Agenda item

(Chairman of the Housing Scrutiny Panel) To consider the attached addendum report (C-074a-2009/10).

(1)        That the £350,000 budget provision already agreed by the Cabinet to invest in an Open Market Shared Ownership Scheme be retained within the Capital Programme;

(2)        That other Homebuy agents be contacted by the Director of Housing to discuss the possibility of an existing Homebuy Agent working with the Council to operate either:

(a)        the scheme previously proposed in partnership with Moat Housing, already agreed by the Cabinet; or

(b)        an alternate scheme, similar to the Government’s MyChoice Homebuy Scheme, but with the Council undertaking the role of the Homes and Communities Agency; and

(c)        that a further report be provided to the Cabinet setting out the outcome of discussions with the Homebuy Agents;

(3)        That the Home Ownership Grant Scheme be continued into 2010/11, to fund a further six Home Ownership Grants of £28,000 each (instead of the current amount of £34,000 each) with:

(a)        budget provision in the sum of £170,000 within the Capital Programme for 2010/11;

(b)        the continuation of the existing Selection Criteria for applicants previously agreed by the Housing Portfolio Holder; and

(c)        priority given to the unsuccessful applicants for the Home Ownership Grant Scheme in 2009/10 if they still to wish to receive a grant;

(4)        That, following the completion of desk-top exercise to assess the development potential of difficult-to-let garage sites with vacancies in excess of 20% (and no waiting list), more detailed development appraisals be undertaken to assess their development potential further and the number of homes that could be provided;

(5)        That a report on the outcome of these development appraisals be presented to a future meeting of the Cabinet, with a view to authorising planning applications for each of the sites which could be developed to provide additional affordable housing;

(6)        That the current position with the Local Housing Company proposal be noted;

(7)        That budget provision of £375,000 be made within the Capital Programme for 2010/11 to fund the provision of Local Authority Social Housing Grant to one of the Council’s Preferred Registered Social Landlord Partners to fund the purchase of 5/7 two and/or three bedroomed houses off the open market to let at affordable rents;

(8)        That the Preferred Registered Social Landlord Partner to purchase these open market properties be selected through a competitive tendering exercise;

(9)        That the proposals above requiring capital budget provision be not prioritised in a ranked order;

(10)      That a programme of new social house-building by the Council be agreed in principle, but should not be undertaken until the detrimental financial effect on the Council’s General Fund either no longer exists or is only minimal; and

(11)      That, in view of the Government’s previous commitment to remove any obstacles which stop councils from building new Council homes, this financial difficulty be explained by the Council to both the Government’s Minister of State for Housing and the Local Government Association (LGA) to request if any assistance would be available to overcome the problem relating to the Council’s Capital Financing Requirement.

(12)      That a letter be written by the Leader of Council to the Minister for Housing & Planning, and copied to the Chief Executive of the Local Government Association as well as the Shadow Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government, as set out at Appendix 2 of the report; and

(13)      That, in the event that it is not possible to identify an Registered Social Landlord that wishes to undertake an Open Market Shared Ownership Scheme in partnership with the Council, the existing budget of £350,000 for the scheme be utilised to supplement the proposed budgets for two of the proposals put forward by the Scrutiny Panel, as follows:

(a)        an additional £168,000 to enable a further six Home Ownership Grants of £28,000 each; and

(b)        an additional £182,000 to enable the selected housing association to purchase a further two or three 2/3 bedroom houses from the open market, in order to let them at affordable rents to Council nominees.

The Housing Portfolio Holder reported on behalf of the Chairman of the Housing Scrutiny Panel, who was unable to attend the meeting. He reported that the Housing Scrutiny Panel had set up an Affordable Housing Sub-Group to consider and recommend ways to increase the amount of affordable housing in the District, which had also considered the possibility of the Council re-commencing a programme of social house-building.  The subsequent report of the Affordable Housing Sub-Group containing a total of 12 recommendations had been considered by the Housing Scrutiny Panel, which endorsed its recommendations, and were now presented to the Cabinet for consideration and decision.

The Cabinet were advised that in view of the negative response from three Homebuy agents and two of the Council’s Preferred Registered Social Landlord (RSL) Partners over the Cabinet’s previous decision to undertake an Open Market Shared Ownership Scheme in partnership with the Council, the Scrutiny Panel had agreed an alternate recommendation on the proposed use of the £350,000 capital budget whereby £168,000 would be utilised to provide a further six Home Ownership Grants, and the remaining £182,000 would be utilised to purchase further properties from the open market to let at affordable rents to Council nominees if an Open Market Shared Ownership Scheme could not come to fruition..

The Portfolio Holder added that the Affordable Housing Sub-Group had identified a financial problem that made its proposal for the Council to re-commence a social house-building programme unviable at present. It was hoped that the proposed letter to the Minister for Local Government might result in this problem with the Council’s Capital Financing Requirement being overcome, by a change in local government accounting regulations. This letter would also be copied to the Chief Executive of the Local Government Association as well as the Shadow Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government.

Decision:

(1)        That the £350,000 budget provision already agreed by the Cabinet to invest in an Open Market Shared Ownership Scheme be retained within the Capital Programme;

(2)        That other Registered Social Landlords be contacted by the Director of Housing to discuss the possibility of them working with the Council to operate either:

(a)        the scheme previously proposed in partnership with Moat Housing, already agreed by the Cabinet; or

(b)        an alternate scheme, similar to the Government’s MyChoice Homebuy Scheme, but with the Council undertaking the role of the Homes and Communities Agency; and

(c)        that a further report be provided to the Cabinet setting out the outcome of discussions with the Registered Social Landlords;

(3)        That the Home Ownership Grant Scheme be continued into 2010/11, to fund a further six Home Ownership Grants of £28,000 each (instead of the current amount of £34,000 each) with:

(a)        budget provision in the sum of £170,000 provided within the Capital Programme for 2010/11;

(b)        the continuation of the existing Selection Criteria for applicants previously agreed by the Housing Portfolio Holder; and

(c)        priority given to the unsuccessful applicants for the Home Ownership Grant Scheme in 2009/10 if they still to wish to receive a grant;

(4)        That, following the completion of a desk-top exercise to assess the development potential of difficult-to-let garage sites with vacancies in excess of 20% (and no waiting list), more detailed development appraisals be undertaken to assess their development potential further and the number of homes that could be provided;

(5)        That a report on the outcome of these development appraisals be presented to a future meeting of the Cabinet, with a view to authorising planning applications for each of the sites which could be developed to provide additional affordable housing;

(6)        That the current position with the Local Housing Company proposal be noted;

(7)        That budget provision of £375,000 be made within the Capital Programme for 2010/11 to fund the provision of Local Authority Social Housing Grant to one of the Council’s Preferred Registered Social Landlord Partners to fund the purchase of 5/7 two and/or three bedroomed houses off the open market to let at affordable rents;

(8)        That the Preferred Registered Social Landlord Partner to purchase these open market properties be selected through a competitive tendering exercise;

(9)        That the proposals above requiring capital budget provision be not prioritised in a ranked order;

(10)      That a programme of new social house-building by the Council be agreed in principle, but should not be undertaken until the detrimental financial effect on the Council’s General Fund either no longer exists or is only minimal;

(11)      That, in view of the Government’s previous commitment to remove any obstacles which stop councils from building new Council homes, this financial difficulty be explained by the Council to both the Government’s Minister of State for Housing and the Local Government Association (LGA) to request if any assistance would be available to overcome the problem relating to the Council’s Capital Financing Requirement.

(12)      That a letter be written by the Leader of Council to the Minister for Housing & Planning, and copied to the Chief Executive of the Local Government Association as well as the Shadow Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government, as set out at Appendix 2 of the report; and

(13)      That, in the event that it is not possible to identify an Registered Social Landlord that wishes to undertake an Open Market Shared Ownership Scheme in partnership with the Council, the existing budget of £350,000 for the scheme be utilised to supplement the proposed budgets for two of the proposals put forward by the Scrutiny Panel, as follows:

(a)        an additional £168,000 to enable a further six Home Ownership Grants of £28,000 each; and

(b)        an additional £182,000 to enable the selected housing association to purchase a further two or three 2/3 bedroom houses from the open market, in order to let them at affordable rents to Council nominees.

Reasons for Decision:

The Cabinet were satisfied that the Sub-Group had fully addressed all the relevant issues in relation to the recommendations and that these should be endorsed, including those in the addendum report.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

The Cabinet were satisfied that the Sub-Group had considered all the relevant options in formulating their recommendations. The Cabinet did not consider that there were any further options.