Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 26 June 2017, be agreed as a correct record.

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The Committee received the report.

Members requested that feedback from L&Q be provided by email to all Members of this Committee.

RESOLVED that the report be noted and that feedback from L&Q be provided by email to all Members of this Committee.

The Committee received the report.

RESOLVED that the content of the report and appendices 1, 2 and 3 be noted.

The Committee received the report.

The Chairman thanked both Council Officers and Barnet Homes Officer for their hard work in relation to this matter.

It was requested that:

1.    this item be added to the Work Programme for updates to future meetings of the Committee;

2.    the Deputy Chief Executive report back to Councillor McGuirk regarding emergency vehicle access provisions in the proposed development at Granville Road;

3.    with regard to the Mar House, leased by Sanctuary Housing, an update be included in the next report back on how responsive the Housing Association and the freeholder had been;

4.    the response from the Government in relation to the earlier letter sent by the Leader asking for financial assistance to Councils to invest in fire safety improvements, be made available to all Members of the Committee, when received;

5.    the Committee lobby the Government for financial assistance with fire safety work.

RESOLVED

1.            That the Committee note the contents of this report and appendix 1, and in particular that cladding on three tower blocks at Granville Road has now been removed;

2.            That the Committee agrees that, subject to agreement by Policy and Resources Committee on 5th December, an additional £7.5 million is allocated from the Council’s Housing Revenue Account to meet the cost of high priority fire safety improvements identified by Barnet Homes;

3.            That the Committee agrees to the implementation of additional desirable fire safety improvements, which will be deferred pending the outcome of the independent review of the building regulations and fire safety recently commissioned by the Government and expected to be completed by Spring 2018. An update on these works will be tabled to the June 2018 Housing committee;

4.            That the Committee review and approve the addendum to the Housing Committee Commissioning Plan for 2017/18 (Appendix 2) which has been updated to take account of the impact of the Grenfell Tower fire;

5.            That all the requests detailed above be agreed.

The Committee received the report.

The Chairman thanked all the Officers concerned for their hard work with regard to this matter.

RESOLVED that the update provided in the report be noted.

The Committee received the report.

It was agreed that:

1.    the Committee should lobby the Government to lift the HRA borrowing cap for investment;

2.    the Committee should lobby the Government to come up with an alternative proposal to selling high value properties.

A vote was taken on the Officers recommendation to approve the draft Housing Revenue Account Business Plan, as detailed in Appendix A to the report:

RESOLVED that the draft Housing Revenue Account Business Plan, as detailed in Appendix A to the report be approved.

The Committee received the report.

A vote was taken on Councillor McGuirk’s motion that the draft response should come back to this Committee for consideration:

The motion was lost.

A vote was taken on the recommendation in the report to delegate the preparation of a response to the Mayor’s Draft London Housing Strategy to the Deputy Chief Executive, in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee:

RESOLVED that the Committee delegate the preparation of a response to the Mayor’s Draft London Housing Strategy to the Deputy Chief Executive, in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee:

The Committee received the report.

RESOLVED that

1.    Housing Committee endorse the additions to the Regulatory Enforcement Policy detailed at Appendix 1 and 2 to include information relating to civil penalties for relevant offences under the Housing Act 2004 as amended by the Housing and Planning Act 2016 , Rent Repayment Orders, Banning Orders, and the Rogue Landlords data base;

2.    Housing Committee endorses the Statement of Principles to determine the amount of the penalty charge under the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide (England) Regulations 2015 detailed at Appendix 4;

3.    Housing Committee endorse the method for determining the civil penaltie;

4.    The  authority to delegate all powers to develop, implement and further minor amendments to the Council’s detailed Policy and Procedure in respect of the imposition of civil penalties to the Service Director – Regulatory Services in consultation with Chairman of the Housing Committee. Such policy to be in accordance with Schedule 13A of the Housing Act 2004 where appropriate, and any other guidance issued by the Secretary of State;

5.    The Service Director – Regulatory Services is authorised to delegate the discharge of powers above to other Council officers.

The Committee received the report.

RESOLVED that the proposed fees and charges for 2018/19, as set out in Appendix A, be approved.

The Committee considered the public version of this report and agreed that it would not be necessary to discuss the exempt version.

RESOLVED

1    That the Committee recommends the Assets, Regeneration and Growth Committee to authorise the making of Compulsory Purchase Orders, under Section 17 of the Housing Act 1985, in respect of the properties identified as ‘a to e’ in the exempt report.

2          That, subject to the Assets, Regeneration and Growth Committee authorising the making of the Compulsory Purchase Orders referred to in recommendation 1 above, the Orders be submitted to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for consideration and confirmation.

3          That, in the event of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government returning any of the Orders for confirmation by the Council, the Deputy Chief Executive be authorised to confirm the Orders.

4          Following confirmation of any of the Orders, to authorise the Deputy Chief Executive to enter into a cross-undertaking with the owner(s) of any relevant property not to implement the Order on the condition that the owner(s) agree to bring their property back into use within a reasonable time.

5          In the event that a cross-undertaking is not entered into as referred to in recommendation 4 above, or the terms of the cross-undertaking are not adhered to by the owner, to recommend that the Assets, Regeneration and Growth Committee authorises the Deputy Chief Executive to proceed with the compulsory acquisition of any of the properties in question.

6          Following compulsory acquisition of any of the properties ‘a to e’, an options paper on the onward disposal will be brought back to the Assets, Regeneration and Growth Committee for a decision.

7          To note that the financial costs of the CPOs will be funded through the currently approved capital programme.

RESOLVED that

1.    The Work Programme be noted;

2.    A Fire Safety Report Update be added to the Work Programme for consideration at forthcoming meetings of the Committee and a Review of the Housing Allocations Policy be added to the Work Programme.

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The press and public were not excluded from the meeting.

The Committee dealt with this item in public session and did not discuss exempt information.

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