St Ann’s Chapel Community Housing Scheme

Local Lettings

Plan

Jan 2022

Between South Hams District Council and

Bigbury Parish Council

Contents:

1 Purpose of the Local Lettings Plan

2 Objectives of the Local Lettings Plan

3 Breakdown of Property Types

4 Local Lettings Sequential Selection

5 Future Lettings

6 Exclusions

7 Equal Opportunities

8 Review of Decisions

9 Complaints Procedure

1 Purpose of the Local Lettings Plan

This local lettings plan has been created in order to allocate the future vacancies at the Community Housing Scheme in St Ann’s Chapel, Bigbury. This development consists of 8 affordable properties for Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rent.

This scheme is subject to a Section 106 Agreement that dictates the applicants who can be considered for the offer of accommodation on the scheme. South Hams District Council has devised a Local Allocations Policy which was adopted in May 2013. This Local Lettings Plan sits below the Section 106 Agreement and the Local Allocations Policy and must be read in conjunction with these documents.

For the avoidance of doubt this local lettings plan applies only to affordable rented accommodation within the development. It does not apply to homes made available for affordable home ownership.

2 Objectives of the Local Lettings Plan

The objectives of this Plan are to:

i) To address the severe shortage of available affordable housing for local residents.

ii) Create and maintain a community, which is sustainable, whilst adhering to Devon Home Choice

iii) Provide flexibility to promote opportunities for households wishing and needing to downsize to more appropriately sized accommodation

3 Breakdown of Property Types

There are 8 units of affordable rented accommodation that form part of this plan:

2 x 3 bedroom, semi-detached house

4 x 2 bedroom, semi-detached houses

2 x 2 bedroom bungalow

4 Local Lettings Sequential Selection

For the purposes of clarity a household has a connection with the Parish of Bigbury in any of the following circumstances:-

i) a person who has immediately prior to such nomination had his or her main residence within the parish of Bigbury Parish for 3 out of the last 5 years

ii) a person has immediately prior to the allocation lived in Bigbury Parish for 6 out of the last 12 months preceding the allocation

iii) a person who has permanent employment within the parish of Bigbury for the last year with a minimum contract of 16 hours per week which has continued for the 6 months preceding the allocation without a break in employment of more than 3 months

iv) Immediate family have lived in Bigbury Parish themselves for 5 years preceding the allocation. For avoidance of doubt The Local Government Association guidelines define immediate family as parents, siblings and non-dependent children

Reasonable preference will be given to applicants banded in bands A - E under Devon Home Choice and who meet the above criteria (i – iv).

If a suitable applicant does not bid under the Devon Home Choice Scheme who meets the criteria above then the above criteria shall then apply to applicants who have bid with a local connection to the neighbouring parishes of Ringmore, Aveton Gifford and Kingston.

If a suitable applicant does not bid under the Devon Home Choice Scheme who meets the criteria above then the above criteria shall then apply to applicants who have bid in the district of South Hams.

If a suitable applicant is still not identified under the Devon Home Choice Scheme then the applicant shall be selected from the whole of the Devon Home Choice register.

The final selection of the successful applicants will depend primarily upon their ability to meet the selection criteria as set out in paragraph 4 and secondly their banding level in Devon Home Choice.

5 Future Lettings

Future vacancies will be let in accordance with this plan. The success of the plan will be monitored and reviewed by South Hams District Council and Bigbury Parish Council on an annual basis.

The Plan will operate for a period of five years. However, reviews of the plan will also be carried out if the plan has a serious adverse effect on the letting performance for these properties.

Bigbury Parish Council will monitor the effectiveness of the plan by recording reasons why future voids occur and reporting these reasons back to South Hams District Council as part of the annual review.

6 Exemptions

The properties will be offered on a secure tenancy following an introductory period. The properties are designed to meet the Lifetime Homes Standard and therefore include walk in showers, level access and the possibility of ground floor living as standard. Added to the excellent access to a local shop and medical facilities in nearby Modbury, these properties are suitable for general needs households and particularly suitable for older people and people with a disability. We believe this enables the Council to designate these properties as exempt from the Right to Buy. This will be explicit in any tenant’s tenancy agreement and explained prior to tenancy commencement.

7 Equal Opportunities

The Council is committed to equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practise in service provision and seeks to promote social inclusion.

Every effort will be made to ensure that housing applicants are treated fairly and sensitively. Applicants who are eligible to join Devon Home Choice will not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, colour, ethnic or national origin, disability, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation or marital status. All applicants will be asked to provide details of their ethnic origin. Devon Home Choice complies with the Equalities Act 2010.

The plan will be amended and updated in order to conform to new housing and other relevant legislation and case law and to ensure that they do not operate in a way that discriminates against or disadvantages any particular group.

A 360 Assessment has been carried out on the Council’s overarching Local Allocations Policy, which this Local Lettings Plan will sit under, no direct impact was found.

8 Review of Decisions

If an Affordable Housing Provider refuses an application, the applicant may ask for the decision to be reviewed. Applicants will be advised of their right to a review of decisions about their housing application when notified of the decision.

The applicant should specify what decision they wish to be reviewed, the reason why they wish it to be reviewed and provide any additional evidence to support their case.

The review should be undertaken by the Affordable Housing Provider with an alternative member of staff who was not involved in the original decision. The applicant must be advised in writing of the outcome of the review. If there is likely to be a delay in completing the review, the applicant must be advised of this in writing, with the reasons for the delay and the expected completion date of the review.

Allegations that an applicant has obtained a nomination, allocation or tenancy through false information will be investigated if there is evidence to do so.

9 Complaints Procedure

The Council has a complaints procedure which can be used by any housing applicant, or other customer of Council services, if they feel that they have not been treated satisfactorily. The following is the link to the Council’s corporate complaints policy. A hard copy is available upon request.