Issue - meetings

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance and Assets

The Cabinet Member Finance and Assets introduced the report and thanked Cheltenham Borough Homes (CBH) for going above and beyond in terms of maintaining services during the pandemic whilst providing additional support. Demand for Universal Credit had increased by 30% whilst arrears were reducing, a tribute to work with tenants building up debt.  Covid had impacted the capital investment programme to a degree with some delays.  Customer satisfaction remained high.

In terms of the specifics, the Cabinet Member Finance and Assets referred to the social housing white paper which proposed a charter for tenants.  Looking at that so far CBH were complying with this which was positive.

Universal Credit roll out was still ongoing and there had been a big increase in take up due to the pandemic. Government had temporarily increased the maximum that can be claimed by £20 a week and the Cabinet Member advocated that this should be maintained.

In terms of rent, national policy was CPI plus 1% .The rent would be slightly less than anticipated as inflation was 0.5% so that resulted in a 1.5% rent rise. Whilst there would be less rent receipts, CBH have been able to freeze the management fee.

Under right to buy there is permission to spend money received, but this is restricted by a time limit. As part of the consultation CBC was lobbying government for more flexibility in how that money is spent and the outcome of the consultation was eagerly awaited.

With regards to the proposed planning reform there was concern that the immediate impact may be the reduction of affordable housing being built and this had been raised in the council’s response to the consultation.

The top priority for the 2021/2022 budget remained the provision of customer services. Assumptions were made with regard to the same level of voids, that right to buy would continue and there would be continued support from Homes England. There were also assumptions that garage rents would increase in line with housing rents with a 1.5% rise.  Cleaning charges were being kept to a minimum at 0.4% and the net effect of this was the projection of an increased surplus, which would be put back into the services. 

Other budget priorities focussed on climate change and CBC and CBH were working closely on this. With regard to community investment, this related to health and wellbeing, community safety, education and training, skills, and enabling community involvement. The projection was that this would equate to £15 million of social value being added into the community for the coming year. 

The capital programme for next year amounted to £24 million – £9 million into existing stock. It focussed on measures to tackle climate change. Safety was a significant issue emphasised by Grenfell, and it was confirmed that all fire risk assessments were up to date and more vigorous standards were being introduced, starting with sheltered housing and places occupied by more vulnerable people would be brought in over the coming year.  Asbestos checks were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance and Assets

RESOLVED THAT:

1.    Council be recommended to:

a)        Note the revised HRA forecast for 2020/21;

b)        Approve the HRA budget proposals for 2021/22 (shown at Appendix 2) including a proposed rent increase of 1.5% and changes to other rents and charges as detailed within the report;

c)         Approve the HRA capital programme for 2021/22 as shown at Appendix 3.

The Cabinet Member Finance and Assets presented the report, thanking Cheltenham Borough Homes (CBH) for their hard work on behalf of the town. The report outlined an investment program totalling £24m, of which £15m related to new builds in 2021/22. This figure would hopefully increase to £30m in the subsequent two years. Within that, £500k had been initially allocated to the carbon neutral pilot scheme, and CBH was providing wider management to support climate change work.

He added that the planned rent rise was less than originally expected, which was good news for residents. He also highlighted Appendix 5, which took a broader look at CBH’s work. The Leader agreed that this was a valuable resource.

The Leader moved to a vote, where it was unanimously:

RESOLVED THAT:

1.    Council be recommended to:

a)        Note the revised HRA forecast for 2020/21;

b)        Approve the HRA budget proposals for 2021/22 (shown at Appendix 2) including a proposed rent increase of 1.5% and changes to other rents and charges as detailed within the report;

c)        Approve the HRA capital programme for 2021/22 as shown at Appendix 3.