Council Properties That Are Vacant Due To Tennant in Prison
Dear Oxford City Council,
How many properties owned or managed by Oxford City Council are currently vacant due to the tenant being in prison?
How long has each property been vacant?
For each vacant property, is there any outstanding rent? If so, what is the outstanding amount for each property?
Yours faithfully,
Cerys Baker
Dear Cerys Baker
Freedom of Information Request, Oxford City Council - Reference:
FOI2024/01397
Thank you for your email. Your request was received on 15 December 2024
and you will be sent a response by 15th January in accordance with the
Freedom of Information Act 2000/ Environmental Information Regulations
2004 (EIR), subject to the information not being exempt or containing
reference to a third party.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Team | Law and Governance | Oxford City Council |
Town Hall | St Aldate's | Oxford | OX1 1BX
Website: [1]www.oxford.gov.uk | Follow us on Twitter:
[2]www.twitter.com/OxfordCity | Like us on Facebook:
[3]www.facebook.com/OxfordCityCouncil
References
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Dear Cerys Baker
Freedom of Information Request, Oxford City Council - Reference:
FOI2024/01397
Further to the acknowledgement below, please see the response to your
Freedom of Information Act 2000 request.
Housing Services team does not formally record this information, therefore
we are unable to provide comprehensive information for your request.
If you disagree with any part of the response to your request, you are
entitled to ask the Council for an internal review of the decision(s)
made. You may do this by writing to the Monitoring Officer, by either
email [1][email address] - or by post to Monitoring Officer, Oxford City
Council, Town Hall, St Aldate's, Oxford, OX1 1BX After the result of the
internal review, if you remain dissatisfied, you may ask the Information
Commissioner to intervene on your behalf. You may do this by writing to
the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire,
SK9 5AF.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information Officer
| Freedom of Information Team | Law & Governance | Oxford City Council |
Town Hall | St Aldate's | Oxford | OX1 1BX |
Website: [2]www.oxford.gov.uk | Follow us on Twitter:
[3]www.twitter.com/OxfordCity | Like us on Facebook:
[4]www.facebook.com/OxfordCityCouncil
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3. http://www.twitter.com/OxfordCity
4. http://www.facebook.com/OxfordCityCouncil
Dear Oxford City Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Oxford City Council's handling of my FOI request 'Council Properties That Are Vacant Due To Tennant in Prison'.
Are you asserting that if a Council property remains vacant for more than 12 months due to the tenant being imprisoned, the Council holds no information regarding this situation? You state that such information is not formally recorded, but what relevant information do you possess?
Who is responsible for paying the rent while the tenant is in prison?
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...
Yours faithfully,
Cerys Baker
Dear Cerys Baker
Freedom of Information Request, Oxford City Council - Reference:
FOI2024/01397
Thank you for your follow up question(s) to our response to your Freedom
of Information request received on 15 December. Our answers are as
follows.
Follow up Question(s)
Are you asserting that if a Council property remains vacant for more than
12 months due to the tenant being imprisoned, the Council holds no
information regarding this situation? You state that such information is
not formally recorded, but what relevant information do you possess?
Who is responsible for paying the rent while the tenant is in prison?
Response
A property will still show as "occupied" - where an OCC tenant holds the
tenancy of a property - it will not show as "vacant" for reporting, as it
is not available to let while a tenant holds a tenancy for a property even
if it is empty for a period of time when they are away.
If a tenant has a temporary absence from a property eg. for a holiday,
hospital or longer if they are on Remand/Prison they should inform the
Council but do not always do so. While this will be recorded on the
tenancy details - it cannot be reported on as a "vacant property".
If a tenant is receipt of benefits and paying their rent via this method-
again they should notify the DWP or the Housing Benefit Team if they are
away from the property for a set period as it can affect their
entitlement.
If a tenant falls into arrears and hasn't notified OCC that they are away
from the property, or the Council becomes aware a tenant may not be
occupying the property, this will be looked into and appropriate action
taken.
The tenant is always responsible for payment of the rent while they hold
the tenancy - even if they are not occupying the property and it is their
responsibility to arrange payment of the rent during this time.
There is clear case law precedent that has determined that a tenancy
cannot be brought to an end simply because someone is in prison. The
principles behind maintaining a secure tenancy include that it remains the
tenant's principal and only home. The case law has confirmed that being
detained does not mean that prison is their home and the security of
tenure is maintained. As Housing Benefit will not be payable beyond a
maximum of 26 weeks while on remand, very often the tenant will choose to
terminate their tenancy, rather than building up a considerable debt.
Alternatively, if the debt does build up, possession proceedings will be
taken on the grounds of rent arrears. Either way, it remains the
responsibility of the tenant to make their rent payments. Some tenants in
prison have been able to maintain payments, either through their own
income (e.g. pensions), family/friends making payments or to instal a
caretaker, essentially a lodger, who would look after the property and
make all the relevant payments.
2 OCC tenancies are recorded as having ended during 24/25 and properties
becoming vacant due to a "custodial sentence".
If you disagree with any part of the response to your request, you are
entitled to ask the Council for an internal review of the decision(s)
made. You may do this by writing to the Monitoring Officer, by either
email [1][email address] - or by post to Monitoring Officer, Oxford City
Council, Town Hall, St Aldate's, Oxford, OX1 1BX. After the result of the
internal review, if you remain dissatisfied, you may ask the Information
Commissioner to intervene on your behalf. You may do this by writing to
the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire,
SK9 5AF.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Officer
Freedom of Information Team | Law & Governance | Oxford City Council |
Town Hall | St Aldate's | Oxford | OX1 1BX |
Website: [2]www.oxford.gov.uk | Follow us on Twitter:
[3]www.twitter.com/OxfordCity | Like us on Facebook:
[4]www.facebook.com/OxfordCityCouncil
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email%20address]
2. http://www.oxford.gov.uk/
3. http://www.twitter.com/OxfordCity
4. http://www.facebook.com/OxfordCityCouncil
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