The Head of Community Safety and Community Housing presented the draft Housing Support Programme Strategy 2022 – 2026 to Cabinet for consideration and approval.
The Cabinet Member for Public Health & Communities thanked the officer for the presentation and commented that the concerning statistics detailed within the report demonstrated the demand for supported housing schemes. The Cabinet Member shared the following example from the report: ‘524 individuals, families and groups were placed in temporary accommodation in 2020/2021. 40% of the 524 were placed in temporary accommodation multiple times, leading to a total of 852 placements in 2020/2021.’
The Cabinet Member for Development and Prosperity congratulated officers on the innovative pilot scheme which had been set up to work with landlords and alleviate the housing lists. The Cabinet Member commented that there was a need for local housing allowance to rise to keep pace with the rise in the private rent sector and acknowledged that this was an issue to take up with Welsh Government.
The Deputy Leader spoke of her visits to shared housing provision and emphasised the importance of working with Local Members.
The Cabinet RESOLVED:
1. To approve the Rhondda Cynon Taf Housing Support Programme
Strategy 2022 -2026 as set out at Appendix 1 of the report; and
2. To support the development of a comprehensive Delivery Plan and Investment Strategy to secure achievement of the Strategy priorities over the next 4 years and specifically to identify the financial requirements and funding opportunities to deliver the development of additional supported housing schemes, including a new scheme to replace the Mill Street Hostel, and to offer further shared housing provision throughout