Decision details

1.   To approve the evaluation and selection of additional Preferred Registered Providers by the Lead Commissioner, Housing Services for the delivery and/or management of new affordable housing on the Strategic Allocation sites

2.    Note that the selection will be carried out jointly with Gloucester City and Tewkesbury Borough Councils and that the Councils will enter into a memorandum of understanding with the additional preferred providers.

Following Cabinet approval in June 2015, an Affordable Housing Partnership made up of the three Local Housing Authorities across the Joint Core Strategy (JCS) area was formed to oversee the delivery, allocation and management of affordable housing across the Strategic Allocations.

Key outcomes arising from the Affordable Housing Partnership are to maximise the delivery of affordable housing on the Strategic Allocations and to create a framework that enables the new communities to become and remain cohesive and sustainable.

In order to support these outcomes, Cabinet also approved (in June 2015) the creation of a list of Preferred Registered Providers in accordance with the evaluation criteria outlined in Appendix 1. A number of Registered Preferred were subsequently evaluated, with the result that 10 Preferred Providers were invited to join the Affordable Housing Partnership in November 2015. A list of our Preferred Providers can be found at Appendix 2.

Cabinet agreed for this list of Preferred Providers to be reviewed every five years, or sooner if agreed by the Affordable Housing Partnership. Since then, the Partnership has been approached by a small number of additional Registered Providers, asking to be placed on the preferred provider list. This comes at a time when Severn Vale Housing Society and Merlin Housing Society are merging with Bromford Housing Group, so in the future there will be two fewer Preferred Providers in the partnership. 

Following consultation with our existing Preferred Providers, it is proposed that any new Registered Providers interested in joining the partnership will have to go through the original assessment criteria to evaluate their suitability. This would bring new providers into the arrangement on the same basis as the existing ones, and arrangements would then be reviewed in their entirety as per the timescales agreed previously.

To re-evaluate the whole list of Preferred Registered Providers, including any new providers. This is considered to be an unnecessary and an unduly protracted process at this time, especially in view of the fact that there has been no delivery on the Strategic Allocation sites to date that the Preferred Registered Providers can be measured on.

All the existing Preferred Providers were consulted on the options: either to conduct a partial review of Preferred Providers by simply evaluating the additional Registered Providers who have asked to become Preferred Providers; or to undertake a full review of all existing Preferred Providers and new Registered Providers wishing to join the partnership. All the Preferred Providers who responded stated a clear preference for the Local Housing Authorities to undertake a partial review of the arrangements.