Issue - meetings

This report provides an update on the Council Newbuild Housing and Acquisition Strategy established in 2021 and sets out the priorities for delivering more Council owned homes of all tenures.

It includes the acquisition of the Harbour Sail, a 12-storey high-rise building in Poole, under the Council's New Build Housing and Acquisition Strategy (CNHAS) Programme 4a (subject to satisfactory warranties and no incumbrance to lettings). The building comprises 32 leasehold flats currently owned by Stonewater Limited. The acquisition is intended to provide temporary accommodation as part of the Council’s broader housing strategy.

The Portfolio Holder for Housing and Regulatory Services presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'B' to these Minutes in the Minute Book. The report provided an update on the Council Newbuild Housing and Acquisition Strategy established in 2021 and set out the priorities for delivering more Council owned homes of all tenures. The report included the acquisition of the Harbour Sail, a 12-storey high-rise building in Poole, under the Council's New Build Housing and Acquisition Strategy (CNHAS) Programme 4a (subject to satisfactory warranties and no incumbrance to lettings). The building comprises 32 leasehold flats currently owned by Stonewater Limited. The acquisition was intended to provide temporary accommodation as part of the Council’s broader housing strategy.

The Board noted that 105 properties had been acquired but only 46 of these had been let. There was potentially a significant financial impact of acquiring those properties and at the same time still paying for people to be housed in bed and breakfast accommodation. If the pace of acquisition continued there would need to be a strong project management plan in place to ensure that the properties were turned around in a timely fashion. The Plans would be shared with the Board once they were available

It was noted that responsibility for the programme was shared across a number of different services and the Board asked about the capacity of the Council to be able to do the work required in order to get properties into a condition that can be let. The Portfolio Holder was asked about how the organisation was set up to accommodate this and who had overall responsibility for ensuring the finances were used effectively The Portfolio Holder advised that responsibility was shared but was taken extremely seriously, it was noted that when there had been issues resources were relocated in order to try to reduce void periods. It was important to be flexible in order to improve delivery.

In response to a query around the Seascape acquisition for Assured Shorthold Tenancies programme it was noted that the immediate need was to reduce the numbers of families in Bed and Breakfast accommodation which the temporary accommodation was focused on. The Seascape lets were longer term to provide stability and help encourage people to settle into paying rent regularly. 

It was noted that the MTFP paper set out the debt of the Council as being in the mid-range compared to other local authorities. It was noted that the viability of an acquisition programme always needed to be considered, especially in light of the current level of interest rates.

Queries were raised about the quality of properties being purchased and the time taken to let them. It was noted that properties were purchased in various different conditions and therefore the time taken to have them ready for let was varied. It was questioned whether the programme had had an impact on the market. There was a need  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79