Council House Income

Summary

A request was made to determine how many Isle of Man Council House tenants earn over £50,000 annually, but the Department of Infrastructure refused to provide this data as it does not hold current income information for all tenants.

Key Facts

• The Department of Infrastructure does not hold current income data for all its tenants, only income levels at the time of application for some.
• Tenancy assessments for income eligibility occur prior to awarding a fixed-term tenancy and every five years thereafter.
• Older tenancy agreements are not fixed-term, meaning some tenants have not been re-assessed for income since their initial application.
• The Department only manages its own properties and cannot provide data for other Housing Authorities on the Island.
• The request was refused under the Freedom of Information Act 2015 because a practical refusal reason applies.

Data Disclosed

• £50,000
• 5 years
• 2019-07-05
• 2019-07-19
• 875365
• paragraphs 11 and 15

Exemptions Cited

• Practical refusal reason under Freedom of Information Act 2015 (information not held)

Original Request

How many tenants who reside in any Isle of Man Council House, earn(s) more than £50k a year (Jointly or Singularly)

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Department of Infrastructure Sea Terminal Building, Douglas, IM1 2RF

Contact: FOI Response Team Telephone: (01624) 686785 Email: DPO-DOI@gov.im

Our ref: 875365 18 July 2019

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on Tynwald Day, 5 July 2019 and which states:

"How many tenants who reside in any Isle of Man Council House, earn(s) more than £50k a year (Jointly or Singularly)" The Department understands the term “Isle of Man Council House” to mean any general needs public sector rental property regardless of landlord. We use the term ‘general needs housing’ (GNH) to describe general housing and dwellings used for singles, couples and families.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Department does not hold the information relating to the income of all of its tenants, nor does it hold information on behalf of other landlords (local authority housing providers). In this case, a practical refusal reason applies i.e. the Department does not and cannot hold the information that you have requested.
As set out in paragraphs 11 and 15 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015, the Department “may refuse to give the applicant the information requested if… a practical refusal reason applies and cannot be removed”, so long as the Department also complies with its duty to “give reasonable advice and assistance to persons who wish to make, or who have made, requests for information held by the [Department]”. The Department is able to provide some explanation of what information it holds regarding the income of its tenants. Prior to allowing applicants to receive a tenancy in GNH, the Department carries out an assessment of the applicants’ income to ensure applicants meet the eligibility criterion. The type of tenancy that is awarded is fixed term for five years, after which tenants are re-assessed for their income level prior to offering a new fixed term tenancy. Many of the older tenancy agreements are not fixed term and as such, some of the existing tenants are not re-assessed and the Department only holds information about the level of income they had at the time of application.

The Department of Infrastructure only holds information relating to tenants of its own properties and is not in a position to determine how many of its tenants earn more than £50,000 per annum at any single point in time. There are several Housing Authorities that manage this type of housing on the Island.
Each Housing Authority could be contacted separately if you wish to extend your enquiries. Contact details for many of the Housing Authorities for GNH on the Island are provided online at https://www.gov.im/categories/home-and- neighbourhood/affordable-housing/public-sector-housing/housing-authority- contacts/#accordion Other housing authorities for GNH on the Island that are not listed on the webpage above are given separately below: Malew Parish Commissioners Malew Parish Commissioners Office Ballasalla IM9 2RQ Telephone: +44 1624 823522 Website: https://www.malew-parish.org/ Email: malewcommissioners@manx.net Rushen Parish Commissioners Lamode Ballakillowey Road Rushen IM9 4BP Telephone: +44 1624 834501 Website: http://rushen-commissioners.com/ Email: clerk@rushen.gov.im Please quote the reference number 875365 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review: If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded. If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.

In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact us. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi. We will now close your request as of this date. Yours sincerely FOI Response Team