A NEW housing allocations policy has been adopted by Redditch borough council.
The key change is that the priority and gold bands will be joined to become one ‘Gold’ band.
All applicants in Gold will be directly matched to suitable accommodation rather than going on to bid on properties.
The only variable would be on grounds of residency, with preference going to those who have been in Redditch for 12 months or more, including with their parents.
There will also be ‘Silver’ and ‘Bronze’ bands with accommodation allocated through accumulated points and waiting time.
Silver will include those applicants deemed to have a single non-urgent need while Bronze will contain all applicants deemed to be already adequately housed.
Those whom the council accepts it has a duty under homelessness legislation to house will now be made a single offer of suitable accommodation rather than two.
If the applicant then refuses that accommodation the council will be seen to have fulfilled its duty to that person.
Council officers told members of the borough’s executive committee that a trial period of the policy had seen an 80 per cent reduction in the number of first offers refused thanks to housing teams and applicants working closer to understand housing needs and preferences.
They also believe that better use of the housing stock would result in more people being found accommodation suitable to their needs.
Councillor Bill Hartnett (Lab, Church Hill), the leader of the borough council said: “We have not got enough houses to go round but this system is hopefully transparent and will show people how we work within the legislation.
“We have £12million to hand which we hope will go some way to meet the need for housing stock.”
