Changes to an Angus scheme may provide a greater incentive to those occupying council houses larger than their need, but its visibility has been questioned.
The Downsizing Incentive Scheme was introduced in April and invites applications from tenants willing to move in exchange for a lump sum.
Only half of the 20 sums of £2,500 have been awarded and proposed changes to the scheme, to be discussed by the council’s neighbourhood services committee on Thursday, include an advance portion of the payment to help with moving costs.
One case study suggests that some of those on the council housing register would benefit from the scheme being more easy to apply for.
Robert Fleming (26) spoke to The Courier on behalf of his mother Rosalind (48), with whom he shares a four-bedroom house in Graham Crescent, Forfar.
Mrs Fleming suffers from back problems and applied for a move to a smaller, ground-floor accommodation two years ago. Despite having been on the register for two years, and having slipped from eighth in priority to 14th during that time, Mrs Fleming is still waiting to trade her home with someone more in need of the space.
Mrs Fleming joined the housing register in 2010 and her son periodically visits the Forfar ACCESS office to check her progress. He was surprised to learn about the downsizing scheme, having never had feedback or correspondence from council staff.
Mr Fleming said: ”I haven’t heard anything about this since April when it started. What’s the point in having two of us sitting in such a big house when these families are sitting on other lists, maybe the same list?
”As each day goes by, she (Mrs Fleming) is starting to struggle more going up and down the stairs. We are sitting in a four-bedroom house and you would have thought that the council would want us out of here, and I read in the papers all the time that bigger families are (struggling to find) a big house.”
Thursday’s meeting in Forfar also proposes that tenants with rent arrears will be eligible for the scheme.
Neighbourhood services director Ron Ashton’s report intimates that this would likely accompany a move to a lower-rent property and a reduction of the incentive sum, held against arrears.
Tenant consultation in November resulted in other suggestions being made to update the scheme, and incentive payments are likely to vary, depending on the number of bedrooms by which the tenant will downsize.
A reduction of three rooms will merit the full amount, two rooms will be worth £2,000 to the applicant and one room £1,500.
It is also proposed, after consultation in November, that the cost of damages to the house moved out of would be deductible against the payment.
The policy works in conjunction with the Angus Allocation Policy, so two offers of smaller homes can be turned down before a third and final is made. After this point, the application will be suspended for six months.
A housing application form must be filled in before the downsizing scheme can be applied to.