Agenda item

An update from the Cabinet Members on key areas within their portfolios are attached.

The Cabinet Member for Housing will be in attendance to answer questions from the Committee.

5.1       The Committee received written updates from the Cabinet Member for Housing and the Cabinet Member for Finance, Property & Corporate Services on the key issues within their portfolios. 

5.2       Councillor Rachael Robathan, Cabinet Member for Housing, provided a brief verbal update to her paper in the agenda.  As per her initial presentation to the committee following her appointment to the portfolio she reiterated her recognition that there was a need to accelerate the delivery of housing in the borough.  She advised with regards to the regeneration of the council’s estates that a consultation on the masterplan for Church Street would run between the 21 July and the 4 August.  A public meeting with residents at Ebury Bridge to explain the current status of the project and outline options would be held on 28 June.  Feedback received would be taken away and used to develop the consultation options which would be consulted on in September.

5.3       Councillor Robathan explained that the regeneration programme is ambitious and complex.  There were people living on many of the sites.  As a consequence it will be a long and detailed process.

5.4       With regards to the infill programme, Councillor Robathan reported that the Council had identified more sites upon which additional housing could be built.  To assist with the programme’s objectives she would be asking all councillors to help identify any potential sites in their wards.  Officers were also working at opportunities to speed up the delivery process including obtaining planning permission.

5.5       The Cabinet Member for Housing then responded to questions from the Committee.

5.5.1    Regeneration - The Cabinet Member was referred to the fact that the decision to regenerate Ebury Bridge and Tollgate Gardens had been taken in 2013 and 2014 respectively.  She was asked when the acceleration of the housing delivery on the sites was likely to be seen.  The Cabinet Member was also asked given the delays, whether a different model of regeneration was likely to be considered, which other boroughs were adopting, whereby the Council enters into a partnership with developers.  Councillor Robathan sought to assure the committee about the amount of work being undertaken to move forward the programme.  She acknowledged that evidence of progress needed to be seen by residents.  With respect to the regeneration model, she stated that the Council was looking at how other local authorities were undertaking regeneration and the lessons that could be learned from that.  However, she highlighted that Westminster has acute housing issues which are different to other local authorities.

5.5.2    Tollgate Gardens - the Cabinet Member was asked whether the decision taken in 2016 to deliver 76 social housing units as part of the wider regeneration of the site had changed.  Councillor Robathan advised that 195 new homes would be delivered on the site.  She believed that this would include 86 new affordable housing units.  [Barbara Brownlee, Director of Housing & Regeneration, has confirmed that the number of social rented properties being delivered remains as originally promised at 76. There is, in addition 10 affordable intermediate rental units.]

5.5.3    Affordable Housing - Members were informed that Octavia Housing is currently marketing 11 intermediate homes for sale and rent at their new development located at North wharf Road in Paddington.  The Cabinet Member was asked about the affordability of the shared ownership homes and whether any had been sold.  Councillor Robathan acknowledged that due to the higher property values in Westminster it was harder to make shared ownership work than elsewhere.  As a consequence the Council was looking at developing more intermediate rental homes.  This will provide residents with the option to save money from the discounted rent which they could then use at a later date as a deposit on purchasing a home in the private market.

5.5.4    Empty Homes - The Cabinet Member was informed that the Council had commissioned a report from Radimus Consulting Ltd in 2013 on the impact of the prime residential market in Westminster following concern that the balance of new housing supply in the borough might be reducing the council’s ability to meet all housing needs.  The Cabinet Member was asked for her view on this, the notion that many properties are being left empty and the possible impact of these on homelessness in the borough.  Councillor Robathan shared members concerns regarding ‘buy to leave’.  She stated that there was no point in providing additional housing if the properties are left sitting empty.  She advised that a number of countries have rules where people cannot buy a home unless they have been resident for a period of time.  She stated that the Council needed to ensure as far as it was able that any flats it is developing will be lived in.  Members considered that the planning and housing departments need to work together to address this issue.  The Cabinet Member was referred to the fact that a planning policy applied to a scheme in Islington requires homes to be kept in regular use.

5.5.5    Officers were referred to the fact that the problem of empty homes did not apply exclusively to high-value market properties.  Concern was raised that during canvassing in Pimlico a high number of CityWest Homes as well as those owned by Registered Social Landlords appeared to be empty.  Jonathan Cowie, Chief Executive Officer, CityWest Homes, advised that the organisation has no more than 500 voids for one month across the city at any given time.  He undertook to take members who were interested through the data to reveal where at any given time there are voids.

5.5.6    Homelessness Reduction Act - the Cabinet Member was asked whether the Council had undertaken any modelling to estimate the additional costs that will arise from the Act.  Councillor Robathan advised that this was being progressed.  She explained that the government have announced that they will make £61 million available to local authorities to meet the additional burdens arising from the Act over 3 years.  However, ministers have not announced how the funding will be split.

5.5.7    Specialist Housing Strategy for Older People - The Cabinet Member was asked what steps had been put in place to ensure the provision of excellent specialist housing for older people.  Councillor Robathan stated that the main contractor tender returns for the new Beachcroft Care Home have been assessed and officers have formally issued the recommendation to appoint their preferred contractor.  The new care home will be a state of the art facility which will provide 84 nursing care beds for people with dementia.  The enabling work will begin in June and will be completed by the end of 2019.  This will allow the council to redevelop Carlton Dene and Westmead.  The Cabinet Member highlighted that there is a need for replacement accommodation and extra capacity in the North of the city for older people with complex needs.  There is a desire to incorporate flexibility on sites so that residents do not have to move as their needs change.  The new home at Carlton Dene will hopefully provide this.  60 extra care beds were being provided in the south of the borough around Chelsea Barracks.

5.4       The Committee then submitted questions to the City Treasurer on the corporate finance related elements of the update from the Cabinet Member for Finance, Property & Corporate Services.

5.4.1    Final Accounts 2016/17 - The City Treasurer was asked about the increased underspend by £2 million between Period 10 and the end of the financial year.  He advised the committee that the Council has an annual budget of between £850m and £900m per annum and that it was inevitable given the scale of such a budget and the size of an organisation such as the council that an underspend of this kind could occur.

5.4.2    Discretionary Housing Payment Funding - In response to questions the City Treasurer advised that the council’s discretionary housing payment policy was being revised and would be completed in a number of weeks.  The committee asked about the opportunity to scrutinise the revised policy before it was submitted to the Cabinet Member for approval.

5.5       ACTIONS:

1.    High Value Voids Levy - Inform Members when the government consultation on the formula to determine the payment will take place.

2.    Shared Ownership Sales at North Wharf Road - the committee would like to know how many of the shared ownership properties have been sold.  (Action for: Barbara Brownlee, Director of Housing & Regeneration)