Move along now everybody, please

In the future will people who are looking for a home of their choice from a social landlord do so by surfing the net or scanning adverts? Will ‘allocations’ drop from the lexicon of social landlords and the days of making an application and sitting back and waiting for an offer become a thing of the past? Who knows? But pioneering work amongst independent social landlords may give us an insight into the future of lettings services.

The housing Green Paper sets out a vision for modernising access to social housing. Social landlords are being asked to see themselves more as providers of a ‘lettings service’ rather than housing ‘allocators’ or gatekeepers. They are expected to empower customers to exercise more choice over where they live and the type of home they live in, while continuing to meet housing need.

Clearly reconciling choice and need is easier to achieve outside of high demand areas. ‘Choice’ has increasingly been one of the responses of landlords in low demand areas looking to attract people with a stake in staying. North British, for example was able to create buoyant demand for the previously unpopular Vikinglea estate in Sheffield. Here advertising for people who wanted ‘to help build a community’ was combined with measures that included improved security to meet customer demands. Many of the marketing techniques adopted will have wider application as approaches are developed in high pressure areas. It is rightly said that opportunities for choice in high demand areas would be greatly enhanced by greater investment in an affordable supply of housing. Nonetheless local authorities and social landlords are seeking imaginative ways forward. We have heard about Delft and Harborough but what is happening elsewhere?

The government is inviting bids from local authorities to test what works in different areas (Housing Today, 2 November). It will be vital for the pilots to look at how choice can be delivered in high pressure markets to safeguard those with urgent needs, whilst providing ‘reasonable opportunities’ for others. The pilots need to test how choices that tenants initiate can be reconciled with systems for assessing and delivering support needs. The pilots also need to test how allowing time for choice can match the pressure to re-let voids quickly.

Choice-based systems that rely on responses to ‘adverts’ in newspapers or websites need to look at how the most vulnerable households can be ‘empowered’ to exercise choice and not left behind. For example, what support might people with mental health problems or under extreme stress need to search actively? They also need to look at how accessible systems are to people without computers, elderly people and those who do not read English well. They need to look at how to protect those who need to be relocated confidentially because of intimidation or harassment. The evaluation of the pilots must also look at the impact of choice on who is housed to test for any discriminatory outcomes.

As the government is encouraging local authorities to involve registered social landlord in putting together their bids, what can we learn from the work that some independent social landlords have already done? Work that includes innovative methods of advertising property and using new technologies. While the housing Green Paper undoubtedly put choice on the map, much of the impetus for the change comes from existing tenants who have expressed their frustrations with slow moving transfer queues and limited offers. Tenant involvement is an important feature in the development of new approaches at both Circle 33 and Notting Hill housing trust.

Circle 33: Home Page

Each week Circle 33 housing trust invites tenants on its transfer list to ‘choose a property’. In an in-house newsletter that looks as professional as those produced by high street estate agents, they are sending out details and pictures of properties that are available. This includes number of bedrooms, the rent, type of heating and local facilities. The newsletter is mailed out each Wednesday to everyone on the transfer list. Information about available homes therefore reaches people quickly and as turning around voids remains a priority tenants are given until 9am on Monday morning to ring the hotline to express an interest. In the future Circle is looking to include the newsletter on their web page and to accept bids by e-mail.

Circle 33 has recognised that some tenants may feel daunted by the prospect of responding to the newletter, so housing support workers receive a copy and are expected to assist their clients in their search for a move. They are also responsible for ensuring that care and support packages move with their clients. Tenants can also put a friend or family member on the mailing list if they want them to help.

There has been a good response to the adverts, supporting the enthusiasm that tenants had for shifting to this new approach. On Monday mornings lettings staff consider all the responses and give priority to people who are in the urgent need band, over the other band classed as ‘non-urgent’. After this priority is given to people freeing up the largest home and then people who have been on the transfer list the longest. The number of people who applied and the priority and waiting time of those who will move are reported in the next newletter, helping people to make realistic choices in the future.

Circle has recognised the problem of safeguarding people who need to move because of harassment or domestic violence. Urgent need priority is given to these groups and if people need to move and keep their new address secret Circle will identify suitable properties without advertising then.

Notting Hill Housing Trust: selfmoves.com

In Kensington and Chelsea tenants of Notting Hill housing trust and other landlords will soon be able to log-on to selfmoves.com to find a home they would like to move to and that another tenant wants to move out of. The website, like those adopted by some estate agents, will show pictures of ‘what’s on offer’ and details of the property. Their search engine will enable tenants to seek a match for what they looking for, for example, a 2 bedroom garden flat with central heating in W12. The engine will generate a list of what fits best in descending order from those that meet 100% of the criteria downwards. Tenants will be able to trade-off different features to decide which properties best meet what they are looking for.

As with chains of moves in the owner-occupied housing market, tenants who ‘offer’ properties will in turn be searching for a home that matches what they want. It is hoped that this will generate chains of moves, much as happens in the private housing market. Notting Hill housing trust anticipataa that this will enable more tenants to move than is currently possible given the limited supply of empty properties that it can make available to people looking for a traditional transfer. Notting Hill hopes that this approach can be extended to other high-demand areas and also help facilitate cross-borough mobility. To help kick-start chains of moves Notting Hill will ‘advertise’ some empty properties on selfmoves.com. Notting Hill see tenants in the driving seat of these chains and their role as putting people in contact with each other.

Notting Hill is exploring how to make selfmoves.com accessible to people who do not have a computer through for example local offices,. Over the long-term the trust would like to see access through libraries and other local facilities. It recognises the need for local staff to be available to assist tenants who are not at ease with computers, or who do not read English well. It will be advertising selfmoves.com to ensure that a wide range of tenants uses it.