Purpose of Report
1. To seek
the views of the Committee on the proposed Housing Delivery
Strategy and associated action plans, to be considered by both
Cabinets.
Corporate Objectives
2. South
Oxfordshire District Council
·
Action on the Climate emergency
·
Improved economic and community wellbeing
·
Homes and infrastructure that meets local needs.
3. Vale of
White Horse District Council
·
Providing homes that people need
·
Tackling the Climate emergency
·
Building healthy communities
·
Working in Partnership
Background
4. Everyone
needs a home. The availability, affordability, location and quality
of housing have major impacts on people’s lives and their
sense of wellbeing. Increasing the supply of housing remains
a priority for national Government with 216,490 new homes being
completed in 2020/21, of which 90 per cent were new build and just
24 per cent were considered as affordable, using the National
Planning Policy Framework definition.
5. The terms
“Affordable housing” and “Social housing”
are often used interchangeably in the media and elsewhere. They
generally mean the same thing, which is sub-market rent level
housing, most usually provided by councils or housing associations
(Registered Providers). However ”Affordable Rents” and
”Social Rents” do have specific meanings. Affordable
Rent is defined by national planning guidance as being up to 80 per
cent of prevailing market rents in each area. Social Rents (also
defined by planning guidance) are calculated according to
government rent regime guidance, and typically fall between 45 and
60 per cent of market rents.
6. Across
both councils, the high cost of housing has meant that new homes
and homes built for “affordable rent” remain
unaffordable locally to those on lower incomes. In 2021 the
Government introduced funding through Homes England for social rent
in areas with “high affordability pressures”.
Additionally, The Housing and Planning Act 2016 introduced Starter
Homes as a new affordable housing product, the prototype for what
are now called First Homes. This Act also updated a requirement for
local authorities to hold a register of applicants and potential
sites for self-build and custom-built housing.
7. Heavily
influenced by the concerns arising from Grenfell Tower fire, The
Charter for Social Housing Residents was published in November 2020
and emphasised the importance of residents being safe in their
homes, informed and listened to, and complaints being dealt with
fairly and quickly. The aspirations in the Charter are to be
strengthened in the proposed Social Housing Regulation Bill 2021.
This will introduce a more rigorous inspection and rectification
regime, with new powers granted to the housing Ombudsman. The
rights of tenants in all tenures may be strengthened further if the
proposed Renters Reform Bill 2021 becomes legislation as it aims to
ban no fault evictions, extend the decent homes standard to private
rented properties; and introduce a ban on landlords having blanket
exclusions of those on benefits.
8.
Furthermore, The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill contains a
number of proposals which will impact on the delivery of new homes.
It plans to replace the current Section 106 (S. 106) and Community
Infrastructure Levy (CIL) with a new locally set infrastructure
levy, gives greater weight to Neighbourhood Plans, already widely
in place across the district. The Bill also proposes the use
of national and local design codes to set the expected standards of
good design to which all new developments must adhere. It includes
measures to unlock sites and aims to increase the build out rates
for new homes including sites where planning permission has been
gained but development is not taking place – known as land
banking.
9. Locally,
the council plays a role through its Local Plan in enabling it to
meet the challenges that the district faces whilst protecting what
is valued about the district, and also building on opportunities to
make it an even better place. The current Local Plan sets out
how development will be planned and delivered across Vale of White
Horse to 2031 and South Oxfordshire to 2035. It sets out a
vision, shows the strategy which responds to that vision and how it
will be delivered working in partnership with everyone with a stake
in the future of the district. It also includes policies that are
used when determining planning applications. It identifies
appropriate areas and sites for development, such as new homes,
offices, shops and community facilities, and also outlines how
valuable historic and natural environments will be protected and
enhanced. The policies in the Local Plan are used to help make
decisions on planning applications in the district.
10. More broadly, the council plays a
significant role in the development and success of the whole
housing system, regardless of tenure. Enforcement within the
private rented sector, management of the housing allocations policy
for social housing and support for those who are, or are at risk
of, homelessness.
11. Housing plays a central role in the
council’s ambition to take action to tackle the climate
emergency, and the strategy outlines its desire to reduce the
carbon contribution of existing homes through retrofitting. New
developments should look to reduce carbon emissions both in the
methods by which homes are constructed (embodied carbon in
materials and construction methods), and in the design of the
homes. The council is constrained by the requirements of national
building regulations, although these have been updated to require
reduced carbon emissions. Regulations will be further strengthened
when the Future Homes Standard comes into effect in 2025 which will
require new builds to produce 75-80% less carbon emissions.
12. Both councils can demonstrate a
positive track record of delivery of affordable housing, and this
is outlined within the strategy document.
Housing Delivery Strategy
13. The councils, working with an
external housing consultant, began work earlier this year to
develop a Housing Delivery Strategy which would meet the corporate
objectives outlined and look to address delivery of more affordable
and social housing at a local level.
14. The strategy document for approval
is shown in Appendix 1, and outlines four strategic housing
priorities which incapsulate the existing activity and future
ambitions. These are:
·
Providing homes to meet current and future local need
·
Delivering housing that is truly affordable
·
Valuing and supporting council and community led housing
initiatives
·
Planning for well-designed net zero carbon housing
Action Plans
15. To deliver the Housing Delivery
Strategy, officers have identified a strategic action plan for each
council, which is shown in Appendix 2. Each action plan is
split into short-, medium- and long-term actions and, subject to
its approval, officers will aim to deliver within the timescales
identified.
16. As part of the operational
restructure approved by the Head of Paid Service in February 2022,
a new service team was created under the Head of Housing and
Environment to focus on Housing Delivery. Recruitment to the post
of Housing Delivery Manager is currently underway.
Climate and ecological impact implications
17. The Housing Delivery Strategy has
set one of its priorities as “Planning for well-designed net
zero carbon housing.” In addition it meets several
actions within the corporate plan.
18. Any new homes directly purchased by
the council in the future will need to have a financial appraisal
for retrofitting to ensure that it meets the minimum standards but
aims for higher where possible. Where financially viable,
properties would be designed to zero carbon standards on a
previously developed site.
Legal and Financial Implications
19. Funding Agreements to be entered
into in respect of grant funds to limit risk.
20. Should the council decide to
purchase property in the future Legal will be instructed in
connection with any procurement required and to carry out the
conveyancing in respect of any properties.
Risks
21. There is a risk that the Action
Plans will not be delivered to the timescale indicated. To
minimise this outcome, Heads of Service have reviewed the Action
Plans and will work corporately to deliver the actions, and a
dedicated risk register will need to be developed which covers the
entire plan and takes account of current resources available for
its delivery.
22. The councils transferred their
housing stock housing stock as part of a Large-Scale Voluntary
Transfer (LSVT), and has since been reliant upon external
organisations to deliver social housing. It is therefore a
risk that the councils have chosen not have expertise in this area
if it decided to purchase new social housing of its own. This
risk is mitigated by the creation of a new team and recruitment of
a suitably experienced Housing Delivery Manager, and the use of
experienced external consultants to produce the strategy.
23. There is a risk that conditions on
S. 106 funds may prevent the delivery of desired future
schemes. This would only be known once the housing needs
assessment has been completed, and could result in compromises
being made between the perfect type and location of property, and
the conditions of the funding. The mitigation is that a
financial appraisal will be undertaken, overseen by the Head of
Finance, prior to purchase.
24. If one of the councils decided to
purchase property, it would be a risk that suitable property will
not be available, or once bought may have structural or other
issues. This risk would be mitigated by the use of the
experienced property team within the Development & Corporate
Landlord service
25. It is possible that if one of the
councils decided to own property, but wished an external
organisation to manage them on its behalf, it may not find a
suitable organisations to do such work in the medium term.
Conclusion
26. The Housing Delivery Strategy
outlines a direction of travel in how the council will increase the
amount of affordable and social housing in the district, whilst
taking account of important factors relating to the local community
and environment.
27. The associated Action Plans identify
a wide range of actions that services from across the council will
undertake to support in the delivery of that strategy.
28. Additionally, by continuing to use
S.106 funds to support applications from Registered Providers and
supporting community led housing initiatives, the councils have a
clear opportunity to support the provision of the four key
objectives as set out in the Housing Delivery Strategy.
29. The views of the Committee are
sought on the proposed Housing Delivery Strategy and associated
action plans.
Background Papers
·
Housing Delivery Strategy and action plans
