New Homes, Safer Homes

Local Lettings Plan for the allocation of social homes at Acklam Road - March 2024

Purpose of the Local Lettings Plan for Acklam Road

Through the Local Lettings Plan for Acklam Road, eight of the 20 new homes for social rent will be offered to two specific categories of housing need on the Council’s Housing Register. These sit, outside of the mainstream allocation priorities set out in the Council’s Housing Allocation Scheme (February 2017). 

These two categories are:

• Existing social housing tenants with spare bedrooms within their current home
• Former residents of Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk

This means tenants in these two categories will have first refusal of the eight homes even if they have fewer rehousing points than other households on the Housing Register who do not qualify for the Local Lettings Plan.

When qualifying households move to Acklam Road, they will free-up homes for other households on the Council’s Housing Register. This means that more than eight households will be able to move to a better home under this Local Lettings Plan.
 

Who qualifies for the Local Lettings Plan?

Existing social housing tenants with spare bedrooms within their current home

This applies to existing social housing tenants with spare bedrooms within their current home (sometimes known as `under occupiers’), who are willing to downsize to a smaller home and have registered on the Council’s Housing Register to do so.

Four homes at Acklam Road will be reserved for, and offered in the first instance to, under occupiers.

Under occupiers who move under this Local Lettings Plan may qualify for the incentives offered to downsizing under occupiers under the Council’s Housing Allocation Scheme.

Former residents of Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk

This applies to former residents of Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk who are unable to settle in their current permanent home. These residents will have registered on the Council’s Housing Register, under the Grenfell Settled Homes Policy, for a further move to an alternative home that will support their long-term recovery.

Four homes at Acklam Road will be reserved for, and offered in the first instance to, households seeking rehousing under the Grenfell Settled Home Policy. 

Former residents of Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk who move under this Local Lettings Plan will retain all housing and associated commitments set out in the Grenfell Settled Home Policy. The policy can be found using this link: Grenfell Settled Home Policy.

What happens to reserved homes that are not taken up by tenants qualifying for this Local Lettings Plan?

If any of the four homes reserved for under occupiers are not taken up by under occupiers, and / or any of the four homes reserved for households seeking a new home under the Grenfell Settled Home Policy are not taken up by those households they will be advertised and / or offered to other households on the Housing Register through the standard mechanisms set out in the Council’s Housing Allocation Scheme. The policy can be found using this link: Housing Allocation Scheme February 2017.

How long will tenants, who qualify for this Local Lettings Plan, have to choose and accept the offer of a home at Acklam Road?

Under occupying tenants will have four weeks, after the homes reserved for them are first advertised or offered, to accept the offer of a home at Acklam Road. Any of these homes specifically for under occupying tenants that are not accepted by those tenants after the four-week period ends, will be made available to other households on the Housing Register.

Households seeking a new home under the Grenfell Settled Home Policy will have six weeks, after the homes reserved for them are first advertised or offered, to accept the offer of a home at Acklam Road. Any of these homes for households seeking a move under that policy that are not accepted by those tenants after the six-week period ends will be made available to other households on the Housing Register.

How long will the Local Lettings Plan last?

The Local Lettings Plan will end once the eight homes are either:

• let to under occupying tenants and households seeking to move under the Grenfell Settled Home Policy 

or 

• when all of the eight homes not selected and accepted by these households (within four weeks for under occupying tenants, and within six weeks for households seeking a new home under the Grenfell Settled Home Policy) are offered to and accepted by other households on the Housing Register.

This Local Lettings Plan will not apply to relets at Acklam Road.

What happens to homes freed-up by tenants who move to Acklam Road under this Local Lettings Plan?

Homes freed-up by under occupiers who move to Acklam Road will be offered to households on the Council’s Housing Register using the mainstream rehousing priorities and processes set out in the Council’s Housing Allocation Scheme i.e. they will be let under the normal processes.

Homes freed-up by former residents of Grenfell Tower or Grenfell Walk who move to Acklam Road will be offered in the first instance to other households who are registered for rehousing under the Grenfell Settled Home Policy (in line with the rules set out within that Policy). 

If these homes are not chosen by households under the Grenfell Settled Home Policy, they will be offered to households on the Council’s Housing Register using the mainstream rehousing priorities and processes set out in the Council’s Housing Allocation Scheme i.e. they will be let under the normal processes.

How will qualifying households be prioritised under the Local Lettings Plan?

Households who qualify for the ringfenced homes under this Local Lettings Plan will be prioritised using the rules set out in the Council’s Housing Allocation Scheme.

This means that if more than four under occupying households express an interest in the four homes available to under occupiers, the four homes will be offered to those households with the highest number of points. If there are two or more households with the same amount of points, the home(s) will be let to the households with the earliest priority date(s).

The same rules apply if more than four households seeking a move under the Grenfell Settled Home Policy express an interest in the four homes ringfenced for those households.

How will accessible properties be allocated?

Residents within the two priority categories with mobility problems will be given first access to the eight earmarked homes. This means that an accessible property will be offered to a qualifying resident with mobility problems before it is offered to someone with no mobility needs, even if the qualifying resident with mobility problems has less points.

The Council uses the Accessible Housing Register guidance to prioritise accessible homes to residents who need them. For more information, please visit: Accessible Housing.

How will suitable bedroom sizes be decided?

The Council’s Housing Allocation Scheme explains how the Council decides the size of home needed by a household registered on the Housing Register. The rules set out under the Scheme will be used for under occupiers who express an interest in moving under this Local Lettings Plan.

The Grenfell Settled Homes Policy explains how the Council decides the size of home needed by a household registered under that Policy. The rules set out under that Policy will be used for former residents of Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk who express an interest in moving under this Local Lettings Plan.

The legal basis for this Local Lettings Plan

Section 166A(6)(b) of the 1996 Housing Act allows councils to allocate particular homes to people of a particular description, whether or not they fall within the `reasonable preference categories’ (rules in legislation that say certain residents must be prioritised for rehousing), provided that overall the council is able to show it is complying with the requirements of s. 166A(3) of the same Act. This is the statutory basis that allows a council to adopt local lettings policies for certain parts of the social rented stock within their area. In line with the statutory provisions, the Council’s main Housing Allocation Scheme permits special dispensation allocations. A local lettings plan falls under the special category where the Council can publish a policy for allocation outside of the criteria listed in the main Scheme but is still considered to be an allocation within that Scheme.

What will happen to the remaining 12 homes for social rent at Acklam Road?

The remaining 12 homes for social rent at Acklam Road will be allocated under the mainstream provisions of the Council’s Allocation Scheme.

Under the mainstream allocation priorities set out in the Housing Allocation Scheme, homes available to let to households on the Council’s Housing Register are offered to those suitable households who have the highest number of rehousing points. The Scheme explains:

……applicants with the highest number of points and who meet any categories specified in the advert are contacted and invited to view the property.

The property will be offered first to the bidder with the highest amount of points; if there are two bidders with the same amount of points, the property will be let to the applicant with the earliest priority date.

Contact us

For all enquiries, please contact us at the following email address: [email protected].