Agenda item

The Panel will receive a presentation regarding this item.

The Head of Housing and the Senior Valuation Surveyor gave a presentation to the Panel regarding this item. A copy of which will be available online as an appendix to these minutes or on the Panel’s Minute Book, a summary is set out below.

The Head of Housing explained that the presentation would update the Panel on the work currently being progressed covering the two related issues of:

·  Most effective use of  Council land; &

·  How we are going to deal with leasehold properties going forward

He gave Members a brief overview of the challenge our community faces around accessing the housing market, particularly in Bath city centre where the leasehold flats are. 

He informed them that last week the National Housing Federation launched their Home Truths document which stated that B&NES has the least affordable housing in the South West. On average house prices across the district are over 14x average incomes.  This is a combination of high house prices & relatively low wages. Salaries in the South West are amongst the lowest in the Country.

He stated that that house prices & rents have exceed their 2008/2009 peak and are clearly on the rise and that the Home Truths document is predicting that rents will rise by 40% over the 6 years. He added that there is significant demand for social rent where the Council can receive on average around 140-150 bids, but this has reached up to 300 bids on occasions.

He said that the question for all concerned was how do we try to encourage a balanced & sustainable market in this environment.  How can we provide an area where our local communities (local workers, families, the elderly etc.) can afford to live and indeed want to live.

He said that a great deal of effort was required to prevent a dysfunctional housing market – a place where local communities are displaced, local workers have extremely long & arduous commutes and new developments are marketed abroad to wealthy individuals who simply use it as base rather than a home.

Councillor June Player commented that if families are displaced then further amenities such as Doctors and Schools should be built.

The Head of Housing explained that there are two principal ways that we can influence the housing market:

·  Use of policy levers, encouraging, enabling, effective regulation etc.

o  Clear planning policies which are effectively enforced, particularly around social housing & Section 106 agreements.

o  Article 4 direction & additional licensing to tackle the market imbalance around Oldfield Park / Westomoreland area.

·  The second way we can influence the city centre housing market is through the strategic use of our existing assets including Council land & the existing leasehold properties.

The Senior Valuation Surveyor stated that the Council was a significant land owner. She explained that surplus land was generally offered to the open market, however, the Council does have the option to dispose of it at less than market price in specific cases, e.g. for social housing.

She added that there were a number of leasehold flats within the City Centre, comprising of 8 “Living Over the Shops Scheme” (LOTS) units developed in partnership with Knightstone Housing and 62 other residential units of which 56 are in partnership with Curo.

She said that both schemes had hand-back options;

·  LOTS – break clauses over the next few years

·  Curo – when a property becomes vacant

The Head of Housing explained how the Council were proposing to take these important issues forward. He said they were proposing to work with the Homes & Community Agency (HCA) on their SIGNET project.  He stated that the HCA have been tasked with taking forward the land belonging to government agencies and departments, such as MOD, NHS, Environment agency etc.  To help them do this they are mapping all such land on a GIS mapping database.  The benefit of using a GIS mapping database is that it visually presents development opportunities, particularly around land assembly. He said that working with this project may also present some further opportunities for this Council.

Secondly, he informed the Panel that Property Services had recently undertaken an exercise to update their property holding records & identify / clarify land ownership.  He added that it is proposed that the Council corporately reviews this list & identifies any potential housing options for each site.

Thirdly, he said that in partnership with Curo & Knighstone we are looking at the various options for the leasehold properties.  This will include the relative merits of taking the properties back & disposing of them on the open market, selling the properties or providing long leases to the Registered Providers (RPs), or continuing to allow the current arrangements to run.

The Chairman asked what role the Panel could play in this area of work.

The Head of Housing replied that if guided by the Council’s Senior Management Team (SMT) the Panel could comment on a draft report prior to a Cabinet decision.

He stated that the demand for social housing still exists and that Curo work within all three models;

·  Social Rent – 50-60% of market rents

·  Affordable Rent Tenancies (ART) – 80% of market rents

·  Private Rents

He said that if they develop the land however they will be required to use the ART model.

Councillor Steve Hedges commented that he believed the sites of Plymouth House and the old Job Centre on James Street West, Bath should be used for housing.

The Head of Housing replied that office accommodation was also vital within the City. He added that some of the office units opposite the Lower Bristol Road Gypsy & Traveller site would be developed into housing.

Councillor David Veale commented that he very much welcomed the work of officers on this matter.

Councillor Patrick Anketell-Jones asked if it was going to be difficult to continue social rent within the centre of the city.

The Head of Housing replied yes and said that the majority of units in Bath Western Riverside would be ART.

Councillor June Player commented that student accommodation built by UNITE always appears to be developed quicker than other housing sites.

The Head of Housing replied that this was probably because UNITE have a very clear business model and rely on rental income which is required quickly. He added that other developers have to be sure that they are in a position to market their land appropriately.

The Chairman thanked the officers for their presentation and said that he hoped the Panel could be involved further in this work as it progresses.