Issue - meetings

Cabinet received a report on the progress of the new build programme. The new build programme was originally budgeted for in the Budget Report taken to Full Council in February 2014. The update report provided more detail about the much needed new council homes to be delivered in the district.

The total cost of the proposed programme to provide 58 new affordable homes is £10.082m and included Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) grant funding of £1.4m. The balance is from the Housing Revenue Account. The 58 homes are proposed to be delivered across 12 sites, mostly small under-occupied and vacant garage areas already owned by the council. Planning consent has already been granted for 10 of the sites.

The delivery deadline for the projects is March 2018. This deadline is a condition of the HCA funding as part of the 2015-2018 Affordable Homes Programme.

In addition to the HCA funded programme, a successful bid was submitted in October 2014 for a further 20 units across 3 sites as part of the HCA Borrowing Programme/Local Growth Fund. This bid allowed the Council to increase existing borrowing capacity to deliver more units, but did not provide subsidy or grant funding for these units.

Members were asked to note that the 2015 budget announcements about 1% rent reductions for social landlords has resulted in a loss to the HRA of £4.56m over the coming 4 years. This loss of income now means that the additional borrowing is no longer affordable.

The Portfolio Holder therefore recommended that the Council should not take up this additional borrowing and instead defer these sites to a later programme. The meeting was advised it was important to highlight that this decision would not involve giving back any funding allocations as this was always only a borrowing approval. The new build programme to deliver 58 new homes can continue with our existing HRA budget and the HCA grant funding to provide much needed new affordable homes to households on the Council’s Housing Register.

Councillor Savage and Councillor Bayford spoke under Council Procedure Rule 20.1.

Councillor L. Fairbrass proposed, Councillor Wells seconded and Cabinet agreed the following:

1.  To approve the revised new build programme as set out in Annex 1 (to the Cabinet report) and capital programme spend of £10,082,372.01;

2.  To approve the Council’s withdrawal from the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) approved HRA Borrowing Programme as resources are no longer available within the HRA Business Plan to support this additional borrowing as a consequence of the national 1% reductions in affordable and social rents over the coming 4 years;

3.  To approve the provision of 58 affordable rented homes to be added to the Council’s Housing Revenue Account portfolio and let to eligible households on the Housing Register.