Agenda item

To consider the proposes HRA Business Plan – Revenue Budget and Capital Programme 2022/23 and agree comments to be passed to the Executive on:

i.              Proposed rent increase

ii.             Proposed weekly charge for garage rents

iii.            Proposed service charges in senior living accommodation

iv.           Proposed recharge for energy costs in senior living accommodation

v.             The revised HRA Business Plan for 2022/23 to 2025/26

vi.           Proposed fees and charges

Hugh acknowledged that two meetings previously the Head of Finance and Property Peter Vickers gave an in-depth analysis of the housing accounts and the challenges

Peter Vickers stated that it was a budget that looked to the long term.  There was a 30-year business plan.

Waverley had to take a mortgage out of £189 million paid to the government to free themselves from the government's financing system.  The business plan was designed to mitigate against moderate shocks, but had to be reprofiled due to the four years of rent reduction.  This really hit the business plan because not only did the rents reduce but the plan had assumed rent rises above inflation which was what the government promised. 

Rather than review the numbers, Hugh explained what the budgets would deliver and the challenges to the service.  Covid had impacted on the service causing a lost rental income as homes were unable to be let during lockdown and had impacted resources and capacity .  They also had issues with contractors, inflating costs and resources.  The budget also supported the net zero decarbonisation agenda. 

There was huge investment in the next year's budget to run a pilot at Ockford Ridge to retrofit seven homes, to assess green initiatives.  For most homes insulation is the most effective way to reduce carbon and use the fabric first approach. The service has 800 properties that were pre-second world war, that are not possible or practicable to make zero carbon. 

The budget has additional money to do works at one of the senior schemes to complete works required to meet new building standards.  Work required would be identified through fire risk assessments.  £0.75m has been allocated over three years to complete that work.  . 

The budget proposes a rent increase of up to 4.1%.  The rent rise equated to £1.61 per week.  This is necessary to resource this year’s projects and services but also support future investment in the homes services. Hugh acknowledged current challenges following the pandemic and increasing cost of living.  He noted that there was a Government Household Support Fund distributed by Waverley to assist those facing money problems.  A letter was being sent to all their tenants promoting the scheme and letting everyone know help is available to pay for heating, food and other essentials.  The rent team had also been proactive in looking at records of everyone who had gone on to universal credit during the pandemic. 

The government household support fund finishes in March 2022.  To support tenants who may be financially challenged by the rent increase a new Hardship fund has been created within the HRA.  The board thought the hardship fund needed to be ongoing and not just for one year as cost of living rises were increasing with food and fuel and National Insurance going up.  They also felt the fund needed to not be stigmatised and eligibility criteria needed to be clear.  It was noted that the Tenants Panel already met with the Rents Team regularly to ensure there was a softer side to rent collection. 

ACTION - The team would work with the Tenants Panel to develop simple eligibility criteria, easy application process and compassionate language in communications.

Peter Vickers stated that the report committed Waverley to reviewing the hardship fund during the year so it was not just a one-off cash injection it was an active thing.  They didn’t know if £30,000 was enough.

Reviewing the recommendations for Council, the Board questioned whether the rooms should be rented out to the residents or whether they should be free.  They also wanted to know about the policy for outside agencies using them for community activities.  They said they had seen instances of where residents were charged to use the community rooms.  It did appear that the budget line made two distinct references for residents and non-residents.  It was suggested that it depended on the purpose of renting the room and whether it was commercial or not.  . 

ACTION

The Board advised that the recommendation be altered to reflect commercial and non-commercial use.  It was suggested that the third line which said community room residents also be removed.

Officers to ensure residents not charged for personal use of communal rooms and availability of rooms promoted following pandemic restrictions.

RESOLVED

It was recommended that the Landlord Services Advisory Board made comments to the Executive on the proposed recommendations.  The Board wished to make the recommendations detailed above about the use of the Community Rooms.  They also asked that a summary of their discussions be added to the report including about establishing the criteria for the hardship fund by working with the Tenants Panel.