2012 - Festival Housing

Doing somethingabout underoccupationConsider if there shouldbe limits placed on whocan apply for access tothe waiting listTo make it easierfor existingsocial tenantsto movePriority forex-servicepersonnelpolicy?We would like your views about how wehelp people to find housingLike most of the country, wehave a severe shortage ofhousing in Herefordshire andWorcestershire. This means thereare not enough homes foreveryone.To make sure we are givinghomes to people in the fairestand most efficient way, a grouphas been set up to review ourpolicy for allocating our homes- the document we use to guideour decisions.Now we want your thoughtson what is being proposed.The Government wants tochange the way homes areallocated by housingassociations. They want tomake the process moreflexible.As part of making changes theGovernment has publisheddetails of their proposedchanges. The Government wantsto give housing associations theflexibility to change theirallocations policies to:(a) Better reflect local needs.These include:■ Doing something about underoccupation■ Introduce priority re-housingfor former service personnel■ Make overcrowding measuresclearer(b) Consider if there should belimits placed on who canapply for access to thewaiting list.(c) Address the needs ofworking families and thosewho make a contributionto the community.(d) Make it easier for housingassociations to manageunrealistic expectations byexcluding people who havelittle or no prospect ofbeing allocatedaccommodation.(e) To make it easier forexisting social tenants tomove.(f) Make it clearer aboutwhether people fromabroad are eligible forhousing.The Festival allocations policy iscurrently being reviewed by thesteering group to ensure itaddresses changing needs. Aspart of that process the steeringgroup is reviewing the proposalscontained within theGovernment’s consultation(detailed above).Please tell us what you think?Do you think we should give:■ Priority for helping people to‘downsize’ to smalleraccommodation and freeingup houses for families?■ Priority for overcrowding andto introduce a test forovercrowding which is basedon the lack of bedrooms?■ Priority for ex-servicepersonnel policy?■ Priority for people who needto move for work or who arein work?■ Priority to people whocontribute to the community?■ Priority for foster/adoptionfamilies?■ Priority for existing tenants■ Provide preference for peoplewith a residencyqualification? At the momenthousing applicants receivepriority who have a localconnection. Should wechange this to only peopleliving in the area already?Tell us what you think by writing to Gay Lloyd at glloyd@festivalhousing or by letter here atFestival House, Grovewood Road, Malvern WR14 1GD16 Festival Flyer Summer 2012