Agenda item

To consider and note the contents of the Affordable Housing Strategy draft policy and to provide any comments.

The Committee received the report of the Housing Service Manager which introduced the new Draft Development Strategy for Affordable Housing and asked Members to consider and submit their comments on it.

Officers explained that the proposed strategy set out the Council’s plans to build new Council homes and the support and delivery by Selby and District Housing Trust (SDHT). It aimed to strengthen and build on the aims for Selby District Council to increase its supply of affordable housing stock through direct development, as set out in the original Affordable Development Strategy in 2013.

Members noted that the Council was a stock-retaining local authority that owned 3000 homes, and which took pride in its strong landlord management service. The strategy aimed to strengthen the service by increasing the number of homes.

The Committee were informed that the new Affordable Development Strategy linked to a number of other strategies and associated policies and procedures, including the Housing Revenue Account Business Plan and the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Housing Strategy.

Officers went on to explain that in February 2019 the Strategic Housing Market Needs Assessment (SHMA) highlighted the requirement for more affordable housing in the Selby district and calculated the net need for affordable housing, including social rented housing, intermediate rented housing and low-cost home ownership housing products, as 134 units per annum.  There was also an identified lack of supported housing in the district.

Members asked about the Council’s relationship with housing associations and how many houses had been built by the Council in the last three years; Officers confirmed that they would check and supply this figure to Members outside of the meeting.

Officers explained that the Council did work with housing associations and that the question of competition with them had been raised before, but that delivery of housing through new developments was not the only way forward; the purchase of empty homes was also an option.

The Committee expressed the view that the Council should be pursuing new housing stock alongside housing associations. Officers confirmed that they would be able to look into this approach in more detail, but that some types of units were harder to bring forward than others. The Council needed to ensure that there was sufficient flexibility and opportunities that could be identified as they arose; the build costs for local authorities were often high, but that it was possible to find a solution to the delivery of housing with the right resources.

The Committee agreed that as a local authority, the Council was best placed to know what development the area needed and where, but that developers needed to offer affordable housing and it should be pursued accordingly.

Councillor R Musgrave, Deputy Leader and Lead Executive Member for Place Shaping who was also in attendance at the meeting, explained that it was costly for the Council to build housing compared to buying it. In the last year 120 affordable homes had been built in the district, but they had all been procured by housing associations. Members were informed that there was approximately £8m in reserves with which the Council could buy or build homes, and he was determined to see more done in this regard. 

In response to a query, Officers explained the process for Right to Buy buybacks, and acknowledged that in some circumstances it was viable, but not always.

The Committee thanked Officers for the information and asked that the matter be brought back to the Committee again when more work had been undertaken on the policy.

RESOLVED:

The Committee noted the report and requested that the matter be brought before them again in the future when further work had been undertaken on the policy.