Agenda item - Council Housebuilding Programme - List of Potential Development Sites

(Housing Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached report (C-008-2012/13).

This Appendix is published as a supplementary agenda for information and a printed copy has also been placed in the Members’ Room.

(1) That the progress made, and the current position, with the appointment of a Development Agent to manage the Council’s Housebuilding Programme be noted;

(2) That the Council-owned garage sites and other housing land with development potential listed at Appendix 2 of the report be separated into a Primary List and a Reserve List according to the following criteria:

Primary List

(a) all Garage sites with vacancy rates of 20% or more as at 1 July 2012;

(b) the 5 small areas of Council-owned land identified as having development potential; and

(c) the 1 (currently) garage site with structural problems which would be expensive to repair;

Reserve List

(d) small garage sites (i.e. comprising 6 or less garages), with no current vacancies, but that had been difficult to let in the past; and

(b) all garage sites with more than 6 garages, vacancy rates of less than 20% as at 1 July 2012 and no waiting list;

(3) That detailed development and financial appraisals be undertaken by the Development Agent, once appointed, for those sites on the Primary List;

(4) That sites on the Reserve List be promoted to the Primary List, and that detailed development and financial appraisals also be undertaken for these sites by the Development Agent, if the percentage of vacant garages within the site increased to 20% or more;

(5) That garage sites be retained on the Primary List, even if their vacancy rates fell below 20% in the future;

(6) That the proposed methodology for determining the order in which the detailed development appraisals should be undertaken, and the subsequent development of sites to be taken forward, be included within the Development Strategy to be approved by the Cabinet in due course;

(7) That, subject to the Cabinet’s approval at a later date, detailed development and financial appraisals be undertaken by the Development Agent for any other sites on the Reserve List if:

(a) there were insufficient numbers of properties that could be viably developed from the Primary List to deliver a Housebuilding Programme of 120 new homes over a six-year period; or

(b) the Cabinet subsequently decided to increase the size of the Housebuilding Programme and there were insufficient numbers of properties that could be viably developed to deliver a larger Programme;

(8) That further initial development assessments be undertaken over time by either Officers or the Development Agent, with further reports submitted to the Cabinet (as appropriate) once a number of such initial assessments had been undertaken to consider whether or not these sites should be added to either the Primary List or Reserve List, of:

(a) all other garage sites comprising 6 or less garages;

(b) any further garage sites that started to have vacancies with no waiting list; and

(c) any Council-owned land on housing sites considered to be surplus to requirements; and

(9) That the Council’s garage sites at Vere Road and Burton Road, Loughton be excluded from consideration for inclusion within the Housebuilding Programme for the time being, so that they could be considered as part of the wider regeneration proposals for The Broadway, Loughton, in accordance with the adopted Design and Development Brief for the area.

The Housing Portfolio Holder presented a report regarding a list of potential development sites for the Council’s proposed Housebuilding Programme.

The Portfolio Holder reminded the Cabinet that the Council had already agreed its approach to the introduction and implementation of a new Council Housebuilding Programme, initially based on the construction of around 20 new homes each year for a minimum of 6 years. Good progress had been made with the appointment of the Development Agent to manage the Council’s Housebuilding Programme; formal tenders would be invited at the end of July 2012 and it was currently planned that the contract would be signed in January 2013. The next stage was now to agree a list of potential development sites for which the Council’s Development Agent, once appointed, would undertake detailed development and financial appraisals.

The Portfolio Holder advised that, potentially, a maximum of 227 new rented Council homes could be developed on the 69 Council-owned difficult to let and small garage sites and other housing land, listed in Appendix 2 of the report. The development potential had been initially assessed by Officers, although many of these sites were very problematical to develop, with the number of properties that could actually be developed likely to be much less. It was proposed to adopt a methodology for separating the sites into a “Primary List” and “Reserve List”, and that detailed development and financial appraisals only be undertaken at this stage of those sites on the Primary List. However, there were also conditions proposed for when sites should be promoted from the Reserve List to the Primary List, and the circumstances when appraisals should be undertaken for sites on the Reserve List in the future.

The Portfolio Holder added that a Development Strategy would be formulated in due course for adoption by the Cabinet, which would include a proposed methodology for determining the order in which the detailed development appraisals should be undertaken, and how the subsequent development of sites should be taken forward. Further initial development assessments would be undertaken over time of other garage sites that might be suitable for development, with further reports submitted to the Cabinet as appropriate to consider whether or not they should be added to either the Primary List or Reserve List. However, it was emphasised that no decisions had yet been taken about which sites to develop.

In response to concerns expressed about the possible displacement of vehicles if a garage site was developed, the Portfolio Holder responded that priority for another garage would be given to those users who would lose their existing garage. However, Officers were of the opinion that many of the garages rented out were not used to store cars. The possible effects of the displacement of any vehicles would be a consideration for the relevant Area Planning Sub-Committee when determining planning applications in the future. The Director of Housing added that if a tenant was not using their garage to store a vehicle then that would be a breach of their tenancy agreement and the Council could take their garage away from them anyway. The Portfolio Holder reassured the Cabinet that the potential number of displaced vehicles would be considered in more detail when the sites were formally assessed, along with the number of properties that could be provided at that site.

The Director of Housing reiterated that all sites on the Primary List had an average vacancy rate of 40%, with a minimum vacancy rate of 20% for each site, and that only a very brief assessment of each site had been made by the Council’s Senior Architectural Assistant. The cost of the land would not be a factor when the detailed financial appraisals were undertaken, as the Council already owned the land, and the Council did have the option to sell sites on the list to cross subsidise the development of another site on the list if necessary, but this would be the last option considered by the Council. The Council had also received approximately 40 applications under the Right-to-Buy scheme in the two months following the Government’s decision to increase discounts for tenants; previously the average had been around two per month.

The Portfolio Holder assured the Cabinet that the Council would continue to rent garages if the demand was there; garages would not be deliberately left empty so that the site could be developed upon. However, he explained that sites would not now be removed from the list, even if the vacancy rate fell to below 25%. Only sites with a minimum vacancy rate of 20% had been included on the Primary List and the first detailed appraisals were due to be considered in June 2013. The Director of Housing stated that experience of developing small sites had been included in the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire sent to the potential contractors for the Development Agent appointment. Some council-owned land on housing sites considered to be surplus to requirements had been identified, and if any other sites were identified then they would be considered for inclusion in the programme in future. The Chairman of the Housing Scrutiny Panel commended the Scrutiny Panel’s recommendations to the Cabinet as the Council had a duty to use the land owned by the Housing Revenue Account effectively.

Decision: