Decision details

The Chairman welcomed the Cabinet Member for Housing (Councillor Tom Davey), the Strategic Director for Growth and Environment (Pam Wharfe), the Housing and Environment Lead Commissioner (Declan Hoare), the Director of Business Services at The Barnet Group Ltd. (Troy Henshall) and the Head of New Build at The Barnet Group Ltd. (Tony Piggott) for the item. 

In presenting the item, the Cabinet Member for Housing informed the Committee that the local authority new-build programme had delivered new affordable homes and was currently under budget.  He added that the new tenants had been positive about the properties. 

A Member commented that Barnet required over 10,000 homes to meet population demands.  It was noted that the new-build scheme would deliver a relatively small number of new homes and it was questioned whether new sites for affordable homes had been identified as part of the programme.  The Director of Business Services reported that the current developments were using in-fill sites and work was on-going to identify the best use of these sites.  Proposals for 30 additional units had been developed in detail and work was on-going to develop schemes for a further 10-15 units on additional sites.  The Committee were informed that the sites currently under development had fewer issues than some of the sites to be used later in the programme which may require demolition work to take place before construction could commence.

The Strategic Director for Growth and Environment reported that a revised Housing Strategy was in development which would set out options for meeting construction site demands to enable the achievement of housing targets.  It was noted that the Housing Strategy would be reported to the new Housing Committee in June 2014.  The Committee were informed that the Council had commissioned Savills to identify opportunities for using Housing Revenue Account headroom for new housing development. 

A Member highlighted that there had been some slippage in the current developments and questioned what lessons had been learnt from the initial phases.  The Director of Business Services reported that the main issues had been delays commencing on-site and planning restrictions.  Members were advised that the Warwick Close scheme had been dropped because of site issues.  A planning application for a scheme in Bedford Road was due to be submitted in May 2014.

The Committee noted that tenants had been placed on five year fixed tenancies and questioned whether they would qualify for right-to-buy.  The Cabinet Member for Housing informed the Committee that tenants currently qualified for right-to-buy after five years.

RESOLVED that the update on the Local Authority New-Build Programme as set out in the report and above be noted.