Issue - meetings

Report number HOF282 by the Head of Finance.                          (Enclosure)

Report number HOF282 summarised the current position with respect to the Local Authority Mortgage Scheme. Since the Council introduced the scheme it had deposited £2m in two separate transactions. The first million had been fully utilised.

Members were informed that take-up of the scheme had reduced. Officers explained that this was a common trend nationally as Government schemes such as ‘Help to Buy’ have been implemented. The PDG was reassured that the investment was securely deposited; interest on the deposits was being set aside in a reserve account which would be drawn on in the event of any default to mortgage payments.

Questions ensued about the level of advertisement. The scheme was well advertised on the Council’s website and significant articles had run in editions of SK Today. The scheme was also prominently marketed in Lloyds branches across the district. Officers reported that a lack of qualitative data made it difficult to understand whether there were other underlying reasons for the downward trend.

In response to a question, members were advised that the scheme could not be used for the purchase of a property under the Right to Buy; this was a criteria of Lloyds mortgage offer.

The PDG noted the update report.

Report number HOF242 by the Portfolio Holder for Strategic Resources – Well Run Council.

(Enclosure)

Decision:

1.    Council approves the continuation and extension of the Local Authority Mortgage Scheme (LAMS) and commits a further amount of £1M to the existing partnership with Lloyds TSB Bank Plc.

2.    Council approves the inclusion of the additional lender Teachers Building Society having taken into consideration the information provided in report number HOF242

3.    Council approves the recommendation to increase the maximum loan size per application to £147,250

4.    Council delegates to the Strategic Director (Corporate Services) and the Portfolio Holder (Strategic Resources – Well Run Council) the authority to include other lenders into the scheme up to a maximum of £0.5M per lender

5.    Council delegates to the Strategic Director (Corporate Services) the authority to execute the legal documentation, obtain and authorise the required legal indemnities to take part in the scheme and approve the criteria, terms and conditions of each individual lender.

The recommendations in report number HOF242 were proposed and seconded. The proposed changes would broaden the availability of the scheme to people across the whole district and provide opportunities to work with more lenders as they signed-up to the scheme.

The proposition was put to the vote and carried.