Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

A copy of the Register of Interest for each Selby District Councillor is available for inspection at www.selby.gov.uk.

Councillors should declare to the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest in any item of business on this agenda which is not already entered in their Register of Interests.

Councillors should leave the meeting and take no part in the consideration, discussion or vote on any matter in which they have a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Councillors should also declare any other interests. Having made the declaration, provided the other interest is not a disclosable pecuniary interest, the Councillor may stay in the meeting, speak and vote on that item of business.

If in doubt, Councillors are advised to seek advice from the Monitoring Officer.

There were no disclosures of interest.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Policy Review Committee held on 11 June 2019.

The Committee considered the minutes of the meeting held on 11 June 2019.

RESOLVED:

To approve the minutes of the Policy Review Committee meeting held on 11 June 2019 for signing by the Chair.

The Chair welcomed Members to the meeting, and reminded them that they could make suggestions as to the content of the Committee’s work programme and the subsequent focus of the work of the Committee.

To consider the report of the Housing and Environmental Health Service Manager.

The Committee received the report of the Council’s Housing and Environmental Health Service Manager, which asked Members to consider and comment on progress with the delivery of the Empty Property Strategy and Action Plan.

Members noted that the North Yorkshire Empty Property Strategy and local Selby District Action Plan was agreed and adopted in January 2018. The North Yorkshire Empty Property Strategy aimed to reduce the number of long-term empty homes through a co-ordinated approach, and the local Action Plan set out how the Council would target empty homes across the district and encourage, support and enforce owners to bring Empty Homes back into use. The report provided an update on the progress made since the implementation of the strategy and action plan in April 2018.

Officers explained that in 2018-19, 24 empty properties had been brought back into use; in the first quarter of 2019-20, this number was 14. There were currently 426 empty properties in the District, 151 of which had been empty for at least two years. The importance of the Council’s involvement early on was emphasised by Members, in order to prevent properties from becoming empty in the very long term, i.e. over two years.

In response to a question regarding enforcement action, the Committee noted that there was currently one compulsory purchase of a property in progress. It was explained that this could be a long process, sometimes taking 18 months to two years to complete. Other enforcement action that had been undertaken included the boarding up of properties and investigation of complaints by neighbours.

Members learnt that properties empty for over two years were required to pay 200% council tax, which the Committee were surprised to hear, did not always act as a deterrent. Officers confirmed that the Council had the power to increase to 300% if it went over 10 years; in 2018-19, the proportion of council tax collected from properties that were empty for over two years was approximately £117k.

The Committee also noted that the money received in a grant from Homes England to tackle empty properties was not always used for voluntary or compulsory purchase costs, but also refurbishment.

Members suggested that Officers give special consideration to identifying empty flats and rooms over shops, which if reoccupied would meet a significant housing need in town centres. It was explained that the geographical spread of empty properties in the District was fairly even, and that the focus of Officers tended to be on areas that had particular housing need.

Members queried if there were other means by which empty homes were identified apart from the council tax register; Officers explained that others may come to light through complaints from neighbours or local residents, feedback from Neighbourhood Officers, and referral through the council tax Fraud Officer. The Fraud Officer identified both businesses not paying business rates as well as properties not registering for council tax. In the first year the Fraud Officer had identified £200k worth of unpaid rates across the District.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

To consider the Committee’s work programme for 2019-20.

The Committee considered the 2019-20 work programme as set out at pages 13 to 15 of the agenda.

Members had a wide ranging discussion on the aims and interests of the Committee, and proposed the following changes to the work programme for 2019-20:

·           That following an overview of the Council’s housing service and related issues at the September meeting, the issue of North Yorkshire Home Choice be brought back to the Committee in October.

·           That the two separate items on ‘Housing at Selby District Council – An Overview’ and ‘Affordable Housing and Housing Need’ be combined into one item for the September meeting.

·           That the update item on Universal Credit be moved to the October meeting.

·           That an item on future tech provision and infrastructure (such as broadband in new homes, solar panels, electric car charging points) and the low carbon/’green’ agenda be added to the work programme for future consideration, potentially at the October meeting. Members noted that such matters would need to be considered in the context of the new Local Plan, when that came to fruition.

·           That an update should be provided on the Car Parking Strategy/Policy at a future meeting.

·           That the Council’s Private Sector Assistance Policy be considered by the Committee at a future meeting.

·           The issue of empty industrial units was raised an issue attention but it was subsequently decided that this would be more appropriately considered at Scrutiny Committee.

·           Whether the Council had or was developing an AirBnB policy was queried by the Committee; it was subsequently decided that, at present, the rental of properties managed by companies such as AirBnB was not an issue in the District, but that it could be added to the ‘potential items’ area of the work programme for future reference, should any problems occur.

·           Lastly, the matter of Council owned garages was raised by the Committee’ Officers confirmed that information on this could be covered in the Housing update due at the September meeting, as they formed part of the Housing Revenue Account.

RESOLVED:

i.          To note the work programme for 2019-20.

ii.        That North Yorkshire Home Choice be brought back to the Committee for consideration in October.

iii.       That the two separate items on ‘Housing at Selby District Council – An Overview’ and ‘Affordable Housing and Housing Need’ be combined into one item for the September meeting.

iv.       That the update item on Universal Credit be moved to the October meeting.

v.        That an item on future tech provision and infrastructure (such as broadband in new homes, solar panels, electric car charging points) and the low carbon/’green’ agenda be added to the work programme for future consideration, potentially at the October meeting.

vi.       That an update should be provided to the Committee on the Car Parking Strategy/Policy at a future meeting.

vii.     That the Council’s Private Sector Assistance Policy be considered by the Committee at a future meeting.

viii.    That the issue of empty industrial units would be more appropriately considered by the Scrutiny Committee.

ix.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.