Decision details

Councils across England are required by the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 to offer Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) to people who qualify. These grants are mandatory but they are restricted to helping people with disabilities to adapt their homes to make them accessible and more suitable for their needs. The funding for these grants comes from central Government via the Better Care Fund. If a Council wishes to offer financial assistance towards anything other than DFGs they have to adopt and publish a Housing Assistance Policy giving full details of the assistance they will offer to householders in their area for property adaptation, improvement or repair. Thanet District Council adopted such a Policy in 2019 and this policy is now due for review.

Cabinet agreed the following:

1.  The consultation draft of the Housing Assistance Policy is approved;

2.  The Council conducts a public consultation on the draft policy;

3.  The results of the consultation be published on the Council’s website;

4.  Following consultation any minor amendments be approved by the Head of Housing & Planning in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing.

It is imperative that the Council has in place a fair policy that takes into account the changes that the world has seen since the last policy was agreed in 2019. The paper being considered here addresses all of the changes in the environment in which the Council is operating and suggests how they should be addressed.

Cabinet could decide to reject the proposed draft policy, or to make any amendments to the recommended draft, prior to the public consultation. This option is not recommended.