A council is delegating power to housing associations to
decide who receives discretionary housing payments and emergency loans in a bid
to speed up applications. Islington has entered into non-contractual partnerships
with three large providers over the administration of its £3 million resident
support scheme, which provides DHPs and payments which have effectively
replaced crisis loans. The local
authority has allocated the associations notional budgets to spend on their
Islington-based tenants using set eligibility criteria. The providers, which
receive no payment, process referrals. The council rubber-stamps the decisions
and processes payments. Read more on Inside Housing.
