Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Glancy.

Members to declare any interest as appropriate in respect of items to be considered at this meeting.

A personal interest in respect of Councillor Posnett was noted as being on record for any matters which related to Leicestershire County Council.

This report introduces the Council’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan 2022 to 2052. The purpose of the Plan is to set out the Council’s expectations and plans for council homes for the next 30 years and the financial sustainability of the Council’s housing services.

The Portfolio Holder for Housing and Landlord Services, Councillor Ronan Browne, introduced the report and the Housing Revenue Account Business Plan. Councillor Browne informed Members that he had decided to delay the Business Plan because it needed to be stress tested and in order to incorporate new regulations.

Following a query raised regarding the sensitivity analysis and the projected finances which ranged from a negative £4.5m to a positive £120m, it was explained to the Committee that the sensitivity analysis is designed to highlight the variations that could occur upon the budgets, e.g. if rental income couldn’t be raised as much as anticipated. Members were reassured that Officers would be closely monitoring budgets and adjusting them when required.

Members were informed that the consultant who assisted with the development of the Business Plan stated that in regard to the Council’s costs, rents were low and staffing costs are high. It is hoped that through the Asset Management Plan and the Business Plan, costs would be lowered through targeted interventions. In addition, Members were reassured that Officers would review the Business Plan each year and make amendments as necessary.

The Council would join HouseMark and, following a query, it was confirmed to the Committee that HouseMark would provide opportunities for informal peer reviews as well as benchmarking data but that the data would be only as good as the data inputted by the Council. Members were also informed that more self-assessments would be carried out by the Council.

The question was asked as to why the Asset Management Plan wasn’t completed prior to the Business Plan, as it was felt that the Council would produce a better Business Plan if all assets were known, however it was explained that Officers needed to establish an overview in which to develop strategy. This would be done through the Business Plan which would then inform the Asset Management Plan. Members were reminded that the Business Plan won’t do everything but it would highlight what tenants view as important.

Concern was raised regarding registered providers allocating affordable homes to people from outside of the Borough. Officers reassured Members that when registered providers acquire or provide affordable housing then they are bound by the Housing Allocations Policy which includes local connection criteria.

A Member raised a concern regarding an over reliance on consultants to support Council work, however in response it was explained that the use of the consultant provided the Council with extra assurance and validation to the Business Plan. Although the cost was £4,200, it was recognised that in comparison to the multimillion-pound Business Plan, then the cost for the feedback and extra assurance represents good value. The feedback received from the consultant meant that hiring them was worthwhile and represented value for money. It was recognised that the Council’s housing assets are important and that the Council must take care, even if that means acquiring extra assurance and validation for the Business Plan from a consultant.

Further discussion ensued regarding the use of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

The Council is undertaking a housing development programme to increase the supply of homes and this report presents the Affordable Housing Development Plan (AHDP) which sets out the criteria for the way new Council homes will be delivered and supports the adoption of the HRA Business Plan 2022-2052.

The Housing Development Manager introduced the Affordable Housing Development Plan with a presentation and outlined to the Committee the issues and challenges with developing a plan.

The Chairman queried whether borrowing for the Development Plan was affordable. In response, Members were informed that until the Asset Management Plan is developed then it would be difficult to assess.

The query was raised with regard to how the Council is going to prevent the investment (in building new affordable housing) from being sold under the right to buy scheme. The Committee were reassured that once a property has been built, the Council will be able to recover its investment in new homes if these are sold. This is due to the cost floor figure which is the amount of money spent on an individual property in the 10 year period prior to the sale, for properties acquired or built after 1 April 2012 this period increases to 15 years. This means that the purchasers full discount would not be applied if that would result in the purchase price being below the cost of purchase/build plus repairs.

Concern was raised that the targets for the development plan were not ambitious and actually represent a net loss of 5 properties per year when factoring in sales under the right to buy scheme. In response, it was explained that the targets are based on the Council’s ability to borrow. Members were informed that the development plan has to be proved as a concept before ambitions are raised. Also, the right to buy receipts have to be spent within a defined timescale otherwise monies have to be returned to the government, although it was confirmed that the Council have never returned right to buy monies to the government.

Further discussion on the development of affordable housing ensued and the question was asked as to how many affordable homes had been built in the previous 5 or 10 years. In response, the Committee was informed that the Council have built 10 properties and purchased 12 in the last 10 years. The replacement hasn’t been like for like, as the Council does not receive like for like monies through right to buy sales.

A comment was made that there had been discussions about building affordable housing for a number of years and that there had been little progress. In response, Members were assured that it is the intention to start building replacement affordable homes at a rate of 5 per year but that the concern had been noted. However another Member commented that they welcomed the cautious approach because the priority is to have enough resources to look after tenants. They added that they want the Council to have plans and fulfil them but this shouldn’t be done rashly.

The point was made that the Council should be ensuring that developers build the affordable housing they said they agreed to do when their applications were given planning permission, particularly in the villages where there isn’t as much affordable  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.