Scottish Government

6. ALLOCATIONS AND WIDER AGENDAS

6.1 The third theme arising from the research relates to the relationship between allocations and wider national and local agendas. In broad terms the issues here revolve around the question of how the objectives and priorities within allocations policies should be determined and the extent to which they should, or indeed can, respond to and complement other broader agendas. This therefore brings in debates about the appropriate role of allocations in the social rented sector and highlighted tensions between these various agendas.

6.2 The research identified the following issues in relation to allocations and wider agendas

• Conflicts for landlords between allocations legislation and guidance and other housing objectives, principally in the areas of debt management and tenancy management
• A reported lack of alignment of care and support services for individual tenants or applicants increasing the demands on social landlords and threatening the sustainability of tenancies
• Tensions for landlords between allocations legislation and guidance and other national policy agendas, in particular anti-social behaviour, managing sex offenders, equalities and housing benefit.

6.3 These issues are considered in turn below drawing on the various strands of the research.

Allocations and Other Housing Priorities

6.4 Many of the tensions identified by landlords were between allocations and other housing management objectives: most frequently mentioned in this context were tensions between allocations objectives and debt management. In addition however landlords identified issues in relation to tenancy management and voids management.

6.5 Tensions with other housing priorities were also identified but less frequently. In this context there were issues raised about the important role played by the private rented sector in certain areas, but such a tenancy could not discharge homelessness obligations because the standard use of short assured tenancies in the private rented sector meant it was not considered permanent accommodation.

Debt management

6.6 The survey asked respondents to identify whether there was a lack of clarity in relation to the eligibility to housing of households with arrears. Only 8% of respondents considered that the position was insufficiently clear. It was evident however from the comments given by landlords to the survey and in the case studies that many landlords considered that there was an issue in relation to eligibility of households with large arrears: some landlords described this as a lack of clarity, whilst others considered it to be a tension.

6.7 There were three issues identified in relation to debt management

• What constitutes a reasonable repayment agreement. A number of landlords referred to the situation where a tenant had been evicted or who had abandoned leaving arrears of £2,000 or more. Agreements for those on the lowest incomes of £3 per week sustained over the required 3 months had a minimal impact on the level of the outstanding arrears. Landlords sought clarification on whether higher levels of repayment could be required.
• The position in relation to transfer applicants. Most landlords were clear about the eligibility to housing of non tenants with arrears, but were uncertain as to whether the same rules applied to existing tenants seeking a transfer.
• For RSLs there were particular concerns at the lack of discretion they considered they had in accepting a referral through section 5 where there was a history of arrears.

6.8 As one respondent commented

'Can the landlord insist that a minimum amount must be repaid within the 3 months if the applicant wants to be eligible to receive offers? Do the constraints on rent arrears and lettings apply to just waiting list applicants or to transfer applicants as well?' ( LA)

6.9 As is evident from this and other comments, landlords concerns were not simply about clarification, but they were also uneasy about a policy framework which they considered resulted in landlords re-housing applicants with large arrears after a relatively small level of repayment.

'The legislation and guidance on arrears is not a reasonable basis on which to develop a culture of payment.' ( RSL)

'[There is a tension between….] our business objectives of being viable but allowing tenants with large arrears to transfer after minimum repayment arrangement maintained for short period and leaving large balance.' ( LHO)

6.10 The case studies provided further insight into the thinking of landlords. There were related concerns about the position on suspensions, with a lack of parity between homeless and other applicants. There were particular concerns amongst RSLs that they cannot take account of arrears - no matter how high these may be - when an applicant is referred this way (this also related to taking account of anti-social behaviour).

'Applicants and tenants get to know the system - we have had cases where the applicant maintains the re-payment for 3 months, is re-housed then stops making payment - it's much more difficult to recover former arrears. We had suspended an applicant on the basis of this and were criticised by CS at inspection while at the same time we were being told to improve our arrears performance'. ( RSL)

6.11 Many participants in the case studies thought that utilising SSSTs in the case of current and former arrears - particularly where the applicant/tenant has come through the homeless route via section 5 referral - would be one way of giving them greater leverage in negotiating a re-payment plan and ensuring that tenants maintain any arrangement put in place.

Voids and rent loss

6.12 Landlords are under pressure to minimise rent loss through void periods for business reasons and the financial health, and even viability, of their organisation. The importance of this is reflected in both Communities Scotland's Performance Standards and Audit Scotland's Key Performance Indicators.

6.13 Landlords did however perceive tensions between the pressure to relet quickly and other aspects of the housing service, particularly achieving a sustainable tenancy. Practical expressions of this tension reported by landlords included

• Difficulties in sourcing support for vulnerable tenants in the timescale required to relet. In one case study area, landlords described the approach for assessing eligibility for housing support by which the need was assessed after a tenancy had been offered meaning either that the tenant had to be housed without the package in place, or a void had to be incurred.
• Difficulties in sourcing furniture and dealing with power companies, particularly for households in their first tenancy, and timescales to ensure that the property was 'liveable in'.

6.14 There were also reported pressures to find a tenant rather than to find the best match. In effect the pressure to minimise voids was seen to cut across policy and practice in relation to sensitive lettings, which inevitably involved a more measured assessment of the immediate local community and identification of a tenant who would fit the identified profile.

'Sometimes rules have to be humanised because we are dealing with people and everyone's different. Would like to be able to look at the individual and see what's going to be best and try and get the house that suits rather than just taking next on the list' ( LA)

6.15 Because of the nature of the issues, there tended to be greater tensions in relation to homeless households where they may be occupying temporary accommodation and where they had few, if any, existing possessions with which to set up a tenancy. This was a particular issue for RSLs in relation to section 5 referrals as there was reported pressure to meet the request for housing within the timescale set by the local authority.

'Sometimes we're allocating a property and we know that without support it's going to fail. We are under constant pressure to keep void times to a minimum, but on balance, it may be more cost effective to incur an increase in void times and rent loss, rather than the costs associated with abandonment and repossession. In the end, we, or another landlord, is going to have to re-house them again'. ( RSL)

Tenancy management

6.16 Both local authority and RSL landlords, and staff at different levels, expressed concern at the implications of the eligibility to housing of tenants with substantial arrears for their landlord function. The issue for landlords was, however, considerably wider than just arrears and debt management, covering a broader range of aspects of the landlord's responsibilities which we have grouped here under the term 'tenancy management'.

6.17 Landlords were acutely aware of a changing profile of people applying and being housed, with frequent reference being made to the increase in the proportion of tenants with care and support needs, challenging behaviour and complex needs: this included most obviously people with substance misuse problems, mental health problems, learning disabilities and offending behaviour.

'I think there has to be a recognition that the current legislation appears to have resulted in social rented housing only (or in the main) being available to those who have a range of problems/medical/social support needs.' ( RSL)

6.18 Their responsibilities under the homelessness legislation to provide accommodation almost irrespective of the complexity and degree of needs (as well as a clear commitment amongst many to this principle) together with the strong focus on giving priority to those with the greatest needs was clearly seen to have resulted in increasing demands being placed on tenancy management services. The pressure was seen to be greater because of the reduction in the size of the social rented sector numerically but, more significantly, proportionately to the other tenures, such that those with the highest needs now represented a majority of those being housed.

'We are told to have sustainable communities but those at the top of the list have multiple or severe needs. It's not possible to achieve with a shortage of housing and high demand. It is not enough to be homeless to get housed, applicants also have to have a set of complex severe needs. There are new levels of dependency (alcohol and drugs) and mental health issues. We need to move away from a pure focus on housing need to address our responsibility as landlords to communities' ( RSL)

' LAs and RSLs policy and practice attempt to achieve a balance between ensuring allocations do not lead to estate management or anti-social behaviour issues while at the same time trying to ensure that we do ensure practice is consistent with equal opportunity requirements. Again good practical guidance would be helpful.' ( LA)

6.19 This of course links closely to the discussion of balanced communities and community need within the previous chapter, but also to the discussion below about alignment, or insufficient alignment, with care and support services.

Support and Care Needs

6.20 Issues and tensions relating to the care and support needs of applicants had not been identified as significant during the early stages of the research and as such were not explored in depth within the survey. It was evident though from the responses from landlords on 'other issues and gaps' that the issue was important.

'There is an issue regarding the level of support given to homeless applicants establishing new tenancies to assist them in sustaining their accommodation but this is more to do with establishing a joint partnership approach with the local council than an issue of legislation.' ( RSL)

'Supporting People funding is limited and difficult to access for new clients. Therefore occasionally an allocation will lead to tenancy breakdown as tenant is unable to maintain tenancy.' ( RSL)

6.21 The case studies confirmed that this issue was of considerable and growing importance to social landlords, both local authority and RSL. The following were the main concerns reported by landlords within the research.

• Difficulties in accessing appropriate support for different types and levels of need and with complications at points of transition from temporary to permanent accommodation
• Implications for allocations in housing tenants where support forms an integral part of the tenancy
• 'Engagement' issues, where support and care services are available but the individual refuses that support
• Concerns that social landlords are dealing with situations where their staff lack the necessary skills.

6.22 In relation to each of the above, there were concerns amongst landlords about cost implications arising from insufficient or inadequate support and care services.

Accessing appropriate support for vulnerable households

6.23 Landlords reported a particular dependence on low level support services funded through Supporting People ( SP). There were three concerns expressed about SP funded services.

6.24 First, some landlords commented that the restrictions on the types of services which could be funded through SP caused difficulties, particularly given the growth in those with complex needs. In principle landlords felt that those with the more complex needs should be catered for through community care services provided by social services, but in practice they sought an increase in SP funded services, if necessary introducing greater flexibility in what services SP could fund. This issue appeared to be at least in part a preference for dealing with a service which housing staff understand (Supporting People) rather than one they do not (health and care services).

6.25 Secondly, there were concerns across all case study areas about the cuts in SP funded support while at the same time there was an increase in the number of people requiring support.

'This year we face a SP budget cut of around 13% while at the same time there is an increase in the number of people requiring support. A lot of the support relates to substance misuse and young people in tenancies for the first time - we are seeing an increase in the instances of mental health issues as well. It seems odd that when all the evidence suggests a need for more support the funding is being cut and the restrictions placed on that support doesn't often meet the needs of clients' ( LA)

6.26 Even for those landlords with in-house support or where they buy in support from local services/agencies, there were reports of both delays in getting assessment for support and fewer hours of support per client due to the increasing demand.

6.27 Third, there were particular issues which some landlords had encountered in the transition of homeless households from temporary accommodation to permanent. The particular pressures on households in adjusting to the requirements of an independent tenancy increased the risks of tenancy breakdown. For landlords the issue related in part to a lack of SP funded services requiring housing management staff to have to 'fill the gap', with resource and skill implications. In addition, though, there was seen to be a lack of continuity for households in provision of support at a key point in their transition to independent living.

6.28 This appeared to be a matter of the way in which local services for homeless households have been specified focusing simply on the period of homelessness rather than following through to assist the establishment of a sustainable tenancy. It is therefore a local rather than a national issue.

6.29 It was however not only access to low level support services where landlords identified issues and tensions. With the increasingly complex and challenging needs amongst those applying to social landlords, there was corresponding growth in the need for more specialised assistance from the care and health sectors. The need for assistance was identified as relating to

• Information on the needs of those applicants who were already receiving a care package and/or had been assessed
• Access to assessment, whether Single Shared Assessment or specialised assessment, in a timescale which supported the timescale for re-housing
• Provision of care and support which complemented services provided by the landlord and maximised the chances of tenancy sustainment.

6.30 The difficulties reported by landlords related both to eligibility for services and the timescales within which this was assessed.

6.31 In terms of eligibility, there were concerns that there was still a 'gap' between the services available through SP and those provided by social services and health. This related in particular to those with mental health problems, substance misuse and low to medium learning disabilities. In addition there appeared to be issues in relation to those with dual diagnosis: where people presented with a combination of difficulties (such as mental health and substance misuse) the priority given by social services and health was in relation to each type of need rather than the combination.

6.32 Often of more pressing concern was the difficulty of getting applicants assessed quickly. This was a particular issue amongst homeless applicants where there was an immediate need to find accommodation, but there were also difficulties reported for those undertaking the housing assessment in establishing the nature of the applicant's other needs so as to find suitable accommodation. This was both an issue for homeless teams and for allocations teams.

'Frequent delays in relation to ensuring support needs met.' ( RSL)

'Support not always in place when tenancy available.' ( RSL)

'S5 referrals can have support needs. The RSL has a duty to re-house them as soon as possible. There is a mismatch between assessment and allocation timescales for housing and assessment and allocation timescales for support e.g.SP.' ( RSL)

6.33 Some housing staff noted that it was difficult to get a referral accepted by other services: their perception was that this was because they were 'not taken seriously' as housing staff.

'There was one lady in particular - her rent was paid and there was never any need to visit her. I had to go and see her about a repair and when I went in she had all the plug points, vents, taps and keyholes covered with tape. When I asked her why she said it was because things were always crawling in and she heard voices from the electrical sockets. I phoned social work and was told that unless she was diagnosed with mental health problems, there was nothing they could do. They said they would need a referral from her GP - I'm no expert but it was screaming mental health problems to me, but social work just wouldn't take on my concerns'. ( LA)

6.34 Delays in re-housing had a detrimental effect on households, particularly those in need of urgent re-housing, with applicants becoming disheartened and demoralised.

6.35 Some staff felt that if the 'whole' needs of the applicant were not assessed, then it was more a matter of luck than judgement that the applicant was provided with the right accommodation - in terms of support services, location and neighbours.

6.36 Some landlords considered that the difficulty was at least in part that of resources, with care and health services not able to meet the demand: others commented that it was a matter of priorities and that there was insufficient recognition of the overlap, or connection, between vulnerable housing applicants (often homeless) and clients of social and health services.

6.37 There are of course many issues to be considered from the perspective of health and social services as to why this situation exists. It is however a recognised difficulty at national level, with initiatives currently being developed to explore options and solutions.

Housing with integral support

6.38 Landlords providing accommodation in which support services, funded by other departments or agencies, were an integral part of occupation highlighted the implications for their allocations policies. Where this was the case, the decision to make an offer of accommodation had also to ensure that the prospective tenants met the eligibility criteria of those funding the support service.

'My own HA provides housing with different levels of support to older people, mostly within sheltered housing. This requires matching housing needs and an individuals housing support needs. The latter is regulated by CC/ LA via SP. The focus on matching support needs to traditional housing assessment via Housing Act creates difficulties.' ( RSL)

6.39 This is a situation with which RSLs providing accommodation registered as a care home have long been familiar. In this instance the practice has often been to develop a referral system such that only those referred by social services are accommodated. The situation of needing to align housing priorities with care or support priorities now affects a significantly large number of landlords and a larger proportion of the social housing stock as a result of the introduction of Supporting People.

6.40 The extent and the nature of the issues appeared to vary across the case study areas, affected by local practice. The main issue reported by landlords was of timing, with some local authorities seeking a suitable tenant only at the point at which a vacancy occurred rather than by holding a list: this inevitably lengthened the time during which a property was vacant and incurred rent loss.

'The issue is really around the way in which LA social work departments plan and assess need for Supporting People. It tends to be in response to a housing vacancy rather than identifying need and holding a list. This can result in lengthy voids while a tenant requiring support is identified and a support package put together. XXXXX has a target of 2 months from termination to new let but rarely manages to meet this target… it is a national problem.' ( RSL)

'Engagement' issues

6.41 Landlords from both local authorities and RSLs in the case study areas noted the difficulties if households who had been provided with care or support package refused to engage with it.

6.42 Where the support or care was not an integral part of the tenancy, the landlords had no leverage to require participation: they were left with no other option than to pursue repossession if the tenant defaulted on the terms of their agreement. This was usually on the grounds of arrears, an easier legal route to obtain decree than other breaches of tenancy but not necessarily the underlying reason for the tenancy failure.

6.43 A number of those interviewed recognised that this was not a sensible or constructive approach. Suggestions to address this included the ability to grant an SSST to such tenants to encourage engagement and establish the support initially.

Skills issues

6.44 Overall in terms of the care and support needs of applicants, landlords were concerned that their staff were involved in situations and with types of need which they had neither the training nor the skills to deal with effectively: this was a concern equally of management and operational staff.

6.45 This skills issue related both to assessment of need in the absence of access to the appropriate more specialised skills in health and social services, and to the provision of support by default where no support or care package was in place. There was also concern about the implications for staff safety where they were dealing with individuals whose needs they did not fully understand or know how to handle.

6.46 Much of this was seen to occur because of the pressures to re-house applicants before a full assessment from social services or health had taken place. As noted above, the issue was particularly acute amongst homeless households both in addressing any immediate requirement for temporary accommodation and in moving people from temporary accommodation.

Other National Agendas

6.47 This was seen more as an issue of a lack of 'connection' between national policies than about alignment and co-ordination at local level.

6.48 Frustration at what was perceived to be a failure to recognise the implication of certain national policy for other areas of policy was evident both in the responses to the survey and within the case studies: as in other aspects of this study, local authority respondents identified more issues and tensions than RSLs.

Anti-social behaviour

6.49 Anti-social behaviour ( ASB), or more accurately how to deal with its effects on neighbours and communities, has had a particularly high profile politically over the past few years. However, despite this, landlords consistently reported feeling unable to address the issues associated with ASB effectively. Specifically

• their ability to house people with complex needs and challenging behaviour
• having a sufficient period to support those with challenging behaviour to assist them to sustain their tenancies
• justifying to communities why people evicted for anti-social behaviour were re-housed.

6.50 There were comments about a need for greater clarity but also an underlying concern that the eligibility to housing was not consistent with the drive to address anti-social behaviour.

'I do feel there is tension between the allocations/homeless - house all agenda, and the anti social behaviour agenda - mixed messages!' ( RSL)

'…there are conflicts and contradictions between different agendas particularly dealing with anti-social behaviour and housing an increasingly vulnerable client group with issues such as drug dependency.' ( RSL)

6.51 The specific issues where landlords sought clarification were

• What level of evidence of anti-social behaviour is required in order to restrict eligibility to housing. A number of landlords questioned whether this applies only where there is a Notice of Proceedings, an eviction order, an ASBO or some other evidence
• Related concerns that landlords are setting their own criteria leading to different interpretations across the country.

6.52 As with debt management there were also concerns about an approach which on the one hand pursued eviction for anti-social behaviour but then gave those who had been evicted the right to be re-housed through the homelessness legislation. There was a complex mix of reasons why this view was held

• Some landlords took the view that it was 'counter productive' to re-house tenants who had not changed their behaviour
• Others were concerned about the tensions in supporting and sustaining local communities whilst at the same time meeting housing obligations to those with a history of anti-social behaviour
• Others still considered that the issue was more about a lack of appropriate support to the household to avoid a recurrence of the difficulties in a future tenancy. This linked to issues about the implications of housing such households for tenancy management services within their organisation.

6.53 The views amongst some landlords that there had been a growth in 'strategic' presentations through the homeless route was sometimes made in the context of those with a history of anti-social behaviour. There were concerns that current practice, where a family or individual is evicted on the grounds of ASB, is only moving the problem onto another area and more needs to be done to address the underlying causes: some people are seen to be 'getting wise' to the new homeless legislation and, by presenting as homeless, they are aware that they can be potentially re-housed without any ASB issues or problems being taken into account.

Sex Offenders

6.54 Tensions between allocations legislation and guidance and the national policy on re-housing sex offenders was raised unprompted by respondents to the survey, and was then explored in more detail within the case studies.

'In relation to the proposed National Accommodation Strategy for Sex Offenders who carries out what assessments and who is ultimately responsible to Governing Bodies, Communities and individuals if there is a serious incident in the community.' ( RSL)

'There will be definite tensions with the new Duty to Co-operate contained within the National Accommodation Strategy for Sex Offenders in Scotland.' ( RSL)

6.55 The seriousness of the issues in relation to sex offenders was very clear in the case studies with evidence of significant failures in the arrangements for re-housing which had resulted in wholly inappropriate allocations being made.

6.56 A key issue raised by both managers and operational staff was the lack of co-operation from other services involved in the re-housing of sex offenders. Some staff commented that they were unaware that a tenant had a conviction for sex offences and expressed serious concerns that the allocations made were near schools and play-grounds. A frontline member of staff in one case study area reported being invited to a case conference with police services and criminal justice to discuss a number of 'sensitive' allocations and being asked to leave the room when it came to discussing the re-housing options for sex offenders. Some staff felt their professionalism and integrity to handle such cases was being questioned.

6.57 Where staff were more involved in the re-housing decisions of sex offenders, there were difficulties reported in finding appropriate housing in terms of location, with a continuing impact for subsequent allocations decisions. First, particularly in pressured areas, there were reported problems of finding suitable accommodation away from families with children, from schools, parks and any other places that children might congregate. Secondly, where an appropriate location could be found and an allocation made, this seriously restricted the subsequent re-housing of families with children in the vicinity.

Housing Benefit

6.58 The tensions in relation to housing benefit and allocations are not new, with particular concerns for younger and more vulnerable households about eligibility and verification criteria. Landlords identified a number of instances where the current rules create difficulties in meeting their responsibilities.

'Tension between Housing Benefit legislation and preventing homelessness. Private rented sector is a housing option for many however due to ceiling levels on Housing Benefit awarded many applicants are unable to afford deficit and approach local authorities for housing.' ( LA)

6.59 With regards to the rules on claiming HB and the verification required, concerns were often expressed by landlords in the case study areas that young people, those with substance misuse problems and vulnerable tenants were at risk of losing tenancies due to the inflexibility of the system.

'A lot of our tenants need help with housing benefit. I think that a lot of the arrears we are dealing with are due to people not getting verification documents in on time - it can be difficult for chaotic tenants and those with literacy problems to comply with the rules. There needs to be more flexibility in the system as the current situation is leading to failed tenancies and homelessness. Those who accrue arrears in this way are usually those least likely to be able to repay them. I mean, no one seems to consider the cost of eviction/abandonment, the measures taken to recover arrears or the cost of going through the homeless system. A little bit of flexibility could have a huge impact, not only for the tenants themselves, but also for the other agencies and services left to pick up the pieces' ( RSL)

Regeneration

6.60 Amongst some of the landlords engaged in community regeneration, there was a perception that the current legislation and guidance on allocations cut across their objectives to regenerate the local area and create a sustainable community. There are parallels in this context with the comments made about balanced communities in the previous chapter.

6.61 One transfer RSL in the case studies highlighted how a lot of work had gone into an estate to make it more desirable but was worried about how well this approach would be viewed at inspection (the landlord had yet to be inspected by Communities Scotland).

'We recently took over a low demand estate and put a lot of work into regenerating it. We took the view that by improving the look of the estate and applying sensitive lettings that it would become a desirable place to live. We've tried to balance a range of needs, allocating to young people in employment, families and other groups - as well as homeless households and people with other, more extreme needs. Before we took [the estate] over, there was virtually no demand but within 9 months there was a waiting list for the area. We have tried to be as transparent in our allocations decisions as possible but [I'm] not sure how well this will go down with CS at inspection - we are hoping they take account of the local circumstances and outcomes we have so far achieved.' ( RSL)