A Knowsley Council scheme which prevents tenants being made homeless when their landlord wishes to sell the property is to be extended, after councillors agreed a further allocation of money.
The Private Rental Rescue Scheme was brought in to prevent ‘no fault’ evictions triggered by the sale of a rented property.
Under the scheme, Knowsley Council provides funding to a registered social landlord to bridge the ‘gap’ between the social value of the property and the open market valuation (which is usually a little higher, and social landlords are only permitted to pay the social value), as well as any repair requirements needed to bring the property up to regulatory standards. This means the social landlord is then able to purchase the property, and the tenants are given secure and affordable tenancies which prevents them from having to move out. The money for the scheme comes from Section 106 contributions from housing developers.
Introduced in 2023, the Private Rental Rescue scheme has prevented numerous families from the anguish of being made homeless through no fault of their own, and facing potentially unaffordable private rents elsewhere. It has also reduced the need for the council to provide costly temporary accommodation and is increasing the stock of social housing in the borough.
At the meeting of Knowsley Council’s Cabinet on Wednesday, 19 March, councillors agreed that a further £500,000 should be invested into the Private Rental Rescue Scheme.
In addition, they agreed to the establishment of a new ‘Strategic Acquisitions Scheme’, which will see similar cooperation between Knowsley Council and registered social landlords, enabling them to purchase properties being sold privately if they could help meet the most pressing housing needs of people waiting for social housing in the borough – for example, one bedroom and four bedroom homes, of which there is a shortage.
Purchasing these type of high demand homes from the open market will enable social landlords to increase their supply, and enable people on the waiting list to be allocated suitable homes more quickly. Councillors agreed that £1m of funding from Section 106 contributions should be allocated towards the new Strategic Acquisitions Scheme.
Cllr Tony Brennan, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economic Development, said: “We’ve seen the enormous benefits of our Private Rental Rescue Scheme which is keeping families together and preventing them from the stress and uncertainty of no fault evictions. It is allowing us to use Section 106 contributions from developers to increase the supply of affordable, secure and good quality housing in the borough and helping us save significant sums which we may otherwise have needed to pay for temporary accommodation.
“This new Strategic Acquisitions scheme will enable our registered social landlords to more easily purchase homes from the open market that meet our housing needs locally, and will benefit those people currently on waiting lists in providing the homes they need.”