Issue - meetings

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to instruct the Chief Officer – Finance to refer the Rent Assistance Fund to the 2026/27 HRA budget process, with a recommendation to adopt as a permanent, business-as-usual provision following the success of the pilot.

(ii)            to approve the updated criteria and management procedure of the Rent Assistance Fund for 2025/2026 detailed in Appendix 1.

(iii)          to authorise the Chief Officer – Housing to make such changes to the criteria and management procedure of the Rent Assistance Fund as they consider appropriate from time to time and to inform members of any such changes through Service Updates; and

(iv)          to instruct the Chief Officer – Housing to formally evaluate and report the impact of the Rent Assistance Fund every two years to the Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Housing and Chief Officer – People & Citizen Services, which presented the evaluation findings from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 of the pilot Rent Assistance Fund funded from the 2024/25 Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget. 

The report recommended:-

that the Committee

(a)           instruct the Chief Officer – Finance to refer the Rent Assistance Fund to the 2026/27 HRA budget process, with a recommendation to adopt as a permanent, business-as-usual provision following the success of the pilot;

(b)           approve the updated criteria and management procedure of the Rent Assistance Fund for 2025/2026 detailed in Appendix 1; 

(c)           authorise the Chief Officer – Housing to make such changes to the criteria and management procedure of the Rent Assistance Fund as they consider appropriate from time to time and to inform members of any such changes through Service Updates; and

(d)           instruct the Chief Officer – Housing to formally evaluate and report the impact of the Rent Assistance Fund every two years to the Communities, Housing and Public Protection Committee.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.