Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillor Stella Walsh. 

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any personal interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda. If the interest arises only as result of your membership of another public body or one to which you have been appointed by the Council then you only need to declare it if you intend to speak.

If the personal interest is a prejudicial interest, you must withdraw from the meeting. Normally you should leave the room before the business starts to be discussed. You do, however, have the same right to speak as a member of the public and may remain in the room to enable you to exercise that right and then leave immediately. In either case you must not seek to improperly influence a decision on the matter.

No Members declared any interests in respect of items on the agenda.

Members of the public who have requested the opportunity to ask a question(s) on an item(s) on the agenda will be asked to put their question(s) to the Panel. Each member of the public will be allowed to ask one supplementary question within his/her allocated 3 minutes.  

No members of the public requested to speak at the meeting.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Task Group - Chorley Community Housing held on 11 September 2008 (enclosed).

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Task Group – Chorley Community Housing held on 11 September 2008 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Information received from Chorley Community Housing and Lancashire County Council (Highways) is enclosed for consideration.

The Chair reported that Chorley Community Housing had responded to queries raised by the Group at the previous meeting. 

A schedule had been created to enable comparison between the traffic calming measures and highways queries Chorley Community Housing had raised and the response from Lancashire County Council.  There were discrepancies suggesting that the reporting and monitoring mechanisms between Chorley Community Housing and Lancashire County Council should be strengthened.  Chorley Community Housing would be provided with a copy of the response given by Lancashire County Council.

The streetscene issues would be considered as part of the next item on the agenda.  It was noted that the report updating progress on the promises made to tenants was presented quarterly to the Chorley Community Housing and should be available for the next meeting of the Group.

It was AGREED that the response be noted and the updated report be requested from Chorley Community Housing.    

To receive feedback from the Assistant Chief Executive (Business Transformation), Corporate Director (Neighbourhoods) and Strategic Housing Manager on issues raised during the inquiry.  

The Chair welcomed Gary Hall, Ishbel Murray and Zoe Whiteside to the meeting. 

The Members and officers discussed a range of issues relating to Chorley Community Housing that are summarised below. 

Affordable Housing

The definition of affordable housing is the Borough medium income £29600 times 2.5 which equals £74,000.

Officers outlined the different types of affordable housing.  Social Rented Accommodation is subsidised by the government and the Council's housing allocations policy determines in what circumstances applicants attract a priority.  The applicants deemed to have the greatest need to be re-housed are awarded the highest priority as and when vacancies arise. 

A Shared Ownership scheme allows a householder to purchase a share in a property, the remainder being retained by the Registered Social Landlord.

Discounted Open Market Value homes would be purchased on a 999-year lease at between 60% and 85% of their open market value.  The discount established at point of purchase will remain the same for the term of the lease.  When the house was sold, the owner retains any capital increase, but must sell on to a local qualifying person.

Chorley Community Housing are contractually committed to deliver their target to provide and fund 40 affordable housing units per year, although the target can roll over for a maximum of four years.  The Council is not under contract to help achieve the target; in fact the more the Council supports Chorley Community Housing in terms of funding the less the Council has to spend on schemes provided by other Registered Social Landlords. 

Part of the issue between Chorley Community Housing and the Council was the timing of the affordable housing units on the Gillibrand estate.  The Council’s position is that these were agreed before the contract with Chorley Community Housing was signed.  This issue is still live and the Council is seeking to resolve it.    

One way the Council have helped has been to identify privately owned land that Chorley Community Housing could buy.  The Council could sell land it owns for affordable housing units to be built on, but this would be a decision for Members.  On the plus side, working with a Registered Social Landlord there is more chance of achieving rented units than low cost or shared ownership.  The major issue at the moment is the need for an increase in rented housing, compounded by lack of mortgage finance.  Rented houses need to be viewed financially over a longer term and this was not as attractive to Registered Social Landlords.  The Council would receive a percentage of funds from Chorley Community Housing houses sales until 2023, although there were few being sold in the current financial climate. 

There have been meetings between Strategic Housing and Planning officers regarding a proposed package of plots of land that could be used to provide affordable housing schemes that could be put out to tender.  There are also options to “purchase and repair” where a Registered Social Landlord takes on the house and makes it available as affordable  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Members of the Task Group will feed back any information submitted to them since the last meeting. 

Members raised no new issues to be considered as part of the inquiry. 

The Group will review the evidence considered so far to identify any gaps or contradictions.  Members are requested to considered any recommendations they would like to propose for inclusion in the final report.

The Chair highlighted that the documentation enclosed as part of the agenda package evidenced the issues and evidence the inquiry has considered.  There would be some outstanding issues at the end of the inquiry that would be kept under review as part of the inquiry monitoring process. 

It was AGREED that the recommendations made so far be drafted into a final report.

Members will determine the next steps for the inquiry.

The Members AGREED that the inquiry was now at a stage to draft the final report to be considered at the meeting in November.