Minutes - Housing and Housing Related Support for Older People Board - 22 April 2008

BOROUGH OF POOLE

HOUSING AND HOUSING RELATED SUPPORT

FOR OLDER PEOPLE BOARD

22 APRIL 2008

The Meeting commenced at 2pm and concluded at 3.40pm.

Members Present:

Councillors Ms Atkinson, Brooke (as substitute for Councillor Meachin), Bulteel, Curtis and Mrs Dion.

Officers Present:

Jan Thurgood, Strategic Director, Social Services

John Dermody, Head of Adult Social Services

Simon Hendey, Head of Housing and Community Services

Joe Logan, Chief Executive, Poole Housing Partnership

David Ralph, Head of Strategic Planning

Kelly Ansell, Housing Resources Manager

Kate Gibbings, Democratic Support Officer

1. ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN

RESOLVED that Councillor Ms Atkinson be elected Chairman for the ensuing Municipal Year.

Councillor Ms Atkinson in the Chair

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Meachin (substituted by Councillor Brooke).

1. MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 6 OCTOBER 2006

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meeting held on 6 October 2006, having been previously circulated, be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

1. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

None

1. EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC AND PRESS

RESOLVED that, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the Meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the said Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighed the public interest in disclosing it.

1. PROVISION OF AFFORDABLE OLDER PERSONS ACCOMMODATION IN POOLE

The Head of Housing and Community Services presented the Provision of Affordable Older Persons Accommodation in Poole Report. The Report considered how much affordable older persons accommodation should be provided in Poole over the next 10 years and the type and quality of the accommodation to be provided.

The Board was advised of the difference between Sheltered Housing and Extra Care Housing:

Sheltered Housing was purpose built accommodation for people over 60 years of age. The unfurnished flats and bungalows provided independent living in a safe, secure, communal environment with the support of a Sheltered Housing Officer.

Extra Care Housing provided restaurant facilities and the provision of assisted bathing if required, in addition to that offered with Sheltered Housing.

How Much affordable rented older persons accommodation was needed?

Tables summarising the Housing Needs Survey Results for Poole’s Older People were provided to the Board. A number of conclusions were drawn from these results:

(i)The Majority of older people lived in homes that they owned outright.

(ii)The Majority of older person households with special needs lived in their own home.

(iii)Over a third of all Social rented housing was occupied by an older person only household.

(iv)A number of older person households had been living in homes that were too big for them.

In terms of provision of older persons housing the conclusion was that there would be an opportunity to reduce under-occupation, if the offer of affordable rented accommodation was improved.

In terms of older people who had a history of substance miss-use there were currently only 3 households on the housing register who had indicated such a need.

The ‘Speak Out’ event consultation in February 2007 asked older people, “If the right type of housing were available, would they move?” The response was 59% said yes but 41% said no. This gave an indication of the market of older people who would be prepared to move if an appropriate offer was made.

The Board was provided with a table showing the projected number of households who would live in affordable rented accommodation, based on population growth of older people. It showed that there would be a need for 226 new older person affordable housing units by 2017. However if the evidence from the ‘Speak Out’ consultation was accepted then the need may only be to provide 132 new affordable rented homes for older people (59% of the 226).

How can the need be met?

Previous work, which estimated the need for frail elderly accommodation in Poole, had suggested there was a need for 285 new frail elderly places over the next 3years. However, after the provision to provide floating support services to older people, enabling them to stay in their homes longer, the number of Extra Care Units was lowered to 100. This suggested the need to provide 100 Extra Care Units and 32 Sheltered Housing Units.

Opportunities for delivery

One scheme providing 45 units had already been commissioned at the Poole Quarter Development and would be available in September 2009. However, these units were to be made available on a sale basis at 35% of the open market value and as such could not be counted against the supply of affordable rented accommodation. There was nevertheless an opportunity that these may be brought back as rented once developed, which would require investigation. It was however important to develop proposals to secure the 100 Extra Care Housing Units.

The Board was advised that it was difficult to make a scheme viable below 45 units and discussions were taking place with Registered Social Landlords to look at the development of Extra Care Units.

The three suggested means of delivering such a scheme were:

(i)use of Council land assets

(ii)inclusion in regeneration scheme requirements

(iii)development of a site within the Natural England exclusion zone.

It was recommended that these options be referred to the Asset Management Group for consideration.

Social Care Needs Assessments would be necessary to give a fuller picture as to the level of Extra Care required, and the funding implications. Consultation with the Supporting People Commissioning Body would also be necessary to enable target setting to be completed based on the financial implications of the Revenue Support required for these schemes.

If the 100 Extra Care units were developed it would leave a potential shortfall of approximately 32 units, which, it was proposed, should be provided as Cat 2 Affordable Rented Sheltered Housing. Demand for some schemes of sheltered housing stock in Poole was very low. This was either due to the standard or location of the accommodation. A recent analysis by Poole Housing Partnership and Housing and Community Services had shown there was a need to undertake a detailed review of the Council’s Housing Stock to make sure Housing Stock met the needs and aspirations of current and future residents.

It was suggested that the identified demand for 32 new sheltered housing units was met from the remodelling of existing schemes and was reviewed in the light of an option appraisal of existing older persons affordable housing stock, which would be undertaken as part of the Council’s wider options appraisal of the housing stock.

The standards of affordable rented housing for older people

It was necessary to establish the quality of housing that all providers should seek to achieve. This would need to be developed in consultation with the Stakeholders, Primarily Residents and Landlords. The standard would form an important benchmark against which the options appraisal work on the future of the Council’s housing stock would be measured.

The Older Person Accommodation and Support Strategy set out the following as a basis for the standard:

Accommodation must meet the Decent Home Standard. The other elements that should be considered could be drawn from the Secretary of State’s definition of housing that would be particularly suitable for elderly people. There were six attributes that would normally be expected to be satisfied, (those in brackets would not be relevant, or would be dealt with by the Decent Home Standard)

• There should be easy access by foot to the home
• The accommodation should be on all one level
• In the case of a flat above ground floor level there should be easy access to a lift
• (there should be no more than two bedrooms)
• (there should be adequate arrangements for heating the living room and at least one bedroom)
• The home should be located reasonably conveniently for shops and public transport, having regard to the nature of the area.

It was suggested that these attributes be refined via consultation and then used in conjunction with other asset management information such as demand and cost information, to establish the future of the existing sheltered housing stock.

Demand for Sheltered Housing

With demand for some sheltered schemes being much lower than others, there were some opportunities to widen the needs group who could be allocated to sheltered housing. This decision could be taken in advance of any decisions resulting from the options appraisal work.

The Borough of Poole was required to operate an open housing register for which applicants living out of the borough could apply. There was a greater demand for sheltered accommodation than general needs housing from applicants living outside of the borough. As a result the number of allocations made to applicants from outside the borough into sheltered housing was about 10%. All other vacancies were allocated to people who had lived in Poole and had all been allocated through Home Choice.

Criteria for Sheltered Housing

The Housing Register and Allocations Policy stated that the

Criteria for Sheltered Housing were that the applicant must be over 60 in order to qualify. There were some exceptions to this, and some schemes in Poole owned by Registered Social Landlords (RSL’s) had over 50’s or over 55’s lettings criteria.

Demand for sheltered housing (based on the current over 60’s criteria) comprised of 15% of the Housing Register, and allocations to sheltered housing comprised of 34% of the total lettings each year. If people over 50 were included into the demand equation, the percentage would rise to 24%.

The Housing Allocations Team had often found they faced difficult situations such as a 59-year-old person who would immediately benefit from being accommodated in Sheltered Housing, being automatically excluded by virtue of their age and the allocation made to an applicant over the age of 60, who was not in need of Sheltered Accommodation. There were also Sheltered Housing Schemes, which would lend themselves towards a more active tenant, as many schemes had no lift. Vale Close was a classic example of this, as it offered a mixture of one and two bedroom units with no communal lounge and no lift. It was located on an excellent bus route and would definitely lend itself to a lower age threshold.

Why we had an Over 60 Policy

The restriction in terms of age had three driving factors:

• Demand from the over 60’s age group, as outlined above
• Concessionary TV Licences
• Supporting People Funding Implications

Concessionary TV Licences

Some schemes within the Council’s Sheltered Housing Stock had Concessionary TV Licences, which meant that tenants qualified for a licence that cost £7.50 per year. Allocation of properties in schemes with concessionary licences immediately put all future tenants at risk of losing this benefit. If the allocation policy eligibility criteria were to be changed to accommodate 50 years olds changes should be considered for those schemes without the Concessionary TV Licenses.

The Board were provided a list of all the Schemes not eligible for the Concessionary TV Licence.

Supporting People Funding Implications

Supporting People commissioned Poole Housing Partnership to provide support to those in Sheltered Housing Schemes on a block contract. The Supporting People Team confirmed that they would accept the allocation of Sheltered Housing to those under the age of 60years, provided a support need could be identified. It was also noted that a needs based approach could potentially bring greater value to this arrangement.

It was recommended that consultation took place with sheltered housing residents and those on the Housing Register over 50 years, with the Proposal that the allocations policy was changed so that sheltered housing schemes would be allocated to those over 50, with the exception of the schemes with concessionary TV licences, which would be allocated to those over 60years.

The Board thought the Report and its statistics were clear, however it was noted that more work was needed to identify the split between Sheltered Housing and Extra Care Housing.

The Chairman wanted the term ’Sheltered Housing’ to be replaced with

‘Supported Housing’.

Members raised concern that Ward Members were unaware of the discussions taking place with Registered Social Landlords within their area.

The Head of Housing and Community Services advised the Board that no sites for Extra Care Housing had been confirmed and agreed that Ward Members should be kept informed of such developments.

A Member raised concerns over the inclusion of 50 years old and above, with additional disabilities such as drug and alcohol abuse with those of 60 years and over. Perceived threats and risks by those of 60 years old and over were very high and it was felt that extra packages of support would not be enough to remove such fears. Although it was important to include those less than 60 years it was suggested that those requiring additional support be housed in an area where the residents were also under 60 years old.

Officers highlighted to the Board that that those with complex needs would be assessed and that the number of those requiring specialist support had been very low. There were a higher number of those 50 years and above with physical disabilities than those who had suffered drug and alcohol misuse. The Board were also advised that the Floating Support Services met the needs of those aged 50 years plus.

Members agreed the importance of moving away from a policy based on age, to one based on need, and the inclusion of those aged 50 years and over. They felt it was important that residents should be consulted about the inclusion of those of 50 years old.

The Chairman stated that when presenting age profiles to people, it was important to point out the success stories of those of 50 years old and over that had been supported. The size of housing, type of housing and its locality were important factors that needed to be considered and suggested information from Poole’s Annual Satisfaction Survey and its Data Base could provide help in determining these.

AGREED that

1. The Board supports commissioning plans to provide 100 units of category 2.5 frail elderly affordable rented accommodations for older people in Poole.

1. The Supporting People Commissioning Body, Housing and Community Services and Adult Social Services develop revenue costings for new schemes.

1. The requirement for Cat 2.5 frail elderly housing be considered by the Asset Management Group and Strategic Planning and provide a recommendation to Cabinet for

this requirement, as part of the development of the Authority’s Asset Management Planning.

1. Poole Housing Partnership and Registered Social Landlords be consulted on the standard for affordable rented housing for older people in Poole as follows:

• The accommodation must meet the decent home standard
• There should be easy access by foot to the home

• The accommodation should be on all one level
• In the case of a flat above ground floor level there should be easy access to a lift
• (There should be no more than two bedrooms)
• (There should be adequate arrangements for heating the living room and at least one bedroom)
• The home should be located reasonably conveniently for shops and public transport, having regard to the nature of the area.

(those in brackets not relevant or to be dealt with by the decent home standard)

1. The standard for affordable rented housing for older people be consulted with residents as part of the Council’s Options Appraisal Programme for the Council’s Housing Stock and that standard be applied to appraise the Council’s Older Persons Housing Stock.

1. That consultation takes place on the Council’s Allocation Policy Eligibility for Older Persons Housing, to move away from a policy based on age to one based on need with an age over 50 years.

1. OLDER PERSON ACCOMMODATION AND SUPPORT SERVICES STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN

The Head of Housing and Community Services presented the Board with the final version of the Borough of Poole Older People’s Housing and Housing Related Support Strategy. The Board had been provided copies of the Strategy, the results of the ‘Speak Out’ Event, which took place in February 2007 and the Strategy Action Plan.

In October 2006 the Board had agreed on the Draft Strategy which was then subjected to consultation, in particular the ‘Speak Out’ Event. Since then the action plan to the Strategy was created, and the Strategy updated to reflect the changes in programmes over the past year.