Issue - meetings

This report provides Cabinet with the annual update on progress in delivering the Housing Strategy 2021–2027.  

Over the past year, delivery has continued across all five priorities, with a focus on increasing housing supply, strengthening homelessness prevention, improving housing options, and raising standards of safety and sustainability.  

The report summarises key achievements and highlights the main challenges and risks, including sustained housing demand, market and viability pressures affecting affordable housing delivery, ongoing pressure on temporary accommodation, and the capacity implications of regulatory reform. It also outlines proposed priorities for the year ahead and the intended approach and timetable for developing a new Housing Strategy, recognising that the commitment to meeting future growth needs is expected to remain a core priority and that the Council will need to continue to act as an enabler, partner and facilitator, as well as a direct deliverer of new affordable homes.

RESOLVED that Cabinet noted the progress, achievements and challenges set out in the report. 

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holder: Housing and Regulatory Services

This report forms part of the Council’s established governance arrangements for the Housing Strategy and follows consideration by Corporate Management Board and Overview and Scrutiny Committee. It provides Cabinet with assurance on progress, achievements, risks and regulatory compliance during 2025/26, and sets out the proposed priorities for the year ahead alongside the approach and timetable for developing the new 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 'E' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

Cabinet was advised that the report provided the annual update on progress in delivering the Housing Strategy 2021–2027, and that over the past year, delivery had continued across all five priorities, with a focus on increasing housing supply, strengthening homelessness prevention, improving housing options, and raising standards of safety and sustainability.  

Further to this Cabinet was informed that the report summarised key achievements and highlighted the main challenges and risks, including sustained housing demand, market and viability pressures affecting affordable housing delivery, ongoing pressure on temporary accommodation, and the capacity implications of regulatory reform, and that it also outlined proposed priorities for the year ahead and the intended approach and timetable for developing a new Housing Strategy, recognising that the commitment to meeting future growth needs was expected to remain a core priority and that the Council will need to continue to act as an enabler, partner and facilitator, as well as a direct deliverer of new affordable homes.

Councillor Patrick Canavan addressed the Cabinet with regards to the private sector housing conditions report and when this would be circulated.

The Portfolio Holder for Housing and Regulatory Services advised that he hadn’t seen the conditions survey to date but that this was being progressed.

RESOLVED that Cabinet noted the progress, achievements and challenges set out in the report. 

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holder: Housing and Regulatory Services

This report forms part of the Council’s established governance arrangements for the Housing Strategy and follows consideration by Corporate Management Board and Overview and Scrutiny Committee. It provides Cabinet with assurance on progress, achievements, risks and regulatory compliance during 2025/26, and sets out the proposed priorities for the year ahead alongside the approach and timetable for developing the new Housing Strategy.

This report provides the Environment and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee with the annual update on progress in delivering the Housing Strategy 2021–2027.  

Over the past year, delivery has continued across all five priorities, with a focus on increasing housing supply, strengthening homelessness prevention, improving housing options, and raising standards of safety and sustainability.  

The report summarises key achievements and highlights the main challenges and risks, including sustained housing demand, market and viability pressures affecting affordable housing delivery, ongoing pressure on temporary accommodation, and the capacity implications of regulatory reform. It also outlines proposed priorities for the year ahead and the intended approach and timetable for developing a new Housing Strategy, recognising that the commitment to meeting future growth needs is expected to remain a core priority and that the Council will need to continue to act as an enabler, partner and facilitator, as well as a direct deliverer of new affordable homes.

The Cabinet Member 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.

This report provided the Environment and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee with the annual update on progress in delivering the Housing Strategy 2021–2027. 

Over the past year, delivery had continued across all five priorities, with a focus on increasing housing supply, strengthening homelessness prevention, improving housing options, and raising standards of safety and sustainability. 

The report was about people and very importantly to make sure more residents had access to safe, secure homes.

It was reported that last financial year the Council delivered 145 homes across the conurbation and a further 243 were planned for the next financial year.  Those numbers would clear the Council’s current emergency waiting list, which equated to around 10% of the current waiting list.

More than 1,100 households were helped to avoid homelessness in the previous year.  Rough sleeping was at the lowest it had been post Covid and no families had spent more than 6 weeks in bed and breakfast for nearly 2 years. There was a strong focus on the quality and safety of housing services including achieving a C1 which was the highest compliance and governance rating from the regulator of Social Housing.

That rating was an important result and reflected the effort and partnership working across the board. There were still pressures and there was a high demand for housing.  Affordability was an issue for many residents, not just rent but also the cost of living, temporary accommodation was still under strain, and affordable housing was also affected.

The changes to the renter’s right were positive but brought higher expectations around higher expectations around assurance, compliance and quality.  The priority of the team was to grow and de-risk the affordable housing pipeline which deepened early intervention in terms of homelessness, widened housing options for residents and ensured safety quality and sustainability were at the centre of everything delivered.

The renter’s rights reform was causing issues for some residents as landlords asked them to leave as the landlords are worried about the act and those people have informed that they have been advised to stay put until the bailiffs arrived. It was mentioned that there were people that had been paying their rent but were self employed helped as that was difficult with letting agents as they required certain accounts or guarantors who had to earn over a certain amount. It was stated that the renter rights act was challenging and was not a perfect piece of legislation and there were issues with it but would be beneficial for renters across the period it was in place.  There was a slight rise I section 21’s in the lead up to the changes but not as much as anticipated, that did provide some challenges. 

The team had worked hard to engage with landlords and work with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10