Agenda item

Discussion:

Members considered a report regarding a call-in received from the Labour Group of a Cabinet decision (200/2014) to approve the Draft Housing Strategy 2015-2018 and delegate authority to the Director of Regeneration, Community and Culture, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Community Services, to make any necessary minor changes prior to publishing the strategy. The Committee was requested to consider the Cabinet decision and decide either to take no further action or to refer the decision back to Cabinet for reconsideration.

Councillor Maple, the Lead Call in Member, noted that his Group rarely called in Cabinet decisions and the fact that they had called in this decision demonstrated the extent of their concerns. He felt the Strategy showed a level of complacency towards the housing crisis in Medway. Council housing was becoming for emergency use only and the housing strategy agreed by Cabinet should challenge this. His reasons for calling in the decision were as follows:

·         Concerns about private sector housing.

Some councils had established a social letting agency and he urged the Council to follow this approach which would help address the exploitation of tenants and sometimes landlords by unscrupulous letting agents

·         A selective licensing scheme should be established by the council to prevent tenants from being mistreated

·         Whilst he welcomed the building of council homes the pace was too slow and the strategy should contain more ambitious targets. The Council should lobby the Government to allow it more flexibility to build new homes

·         The Strategy did not go far enough to tackle the problem of empty homes. The Council should use its legal powers and other measures to tackle this issue

·         More should be done to increase levels of affordable housing by working with developers. He did not accept that developers would be deterred by higher levels of affordable housing

He then moved that the decisions be referred back to Cabinet for reconsideration for the reasons set out above. Another member supported this and felt the language of the Strategy was complacent and a more ambitious one would help not just with the housing crisis but would have much wider benefits for society and individuals. Claims that there were about 14,000 people on the housing waiting list who did not need to be there were insulting to the many people in desperate need of decent and appropriate housing. Affordable housing providers did not work together and the housing strategy should address that weakness. Whilst there was still affordable housing in Medway even this was still unaffordable for many on low incomes due to the size of the deposit needed.

The Assistant Director Housing and Regeneration commented that the Council had set up a successful accredited landlord scheme which it wished to expand. In addition, initiatives had been developed to tackle rogue landlords. A social letting agency had been attempted in the past and whilst it had not been successful it could be revisited to see if it was now viable. Medway had a lower level of empty homes than comparable councils and responded quickly to dilapidated homes or homes presenting problems. The Council worked proactively with developers to maximise the number of affordable homes. He also advised that a forthcoming survey of housing needs in Medway would feed into the Local Plan process and could lead to designation of additional housing sites. There would also be a review of the allocations policy later in the year. The Chief Finance Officer advised that there was no ability for the Council to go beyond the set borrowing headroom limits to build new homes.

A member commented that he shared some of the concerns about the Strategy but could not support the referral back to Cabinet. He felt there was still an issue about the definition of affordable housing and did not accept that the accredited landlord scheme referred to was a success as it did not guarantee quality accommodation. A better approach would have been for the Housing Task Group to have looked at these issues. Other members agreed with the suggestion that the Task Group could play a useful role in strengthening the Strategy. 

The motion to refer the decisions back to Cabinet for reconsideration was put to the vote and was not carried. A motion that no further action be taken was then put to the vote and carried.

Decision:

The Committee agreed to take no further action in respect of the call in of the  Cabinet decision (200/2014) to approve the Draft Housing Strategy 2015-2018 and delegate authority to the Director of Regeneration, Community and Culture, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Community Services, to make any necessary minor changes prior to publishing the strategy.