Issue - meetings

Report of the Cabinet Member Housing

RESOLVED THAT

1.    The Head of Property and Asset Management ( in consultation with the section 151 Officer) be authorised to purchase dwellings that are considered to be suitable for use as affordable housing (in accordance with  the parameters as set out within Section 4.4 of this report), subject to a total cap on the consideration paid of £0.5 million (this is additional to the £1m already authorised by Cabinet in November 2015);

2.    The Borough Solicitor be authorised to negotiate and complete such documents as she deems necessary or desirable to conclude the transactions negotiated by the Head of Property and Asset Management under Resolution 1 above;

3.    the Section 151 Officer be authorised to use the Right to Buy receipts where necessary to fund the acquisition of the properties purchased under Resolution 1 above.

The Cabinet Member Housing introduced the report and reminded Members that in April 2012 the Government introduced a self-financing model for the Housing Revenue Account and allowed Councils to retain their Right to Buy receipts on the understanding that these receipts must be used to deliver new affordable housing. The Council’s preferred approach was to use the receipts for delivering new build on council-owned land as this option provided the greatest value for money. He emphasised however that this option could be complex and thus the timing of delivery could be uncertain which was not ideal given that these receipts have to be spent within strict deadlines otherwise must be repaid to the Government. This was outlined in paragraph 2.1 of the report. Appendix 2 illustrated the unpredictable rate at which Right to Buy receipts were received as well as the amount received over any given period.

The Cabinet Member went on to explain that in view of this it was proposed that the Council kept open the alternative option of using the receipts to purchase homes from the open market, which would then be converted to affordable housing. This would ensure that repayments of receipts to the Government could be avoided. He highlighted however that this option remained secondary to the preferred option of using the receipts for delivering new build on council-owned land.

Finally, the Cabinet Member Housing informed that a proposal for a generic policy to address the issue would be submitted to Council in due course.

Members supported the proposal to maximise the use of Right to Buy receipts acknowledging the lack of available rented housing and in particular social housing as well as the serious constraints for development in Cheltenham.

RESOLVED THAT

1.    The Head of Property and Asset Management ( in consultation with the section 151 Officer) be authorised to purchase dwellings that are considered to be suitable for use as affordable housing (in accordance with  the parameters as set out within Section 4.4 of this report), subject to a total cap on the consideration paid of £0.5 million (this is additional to the £1m already authorised by Cabinet in November 2015);

2.    The Borough Solicitor be authorised to negotiate and complete such documents as she deems necessary or desirable to conclude the transactions negotiated by the Head of Property and Asset Management under Resolution 1 above;

3.    the Section 151 Officer be authorised to use the Right to Buy receipts where necessary to fund the acquisition of the properties purchased under Resolution 1 above.