Agenda item

Report of Director of Service Delivery.

Lead Cabinet member:  Councillor Alan Shuttleworth.

Director of service delivery granted delegated authority to:(i) subject to obtaining of necessary consent of Secretary of State pursuant to s.19 of the Housing Act 1985, to appropriate the 8, one-bedroom flats at 3 Hartfield Road, currently held in the housing revenue account, to the general fund for provision (pursuant to s.120 of the Local Government Act 1972) of emergency accommodation to meet the council’s statutory homelessness duty under s.188 of the 1996 Housing Act; (ii) to add £250,000 to the council’s capital program to bring Hartfield Road back into a lettable state for use as temporary accommodation and (iii) to further consult about sale of the freeholds with freeholders of the properties listed and dispose of the garage blocks listed in appendix.

86.1 Cabinet considered the report of the director of service delivery providing an update on a change in demand for emergency accommodation options in Eastbourne due to an increase in homelessness.  To mitigate some of the impact the report sought cabinet approval to dispose of a number of assets held within the housing revenue account (HRA) to enable the council to meet its strategic priorities; providing more housing options and the right housing for residents of the town.

86.2 The number of people needing housing advice and options was increasing in Eastbourne.  This trend was common across East Sussex and nationally with a significant rise in households making homeless applications to local councils.  One of the council’s key priorities was to consider the availability of existing accommodation options and how they could adapt to meet changes in demand.

86.3 The cost to the council of providing emergency accommodation was rising.  The numbers of households in temporary accommodation currently stood at 71 as at 7 February 2017, as compared to an average in 2015/16 of 22.  The cost to the council in housing benefit expenditure unable to be reclaimed through housing benefit subsidy had been rising.  In 2014/15 it was £72,000, in 2015/16 it was £132,000 and was likely to be higher 2016/17.  Furthermore, the reduction in the benefit cap from November, the pending removal of the £60 housing management fee and the rollout of the universal credit digital service in 2017 would lead to more pressure on the council’s finances. 

86.4 The report reviewed homelessness prevention activities currently undertaken or planned.  These included partnerships with other Sussex councils utilising funding from government under their homelessness prevention programme targeting rough sleepers as well as local initiatives under the council’s homelessness strategy (published January 2017).

86.5 It was proposed to ‘appropriate’ 3 Hartfield Road (block of 8, one-bedroom flats with a recent valuation of £545,000) from the housing revenue account to the general fund to provide emergency accommodation.  An initial survey had estimated that repairs would cost approximately £250,000 for the building to be brought back to a lettable standard and provide white goods for each of the flats.  Taking account of current costs of providing emergency accommodation to 8 households who require self-contained accommodation the use of Hartfield Road would mitigate an overspend of £82,000 annually to the existing budget.

86.6 Cabinet had previously authorised the disposal of certain freeholds where the council no longer had a leasehold interest to residents of the block.  Four such freeholds were currently in the process of being sold.  It was now recommended that leaseholders of the following blocks, where the council only held a freehold interest, be consulted about the potential sale of their freeholds on the open market:-

·         14-16 Harebell Close

·         10 Hyde Gardens

·         28-30 Larkspur Drive

·         10-16 Mulberry Close

·         1-3 Pembury Road

·         29-35 Rye Street

·         10-16 Sumach Close

The sale of the freeholds should bring a capital receipt into the housing revenue account of £50,700. 

86.7 Eastbourne Homes Ltd (EHL), on behalf of the council, had undertaken a full review of all garage sites held in the HRA to firstly gain a valuation of the stock and secondly to explore any housing development opportunities.  There were a number of garage blocks (comprising 99 garage units as listed in appendix 1 to the report) which had no to very limited housing development potential and were not considered future strategic sites for wider regeneration.  However, on the basis of valuation, it was considered that sale of the listed sites on the open market should be considered.  The capital receipt estimated should the proposed garage sites be sold was £735,000.  Before garage sites were sold at auction, EHL would contact all existing licence holders of garages to forewarn them of the sale.  Should the existing licence holders of garages wish to continue their contract with the new owner of the garage, EHL would facilitate the communication between both parties until the sale was completed. 

86.8 In the case of both the sale of freeholds and garage blocks it was considered that the sales would reduce future capital costs to the HRA, and should the high value assets levy come to fruition, would mean the HRA had additional funds to contribute to lowering the impact of the levy without selling homes and otherwise meeting housing need.

86.9 The cabinet noted the legal provisions set out in the report under which the council was permitted to undertake the foregoing property transactions.

86.10 Resolved (key decision):  That the director of service delivery be granted delegated authority to:-

(1) Subject to the obtaining of the necessary consent of the Secretary of State pursuant to s.19 of the Housing Act 1985, to appropriate the 8, one-bedroom flats at 3 Hartfield Road, currently held in the housing revenue account, to the general fund for the provision (pursuant to s.120 of the Local Government Act 1972) of emergency accommodation to meet the council’s statutory homelessness duty under s.188 of the 1996 Housing Act.

(2) To add £250,000 to the council’s capital program to bring Hartfield Road back into a lettable state for use as temporary accommodation. 

(3) To further consult about sale of the freeholds with the freeholders of the properties listed and dispose of the garage blocks listed in appendix.