Traditionally, social housing tenants had no choice over the location or the kind of home they would eventually live in and were allocated a property by the local authority or housing association. The way these properties were distributed was opaque and claims of nepotism and ‘dodgy deals’ were not rare.
With the launch of the 27 choice-based lettings (CBL) pilots in 2001, the social housing sector has seen a significant transformation: users are now able to make one of the most important life choices for themselves. Power has been transferred from the housing officer and the local authority to the prospective tenant. It has given users a choice over location, size and type of property and different routes of access to the housing service.
Home Connections, Camden’s CBL scheme, was set up in 2001 by five local authorities and two housing associations.
At Home Connections prospective tenants are required to register with the scheme by completing a self-assessment form. The home seeker is then allocated a number of points based on this. Information on vacant properties is made available through the local press and a website; details can also be sent directly to the user.
Homeseekers can then view chosen properties and ‘bid’. Tenants with the highest number of points will be successful in the bidding. Those in urgent need of tenancy are given priority. Satisfaction of both housing staff and tenants has markedly improved, with most users finding it clearer and fairer than the old system.
The Home Connections manager, Ninesh Muthiah, has described CBL as a ‘paradigm shift’ for Camden due to the changed nature of the relationship between staff and customer.
Home Connections has empowered users, but of course the scheme has not been able to solve all problems related to housing, in particular the acute shortage of adequate housing in London and the South East. Home Connections operates a cross-borough partnership with four other London authorities to increase the choices available and widen capacity. The scheme also allows tenants to move to one of the many empty properties in the north of England (about 1,000 families have already done so).
Support mechanisms are vital to ensure that a choice scheme has no negative effects on equity or inadvertently excludes users or user groups. Home Connections uses existing networks and support structures, such as Age Concern, to make sure that particularly elderly users and those with special needs are given the support they require to place a bid. Information is available in several languages and the website design has also focused on a simple and accessible format that is transferable into Braille.
Home Connections and other CBL schemes have provided ways to make an inherently unfair and arbitrary system more open and transparent.
Tenants are able to understand how realistic their chances are for being successful with their bidding and learn to use the system accordingly. Housing departments have become advice centres and staff are able to offer genuine advice and often other housing alternatives.
Users have become empowered and can now choose their homes according to their preferences not according to what the housing officer deems suitable for them.