Agenda item

In 2017 Members agreed a revised landlord adaptation policy.  The Acting Housing Service Lead’s report set out a further review to the policy with a recommendation that going forward the policy was reviewed every two years or sooner if there is a significant legislative need to review the position.  Tenants, staff and key stakeholders had been consulted with in order to test the policy.

The Policy provided a clear framework which set out the Councils approach to providing adaptations for tenants or their household members to help them live independently at home.

The Council was continuing to see a growing demand for adaptations to its stock. There was an increased demand for adaptations to general needs housing, not just in sheltered accommodation.  The most common requests came from sheltered housing properties and were for wet room showers.  It was recognised that these adaptations could be considered when sheltered properties became void, therefore preventing demand in the future.

Since the start of the 2018/19 financial year 327 requests had been received for adaptations. These were a mix of formal statement of needs (received from Occupational Therapists) as well as Mobile Support Officer requests for adaptations to tenants homes (mainly minor adaptations). In total for the year 2017/2018 353 adaptation requests were received.   Properties currently in the Right to Buy process were not eligible for adaptations.

It was noted that on a day to day basis the policy had worked well, providing a solid framework for providing adaptations and ensuring consistency. Individual cases could be extremely complex, particularly when a household had a number of family members with individual needs that needed to be met. Strong partnership working with Occupational Therapists was vital and their presence at the internal adaptation panel meetings helped with the management of these cases.

Minor changes to the revised policy included;

·           An additional clause to recognise adaptations that might be required as a result of a hospital discharge. Attempts would always be made to prioritise such cases where practical to do so although it was never guaranteed all needs could be met and any adaptations required would be reviewed on an individual basis by the Adaptations Officer.

·           An increase in the minor adaptation cap from £1000 to £1200, to capture rising costs of building works.

·           Installing wet room showers on all sheltered housing voids where a bathroom replacement was due.

·           Where major adaptations were required and it was deemed alternative accommodation could be considered, if after a period of 3 months alternative accommodation had not been secured the case will be reviewed again.

The Board acknowledged that it was likely the demand for adaptions would continue to rise as there was a continuing shift in national policy that encouraged people to remain in their homes for longer. The revised policy would continue to ensure that all requests were treated consistently.

RECOMMENDED:

1.    that Cabinet approved the revised Landlord Disabled Adaptation Policy to Council Homes be approved.

2.    that delegated authority be given to the Acting Housing Service Lead in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing for any minor amendments to be made to the policy prior to its publication.