The HRA business plan
is currently being drafted, this is a substantial piece of work
which requires input from multiple teams. It provides for a 5-year
asset management plan and a 30-year forecast for stock investment
and financial planning.
Whilst the plan is
well-advanced recent changes to legislation, increased inflation,
particularly in the construction industry, and interest rates as
well as change to the policy around rent caps has required
substantial revisions. The Housing
Strategy Team are taking this opportunity to liaise with the new
management structure to ensure that their views are incorporated
into the plan.
It is anticipated that
the plan will be completed prior to the end of the financial
year.
Officers clarified the
following points in response to Members’ queries:
- The split of the
housing stock would be detailed in the report, but a brief synopsis
was provided. Currently there is just short of 9,000 properties in
the housing stock, 7,369 of those are general need properties, so
those are properties let on social rents. 1,605 of these are
sheltered accommodation. A full breakdown will be included in the
business plan.
- The differences between
social housing and affordable housing will be included in the
report and this has always been an area of confusion.
- The council
doesn’t generally operate a shared ownership model for
affordable housing as this tends to be done by affordable providers
that sit outside of the council.
- In regards to
maintenance of public realm, this would normally be dealt with via
the planning process and quite often the public realm transfers to
the council in return for payment. This would be a capitalised sum
of the ongoing maintenance costs.
- Officers said that
the market rate for affordable housing will vary from property to
property, but figures based on a beacon analysis of the stock can
be provided.
- Figures on voids
(empty properties) couldn’t be provided as it falls outside
the officer’s remit. Officers noted that the strategy itself
needs to bring in multiple teams across the council so details of
this can be included in the report.
- Members noted that
the council used to interview and appoint between five and seven
housing associations. There was concern that some of these smaller
housing associations are being gobbled up by the bigger ones, and
we need to make sure that the residents are getting the best
possible service.
- The council
doesn’t offer a shared ownership model but does have a couple
of bungalow developments that are age limited. When people purchase
them, they purchase a long lease of the property, when they pass
away, and the family sell the property, the council grant a new
long lease to the incoming residents so that those leases are
continually renewed. The council are also developing Minster House
which will be
age
limited, but this is not a shared ownership model.
- Where residents
purchase their flat either on the initial new build or through the
right-to-buy programme, they will enter into a long lease with the
council. That long lease will contain service charge provisions,
and so they will be due to pay a proportion of costs of the
maintenance that is a pro rata figure. So, as an example, if there
are 50 flats in the block and only one of those is privately owned,
they may only be looking at 2% of the overall cost. They wouldn't
be looking at paying any more than that, because they are the only
privately owned property within the block, the council would absorb
the other 98%. This is standard across the industry. If you own a
property that benefits from communal areas, you contribute towards
the cost of those communal areas.
- When a tenant
purchases under right-to-buy scheme, the council are required to
set out the predicted service charge for the next three years to
them. Anybody who is exercising their right to buy should be fully
aware that they will be paying a service charge and what those
service charge figures should be.