Issue - meetings

Report of Director of Regeneration and Planning

Lead Cabinet member: Councillor Ron Maskell

(This report contains an exempt appendix. Any discussion of this must take place at item 14 following exclusion of the public.)

(Non-key decision):

(1) To approve the construction of new affordable housing for short term letting to provide temporary accommodation (TA), upon Lewes District Council (LDC) land in Newhaven.

(2) To give delegated authority to the Director of Regeneration and Planning, in consultation with the Lead Member of Housing, to approve the use of up to £2.2m from the General Fund Capital Fund Capital Programme by LDC to deliver a TA scheme, using an appropriate LDC entity or building and lease-back agreement.

(3) To approve a waiver to the Contract Procurement Rules (CPR), as set out in paragraph 2.4.1(a) of the CPR to allow the direct selection of a main contractor, due to the bespoke nature of the product required and time restrictions. Full grounds laid out in paragraph 3 of the report.

The Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Regeneration and Planning, seeking approval for the development of a Council owned site, to provide housing to meet the Council’s need for access to short term lettings for temporary accommodation.

Councillor Smith referenced that the report came to fruition, as a result of cross party work and motions submitted by Councillor Osborne to the February 2017 and 2018 Council meetings.

Resolved (non-key decision):

(1) To approve the construction of new affordable housing for short term letting to provide temporary accommodation (TA), upon Lewes District Council (LDC) land in Newhaven.

(2) To give delegated authority to the Director of Regeneration and Planning, in consultation with the Lead Member of Housing, to approve the use of up to £2.2m from the General Fund Capital Fund Capital Programme by LDC to deliver a TA scheme, using an appropriate LDC entity or building and lease-back agreement.

(3) To approve a waiver to the Contract Procurement Rules (CPR), as set out in paragraph 2.4.1(a) of the CPR to allow the direct selection of a main contractor, due to the bespoke nature of the product required and time restrictions. Full grounds laid out in paragraph 3 of the report.

Reasons for decisions:

At the February 2018 Full Council meeting, approval was given for a budget amendment to the 2018/19 General Fund Capital Programme to allocate £2.2m for the development of new TA scheme. Although the purpose of the new housing proposed in the report will be to meet access to short term letting the homes themselves are expected to have long term use much like traditional construction.

A model of developing TA schemes in other areas has been successfully delivered so that the design and construction is for only a limited number of years, allowing for the future relocation of the residential units to another site(s). The motion at Full Council in February 2018 was for a similar relocatable scheme that cannot be easily procured in a traditional way.

Due to the potential need to relocate units in the future, it may be that LDC can reduce its risk long-term risk by agreeing a building and lease-back agreement to fund the construction of the scheme. The decision on the contract will need to be made once a contractor is appointed.