19 Jun. 08

Dear Ann Brown

Re: Your request for information: 2818

Thank you for your request for information that was received on13 June 08 in which you requested:

How many properties in the borough were provided by the Council,

its partner housing associations or other agencies, for new tenants

in the last 5 years;

How many of these were either for non-UK citizens, new UK citizens

or asylum seekers / political refugees;

How many of the tenants in 2. above have their rent paid through

the benefits system.

How many none EU and EU citizen are in work compare to British

citizen

How to monitor the fairness of the Housing system

How do you check they have been in this country for 12 months and

have worked, before they gain access to public founds.

Unfortunately I am not able to answer the main body of your question, as we do not collect information on applicants' nationality when registering them for housing. We do ensure that mainly the applicant for housing is eligible to social housing. Those who are eligible are UK and EU/EEA citizens. Citizens from countries which recently joined the EU do have some restrictions on their access to social housing.

For non EU/EEA citizens, we will check that they have recourse to public funds/right to remain, or a residency permit. If an applicant cannot satisfy these criteria they are not allowed to be placed on our waiting list.

As we do not monitor the nationality of tenants whom we let properties to, I am unable to provide information on whether they are in receipt of benefits or in work.

I have provided information in the attachments on how many properties we have let in the last five years, and also information on how we let our properties.

We do endeavour to monitor the fairness of our lettings polices, including carrying out a regular Mori poll on satisfaction. We also monitor equality issues, comparing the different backgrounds of those who register for housing, those we house, and the population of the borough as a whole, to assess how well we are reflecting this.

I hope the above is clear, and thank you for your request on this matter.

You are free to use the information provided for your own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, requires the permission of the copyright holder. You may apply for permission to re-use this information by submitting a request to xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx; you can find details on these arrangements at http://www.southwark.gov.uk/YourCouncil/Copyright. Detailed advice about the Reuse of Public Sector Information Regulations (PSI) 2005 is available from the Office of Public Sector Information at: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/index.htm.

If you have any queries or concerns then please contact us using the above details.

Further information on the Freedom of Information Act is available through the Information Commissioner at the:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire. SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 700
Internet: www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

Marie McDonald

Environment and Housing Records Manager

Legal & Democratic Services, Floor 3 ,Town Hall, Peckham Road, London SE5 8UB

Switchboard - 020 7525 5000 Website - www.southwark.gov.uk

Chief Executive - Annie Shepperd