Dear Ms Morris,

FOI request: FOI-958

Thank you for your request dated 08/12/2023

Your request will be answered by 05/01/2024

If you have any queries about this request, please contact me, quoting the
reference number above.

Yours sincerely,

David White

Head of Information, Safety and Community Services

Directorate of Communities, Environment and Central

Royal Borough of Greenwich

*   3^rd Floor, The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, London, SE18
6HQ

8 [1]www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk

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Dear Ms Morris,

FOI request: FOI-958

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request, dated 08/12/23.

Your request is currently being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 and will be progressed as soon as we have received
the clarification requested below.

Please can you provide just the number of available vacant properties that
are empty - Do you mean all vacant residential properties in the borough
or just those that are RBG residential properties?

Please quote the reference number in your reply.

If we have not received clarification within 2 months of this email, we
will close the request.

Yours sincerely,

David White

Head of Information, Safety and Community Services

Directorate of Communities, Environment & Central

Royal Borough of Greenwich

*   3^rd Floor, The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, London, SE18
6HQ

8[1]www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk

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Thank you for clarifying your request. We will respond within 20 working days.

Kind regards,
FOI Team

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Dear Ms Morris,

FOI request: FOI-958

We apologise for the delay in providing the response to your Freedom of
Information request. We do remain committed to responding to your request
and will respond as soon as we are able to do so.

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information Officer

Information, Safety and Community Services

Directorate of Communities, Environment and Central

Royal Borough of Greenwich

* The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, London SE18 6HQ

8 [1]www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk

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Dear Ms Morris,

FOI request: FOI-958

Thank you for your request dated 08/12/2023

Our response is as follows:

Clarification received:

I mean all property that are vacant to be bid on by all persons registered
on your housing waiting list who you have accepted a duty for.

1.      Please can you provide just the number of available vacant
properties that are empty?

Between 30th March 2022 and 3rd April 2023, the total number of empty
properties is 869.

2.      How many of these properties are advertised weekly to be bid on?

The number of properties that become available for advert on a weekly
basis depends on whether they are ready to let. Essential safety
checks/works must be carried out on all voids properties by the Council’s
Asset Management team to ensure they are of a lettable standard.

3.      Why do you not put more properties on weekly to be bid on?

Please refer to question 2.

4.      What does being on B2 band mean, does this banding include people
with medical needs and how long is the wait for a 4 bedroom property on
this band?

See below an extract from the Allocations Policy which explains the B2
banding.

4.4.1 Housing Bands

Band B2 is awarded to households who do not meet the five-year residency
qualification but fall within a reasonable preference category. This group
will be considered after reasonable preference groups who meet the
residency qualification in band B1. This includes households that are owed
a Prevention or Relief duty who do not meet the 5 year residency criteria.
Their reasonable preference will exist until the duty is discharged.

4.2 Reasonable preference

Under s.166A (3), the Council must provide ‘reasonable preference’ to
certain categories of people. Reasonable preference means providing
certain applicants with an advantage or head start compared to other
applicants who do not have reasonable preference according to the law.
Reasonable preference is usually described as ‘priority’ within the
Council’s scheme. Reasonable preference will not be given to households
placed in accommodation in the Royal Borough of Greenwich by another
borough. Reasonable preference must be given to:

• People who are homeless within the meaning of Part 7 of the Housing Act
1996 as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002 and Homelessness Reduction
Act 2017

• People occupying unsanitary or overcrowded housing or otherwise
unsatisfactory housing conditions.

• People who need to move on medical or welfare grounds, including
disability

• People who need to move to a particular locality in the district of the
authority, where failure to meet that need would cause hardship to
themselves or others. • People who are owed a duty by any housing
authority under section 190(2),193(2) or 195(2) of the 1996 Act or under
section65(2) or 68(2) of the Housing Act 1885) or who are occupying
accommodation secured by any authority under s.192(3)

• Households that are owed a Prevention or Relief duty by the Royal
Borough of Greenwich under the provisions of the Act and who meet the 5
year residency criteria will not be disadvantaged and will have a
Reasonable Preference that will exist until the duty is discharged

• Armed Forces Personnel being discharged

Waiting time for a 4 bedroom property on B2:

Not everyone who applies and needs a 4 bedroom home will be rehoused and
there is not an average waiting time for all applicants. Many may not be
rehoused at all. We can only give an average for the waiting times for
people who have been housed over a period of time. During the period 1st
April 2022 to 31st March 2023 only 2 Band B2 cases were rehoused, one into
a 4-bedroom house the other a 3 bedroom parlour house and the average
waiting time for these two applicants was 28 months.

If you have any queries about this correspondence, please contact me,
quoting the reference number above.

If you are not satisfied with our response to your request, you can ask
for an Internal Review.  Internal review requests must be submitted within
two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original
request.  If you wish to do this, please contact us in writing, setting
out why you are dissatisfied.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the Internal Review, you may
apply directly to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision. 
Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the
Internal Review procedure provided by the Council. You can contact the ICO
by emailing [1][email address], or by post at Customer Contact,
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely,

David White

Head of Information, Safety and Community Services

Directorate of Communities, Environment and Central

Royal Borough of Greenwich

*   3^rd Floor, The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, London, SE18
6HQ

8 [2]www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk

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From: foi <[Greenwich Borough Council request email]>
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2024 5:28 PM
To: 'Do morris' <[FOI #1055936 email]>
Cc: foi <[Greenwich Borough Council request email]>
Subject: FOI-958: Freedom of Information request - Vacant property

Dear Ms Morris,

FOI request: FOI-958

We apologise for the delay in providing the response to your Freedom of
Information request. We do remain committed to responding to your request
and will respond as soon as we are able to do so.

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information Officer

Information, Safety and Community Services

Directorate of Communities, Environment and Central

Royal Borough of Greenwich

* The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, London SE18 6HQ

8 [3]www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk

ü Please consider the environment before printing this email

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