Agenda item

Purpose of Report

1.    To seek approval from Cabinet Member for Housing and Tackling Homelessness to deliver a development of 6 council homes on the site of the current block 305, 305A, 307 and 307A Twyford Avenue, Stamshaw.

2.    To seek approval of a capital spend of £1.49m delivering 6 new council housing dwellings to be held in the Housing Revenue Account.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1.    That the Cabinet Member for Housing and Tackling Homelessness approves the addition of the Twyford Avenue scheme to the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Capital Programme, with estimated expenditure of £1.49m, to deliver 6 new council housing dwellings.

2.    That the Cabinet Member for Housing and Tackling Homelessness delegates authority to the Director of Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services, in consultation with the Director of Finance and Resources & S151 Officer, to amend the compostion and spending profile of the proposed scheme in order to meet planning and design requirements and also to agree the use of unsupported borrowing, along with either grant funding or retained capital receipts, whilst ensuring that the schemes remain financially viable following any necessary changes.

3.    That the Cabinet Member for Housing and Tackling Homelessness delegates the Director of Housing, Neighbourhood and Building to apply for any grant funding to support the scheme.

Jo Bennett, Assistant Director, Housing Need and Supply, presented the report the purpose of which was to seek approval from the Cabinet Member for Housing and Tackling Homelessness to deliver a development of 6 council homes on the site of the current block 305, 305A, 307 and 307A Twyford Avenue, Stamshaw.  The report was also to seek approval of a capital spend of £1.49m to deliver 6 new council housing dwellings to be held in the Housing Revenue Account.  Adam Hardwick, Assistant Director, Buildings, outlined the building issues that were found in the properties.

Resident Consortium Questions

In response to Resident Consortium questions, officers clarified:

·         The tenant waiting to be moved would be entitled to home loss and disturbance payments.

·         The plan has been to design all new homes to Passivhaus standards, but consideration would be given to what that means for residents and what parts are important to help keep residents bills low and allow for good quality homes.

·         It was not known if the houses, when built, were private homes or if they were built and owned by the Council.  They were converted in 1974 to four flats by the Council.  Structural inspections were carried out when the houses were converted to flats.  The plans from the conversion showed that the walls were rebuilt.

Members' questions

In response to Members' questions, officers clarified:

·         In relation to the current remaining tenant, as soon as the property issues were found in 2015 the property was no longer let, and monitoring of the building was commenced.  There have been ongoing discussions with the residents for some time with the Council working in full consultation with the residents and the ward councillors.  The current tenants are waiting for their second offer.

·         The main residual risk of carrying out any identified remedial work is that further issues would surface.  This would not deal with the core issues of a property of that age and standard.

·         In relation to carbon emissions and demolition, materials would be reused as much as possible to mitigate any emissions.   In the longer term, using Passivhaus standards means the carbon use of the property would be far lower than the existing building.

·         The aim for the ground floor property was to be as accessible as possible but the design is not for full disabled use.

·         The development is compliant with parking restrictions.  Consideration had been given to how residents would live in the property and there would be a communal outside space for them to use along with parking.

·         The unit costs of development take into account a number of factors.  The flats are larger than a lot of private developers, they are of a higher standard especially with the Passivhaus standards, and due to the nature of the site the development does not have the benefit of economies of scale available to private developers.  A full competitive tender would be carried out.

Members' comments

Members were pleased to see new homes being developed and liked the indicative design, which was innovative, good quality and modern.

Members were pleased about the decision not to transfer poor quality housing stock to the private sector.

Members considered, in future reports, it would be useful to quantify the actual financial costs of the environmental impact of demolition to compare with the positive environmental impacts of the new building.

Chairs' comments

In addition to the economic and environmental costs of the development, the social cost also had to be considered in relation to living in a property that was sub-standard.   The Chair stated he was keen on decarbonising the whole housing stock and it was important for there to be full transparency on decisions made.

Decision

The Cabinet Member

·         Approved the addition of the Twyford Avenue scheme to the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Capital Programme, with estimated expenditure of £1.49million to deliver 6 new council housing dwellings.

·         Delegated authority to the Director of Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services, in consultation with the Director of Finance and Resources & S151 Officer, to amend the composition and spending profiles of the proposed scheme in order to meet planning and design requirements and agreed the use of unsupported borrowing, along with either grant funding or retained capital receipts, whilst ensuring that the schemes remain financially viable following any necessary changes.