(if any) - receive.

Apologies were received from Councillor David Godwin.

Members are invited to disclose any interest in any of the items on the agenda at this point of the meeting.

Members may still disclose any interest in an item at any time prior to the consideration of the matter.

There were no disclosures of interest.

Report attached (appendices not available to press or public).

Officers advised that the 40 year agreement referred to in the lease was a nominations agreement rather than a lease. If the properties were to not be delivered then the projected savings would not be achieved. A Member asked why no procurement exercise had been undertaken and if this constituted best value. Officers responded that a procurement exercise was not required in thus instance but the proposals did represent good value for money for the Council. The Council would receive a significant number of properties at low risk.

Members asked for clarity on the criteria for eligibility for the new homes. It was confirmed that this would be based on the current Councill allocation scheme. There would be a selection process to ensure families gained the tenancies and received any additional support required.

All proposed developments would be located in Havering and the Council would not be able to meet the demand for housing without it. A representative of the developers confirmed that they had received Cabinet approval for a similar scheme in another Local Authority.

It was accepted that the proposals had been submitted late to the Council’s Forward Plan but the proposals had not been rushed overall with discussions with Cabinet progressing for  6 – 9 months. Members asked however how they would be given oversight of the scheme. Officers responded that the Cabinet Member would be involved in each decision set out in the recommendations of the Cabinet report.

The developer would be able to reduce the liability of the Council. The proposal was an innovative arrangement and a lot of work had been undertaken with investors. It was emphasised that the Council’s commitment was only triggered once the new homes were delivered.

A Member asked if a new Administration felt there had been insufficient scrutiny of the proposals, what penalties would there be if the agreement was cancelled. Officers responded that the overall agreement was unlikely to be finalised prior to the election. Alternative options that had been considered were set out in the Cabinet report. An earlier proposal for modular housing units had not been rejected and had been taken forward in Rainham.

It was confirmed that the Council would not be liable for management fees and that rental collection would be undertaken by the management company. Havering would be liable for uncollected rent within parameters. This division of liability for rent arrears would not have been possible if Mercury Land Holdings had developed the scheme due to Mercury having a publicly funded model.

Detailed issues such as the coverage of void costs would be finalised at a later stage. The developers had reached the stage of agreeing property specifications with the other Local Authority they were working with and established a practical completion date to hand over to that Council.

It was clarified that the development would consist solely of social housing for Havering residents. It was accepted that the there would be a financial commitment required from the Council but this would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.