Agenda item

Helen Dudden addressed the Panel. She spoke of how she had previously lived in a Georgian flat that was owned by Curo. She explained that since the flat had floor to ceiling mould in almost every room she had tried to move from the property for five years before successfully doing so.

She informed them that the flat was not insulated properly, that ice formed on the inside of the windows during winter, that rats were living under the floor boards and that the use of additional heating had cost her £1,000 pa.

She said that she had written to Don Foster MP to explain her situation, but that he had shown no concern. She added that she believed that there had been problems with the Homesearch system while she was trying to secure a move and that some correspondence had been lost. She said that she had reported these matters to the Local Government Ombudsman.

She explained that since she had moved from the property it had been turned from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan and is now available for tourist accommodation.

She concluded by questioning whether Curo were rightly serving the community.

The Chair thanked her for her statement and said that the Panel had been made aware of Curo’s restructure plans at previous meetings.

Councillor Steve Hedges asked where her previous property was situated.

Helen Dudden replied that it was in Johnstone Street, Bath.

Councillor Steve Hedges commented that 95% of the complaints that he receives relating to Curo are about damp. He added that there was little the Panel could do on this matter but asked for the minutes to be passed onto Councillor Tim Ball in his current role as the Cabinet Member for Homes & Planning.

The Head of Housing commented that he was aware that Mrs Dudden had made a complaint to the Council relating to her flat conditions and the Homesearch process. He said that both complaints had been dealt with via the Council’s complaints procedure and that Mrs Dudden had not been happy with the outcome and had taken the matter further with the Local Government Ombudsman. He informed the Panel that in summary the Ombudsman had considered that the Council had taken appropriate action and was not at fault in this matter.

Steve Bendle addressed the Panel. He said that the Council’s Housing Policy should be reviewed in light of the currently reported waiting list figure of 5,000. He recalled a recent conversation that he had had with his sister regarding property prices in Sweden and that a new three bedroom property there costs only £140,000.

He questioned Curo’s need to charge 80% affordable rent and the amount of internal borrowing that they do. He added that he also had doubts over the suitability of their repairs service.

He asked the Panel to pursue the matter of allowing a tenant and a Councillor representative back onto the Board of Curo.

He said the Council’s ambitions for new homes should be raised and for the waiting list to be reduced year on year.

The Chair thanked him for his statement.

Councillor Steve Hedges commented that he felt that the housing problem could be solved if the ‘Right to Buy’ process was stopped. He said that the waiting list would be halved in four years.

Councillor Gerry Curran commented that he believed that the Council were hitting their current targets for new dwelling completions. He added that many Councils were now considering whether they should begin to act as developers under the powers vested in them in the Localism Act.

The Chair agreed that the Council was meeting its targets for new dwellings. She added that she hoped more rural housing schemes would be brought forward in the future.

Steve Bendle commented that the homes planned for Foxhill were great but that the prices as ‘affordable’ were not realistic. He added that he felt the Government could have done more to reduce the cost of the land.

Vicky Drew addressed the Panel. A copy of the statement can be found on the Panel’s Minute Book and a summary is set out below.

She said that private tenants and those forced to look to rent privately in Bath, particularly those on low to average income are unfairly discriminated against by the Landlords and Letting Agents.

She said that for a tenant looking for a property to rent in Bath at the current time, the lowest prices of 3 bed family homes on the outskirts are between £895 and £950. She felt she must stress that this price is by no means representative of the astronomical rent expected in the vast majority of private lets locally, most are far far higher.

She added that not only is the Local Housing Allowance limited to the equivalent of £822 pcm but at the time of researching this on Right Move there were only two properties advertised for families even close to the LHA marker (albeit £70 short). The rest of the properties that were being advertised were for single professionals or students sharing.

She asked if the Panel or the Council would be willing to publicly accredit Letting Agents with fair, moral and ethical practices. She asked if any reward could be given to those agents who accept deposit bonds from the likes of Swan Advice and other charities. She asked if a cap could be enforced on the unaffordable rents and could the problems faced by people in our city be highlighted in such a way that would encourage landlords of decent, reasonably priced properties to bypass the agents and let through Homesearch on long term leases.

She concluded by saying that the situation for many people in our city is untenable, depressing and unfair.

The Chair asked for the comments made by Steve Bendle and Vicky Drew to be passed to the Cabinet Member for Homes & Planning, Councillor Tim Ball.

Clarke Osborne, Chairman of the Stanton Wick Action Group addressed the Panel. He said that he wished to speak about a concern from the community relating to a planning application. He said that they were concerned by the decision of the Chairman of the Development Control Committee to deny the consideration of the application at an open committee and that delegated powers had been given to a planning officer.

Councillor Steve Hedges intervened to state that he did not believe this to be the correct forum for such a debate.

The Chair explained she had been persuaded to allow the speaker to speak because there was no meeting of the PDS Panel for Planning, Transport and the Environment, and no Cabinet meeting before the election. She had not known that a decision on the application had now been taken. Decisions cannot be rescinded without going to a court of law.

Councillor Gerry Curran explained that a system for delegating decisions has been in place for eight years and that these decisions are made by him and the Divisional Director for Development. He added that 96% of planning applications are dealt with under delegated powers and that it is not for this Panel to interfere in that process.

The Chair said that if they wished to take the matter further they should consider writing directly to the Divisional Director for Development, their Ward Councillor, local MP Jacob Rees-Mogg or the Secretary of State. She added that all Councils used powers of delegation because they were acting under a government directive to speed up the planning process.