Agenda item

The Service Lead – New Homes gave a presentation on the new homes programme which was available on the council’s website here. 

The Service Lead, Councillor Reach, and other officers present responded to questions and comments raised by councillors on the presentation as follows:

a)    What were the main risks and headwinds that could affect the delivery of the forecast housing numbers?

b)    Clarification was sought as to why a five-unit exception site in Bighton was not included on the new homes distribution map.

c)    A breakdown of affordable housing by tenure type (e.g. social rent, affordable rent, and shared ownership) for both council and registered provider schemes be provided in future presentations to the committee.

d)    Referring to the Housing Development Strategy, a question was asked regarding action that could be taken based on the first preference data for housing need across the district.

e)    Clarification was sought on the typical length of an option agreement on land, such as that at Mayles Lane in Wickham.

f)      How could the council ensure that the size of homes being provided would meet the predicted future need for smaller households?

g)    When would councillors be able to comment on the Housing Development Strategy and would the committee have an opportunity to review?

h)    What consideration was given to land that had been gifted to the council for the purpose of housing development?

i)      An explanation was sought as to why the Ravenswood at Knowle scheme was not included in the report and when it might progress.

j)      A question was asked about how the updated strategy would address attracting necessary funding and working with other organisations, such as community land trusts, to deliver affordable homes.

Ian Tait spoke during public participation as summarised briefly below.

Questioned the progress on several housing schemes, including Dyson Drive, Woodman Close in Sparsholt, and Minden Way, highlighting the significant time and costs incurred with little apparent progress. He also inquired when the financial details for the King’s Barton and Morgan's Yard schemes would be made public to improve transparency.

Mr Tait raised concerns about the lack of housing delivery within the South Downs National Park.  He questioned how the council was working with the park authority to deliver affordable homes in that area and asked how schemes within the park, such as the one in Twyford, impacted the council's overall housing numbers?

Councillor Reach and the Service Lead responded.  Councillor Reach advised that he would discuss housing delivery in the Park area with the council’s representative.  The Service Lead advised that the final business case for Woodman Close would be presented to Cabinet in October and that financial details for other schemes were not able to be released as were either not yet approved by Cabinet or were still in active legal negotiations.  It was also confirmed that the council did assess development opportunities within the South Downs National Park but noted that the economic viability of smaller rural sites for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) was often a challenge.

RESOLVED:

          1. That the update regarding the new homes programme be noted.

2. That a breakdown of affordable housing by tenure type for both council and registered provider schemes be provided in future presentations to the committee