Agenda item

To receive a report from the Head of Housing and Health. The current Tenancy Agreement was launched in 2016 and was due for a review. However, as the Cabinet approved the Homes PDG recommendation that the use of Flexible Tenancies be halted further changes are required to the Tenancy Agreement to reflect this change and therefore there is a requirement to undertake a broad review of the agreement now.

The Group had before it a report * from the Head of Housing and Health. It was stated that the current Tenancy Agreement was launched in 2016 and was due for a review. However, as the Cabinet approved the Homes PDG recommendation that the use of Flexible Tenancies be halted further changes were required to the Tenancy Agreement to reflect this change and therefore there was a requirement to undertake a broad review of the agreement now.

The contents of the report were outlined with particular reference to the following:

·       Lots of work had been going on in the background to update the Tenancy Agreement after Cabinet approved the Homes PDG recommendation to halt the use of Flexible Tenancies. There had been many changes since the last Tenancy Agreement was reviewed in 2016, in terms of legislation, regulation and internal policies and this new tenancy agreement, reflected that. There had been a delay due to extended legal review. However, the service was now at a stage where it could go out for the Section 103 Consultation.

·       There were specific provisions related to this consultation in the Housing Act 1985, tenants would be sent a preliminary notice of variation which would inform them of the Council’s intention to serve a Notice of Variation. In a nutshell, this was a 28 day consultation period where tenants would have the opportunity to comment on the Council’s proposed Tenancy Agreement. The service would be including a ‘changes at a glance’ document to make things more tenant friendly.  Drop in sessions would take place across the district as well as doing the usual online consultation through’ Lets’ Talk Mid Devon’ and shared across social media.

·       The consultation would run after approval was provided by Cabinet in April, it would run for 28 days and would be sent to Members and partners at the same time.

·       There would be more steps to follow after the consultation in line with the Housing Act 1985 with regards to sending notice of variation letters to secure and introductory tenants and there would need to be  a 4 week wait between sending these and the implementation date. This meant the Council would plan to go live with the new tenancy agreement hopefully by September time.

RECOMMENDED to the Cabinet that:

The procedure for the variation of tenancy conditions and updating the standard Tenancy Agreement, including formal consultation with tenants, commence in line with the Housing Act 1985 (sections 102 & 103). 

(Proposed by Cllr J Cairney and seconded by Cllr H Tuffin)

Reason for the decision

As a registered provider (RP) of social housing, the Council was obliged to take account of the standards contained within the revised regulatory framework which was administered by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). This stated that RPs should meet all applicable statutory and legal requirements in relation to the form and use of tenancy agreements or terms of occupation.

The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 was designed to strengthen the regulatory framework for social housing and to introduce a new proactive, consumer-led regulation regime focussed on meeting the needs of tenants. 

Section 102 and 103 of the Housing Act 1985 provided that in England and Wales the terms of a secure tenancy (other than those implied by statute) may be varied, therefore correct compliance with legislation was a requirement to prevent any legal challenges.

Section 105 of the Housing Act 1985 sets out the Council’s duties relating to consultation with tenants on matters of housing management.  Following any consultation, the MDH would be obliged to give a minimum notice period of 4 weeks in advance of any change.

Note: * Report previously circulated.