£Millions in Right to Buy Fraud Uncovered By Council

Barnet Council has uncovered nearly £12 million in right to buy, tenancy and benefit fraud in a 12-month period. The London borough's anti-fraud team recovered 63 illegally sublet council properties after successful investigations and a tenancy fraud amnesty held late last year. The recovery of each property is calculated as being worth £150,000 – the equivalent average cost of building a new social housing unit. The team has also prevented 11 instances of people attempting to take advantage of the right to buy scheme when they were not entitled to.  Read more on 24dash.

Empty Home Owners Offered £25,000 to Renovate

A London borough is offering empty property owners up to £25,000 to restore their homes - if they make the dwellings available to social housing tenants.

Barnet Council is offering the cash to help cover the cost of renovations if the property has been empty for at least six months and has fallen into disrepair. In return for the assistance the refurbished properties must then be made available for housing Barnet Homes - the council's ALMO - tenants for at least three years.  Property owners will receive a guaranteed rental income through the length of the tenancy. Read more on 24dash.

Councils Waste Billions Fighting Troubled Families

Councils are wasting billions of pounds by not intervening with anti-social families more effectively, a government report has found. The CLG has produced a report to persuade local agencies to look at how they spend money on tackling troubled families. It gives some extreme examples of where councils are incurring high costs in dealing with anti-social behaviour. Barnet Council is spending almost £100,000 on average every year on each of its troubled families. The report, The cost of troubled families, shows one family in that borough cost the local authority, prison and probation services, police and health service £345,718 in a year. CLG says it can cost £10,000 a year for local services to successfully intervene and turn around a troubled family. Download a copy of the report from the CLG website.

Under-Occupation Clause in Council's New Fixed-Term Tenancies

The London borough of Barnet believes it is the first local authority to sign tenants up to new fixed-term tenancies - of between two and five years - but warns they will not normally be renewed where a tenant is under-occupying by one room or more.  The Conservative-run authority - through its 15,000-home ALMO, Barnet Homes - plans to offer single people under the age of 25 (excluding care leavers), introductory tenancies of one year followed by tenancies which will be reviewed every two years.  This, despite the new regulatory framework for social housing in England stipulating that tenancies below five years should be offered in "exceptional circumstances". The majority of new tenants in Barnet, however, will be offered 12 month introductory tenancies followed by a flexible tenancy of five years.  Read more on the borough of Barnet website.

ALMO to Manage Council's Adult Social Services

A north London social landlord is set to join forces with adult social services under a newly agreed ‘sister company’ arrangement that would be the first of its kind in the UK. Under the plans, ALMO Barnet Homes and in-house adult social care services currently managed by Barnet Council would form part of a new Local Authority Trading Company (LATC). The LATC - which would be owned by Barnet Council but will operate at arms length from it - would be the fourth company of its kind to be created nationally and the first ever to include an ALMO. To reduce its corporate overheads, the adult social care services would share a chief executive with Barnet Homes and make use of staff already in post at the ALMO, such as finance, human resources and IT. Read more on 24dash.

Up To £4,000 Available For Tenants Who Downsize

Up to £4,000 is on offer to social housing tenants in Barnet who decide to move to smaller accommodation with the help of a new scheme run by social landlords in the borough. The incentive is part of a campaign run by the ALMO Barnet Homes and housing associations in the borough called the Fresh Start scheme. The ALMO also says that under the council’s new allocations policy, tenants wishing to downsize will also be given priority. The campaign to increase awareness of Barnet's voluntary scheme has been funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government. Read more on the Barnet Homes website.

Up To £4,000 Available For Tenants Who Downsize

Up to £4,000 is on offer to social housing tenants in Barnet who decide to move to smaller accommodation with the help of a new scheme run by social landlords in the borough. The incentive is part of a campaign run by the ALMO Barnet Homes and housing associations in the borough called the Fresh Start scheme. The ALMO also says that under the council’s new allocations policy, tenants wishing to downsize will also be given priority. The campaign to increase awareness of Barnet's voluntary scheme has been funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government. Read more on the Barnet Homes website.

Barnet Scraps Choice-Based Lettings Scheme

Barnet Council has scrapped its choice-based lettings scheme returning to a system where the council allocates people to the homes available. The decision was taken at a council cabinet meeting last week despite warnings that the new system could result in more appeals. Under the new system, families requiring social housing will no longer bid for a house of their choice from a council list. Instead, they would be assisted by officers who will offer the properties the council has at the time. Read more on Inside Housing.