Local Authority Housing Practitioner Networks

Submission to the Department of the Environment and Local Government,

Planning Group on Local Authority Rental Assistance.

July, 2000.

Background.

The Local Authority Housing Practitioner Networks are pleased to be invited to make this submission to the Department of the Environment and Local Government Planning Group on Local Authority Rental Assistance.

This submission has been formulated on the basis of a series of meetings which have taken place between the five regional divisions of the Local Authority Housing Practitioner Networks and Mr Dennis Conlon and Mr Brian Murnane of the Rent Assistance Section of the Department of the Environment and Local Government. The details of these meetings are included in the appendix to this document.

The process of consultation between the Planning Group on Rent Assistance and the Local Authority Housing Practitioner Networks was co-ordinated by Ms Michelle Norris Director of the Housing Unit and she prepared a document summarising the views expressed by Network Members at the consultation meetings. This draft report was finalised and adopted by a meeting of the National Housing Practitioner Networks, which took place on the 6^th of July, 2000.

This submission summarises the views of the members of the Local Authority Housing Practitioner Networks on four issues related to the establishment of the proposed local authority rental assistance scheme for private sector tenants. These are:

1. Views of members on the proposal that responsibility for the administration of the rental assistance scheme for private rented accommodation should be transferred from the Health Boards to the local authorities.
2. Views of members on the arrangements which should be put in place to facilitate this transfer.
3. Views of members on the design of the new local authority rental assistance scheme.
4. Views of members on the resource implications associated with the administration of the new local authority rental assistance scheme.

Transfer of Private Sector Rental Assistance to the Local Authorities.

The majority of the members of the Local Authority Housing Practitioner Network are in favour of the proposal that responsibility for the administration of private sector rent assistance should be transferred from the Health Boards to the local authorities. Network members view this development as a logical step which will bring all housing services within the remit of a single agency and allow local authorities to provide a truly comprehensive range of housing options to the public.

However in their discussions on this issue, the members of the Local Authority Housing Practitioner Networks highlighted a range of problems with the current operation of Supplementary Welfare Allowance rent assistance scheme and with the inspecting of standards of private rented accommodation by the local authorities. The Network members feel that these issues should be addressed before the local authority rental assistance scheme is established.

The members of the Local Authority Housing Practitioner Networks also support the proposal from the Department of the Environment and Local Government that the transfer of responsibility for the administration of rental assistance should be used as an opportunity to comprehensively redesign and reform the existing scheme.

Furthermore, the members of the Local Authority Housing Practitioner Networks are concerned that the administration of the new local authority rental assistance scheme should be properly resourced if standards of service to the customer are to be maintained. Ensuring the efficient administration of private rent assistance is imperative in view of the current shortage of housing particularly for those on low incomes, and any diminution of standards in this regard could add to the current problems regarding homelessness.

Preparations for the Transfer of Rent Assistance.

The members of the Local Authority Housing Practitioner Networks suggest that the following range of reforms should be put in place over the next two years in order to facilitate the establishment of the local authority rental assistance scheme.

Enforcement of Standards of Private Rented Accommodation.

Local authorities currently have statutory responsibility for inspecting the standard of private rented accommodation. However, local authorities have not been resourced to carry out this function and as a result, relatively few inspections have been carried out. Many of the authorities which do carry out inspections sub-contract this work to the Health Boards. Most local authorities also inspect accommodation on reactive rather than a pro-active basis – inspections are prompted by complaints from tenants and local authorities do not actively seek out properties to inspect. The difficulties associated with identifying private rented properties to inspect have been compounded by failure of many landlords in the sector to comply with the regulations which require them to register their dwellings with the relevant local authority.

The Network members are strongly of the view that if local authorities are allocated responsibility for paying rent assistance to private sector tenants, they must ensure that the regulations regarding minimum standards of private rented dwellings are strictly enforced. However they are also concerned to ensure that the enforcement of private rented standards does not lead to a significant contraction in the number of units of accommodation which are available for letting to rent allowance recipients.

The Local Authority Housing Practitioner Networks suggest that the following procedures should be put in place in order to ensure that this does not take place:

• Local authorities should put systems in place to step up the amount of private sector inspections on a phased basis during the lead in period to the establishment of the local authority rental assistance scheme.

• This process might start with ensuring that all complaints from tenants are investigated and move towards a situation where all accommodation for which a rent allowance subsidy is currently paid would be inspected by the local authority after the tenant has moved out and the accommodation becomes vacant. If the accommodation is deemed to be substandard at this stage, Health Boards should consider refusing to pay rent allowance on the accommodation in future.

• However, if the enforcement of regulations on accommodation standards is confined to rent allowance funded accommodation, this could trigger a dramatic contraction in the number of dwellings which are available for letting to recipients of this benefit. In order to avoid this, local authorities must try to ensure that standards are enforced in relation to all privately rented accommodation.

• The process of identifying private rented properties to inspect will be greatly aided by the recent announcement, in the Department of the Environment’s June 2000 policy statement- Action on Housing, that an anti-speculative property tax will be enforced on those landlords who fail to comply with the registration, rent books and standards regulations provided for under the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1992. However this provision will only be effective if it is actively enforced by the Revenue Commissioners.

• In addition to this however, local authorities will also need to adopt a more pro-active approach to identifying private rented properties, for example by inspecting all properties for which planning permission has been granted for conversion into multi-occupancy dwellings.

• In order to avoid reducing the number of private rented properties which are available for letting, landlords whose properties fail an inspection, should be given a reasonable period of time to improve their property to the required standard.

• A majority of Network members also support the introduction of incentives to encourage the provision of good standard private rented accommodation to rent allowance recipients. They feel that consideration should be given to granting tax relief to landlords who make a long term commitment to rent their accommodation to rental assistance claimants. Some members also support the provision of grants by local authorities to enable landlords to upgrade their accommodation – subject to the provision of appropriate increases in central government funding to authorities to allow for the recruitment of extra staff to administer these grants. They envisage that, in return for these grants, landlords would be obliged to let their accommodation to rent allowance recipients for a specified period of time. A minority of Network members take the view that provision of private rented accommodation should be treated as a business for tax purposes in order to increase the supply of accommodation in this tenure.

Regulations Regarding Minimum Standards of Private Rented Accommodation.

Some Network members take the view that current regulations in relation to minimum standards of private rented dwellings are too basic and should be raised and that the terminology used in the current regulations is too vague and should be made more specific.

Appeals System for Local Authority Housing Applicants.

The Network members are aware that an appeals system is currently in place for applicants who are refused payment of Supplementary Welfare Allowance rent assistance. Appropriate safeguards to protect the interests of applicants would also be required in the case of the proposed local authority rental assistance scheme.

Standardisation of Administration of Rent Assistance.

Supplementary Welfare Allowance rent assistance is a discretionary benefit and as a result, significant variations exist in administration of the benefit in the different Health Board areas. For instance, there is some variation between the policy adopted by different Health Boards in relation to the payment of deposits to tenants in the private rented sector; in relation to requiring rent assistance applicants to apply for local authority housing and, in relation to the payment of rent assistance to applicants who refuse offers of local authority housing. The process of transferring responsibility for the administration of private sector rental assistance to the local authorities would more straightforward if the different Health Boards endeavoured to standardise their policies in relation to these issues.

Security of Tenure in the Private Rented Sector.

The members of the Local Authority Housing Practitioner Networks are unanimously of the view the issue of the security of tenure of private sector tenants must be addressed by legislation if necessary. Local authorities cannot be expected to treat private rented accommodation as another social housing option, if tenants in this sector can be evicted after one week’s notice.

Provision of Local Authority Accommodation.

The Network members are strongly of the view that increased provision of local authority and voluntary sector accommodation is the most effective means of addressing the current shortage of private rented accommodation. All rent allowance recipients should be given the option of accessing local authority housing if they so wish. However in order to facilitate this, local authorities will need to provide a more diverse range of dwelling types, including smaller dwellings for single people and lone parent families.

Local Authority Housing Strategies.

The proposed transfer of responsibility for the administration of rental assistance has obvious implications for the design of the housing strategies which are required under the terms of the Planning and Development Bill, 2000. The Department of the Environment and Local Government should take account of this issue in design of the model housing strategy, which it is currently preparing.

Pilot Local Authority Rent Assistance Schemes.

The members of the Local Authority Housing Practitioner Networks are strongly of the view that the transfer of responsibility for the administration of rental assistance should be implemented on a phased basis. For example, local authorities could initially take over responsibility for all new applicants to the scheme and then take over the administration of the benefits of existing claimants on a phased basis after this. There may also be a need to test the different aspects new scheme in pilot authorities and to evaluate its effectiveness in practice on this basis.

Design of the Local Authority Rental Assistance Scheme.

The members of the Local Authority Housing Practitioner Networks wish to suggest that the following issues should be taken into account in the design of the proposed local authority rental assistance scheme.

Integration of Private Rented and Public Rented Systems.

The local authority rental assistance scheme for private rented accommodation should be integrated as far as possible with the other housing schemes which are administered by local authorities including local authority housing, the shared ownership scheme and the affordable housing scheme.

The Network members envisage that local authorities would interview all applicants for rental assistance in detail, and on this basis, identify the most appropriate type of accommodation for them in the private rented, public rented, shared ownership or voluntary sectors. Although the personal preferences of each applicant would obviously influence this decision, local authorities should be empowered to refuse private sector rental assistance to applicants if suitable local authority accommodation is available.

Reform of this type would help to reduce the costs of private sector rental assistance and to address the fact that some local authorities experience difficulties in letting parts of their public rented stock because suitable applicants opt to continue claiming rent assistance rather than move into local authority accommodation in an area which they consider undesirable.

Tenure Neutral Rents Schedule.

In order to avoid the development of difficult-to-let local authority estates, it is vital to ensure claimants of the new local authority rental assistance scheme do not pay less rent than people with similar incomes who rent their accommodation from the local authority.

In order to achieve this, the schedule of rent paid by claimants of the local authority rental assistance should be integrated with the existing differential rent scheme for local authority housing.

In the interests of equity, there should be broad uniformity between the rents schedules applied in different parts of the country. Although the Network members do not support the re-imposition of national rents scheme and they believe that local authorities should retain reasonable discretion in relation to the setting of rents.

Leasing of Private Rented Accommodation by Local Authorities.

The members of the Local Authority Housing Practitioner Networks do not hold a unanimous view regarding the suggestion that local authorities would lease some private rented accommodation directly from landlords.

Some members have reservations about this proposal on the following grounds:

• it would create a dependency culture among applicants for rental assistance
• it would encourage landlords to inflate rents;
• local authorities would be obliged to secure alternative accommodation for rent assistance claimants after the lease on their dwellings runs out;
• any attempt by local authorities to lease accommodation could be met with opposition from residents groups and elected members;
• demand for private rented accommodation is currently so high that landlords would see little need to participate in a leasing scheme on commercial grounds.

The majority of Network members believe that the leasing of private rented accommodation by local authorities holds a range of advantages. Local authorities could enter into long term leasing agreements with landlords which would allow them to provide a greater degree of security of tenure for tenants and to ensure that the accommodation is of adequate standard. If long term leasing agreements allow authorities to index link rent levels this could help to address price inflation in the sector and leasing arrangements which involve some degree of ‘risk sharing’ between the authority and the landlords might help to increase the amount of accommodation which is available for letting to rental assistance claimants.

The Network members hold the view that private sector landlords would agree to lease their accommodation to local authorities in the following circumstances:

(i) if the local authority agreed to provide a guaranteed stream of income to landlords over a long period – this would eliminate of problem of vacancies, thus guaranteeing continuity of income and also avoid the costs and effort associated with re-letting of dwellings;

(ii) if a clause was included in lease making the local authority responsible for remedying any major damage to property – although the members take the view that landlords should retain responsibility for the day-today maintenance of the dwelling;

(iii) if the local authorities agree shoulder some responsibility for dealing with anti-social behaviour on the part of tenants, for instance it could be agreed that the authority would take action to evict the tenant if adequate evidence of antisocial behaviour produced by landlord within a specified period.

However the members of the Local Authority Housing Practitioner Networks agree that such leasing arrangements would not be appropriate for all local authorities and indeed for all rental assistance claimants. They see leasing as one of a range of options which would be available to enable local authorities to address social housing needs through the private rented sector and suggest that other options such as the provision of a list of approved accommodation to applicants for rental assistance, should also be explored by the Planning Group on Local Authority Rental Assistance.

Local Authority Rental Assistance Scheme: Approved Claimants.

Local authorities have traditionally provided housing for a range of low income applicants including employed people as well as these dependant on social welfare, lone parents and pensioners. The members of the Local Authority Housing Practitioner Networks believe that the proposed local authority rental assistance scheme should also cater for employed low-income applicants.

Including such claimants in the new scheme has a range of practical advantages: it would address the unemployment trap inherent in the current SWA rent assistance system; it would help address pay demands from low income workers who are struggling to pay rapidly inflating rents in the private sector and would integrate the rental assistance scheme within the wider local authority housing system.

Although Network members recognise that the inclusion of low paid employed people within the local authority rental assistance system could have significant cost implications, they unanimously support the principle that, on grounds of equity such claimants should be catered for in the new scheme.

The members of the Local Authority Housing Practitioner Networks suggest that procedures for including low-paid employed people within the new scheme should be explored by the Department of the Environment and Local Government Planning Group on Local Authority Rental Assistance.

Anti-social Behaviour.

The Network members are concerned that the establishment of the local authority rental assistance scheme will have some implications for the operation of existing procedures for dealing with anti-social behaviour in local authority estates under the terms of the 1966 Housing Act and the 1992 Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act.

If local authorities evict anti-social tenants from local authority housing they will retain responsibility for the re-housing of these individuals if they choose to seek accommodation in the private rented sector and qualify for rental assistance towards the cost of this accommodation. This in turn raises the problem of how these individuals will be dealt with if they continue to engage in anti-social behaviour in their private rented accommodation.

They Network members suggest that this issue should be examined by the Department of the Environment planning group on local authority rental assistance and procedures for addressing this problem should be formulated by the group on this basis.

Resourcing of the Local Authority Rental Assistance Scheme.

The members of the Local Authority Housing Practitioner Networks are strongly of the view that the establishment of the local authority rental assistance scheme will create more problems than it solves, if local authorities are not properly resourced to carry out this function.

The Network members wish to highlight the following resource implications, which will be created by the establishment of this new scheme:

• Local authorities must be adequately resourced to inspect the standard of private rented accommodation. The Network members are of the view that such inspections should be carried out by appropriately qualified technical staff.
• Local authorities do not currently have enough to staff to assess applicants as quickly as would be required in order to administer a scheme of rental assistance for private rented accommodation. Therefore significant increases in staff numbers are necessary. These officials would be required to carry out in-depth interviews with applicants for local authority housing in order to ascertain what would be the most suitable housing option for each applicant and so training would be required to prepare them for this work.
• Local authorities do not currently have enough staff to process payments as quickly as would be required in order to administer a scheme of rental assistance for private rented accommodation. There significant increases in staff numbers are necessary, the members also take the view that payments under the scheme should be made to the landlord rather than the claimant.
• The Network members who work in Urban District Councils are particularly concerned about the staffing implications, which the proposed local authority rental assistance scheme will have in these small organisations.

• The under development of information technology in local authority housing departments could be a severe impediment to the management of the local authority rent assistance scheme. In relation to IT systems, no integrated housing packages are currently used in local authorities. Some authorities have not made any progress at all in the computerisation of this aspect of their service, and those authorities which made progress in this regard use a range of computer packages – all of which are unsatisfactory to some degree. The establishment of the local authority rental assistance scheme will therefore require considerable investment in information technology. The members are do not believe that transferring the ISTS system which is currently used to manage Supplementary Welfare Allowance payments will provide an adequate solution to this problem and they are of the opinion that a new IT system should be developed to administer the local authority rental assistance scheme. This system must be fully integrated with systems for the administration of the other local authority housing functions and with the Agresso financial management system, which is now used in most local authorities.

• The SWA rent assistance service is delivered through a dense network of local health centres around the country. Most local authorities do not have access to this number of local offices and as a result they may not be able to maintain the quality of the service which is currently provided to rent assistance claimants in this regard. These problems could be addressed by allowing local authorities assess to the Health Board health centres or to local social welfare offices. Facilities in many local authority housing departments will obviously have to be upgraded to deal with greater numbers of clients. Members also feel that the transfer could be used as an opportunity for local authorities to decentralise their entire housing service and to establish one-stop shops for all housing services.

Appendix. Details of Meetings of Regional Housing Practitioner Networks on the Proposed Local Authority Rental Assistance Scheme.