Decision details

To purchase 30 new-build homes for affordable rent, using the additional capital budget, to ensure delivery of the homes at an affordable rent.

Cabinet agreed the following:

1.  That the Council progresses with the acquisition of 30 new affordable homes being built by developer Guildcrest, using the accelerated housing programme capital budget, approved by Council at its meeting on 12 October 2023;

2.  To note that the Director of Corporate Services will re-assess the viability of the schemes and subsequently approve these acquisitions, in consultation with the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing, should there be a variation to the assumed level of borrowing needed;

3.  The letting of these homes in accordance with the Council’s Allocations Policy and any subsequent local lettings plan (LLP), at an affordable rent as set out in the Council’s Tenancy Strategy.

There is a significant need for properties containing 2-bedrooms and 3-bedrooms. The housing register shows 232 households having a requirement for a 2-bedroom property and 357 households requiring a 3-bedroom property. Of course, while the highest need is for 1-bedroom accommodation, there is a requirement to obtain homes of all sizes to future-proof our stock as households and families grow and there is natural movement in our stock.

The Council could choose not to purchase the homes as these were not originally intended to be affordable housing. However, this would represent a missed opportunity at a time when the Council has 1,500 households on its housing register with further applicants waiting for the applications to be assessed, as well as 300 households in temporary accommodation. Though these homes would not technically be ‘lost’ this signifies an opportunity to work with a local SME developer, keen to deliver additional affordable housing where possible and to recognise their role in the housing crisis that we face. It also signifies strongly that the approach the Council is taking in acquiring homes off-plan, usually via s106, is being noticed and developers are keen to work with Thanet Council, as it is being seen as tackling the shortfall in affordable housing head-on.

One other option could be to take a smaller number than 30 homes. However, again, with the careful thought and planning that will go into the way these homes and tenancies are managed in-house by the Council, and the importance assigned to creating a sense of place then these will be good quality homes for those who need them most.