Agenda item

The Committee considered the draft Affordable Homes Delivery Plan which provided details as to how the Authority intended to deliver more homes. It also outlined what resources would be used. The Committee noted that the initial programme aimed to deliver over a 1,000 additional affordable homes during the next five years, with a total investment exceeding £60m.

The following issues were raised in relation to the report and its appendices:

It was suggested that there was a difference between the ‘needs’ and ‘wants’ of the county’s residents and that proposals to provide affordable housing should be carefully assessed for different areas. The Head of Housing & Public Protection stated that there was simply not enough resources available to fund everyone’s wishes but that targeting help where the need was highest, in both urban and rural areas, would be the Authority’s approach. However, he suggested that whilst the expressed need matched the population figures in some areas, officers felt that there was an under-reporting of need in other areas and that further work was needed to ensure that the data was as accurate as possible.

It was asked what impact the different affordable home delivery models would have on tenants. The Head of Housing & Public Protection reminded the committee that following recent changes, tenants of local authorities and social housing associations had the same type of contract but that this didn’t apply to those renting in the private sector. He stated that the Local Authority could provide genuinely affordable homes for rent if the properties were under its control, regardless of how they were built or procured. However, the Welsh Government would soon be requiring that local authority rents be brought into line with those of social housing associations and this would mean some difficult conversations with housing tenants in the near future.  

It was suggested that the ideal delivery model would be for the Local Authority to build new homes on Council-owned land. The Executive Board Member for Housing agreed but that in order to make the available resources stretch further, utilisation of different models and ‘thinking outside the box’ provided the Authority with different opportunities to make the best use of its money. Building in-house gave the Authority very limited scope for further borrowing due to financial constraints imposed on it by the Welsh Government. She made reference to a recent visit to Flintshire to view an example of a local trading company model and noted that additional visits to Birmingham and Ealing were planned in the near future. 

Concern was expressed that tenants of social housing associations might not be afforded the same support as the Council’s tenants, especially in relation to managing rent arrears and so on. The Head of Housing & Public Protection reminded the Committee that Social Housing Associations were regulated by the Welsh Government but that ultimately, their rents were higher than those of local authorities. He noted that some agencies had a twin-track rent policy which included ‘normal’ and ‘affordable’ rents. However, whilst the definition of ‘affordable’ was open to interpretation, its level was set by the Welsh Government. The Head of Housing & Public Protection also noted that the Social Lettings Agency initiative was a highly successful and cost effective way of getting more families into affordable homes by treating privately owned property as part of the county’s affordable housing stock. However, he reassured the Committee that with regards to this Plan, all Local Authority stock would be subject to its own rents.

In response to a question about the resources to support the work of returning empty properties to use, the Head of Housing & Public Protection informed the Committee that plans were in place to increase the support for the officer undertaking this work.

In response to a query regarding the Selective Licensing Scheme in Llanelli, the Head of Housing & Public Protection reminded the Committee that this was a Council scheme aimed at reducing anti-social behaviour in a particular area of the town and to date, about 50% of the landlords had registered. He was uncertain as to how many of these had passed on the management of their properties to the Authority’s Social Lettings Agency but he agreed to clarify this for committee members. 

It was asked whether there was room for flexibility in terms of rent setting for properties offered through the Authority’s Social Lettings Agency. The Head of Housing & Public Protection stated that this was the case but that the Agency in operating outside the confines of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), was influenced by the local housing allowance limits. However, should members agree to utilise the HRA to bring more properties on board, there would be more scope to negotiate the amount of rent based on commercial rents in the local area.    

It was asked whether other delivery models would be proposed. The Head of Housing & Public Protection suggested that there might well be other models for members to consider but that these would be presented to the Committee in due course and that ultimately, this would be a decision for the County Council.

It was suggested that £60m might not be sufficient in order to achieve the target of a 1,000 new affordable homes and it was asked whether the Planning Division was supporting Housing & Public Protection Services in ensuring that affordable homes were made available through the planning process. The Head of Housing & Public Protection reminded the Committee that the planning process was out of his officers’ control but that officers from his division along with representatives from Corporate Property and Planning were now working together to ensure that the Authority was getting the most out of all planning applications as possible in terms of affordable homes and other community benefits.

Reference was made to the time it appeared to take to get empty properties back into use. The Executive Board Member for Housing acknowledged that all elected members had empty properties in their respective wards but it didn’t necessarily mean that they were in areas of greatest need. Officers needed to be careful in not refurbishing properties which in turn would become hard to let due to their location in an extremely rural area.

Concern was expressed that new affordable housing might be built in action areas lacking infrastructure such as regular bus services and other local amenities, or that planning constraints might also impact on the viability of certain sites, especially in rural areas. It was proposed that when preparing future proposals for the action areas, due consideration be given to their deliverability and sustainability, including matters such as the suitability of the existing local infrastructure (e.g. local amenities) and potential planning constraints. The Committee agreed to this proposal.

Asked if it was the intention of officers to consult local elected members on what might be built in their wards, the Head of Housing & Public Protection reassured the Committee that elected members’ local knowledge was essential when proposing sites for affordable homes. 

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that:

7.1       The report be received.

7.2       It be recommended to the Executive Board that it confirm the strategy to utilise our existing options to maximise the supply of affordable homes over the next five years.

7.3       It be recommended to the Executive Board that it look at options to maximise the number of new build homes that could be delivered and provide recommendations by September 2016.

7.4       It be recommended to the Executive Board that it confirm the action area approach for delivering more affordable homes in different parts of the County.

7.5       It be recommended to the Executive Board that when preparing future proposals for the action areas, due consideration be given to their deliverability and sustainability, including matters such as the suitability of the existing local infrastructure (e.g. local amenities) and potential planning constraints.