Access to housing and Choice Based Lettings

Position Statement 1

Access to Housing and Choice B= ased Lettings

Leeds Tenants Federation is calling for:

<= span style=3D'font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-fa= mily: Symbol'>· More assis= tance to enable vulnerable people to use Choice Based Lettings.=

<= span style=3D'font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-fa= mily: Symbol'>· A speciali= st service to help disabled people find a rented home

<= span style=3D'font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-fa= mily: Symbol'>· A review o= f the three-month time limit for people in priority needs

<= span style=3D'font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-fa= mily: Symbol'>· The inclus= ion of floor plans and room size details in the Choice Based Lettings advertisemen= ts

<= span style=3D'font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-fa= mily: Symbol'>· More invol= vement by residents associations in welcoming prospective new tenants to communiti= es

More assistance to enable vulnerable people to use Choice Based Lettings.

Access to all council housing and a growing number of housing association properties in Leeds is through Choice Based Lettings. One of the major concerns Leeds Tenants Federation has about Choice Based Lettings is the position of vulnerable pe= ople who may not be able to bid for properties. We believe that far more needs to be done by the Council’s Leeds Hom= es team to assess the needs of vulnerable people and to make sure that there a= re advocates who can assist them with the bidding process.

A specialist service to help disabled people find a rented home

We believe that the accommodation needs of people with long term disabilities need to be handle= d in a separate manner from those of other customers. We support the development of an integr= ated disabled peoples housing service and we feel that the council’s Lettings Po= licy should compliment this. This was the view expressed in our Disabled People’= s Question Time event in summer 2005, attended by 120 people with disabilities. There are many arguments to support the creation of a separate Lettings Policy for people with disabilities: the obstacles they face to entering into a bidding process, the nature of the property they wish to access i.e. adapted / ground floor, and the long term nature of their priority which means that three monthly reviews of this customer group are unhelpful.

The inclusion of floor plans and = room size details in the Choice Based Lettings advertisements<= /b>

We want residents to= get as much information about prospective accommodation and prospective neighbourh= oods as they can, so they can make the right choices. We would like to see the use of web cam= eras to give internal and external property viewing on internet sites, and floor plans with room size information in print adverts but recognise that this i= s a longer term development. There is potential to expand the descriptions of the properties available to bidders without great investment simply by giving fuller details in the property advert. “One large and one small bedroom” is a more useful description than simply “two bedrooms”. We believe the Council should encourage housing organisations operating CBL to give the fullest possible description of room and garden sizes and any pertinent det= ails of the property layout that may help customers make informed choices. We also believe that more information a= bout the facilities in the local neighbourhood would benefit customers.

More involvement by residents associations in welcoming prospective new tenants to communities=

We believe that pros= pective tenants can be helped to settle in a community if the local residents association is able to greet them and to help them find their way about. We are pioneering a scheme called Meet = N’ Greet in which trained local residents representatives attend accompanied viewings and are able to give the prospective tenant information about the local services, facilities, and tell them more about the neighbourhood. This scheme is being piloted with two housing organisations at present and we would like to see this simple but effective idea taken up across Leeds.