Choice Based Lettings |
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Changing the face of settings
HomeChoice was launched 2nd December 2002 by LHA (Leicester Housing Association), with funding from the Housing Corporation and in partnership with 12 local authorities.
Based on the Dutch 'Delft' model of lettings, the pilot is a radical approach to allocations, which evolved from research undertaken by LHA into the local housing market place.
Within four months of the start of the project, over 700 applicants have registered for HomeChoice lettings.
Objectives
HomeChoice aims to:
- Empower customers so they can exercise choice in where they want to live.
- Create an open, consumer-oriented lettings process to improve the let ability of homes
- Enhance the sustainability of communities
- Decipher and respond to patterns of local demand.
- Reduce housing management costs
Rationale
The rationale behind choice based lettings is that if people are allowed to live where they would choose they are more likely to stay there and become part of the community.
HomeChoice believe that choice based lettings are a simpler and a more transparent way of letting properties than the traditional points-based system, it labels properties rather than people, encouraging home hunting by customers, rather than points chasing by applicants.
Staff at LHA freely acknowledge that the decision to create consumer choice will be revealing. By liberating market forces, Landlords will be judged on the quality of their product or service as increased fluidity throws patterns of supply and demand into sharp focus.
As an Association we have developed localised Community Action Plans in areas of the East Midlands where problems associated with social exclusion threaten to undermine neighbourhood stability. They comprise of analysis of local issues, the development of a response strategy and evaluation involving local tenants.
Early findings
An important element of the new scheme is the continuous analysis of performance indicators. Data is collected to enable monitoring of:
- Registrations
- Response rates to individual advertisements
- Demand for different property types and locations
- Successful lettings
- Offers refused
The number of HomeChoice registration forms received had increased during the first few months with 65 forms received in December, 110 received in January, 131 in February and 144 in March.
Just four months in, there were already more than 700 HomeChoice registrations, a number that continues to rise.
The response rate per property varied from 1 response to 25 applications in the same advertisement, revealing substantial local variations in demand.
The shortest time to wait to be allocated a property was two weeks. This was for sheltered accommodation which LHA have found has a history of low demand. It is anticipated that with continued advertising of such properties demand for this type of property will increase.
The longest waiting time was twenty-five months for a one bedroom flat in the Beeston area of Nottingham. The information printed in the feedback report illustrates those properties where waiting time is high. This information can be used by home-seekers who may wish to reassess their situation and bid for a property in a different area. Click to read Feedback Report
Dutch courage: the origins of HomeChoice
HomeChoice is based on the 'Delft' model of lettings (Delft is a Dutch municipality), adopted by around 80% of municipalities in the Netherlands over the last ten years, in place of a traditional points-based system.
It was largely a response to varying levels of demand, and inefficiencies in the operation of that system, 'Social Housing' accounts for approximately 40% of the total stock in the Netherlands.
Other allocations systems were tested including so-called 'placement policies' akin to community lettings initiatives used by many British housing providers, but these appeared to discriminate against a number of minority groups.
The Delft model became widely used, partly because it reflected a growing demand for more customer-centred public services and partly also because of its flexibility: many regional variants have been developed based on local circumstances.
It is considered a model of good practice by the Ministry of Housing, but is not imposed on providers; partners and local authorities decide for themselves the system they will operate.
About LHA
LHA is a housing and regeneration agency, committed to providing homes and developing highly innovative, holistic strategies for tackling social exclusion in the communities of the East Midlands and beyond.
Recognising that investment in people is at least as important as investment in buildings, its core values are:
- Community investment
- Tenant/resident empowerment
- Social justice
- Effective and efficient management
- Equality of opportunity
- Respect for the environment
With offices in Leicester, Nottingham and Northampton, and an asset base approaching £200 million, LHA manages over 7,000 properties in 32 local authority areas.