Agenda item

To seek approval from Council to accept the grant from the Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) which has been made available from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. If accepted the funding will support the delivery through the purchase of 21 new homes in the District to meet short, medium and long-term housing need.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Property introduced a report seeking approval to accept the grant from the Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) which had been made available from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. The funding would support the delivery of 21 new homes in the District to meet short, medium and long-term housing need.

The scheme was scheduled to run over two financial years, and for South Kesteven District a grant funding agreement of circa £2.1 million for 19 homes, plus a ‘bridging’ arrangement for two further homes was proposed. This would require the use of match funding from HRA reserves.

The scheme would support Ukrainian and Afghan families with the provision of ‘move on’ accommodation, a new supply of housing to meet demand. A Memorandum of Understanding had been drafted and required a reply from the Council by 15 March 2023.

Once the properties were no longer utilised by the families the Council would be free to use them for another suitable purpose. The purchase of the properties should aid the Council in minimising ‘right to buy’ stock losses. The delivery of the houses would involve approaching local developers to purchase new build properties that met the requirements of the funding.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Property proposed the recommendations contained within the report.

The motion was seconded.

The following points were raised during debate:

·       It was pleasing to see money being used to allocate housing within the District. Some Ukrainian and Afghan families were being housed in hotels, some were with host families, and some were finding it hard to find housing at all, particularly in Stamford.

·       Thanks were placed on record to officers in the Council’s housing team, and the families that were hosting people from Ukraine and Afghanistan.

·       The scheme was a good method by which the Council directly control housing stock; 21 houses being added to the Council’s stock was a positive move. More needed to be done in general to make houses available for those people who were struggling, regardless of their passport.

·       One member suggested that the level of support being granted by the Government was not in line with the actual need. It was already known that there was a shortfall of Council homes, but now the support required for refugees added to this pressure. However, it was raised that the pressure to provide homes for these families would exist with or without the purchase of these houses.

·       These houses were not included in targets set for this year and next.

·       These homes would be subjected to affordable rent.

·       The homes likely to be purchased would already be developed as they were required swiftly. It was likely that they would be purchased in Grantham and Market Deeping, so that communities were able to be in close contact with other families that had established themselves in the UK. The rationale was that Grantham was close to Lincoln, where families had settled, and Market Deeping was close to Peterborough.

Having been proposed and seconded, upon being put to the vote the motion was AGREED:

DECISION:

That the Council:

1.     Approves receipt of the Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) grant of £2,098,750 to provide accommodation to Ukraine and Afghan families and agree approval of the memorandum of understanding with Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

2.     Delegates to the Acting Director of Housing, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Property, the authority to conclude contractual and grant agreement arrangements with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

3.     Approve an allocation of £2,383,750 from the Council’s Housing Revenue Priorities Reserve to fund the Council’s own contribution towards the Local Authority Housing Fund.

4.     Includes an allocation of £4,482,500 in the Housing Revenue Account 2023/2024 capital programme to deliver the provision of properties as set out in the Local Authority Housing Fund.