Agenda and minutes

TEMPORARY MOVES (DECANT) POLICY, Cabinet Member Signing
Monday, 6th March, 2023 2.30 pm

Contact: Felicity Foley, Committees Manager  2919, Email: felicity.foley@haringey.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence. 

 

2.

Declarations of interest

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

 

(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and

(ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

 

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

 

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest. 

 

3.

Temporary Moves (Decant) Policy pdf icon PDF 319 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report sought approval of the revised Decant Policy which set out the offer to secure tenants and resident leaseholders who needed to temporarily move out of their home in order for repairs to be undertaken. The policy also set the Council’s responsibilities and actions for officers who supported these moves.

 

The policy would apply to all secure tenants (including introductory tenants) and (where the Council had accepted responsibility) to Council’s resident leaseholders who needed to temporarily move out of their current home for repairs to be undertaken.

The policy did not apply to the provision of alternative accommodation for resident leaseholders who were asked to move permanently due to estate renewal works nor to those with other tenures such as the tenants of leaseholders.

It was also proposed that the ‘Decant Policy’ be renamed to appropriately describe the policy. The revised policy is therefore to be called ‘Temporary Moves (Decant) policy’.

This was an important step for the Council to take as it formalised the arrangements for offering decants to residents and also the financial payments they would receive to ensure they did not suffer from financial loss. 

 

The report also recognised that the previous decant policy was subject to some confusion and clarification had been given that when residents were decanted from their homes, their tenancy would continue to run and they would still be liable for rent on their original home. The decant property was a temporary home for residents to live in while their Council homes were made safe.

 

 

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED 

 

 

  1. To approve the proposed Temporary Moves (Decant) policy at Appendix 1.
  2. Approve the Decant Payments Schedule at Appendix 2.
  3. Delegate any minor amendments to the Decant Payments Schedule to the Assistant Director Housing Management in consultation with the Cabinet Member.
  4. Delegate approval of the Decant Panel Terms of Reference to the Assistant Director Housing Management with the Cabinet Member.

 

 

 

Reasons for decision 

Where repairs could not be carried out safely with a tenant in occupation, the Council had a duty to provide suitable alternative accommodation to secure tenants so that works could be undertaken.

Temporary moves could be very disruptive to the tenants. This policy therefore sought to minimise that disruption and set out the types of accommodation which might be offered as well as the payments which could be made to ensure that the tenant was not financially disadvantaged.

The policy also sought to clarify the Council’s response for resident leaseholders where the liability for alternative accommodation fell under the Council’s responsibility and was not covered by building insurance.

 

 

Alternative options considered

 

The Council could continue to use the current Decant Policy.

This option was rejected as it did not clearly set out the accommodation which officers could make available, what payments the tenants could expect to receive and did not apply to leaseholders.

 

 

 

 

CABINET MEMBER: Cllr Dana Carlin

 

 

Signed by Cabinet Member ……………………………… 

 

Date …6 March 2023……………………….