNP) Policy.  New builds would go to local people. BBNP has a local lettings policy which is equivalent to Monmouthshire County Council’s Policy as it was some years ago.

·         The policy allowed for children who were born and brought up in an area to be able to return to the area, as they had left due to there not being affordable houses for them to live in. The first two points within the criteria referred to people living in an area now and had lived there for five years and had lived there for five years in the past. However, households who were living in an area at the present time were given priority over households who had lived there in the past but had moved due to a lack of affordable housing. The policy now allows for people living in an area at any time, for a period of five years or longer, to be eligible.  This will allow people who were born and brought up in a rural area to be able to return should they wish to do so.

·         In response to a question raised regarding information outlined in bold print on pages 86 and 87 of the policy, it was noted that this information had been put into the policy in bold print to ensure that Monmouthshire’s Regional Social Landlords (RSLs) adhere to these guidelines.

·         Monmouthshire’s allocations policy is five working days.  The RSLs are monitored on their empty properties.  From a service delivery perspective, RSLs do not want to lose rent.  It is standard practice for people to provide verification prior to being allocated a property.