Agenda item

On a motion from Councillor Tim Warren, seconded by Councillor Paul Myers, it was

RESOLVED that

Council notes that:

1.  In January 2019, a cross-party commission, convened by housing charity Shelter in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire, published a report A vision for social housing, finding that the roots of the current housing crisis can be found in the decline of social housing over the past four decades.

2.  The report found that this decline in social housing has resulted in a failure to build enough homes to meet demand, huge waiting lists for social homes, an explosion in the number of people in private rented accommodation and a huge rise in welfare costs to government as a result of more people renting privately at higher cost.

3.  The report further found that, unless a radically different approach is adopted, only half of today’s young people are ever likely to own their own home. A generation of young families will be trapped in private rented property for their whole lives, with increasing numbers living in dangerous accommodation or going into debt. More people will grow old in private rentals, facing unaffordable rent increases or eviction at any point. Billions more in welfare costs will be paid to private landlords and hundreds of thousands more people will become homeless as a result of insecure tenancies and sky-high housing costs.

4.  The report recommends a decisive and generational shift in housing policy. This would require:

·  investment in social housing;

·  a new regulator working across social and private renting to protect residents and to set and enforce common standards;

·  a new national tenants’ organisation to give social housing residents a voice; and

·  a historic renewal of social housing with a 20 year programme to deliver 3.1 million more social homes.

5.  Capital Economics set out in detail the costs and benefits of a 20-year social home building programme and found that while the gross additional cost would be on average £10.7 billion per year this gross cost would be reduced firstly by direct benefits to government of increased infrastructure spending and savings in the welfare system, and secondly by the returns to government arising from the knock-on economic benefits across the economy. Taking all this into account, the maximum net cost to government in the most expensive year could be £5.4 billion and if funded in the early years through borrowing, the programme pays back in full over 39 years.

6.  In Bath and North East Somerset, there are around 5,000 households on the housing waiting list and currently 27 households in temporary accommodation.

This Council believes that:

7.  In line with the vision outlined in the Shelter report, all political parties need to rediscover publicly built housing as a key pillar of our national infrastructure. A home is the foundation of individual success in life and a programme of home building can be the foundation of similar national success.

8.  A major increase in the delivery of social housing is required to address the housing crisis in B&NES.

Council resolves therefore:

9.  To defer consideration of the motion until full Council in July 2019 and instruct Officers to prepare an information report for that Council on the options and the implications covering policy, budget and Council operations.

[Notes;-

1.  The Labour motion printed with the agenda was moved by Councillor Robin Moss, and seconded by Councillor Joe Rayment.  It was subsequently amended.

2.  The above successful resolution was carried as an amendment with 32 Councillors voting in favour, and 19 Councillors voting against.  The amendment added resolution 9 above, and removed points 9 – 16 of the original Labour motion as printed with the agenda.

3.  As the substantive motion, the above resolution was carried with 44 Councillors voting in favour, and 7 Councillors abstaining.

4.  Members across the Chamber were agreed that, when the report is brought back to July Council, points 9 – 16 of the original motion should be fully addressed as part of the information presented.]