Agenda item

(Housing Portfolio Holder) To consider the minutes of the meeting of the Council Housebuilding Cabinet Committee held on 17 April 2014, and any recommendations therein.

Accelerating the Housebuilding Programme

(1) That the report from the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Consultancy on the options for funding an accelerated Council Housebuilding Programme and the associated implications be noted;

(2) That the number of affordable homes developed in Phases 3-6 by the Council be increased from 20 to 30 per year;

(3) That Homes & Community Agency (HCA) funding be sought, initially, for Phase 2 of the Housebuilding Programme at Burton Road, Loughton for 40 homes - based on a 56-home development, with the remaining homes in Phase 2 being funded from 1-4-1 Receipts and the other resources made available within the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) as a result of the other recommendations within the CIH Consultancy report;

(4) That further bids for HCA funding be made in future years for future phases of the Housebuilding Programme, should the amount of 1-4-1 Receipts be less than forecast within the CIH Consultancy report, provided that the receipt of such HCA funding would not result in any 1-4-1 Receipts having to be passed to the Government;

(5) That, as a policy, the minimum balance held in the HRA be reduced from £3 million to £2 million;

(6) That the Council’s HRA Self-Financing Reserve be re-profiled to release funds for the Housebuilding Programme in earlier years of the HRA Business Plan by increasing contributions to the Reserve in later years (closer to the HRA’s first Public Works Loan Board loan maturing in 2021/22), whilst ensuring that sufficient resources had been accumulated within the Reserve to repay this first loan on maturity (subject to no further borrowing being undertaken to extend the Housebuilding Programme, as referred to in (9) below);

(7) That 30% of the Council’s accruing HRA attributable debt balances be utilised to help fund the accelerated Housebuilding Programme;

(8) That the HRA’s contribution to the Housing Improvements and Service Enhancements Fund between 2019/20 – 2021/22 (Years 7-9) be reduced by a sufficient amount to enable Phases 2 - 6 of the Housebuilding Programme to be funded (currently estimated at a reduction of £2.09 million - £2.24 million per annum, from £3.87 million per annum to £1.63 million - £1.78 million per annum), which would be dependent on:

(a) the outcome of the HCA funding bid;

(b) the amount of 1-4-1 Receipts received in 2014/15;

(c) the receipt of any further financial contributions received as a result of Section 106 Agreements;

(d) any property or land sales for which the Cabinet agreed the resultant receipt could be utilised to fund the Housebuilding Programme; and

(e) any adjustments that had to be made to the amount allocated to the Fund in the intervening period, due to unforeseen and un-budgeted reasons affecting the HRA;

(9) That, in principle, the Council Housebuilding Programme be extended by a further 4 years to 10 years, after the current Years 3-6, with an additional 30 new affordable homes provided each year;

(10) That no decisions be made now on the most appropriate way of funding an extended Housebuilding Programme, but that consideration be given at an appropriate time in the future - and before any commitments were made or expenditure incurred; and

(11) That the purchase of properties from the open market and/or the provision of local authority grant(s) to one of the Council’s Preferred Housing Association Partners to fund affordable housing schemes in need of grant, continue to be kept as a contingency plan, should the amount of 1-4-1 Receipts still be in excess of the maximum amount that can be spent on the Housebuilding Programme, in order to avoid having to pass any 1-4-1 Receipts to the Government, with interest.

Phase II Feasibility Report – Burton Road, Loughton

(12) That, subject to Secretary of Sate consent, the former garage site and associated amenity land at Burton Road, identified for the development of Council Housebuilding, be appropriated for planning purposes under the provisions laid out in the Local Government Act 1972 and Town and Country and Country Planning Act 1990 on the grounds that the land was no longer required for the purposes for which it was currently held in the Housing Revenue Account;

Annual Report to Cabinet

(13) That the Annual Progress Report on the Council Housebuilding Programme be submitted to the Cabinet.

The Housing Portfolio Holder presented the minutes from the meeting of the Council Housebuilding Cabinet Committee held on 17 April 2014.

The Cabinet Committee had made recommendations to the Cabinet concerning: Accelerating the Housebuilding Programme; the Phase II Feasibility Report regarding potential development at Burton Road, Loughton; and the Cabinet Committee’s Annual Report to the Cabinet. Other issues considered included: a bid for Affordable Housing Grant from the Homes and Communities Agency; the Council’s Policy on Undevelopable Sites; the naming of Council Developments; an update of the Council Housebuilding Risk Register; and the outcome of the funding bid from the London-Stansted-Harlow Programme of Development.

Decision: