Councillors have pledged to get to grips with a heavy burden of paperwork that is stopping them from tackling homelessness.

Barnet Council missed its target for reducing homelessness in the second quarter of 2018-19, blaming a high administration burden created by the rollout of the 2017 Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA).

The council prevented 419 households from becoming homeless, falling short of its target of 552.

At a housing committee meeting yesterday (Monday, January 14), Cllr Ross Houston, Labour member for West Finchley, said the figure was a concern and asked if the council was putting in extra resources to address the issue.

Cllr Gabriel Rozenberg, committee chairman and Conservative member for Garden Suburb, said the figures for the third quarter of the year would show an improvement.

He said: “If you take the year as a whole and compare it to the previous year, we are tracking pretty much exactly where we were.

“It is a very significant increase in administration that the reduction act requires. I am satisfied that Barnet Homes [the council’s housing arm] has done a good job in implementing the act and at the same time making sure our preventions are on track.”

Cath Shaw, the council’s deputy chief executive, said the HRA had increased the time spent dealing with homelessness referrals by around 30 minutes.

But she said the referrals were now becoming more streamlined and the council would get back on track to meet its annual target.

Cllr Houston also raised concerns over the low rate of housebuilding – particularly for affordable homes.

The council completed just 16 affordable homes in the second quarter – down by 86 per cent on the same period during the previous year.

Ms Shaw assured Cllr Houston that, barring a run of bad weather, affordable home completions would start to improve as several sites were ready for construction work to begin.

Cllr Paul Edwards, Labour member for Underhill, drew attention to a rise in rent arrears that coincided with the rollout of Universal Credit – the Government’s flagship welfare reform.

He said: “My concern is because they now pay their rent directly to Barnet Homes, families in difficulty will choose to prioritise other things and debts start to increase.”

A spokesman for Barnet Homes told the committee that arrears had now started to come down.

He added: “We are in a good position, but Universal Credit could still have an impact on rent arrears in the long term.”