URL: https://democracy.sheffield.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=4654

Decision Maker: Housing Policy Committee

Outcome: Recommendations Approved

Is Key Decision?: Yes

Is Callable In?: No

Purpose: Review of Tenant and Residents Association (TARA) Levy. Several options to be presented to Committee based on outcomes of consultation with tenants and TARAs.

Content: Review of Tenant and Residents Association (TARA) Levy. Several options to be presented to Committee based on outcomes of consultation with tenants and TARAs. 12.1 The Committee considered a report of the Executive Director of Neighbourhood Services, which outlined the results of a review of the Tenant Levy, undertaken in response to a petition presented to the Committee in September 2024.         12.2 RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Housing Policy Committee:- (a)  Notes the outcome of the consultation; (b)  Agrees having taken into account the outcome of the consultation and the further information detailed in the report, that no changes to the current Tenant Levy amount and collection arrangements should be made in advance of the wider review of tenant involvement and engagement; (c)  Endorses the development of the approach to increasing the spend of residual levy in consultation with tenants; and (d)  Endorses the approach to providing additional support to TARAs to help them source additional funding from elsewhere (as detailed in section 2.20 – 2.22 of the report).         12.3 Reasons for Decision     12.3.1 The overarching reason for the majority of the recommendations in this report is that they are based on the feedback we received from tenants following a successful consultation exercise.     12.3.2 The recommendation covering arrears payments is based on the expected savings to the HRA of stopping these payments versus the amount of officer time needed to administer this change. On balance it is felt that the work required would not justify the relatively small saving.     12.3.3 840 responses to the consultation were received, which is a relatively high number (in comparison with other housing consultations), and from the demographic data collected we are confident that the sample was broadly representative of our tenant base.     12.4 Alternatives Considered and Rejected         12.4.1 Consideration was also given to stopping the use of the HRA to pay the levy on behalf of tenants in rent arrears. Making these payments only costs the HRA a relatively small amount each year (around £16,000), and there would be a significant amount of officer time involved in implementing this change (making the manual adjustments on the system to stop the levy payments being made, and then re-instating them once arrears are cleared).     12.4.2 It was therefore agreed that the small potential saving is outweighed by the amount of work that would be involved. We recognise that this is not in line with the consultation outcomes, but on balance it enables us to make best use of the resources that we have. The option to discontinue paying the levy for tenants in arrears was therefore rejected.      

Date of Decision: September 18, 2025