Agenda item

Cabinet Agreed:

1.      That an allocation of £1,001,863 from the proceeds of right-to-buy council property sales accruing between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013 be agreed for this new build programme with onward referral to Council for approval.

2.      That an allocation of £3,399,936 resources from the HRA Business Plan, including £353,000 already approved for Hidden Homes works, be agreed for this new build programme with onward referral to Council for approval.

3.      That an allocation of £311,891 of section 106 commuted sums be agreed for this new build programme with onward referral to Council for approval.

4.      That an allocation of £110,000 from the Adult Social Care capital budget, from Department of Health grant, to enable the addition of assistive technology to a scheme specifically for Adult Social Care clients be agreed for this new build programme with onward referral to Council for approval.

5.      That a virement of £655,949 from unallocated capital resources held in the Housing General Fund previously earmarked to support vulnerable and/or disabled residents be agreed for this new build programme with onward referral to Council for approval.

6.      That the specific financial allocations from all sources be applied to the constituent schemes as detailed in an exempt appendix to the report.

7.      That authority to make variations to any of the schemes covered in this report deemed desirable following resident consultation and/or identified as a planning requirement is delegated to the Cabinet Member for Housing unless the variations would incur additional capital investment by the Council in which case Cabinet’s approval would be sought.

8.      That the estimated £1,300,000 proceeds from sale of the shared ownership element of this new build programme be earmarked for future shared ownership and/or affordable rented developments on sites such as the former Diana Princess of Wales hostel.

9.      That approval be given to commence the process of procuring the main contractors to deliver the schemes.

Councillor Lesley Kelly, Cabinet Member for Housing & Public Protection, introduced the report.

In line with the Council’s commitment to address the local need for good quality homes, a number of bids had been submitted to the Greater London Authority (GLA) to attract inward funding for new build housing schemes.  Although the bidding round was extremely competitive, the Council had successfully secured £2,076,000 inward investment from the GLA to fund development in the borough. Of this, approval had already been granted by Cabinet for a bungalow scheme at Garrick House which had attracted £256,500 GLA funding. The report before Cabinet covered seven further schemes consisting of 61 new homes supported by £1,819,500 of GLA grant. 

The report sought authority to allocate match-funding from a number of Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and general fund capital sources.

Reasons for the decision:

Development of the proposed schemes would meet well-documented housing need, especially the need for supported housing schemes and the need to provide high quality housing for older tenants to facilitate downsizing from under-occupied family housing. The schemes would also enable the Council to utilise its right-to-buy receipts in line with the agreement made with the Homes and Communities Agency for local determination of the use of such receipts by the Council for new affordable housing development in the borough.

Developing on Council-owned land and retaining control over the new dwellings would strengthen the Council’s housing portfolio and future revenue sources.

Other options considered:

Disposal of the land for development by a housing association or private developer was REJECTED. Should the proposed schemes be delivered by housing associations there was significant likelihood that a proportion of the new homes would have to be offered up to the sub-regional pool giving other boroughs nomination rights. Furthermore, this would neither provide the mixed tenure bungalow scheme envisaged as key to encouraging downsizing nor meet housing demands from disable adults.

It was also important to note that should the Council not be able to spend its right-to-buy receipts within three years of their generation, they would need to be returned to the HCA/GLA with interest. These proposals would obviate the risk of this.

Cabinet Agreed:

1.      That an allocation of £1,001,863 from the proceeds of right-to-buy council property sales accruing between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013 be agreed for this new build programme with onward referral to Council for approval.

2.      That an allocation of £3,399,936 resources from the HRA Business Plan, including £353,000 already approved for Hidden Homes works, be agreed for this new build programme with onward referral to Council for approval.

3.      That an allocation of £311,891 of section 106 commuted sums be agreed for this new build programme with onward referral to Council for approval.

4.      That an allocation of £110,000 from the Adult Social Care capital budget, from Department of Health grant, to enable the addition of assistive technology to a scheme specifically for Adult Social Care clients be agreed for this new build programme with onward referral to Council for approval.

5.      That a virement of £655,949 from unallocated capital resources held in the Housing General Fund previously earmarked to support vulnerable and/or disabled residents be agreed for this new build programme with onward referral to Council for approval.

6.      That the specific financial allocations from all sources be applied to the constituent schemes as detailed in an exempt appendix to the report.

7.      That authority to make variations to any of the schemes covered in this report deemed desirable following resident consultation and/or identified as a planning requirement is delegated to the Cabinet Member for Housing unless the variations would incur additional capital investment by the Council in which case Cabinet’s approval would be sought.

8.      That the estimated £1,300,000 proceeds from sale of the shared ownership element of this new build programme be earmarked for future shared ownership and/or affordable rented developments on sites such as the former Diana Princess of Wales hostel.

9.      That approval be given to commence the process of procuring the main contractors to deliver the schemes.