Operations Manager – Private Sector Housing
Background Information
1. Introduction
1.1. The Private Sector Housing service delivers a range of services and
assistance for homeowners, landlords and private sector tenants and
area based regeneration through the new Private Sector Housing
Policy implemented in 2008. The policy and its interventions are
intended for those homes occupied by the most vulnerable and also
those living in private accommodation rented from landlords.
1.2. Whilst the City has 171,000 private sector properties, it is the 16,000
homes occupied by vulnerable people and those on low incomes that
in the main are the focus of the policy.
There are three clear key objectives for the policy:
1. The continued transition from the use of grants towards the
provision of loans to deliver decency across the private sector housing
stock.
2. Environmental sustainability linking the wide benefits that flow from
tackling fuel poverty and achieving decency standards.
3. Creating successful housing markets so that the private sector
housing offer in the city plays a full part in contribution to the creation
of successful neighbourhoods and a flourishing economy.
The new policy implemented in 2008 has changed the types of
intervention and assistance the Council makes to achieve its policy
goals. In particular it continues a transition from grant assistance to
loans provision, a more holistic approach to health and well being and
a need for the Council to strengthen its enabling role by acting in the
interests of house owners and tenants in Sheffield.
2. Background
2.1. This policy aims to assist individuals and communities who live in
approximately 10% of the city’s private housing stock. This is the
current estimate of non-decent homes occupied by vulnerable people.
There are 171,000 private sector properties in Sheffield, making up
over 74% of the housing stock and housing over three-quarters of the
population. However, many of these properties do not meet the
Decent Homes standard. An investment of £160 million would be
required in order to meet the Decent Homes standard in those private
sector homes occupied by vulnerable people alone. The government
aims to raise the proportion of decent private sector homes occupied
by vulnerable people to 70%. This challenge cannot be addressed by
public sector funding or by the Private Sector Housing Services Policy
alone.
2.2. The previous Private Sector Housing Policy was developed in 2003 in
response to the Regulatory Reform Order 2002 (RRO). The RRO
introduced a new more flexible approach to private sector housing
renewal, removing the previous tightly prescribed grant regime and
giving local authorities discretion to develop a policy appropriate to the
local area and to develop loan-based forms of assistance. In
response, Sheffield introduced more flexible and innovative forms of
assistance, including equity release loans, whilst maintaining a form of
grant assistance for the most vulnerable people; ‘Essential Works
Grants’ and targeting regeneration schemes in areas of acute priority.
2.3. That Policy was successful in enabling this transition from grant
assistance to loan assistance however it did not address the full range
of issues in the private housing sector. The RRO also required local
authorities to periodically review and revise their local policy to take
account of changing local issues and the introduction of new
legislation and to take advantage of any new opportunities arising.
The new Policy provides a comprehensive and robust policy
framework for private sector housing.
3. Strategic Context
3.1. The Government set out its proposals for a new approach to national
and local housing strategy in its Green Paper “Homes for the Future;
more affordable, more sustainable” (April 2007). The Green Paper is
clear that local authorities are key agencies for tacking climate change
by reducing carbon emissions, particularly in relation to existing homes
and their energy consumption. .
In addition to the Green Paper, it has been vital to fully acknowledge
and embrace the wider legislative context and the national, regional
and local strategic frameworks within which we operate. National
Policy reforms, significantly the Regulatory Reform Order (RRO)
2002 and the Housing Act 2004, have driven the approach to private
sector housing intervention and renewal further towards responsible
ownership, encouraging local authorities to move away from the
provision of grant assistance towards more flexible forms of assistance
including advice, equity release loans, targeted area regeneration and
other innovative solutions. The key implications of the Housing Act
2004 for private sector housing were the introduction of a new riskbased method of assessing housing conditions (the ‘Housing Health
and Safety Rating System’, or ‘HHSRS’), and the introduction of a
system of mandatory and discretionary licensing for privately rented
housing.
3.2. At the regional level, economic, planning and housing strategies
explicitly link successful regional housing markets to maximising
private sector investment and driving up the quality and choice of
private housing to support new and existing workers. Local authorities
are encouraged to work within a common regional framework to
deliver a joined up approach to housing renewal across the subregion, providing the Private Sector Housing Service an opportunity to
take a more proactive role in creating a successful regional housing
market. Regeneration is co-ordinated across the sub-region by
Transform South Yorkshire, who oversees the Housing Market
Renewal Programme, which is improving the quality, choice and
sustainability of housing and neighbourhoods in Sheffield’s weaker
housing markets.
3.3. At the local level, the Private Sector Housing Services Policy aligns
with the Council’s key corporate priorities of achieving ‘Successful
Neighbourhoods’ across the city, and ‘Closing the Gap’ between
the most deprived neighbourhoods and the rest of the city.
Strategically, the Policy needs to support the three key themes of
Sheffield’s Housing Strategy; ‘Successful Housing Markets’,
‘Decent Homes in Sustainable Neighbourhoods’ and
‘Independence and Inclusion’.
4. Strategic Objectives & Policy Goals:
4.1. The Private Sector Housing Services Policy aims to achieve the
following three key strategic objectives and associated priorities by
meeting the specific targets set out below:
1. Address non-decent housing in the private sector and meet the
government’s PSA7 target

The Council will aim to meet the Government’s target by
ensuring 70% of private sector homes occupied by vulnerable
people are made decent by 2010.
2. Promote environmental sustainability and address fuel poverty
in the private sector


Ensure the number of people facing fuel poverty is reduced.
Significantly reduce the City’s carbon footprint.
3. Create successful housing markets supported by the right
quality and mix of private sector housing


The Council will license all 2000 qualifying houses in multiple
occupation within 2 years ensuring they meet minimum physical
and management standards.
The Council will aim to ensure 50% of all landlords demonstrably
meet standards set out in the responsible landlords scheme by
2010.
5. Policy Delivery Tools
The following range of policy tools and interventions are used to achieve
the strategic objectives and balance priorities, whilst maximising the
impact of the limited resources available:
5.1. Advice –
 Advice and information to homeowners, landlords and private sector
tenants. Owner occupiers and landlords are encouraged to take
responsibility for the repair and maintenance of their property and
advice given to help them to move their property towards the Decent
Homes standard.
 Advice provided on energy efficiency measures and referrals made to
energy schemes or partner agencies for assistance to help to reduce
fuel poverty.
 A specialised independent advice service provided to support private
sector tenants and to proactively prevent homelessness and a tenancy
relations service provides legal advice to tenants to help prevent
unlawful or illegal eviction.
5.2. Financial Assistance –
 A reduction in grant assistance and enhanced provision of equity
release loans. Essential Works Grants replaced with Health and Safety
Loans. Decency Loans available to vulnerable homeowners for
carrying out repairs and improvements to move their property towards
the Decent Homes standard.
 Disabled Facilities Grants continue to be provided to provide
adaptations to disabled persons homes. Discretionary Disabled
Facilities Loans available to ‘top-up’ the grant where appropriate.
 Relocation Loans to address severe property conditions, overcrowding
or where a property cannot be adapted to meet a disabled persons
needs
 ‘Minor Works Grants’ for very elderly vulnerable homeowners to help
them to remain living independently in their own home and to reduce
pressure on health care services.
 Assistance provided for energy measures through partner agencies
where applicable
 To avoid conflict with regeneration schemes, discretion is delegated to
suspend financial assistance in unsustainable areas or areas subject to
demolition.
5.3. Area Regeneration –
 Area regeneration is targeted towards the most deprived areas of the
city to address housing market weakness and to support healthy
communities. Investment is targeted to the ADF areas in line with
Housing Market Renewal Funding priorities and to support the
Council’s ‘Closing the Gap’ agenda.



Area-based schemes may include block improvement schemes,
environmental improvements and maintenance schemes, subject to
funding.
Assistance in the form of loans is provided to homeowners to relocate
from regeneration areas affected by demolition.
Privately owned empty properties brought back into use across the city
using a range of voluntary and enforcement measures, including the
‘Private Sector Leasing Scheme’
5.4. Private Rented Sector Intervention –
 Raise the physical and management standards of privately rented
housing and promote it as a tenure of choice.
 Work with landlords through the adoption of the ‘three E’s’ approach:
‘Encouragement, Education and Enforcement’. This approach aims to
engage with landlords by providing a range of services, schemes and
initiatives to proactively encourage landlords to provide high quality,
well-managed private rented housing.
 Where this approach fails, enforcement measures may be applied in
line with the ‘Intervention and Enforcement Policy’ to regulate private
sector housing conditions.
 A responsive service provided to investigate complaints of disrepair,
including the enforcement of standards where applicable.
 Mandatory Licensing for HMOs has been implemented and the scheme
will continue to be delivered across the city.
5.5. New Initiatives –
 The policy delivery tools will continually be challenged and improved to
ensure that we are among the best performing private sector housing
services in the country.
 The new Policy has consolidated initiatives developed since the last
Policy, including loan assistance for relocation, improvement and
adaptation, maintenance schemes, neighbourhood investment, empty
property intervention and private rented sector initiatives
 The new Policy provides opportunities to develop new initiatives and
tools for taking the service forward, including:
o Health-based initiatives to address the housing-health agenda and
support healthier communities through a more holistic approach to
health and well being.
o An evaluation of the need for further licensing of areas of private
rented housing
o Further initiatives for bringing empty properties back into use
 A joined up approach adopted by working with key partners and
stakeholders and developing new partnerships to maximise funding
opportunities where possible.
 The Private Sector Housing service will continue to provide the highest
standard of customer-orientated services and continue to challenge
and improve service provision to clients in order to retain our Charter
Mark award.
6
Organisational Development Issues
The Private Sector Housing Team was substantially restructured in 2006.
Since then the last two annual Employee Opinion Surveys conducted by the
City Council have shown that morale within the Private Sector Housing Team
is significantly lower than in the rest of the Strategic Housing Service. A key
objective for the new manager will be to address this area of concern.
Related to this is the need to drive progress on development of more effective
and flexible ways of working and on implementation of a robust performance
management framework.
The current establishment of over 70 posts carries a salaries budget of
approx £2.7m. This includes approx £0.9m of funding from Transform South
Yorkshire who oversee the Housing Market Renewal Programme that runs
until 2010/11. Funding from Transform South Yorkshire will reduce in 2009/10
and again in 2010/11. The new manager will need to respond effectively and
creatively to this funding issue.