New intermediate rent and keyworker housing scheme

Overview

With the current housing crisis in London it is important that that homes of all tenures are built and that there is a supply of housing available that is truly affordable for our residents who are on low and medium incomes.

As a council we are committed to ensuring that we do what we can to play our part in meeting the housing needs of our residents and that we have homes that are available across a range of incomes.

There is a clear need to provide housing that is affordable to our keyworkers in Southwark. Our teachers and teaching assistants, our social workers and healthcare workers who are finding it increasingly harder to rent in Southwark due to the increasing rental prices in the private rented sector. We also need to make sure that we help those residents fleeing from domestic abuse and ensure that there are safe and suitable housing arrangements available.

The Mayor of London’s commitment to London Living Rent is welcomed and will help provide affordable housing for households on incomes under £60,000 per annum. This is just one of several solutions to providing homes at intermediate rents for our residents alongside shared ownership, community land trusts and co-operative housing models.

We want to hear about your ideas and views on the future options for intermediate and keyworker housing in Southwark.  By taking part in this consultation you will help shape the future of genuinely affordable housing in Southwark.

The results of the consultation will help us to develop an intermediate housing list that sits alongside our council housing list and I look forward to sharing the results and outcomes with you later this year.

Cllr Stephanie Cryan

Cabinet Member for Housing Management and Modernisation.

Why we are consulting

We want to hear from you on who you think should be eligible to apply for these new intermediate homes and who should be prioritised.

These properties will have:

• Minimum three year assured shorthold tenancies
• Rent levels set at the London Living Rent (around half of the private market rent) for those on household incomes below £60,000. There will also be a small proportion with rents at up to a maximum of 80% of the market rent for those with household incomes of between £60,000 and £90,000
• A private or housing association landlord

These homes will mainly be delivered as the affordable homes component on purpose built private rental developments. More information is included in the FAQ below.

As these homes will have significantly lower rent levels than private rents they will be in high demand. The council is proposing that these homes are let to households registered on this new Southwark intermediate rent housing list, according to a priority star system, which prioritises keyworkers and few other groups.

In the case of properties developed by registered providers (housing associations), Part 6 of the Housing Act would restrict how the council can nominate to these properties. Therefore in these cases the council is proposing allowing the registered provider to make the allocation themselves but according to the council’s eligibility and priority system. The council will email priority households on the list to make sure they are aware of the opportunity to bid directly to the provider.

We need to find your views on:

• Who should be eligible for the new homes?
• Who should be prioritised and how?
• Who should qualify for extension of the tenancy after the minimum three year period?

Please have your say by either:

• Completing the following survey (each section ends with a free text question if you want to provide any additional comments)
• Emailing your comments to housingstrategy2@southwark.gov.uk

The consultation closes on the 18th November.

For further information, please see:

The FAQs attached below

The Cabinet Paper  “Consultation on introducing an intermediate rent housing list”