An overview of choice based letting in Camden
Cllr Raj Chada
Camden Council
Executive Portfolio - Housing
1. Introduction
This paper describes Camden’s approach to choice based lettings and assesses key
outcomes so far. It considers whether the introduction of choice has lessened the
importance of need in determining who gets housed.
2. Key facts about housing in Camden
Camden is home to 92,000 households. 27%, or 25,000, live in council housing or
housing association accommodation, 62% are renting in the private sector, and 27%
are owner-occupiers. Like other inner London authorities, demand for affordable
housing in Camden far outstrips supply. High house prices, scarcity of building land
and Right to Buy sales1 have all contributed to the ever lengthening housing waiting
list, currently standing at over 15,000 people. Of these, nearly 6000 are council
tenants seeking a transfer, and 1900 are homeless and private sector applicants. In
2003/4, 4281 new applicants joined the housing list but Camden was only able to
house 1637 households.
Stock
One-bedroom and bedsit accommodation makes up 42% of Camden’s stock.
Property type
Bedsit
One bed
Two bed
Three bed
Four bed and larger
As % of total stock
10
32
31
21
6
There is a lack of supply in all bed categories but a particular shortage of larger-sized
accommodation.
Vacancies
Vacancies that became available in 2003/4 where in the following bed categories:
Bedsit
1 bed
2 bed
3 bed
4 bed & larger
1
15%
42%
27%
13%
3%
Approximately 10,000 have been sold.
1
Scope for capital investment
In 2004/5, Camden’s annual investment programme is approximately £60m, but this
will fall to £30m in 2009/10. HIP allocations are due to become 100% discretionary
(from 2006/7, which will reduce resources) and Right to Buy sales are expected to
tail off.
3. How does Camden assess need?
Camden’s rules on priority are set out in a 40-page booklet called `A guide to the
Council’s Housing Allocations Scheme’.
Camden uses a points-based system for determining priorities. It does not use
waiting times. The Scheme is framed to comply with all relevant housing legislation.
Reasonable preference is given to the groups specified in Section 167 of the 1996
Housing Act:
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People who are homeless within the meaning of Part 7 of the 1996 Housing Act
People who are owed duties by any local authority under Part 7 because they are
in priority need for accommodation
People occupying insanitary or overcrowded housing or otherwise living in
unsatisfactory housing conditions
People who need to move on medical or welfare grounds
People who need to move to a particular locality within Camden in order to avoid
hardship to themselves or to others.
Following the last full-scale review in 1999, Camden weighted its scheme to give
greatest priority to those in housing need. Some degree of priority for those with a
`social need’ to move was however preserved. This anticipated the Government’s
policy drive – as expressed in the 2002 Homelessness Act - to base the reasonable
preference categories more squarely on housing need.
Other key features of Camden’s Scheme
Camden’s Scheme awards:


Relative priority to applicants with a local connection, but not according to
applicants’ financial resources or behaviour.
Additional preference to those who need to move urgently on medical
grounds, but not to other groups such as homeless people who are victims of
domestic violence or racial harassment.
Camden’s Scheme does not operate a local lettings policy.
Camden’s Scheme includes a sensitive lettings policy to protect vulnerable adults.
Properties previously occupied by someone with drug, alcohol or mental health
problems are not let to another person with similar problems on the grounds that they
may be put at risk from members of the previous tenant’s social circle.
Camden’s Scheme includes a sustainable estates policy, which is designed to control
anti-social behaviour; mainly drug dealing, the emergence of crack houses or
2
prostitution going on in the estate or area. The policy is used as a last resort when
the District Housing Office in conjunction with the police have exhausted other
measures to bring security and sustainability to an estate, block or area. The policy
ensures that no one with a past history of drug, alcohol abuse or those with mental
health problems is placed in an area that is known for drug dealing. It ensures that
vulnerable clients are not exploited and their homes are not taken over for drug use.
As part of the Council’s aim to help residents maintain their social support networks
and avoid disruption associated with moving away from familiar surroundings,
Camden has an intra-estate policy, in which 27 extra points are awarded to existing
tenants who want to move somewhere else on their own estate. Extra points are not
awarded if tenants want to be considered for a vacancy outside their estate.
4. Origins of choice based letting in Camden
In March 2001, the Home Connections partnership led by Camden won £1.4 million
in ODPM grant funds to pilot a choice-based lettings scheme for five boroughs and
two housing associations.
`Home Connections’ became the brand name of Camden’s choice based letting
scheme. It was introduced as a pilot in July 2002 and extended across the whole
borough in January 2004.
What was wrong with the old system?
The traditional method of allocating properties was based on a dependent
relationship between the housing department and the housing applicant. The council
matched a vacant home to a home seeker and the applicant waited to hear from the
council.
Camden pursued a one-offer only policy enforced by a 1-year suspension if the
applicant rejected a suitable offer of accommodation. Dissatisfied applicants
appealed against offers - which led to lengthy conflict with the council. Others,
fearing suspension from the register, accepted offers in areas where they may not
have wanted to live.
Applicants were distrustful of allocations because the processes were obscured. The
traditional allocations approach was bureaucratic and opaque. Home seekers were
passive bystanders to a critical decision affecting their life.
5. How choice works in Camden
The introduction of CBL in Camden did not alter any of the Council’s existing rules
around assessing need or the allocation of points.
Under CBL, all assessed applicants with the requisite points are allowed to bid for
properties as and when they become available. The top 3 or 4 highest pointed
bidders are invited to an accompanied viewing of the vacancy with the local estate
officer. The property is offered to the highest pointed bidder that decides to accept.
To ensure the widest possible reach, the CBL scheme advertises vacant properties
in 5 different ways.
3
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Through paid adverts in the Camden New Journal - reaching almost
70,000 households.
Through the Home Connections website.
By direct mail to applicants living out of the borough or who request it.
By email to applicants on request.
By prominent wall display of adverts in council offices.
Information explaining how the scheme works are available in English, Bengali,
Chinese, French, Kurdish, Somali and Turkish. Information will be translated into
other languages on request.
All properties are advertised on the Internet. Clear descriptive information is posted
for vacant properties in the adverts, backed up with colour brochures depicting local
estates and environs.
There is a five-day bidding period, which gives applicants time to visit the locale and
obtain greater information on schools and amenities in the area. There are no
restrictions on the number of properties that applicants can bid for and there are no
penalties for refusing a property prior to acceptance.
The CBL service is accessible via automated telephone (available in 7 community
languages), mobile phone (text bidding) as well as the Internet. The phone service is
available ‘24x7’, and Camden has provided free Internet-ready PCs for public use at
its main housing office and to each of its 5 district housing offices. Camden also has
a wide range of free public access PC sites in libraries and UK Online centres.
After each vacancy has been let, feedback is given (in the CNJ and on the website)
about the number of points that it was let for and the number of bids received. This
gives applicants an idea of their chances of getting short-listed for a property. Each
applicant also has their own ‘private zone’ on the Home Connections website where
they can view the outcome of the bids that they have previously made.
The interactive nature of CBL makes it easier to promote other housing options (out
of London moves, private rent or buy and so on).
The website also allows housing applicants to go on line and assess their chances of
being rehoused in the foreseeable future (according to the points system set out in
Camden’s Allocations Scheme). This is a useful function both for applicants and the
Council: many of the 15,000 applicants currently on the waiting list will have little
chance of being rehoused, and self-assessment gives them more realistic
expectations about their chances.
Housing applicants are no longer told where they will live and why they must accept
the council’s decision – they are now in the ‘driving seat’ and take decisions based
on a greater understanding of the social housing market, their chances of getting
rehoused and the options available to them.
Vulnerable and difficult to reach home seekers
The Camden CBL is a totally IT-based solution, which has three access channels –
the Internet, an automatic telephone system and mobile phone (text bidding).
4
However, staff are available to support applicants who need help with bidding or
using the service. Together, these channels have the potential to reach 99.9% of the
target population. The Housing Department has taken additional steps to overcome
potential technology barriers to vulnerable groups:
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The service is available in 7 languages and paper-based translated material is
widely available
Free public access PCs and telephones are available in dozens of locations
across the borough
Training and support is given to community groups and various social workers
and key workers to assist or make bids on behalf of vulnerable applicants.
On average, every registered applicant receives a reminder of the CBL
scheme every 4 months
Staff involved in active case management of homeless persons ensure that
applicants receive information and help in bidding
The website is accessible for use by the specialist devices and browsers used
by blind and partially sighted users and has been passed for accessibility by
the “Ability Net” organisation based in Warwick.
Tenants are kept informed through articles in newsletters and via the tenancy
support teams.
6. Rehousing outcomes
In 2003/4, Camden let a total of 1655 council and housing association homes. 751
homes were let through CBL.
All lets
The table below shows the distribution of all lets (CBL and traditional) in 2003/4 by
type.
Type of let
Private sector applicants
Homeless households
Transfers
Other
% of all lets
17
37
36
9
These figures show that the introduction of CBL (borough-wide from January 2004)
has had no significant impact on the ability of the key groups to apply for and be
allocated housing. Over the last year, there has been a 3% increase in the number
of homeless households who were housed and a 2% increase in the number of
transfers (not including mutual exchanges).
Black and minority ethnic groups
The table below shows the number of successful lets made in 2003/4 by each of the
main ethnic groups in Camden.2
Group
Number of successful lets
2
As percentage (%)
For ease of presentation the `groups’ in the table represent a range of ethnicities. For example
`Black’ represents: Black African, Black Caribbean, Black Other, Black Somali and Black UK.
5
Asian
Black
Cypriot
White
Other
Total
190
428
22
833
164
1637
12
26
1
51
10
100
CBL lets 3
Between January and September 2004:
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A total of 92,143 bids were made for 924 properties
On average each property received 100 bids
44%of lets went to homeless households
66% of lets went to BME households.
7. Measuring success
Reconciling choice and need
CBL in Camden has been generally successful in reconciling choice and need. It is
not the case that CBL has allowed lower priority applicants to increase significantly
their share of lets over applicants with the highest priority. Results show that lowerpointed applicants have succeeded in bidding for smaller-sized accommodation and
properties in less desirable parts of the borough.4 This reflects both a willingness
among higher pointed applicants to wait for what they see as more suitable
accommodation and a willingness among lower pointed applicants to bolster their
rehousing chances by accepting less desirable accommodation.
But in general, the overall outcome is that the main groups of applicant that have
traditionally dominated allocations schemes – the homeless, transfer applicants and
private sector tenants – are still the groups getting the majority of lets under CBL.
It is true that CBL has only been running across the whole borough since January
2004, but we do not expect the profile of new tenants to change dramatically in the
future because:
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Camden still awards priority according to need
CBL did not change the points system, and
Traditional groups have been successful in bidding.
A customer-centric service
Evidence shows that no groups are being excluded and that customers understand
the system. Camden has been successful in developing a customer centred service
and has achieved this by
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3
4
Advertising properties on the web, email, mail shot and newspaper
Abolishing penalties for refusing properties
More detailed statistical data on key CBL outcomes will be made available to conference delegates.
See Appendix.
6
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Providing better information and advice.
Feedback from focus groups has shown that customers like the paper-based
advertising in the CNJ but are able to interact with a totally IT-based bidding system.
Customers did however express concerns that expectations about rehousing are
sometimes unduly raised – particularly amongst low-pointed applicants.
Greater customer choice
Choice is reflected and embodied in the adverts, the non-penalisation policy and the
choice of access and languages. There is no doubt that while CBL is not able to
increase housing supply, it has resulted in greater choice for customers. We know
that many customers decide not to bid for the first property they see and instead wait
for one they think is most suitable for their needs. So choice is not limited to
choosing between properties advertised at one point in time, it can extend to
choosing between properties advertised over weeks or months.
Greater customer flexibility
Because CBL lets home seekers bid and refuse properties without penalty, home
seekers are in turn responding by compromising on their previously stated
requirements.
For instance, people are more flexible in bidding for properties outside their areas of
preference. Applicants are also bidding for property types and floor levels that they
would have rejected had these been “allocated” to them. Most interesting of all, there
are several examples of applicants bidding down on their bedroom requirements and
accepting properties with fewer bedrooms.
One explanation says that CBL has helped home seekers to better understand the
supply and demand for properties in the pilot area and that they are exercising
shrewder judgement in bidding for those that they have a realistic chance of getting.
Monitoring customer access
Evidence indicates that there are no groups of applicants who are struggling to
access the system. In fact, access has been improved by the introduction of the 24hour service and choice of information channels. We monitor high-pointed applicants
who are not bidding and proactively contact them to find out why they are not bidding
and provide support to help them do so. Council officers can bid on applicants’
behalf if necessary.
Vulnerable, difficult and excluded groups
The telephone system is available in 7 languages. Homeless and BME households
have been successful in bidding and getting rehoused.
Cost effectiveness and efficiency
No properties have had to be advertised more than once and relet times are
marginally better than under existing allocations. Over 60% of properties have been
let at the first viewing.
7
We have found that tenants are much less likely to request a transfer under CBL
because they choose their homes and are therefore more likely to be satisfied with
them from the outset.
CBL is particularly useful at identifying prospective tenants for difficult-to-let
properties. For instance, a 15th floor tower block property, in Oxenholme, was let
after attracting 17 bids. Relatively less popular bedsit properties in Maiden Lane
have attracted between 10 and 40 bids each and some have been let after block
viewings of 15 applicants. A small 3-bed basement in Holborn, which had been
vacant for over a year with 9 failed viewings, received over 45 bids and has now
been let.
Support from stakeholders
A large number of community organisations have been informed and positive
feedback received. However, community groups have requested that additional
information and support be provided.
8. Conclusions
Although choice based letting does give people a choice of available properties it has
no influence over housing supply. CBL has given housing applicants the right to
choose, and removed Camden’s power to decide who should get which property. It
has also encouraged applicants to take a much more active role in decisions about
their own housing futures.
Our experience of running the scheme and available evidence shows that there has
been no compromise between choice and need.
Camden’s view is that our points-based system is more sensitive and more firmly
based in housing law than a simple banding or pure time waiting approach. The
CBL/points combination has allowed Camden to continue to sensitively differentiate
between levels of need and choice and has not allowed groups other than those in
the reasonable preference categories to dominate our allocations scheme.
8
Appendix: example results for April to August 2004
These tables shows the results of 410 homes recorded as let through Home
Connections between April and August 2004. They include both Council and housing
association properties. The results are analysed according to the size, type and
location of the properties involved. They give an indication of the availability of, and
demand for, the homes that are advertised.
Size of Property
For each property size, higher points are normally required for more popular types or
more popular locations.
Bed size
Studio
flats
1 bedroom
properties
2 bedroom
properties
3 bedroom
properties
4 bedroom
properties
5 bedroom
properties
Number of
bidders
housed
68
Average
number of
bids
50
161
Average
Lowest
points let for points let for
Highest
points let for
198
75
310
133
241
70
637
109
101
252
120
533
61
117
365
140
545
6
78
515
225
760
2
48
650
627
672
Type of Property
For each property type, higher points are normally required for larger properties or
more popular locations.
Street
Property
Individual
Block
Small
Estate
Large
Estate
Tower Block
Number of
bidders
housed
63
Average
number of
bids
148
101
Average
Lowest
points let for points let for
Highest
points let for
306
109
672
104
238
70
545
65
100
236
74
533
142
105
283
100
760
39
74
238
150
340
9
Location of Property
For each location, higher points are normally required for larger properties or more
popular types.
Camden
Town
Gospel
Oak
Hampstead
Area
Holborn
Area
Kentish
Town
Out of
Borough
Number of
bidders
housed
121
Average
number of
bids
97
71
Average
Lowest
points let for points let for
Highest
points let for
238
70
637
110
290
151
672
78
111
275
108
760
59
103
244
153
490
78
121
282
75
717
3
94
282
180
423
10