Issue - meetings

To delegate authority to the Head of Community Services to evaluate potential new preferred registered providers for the delivery and/or management of new affordable housing on the strategic allocation sites and to make further operational decisions within the Affordable Housing Partnership.  

1.      That authority be delegated to the Head of Community Services to evaluate and select additional preferred registered providers for the delivery and/or management of new affordable housing on the strategic allocation sites.

2.      That authority be delegated to the Head of Community Services, in consultation with the Lead Member for Built Environment, to make further operational decisions within the Affordable Housing Partnership.

43.1           The report of the Strategic Housing and Enabling Officer, circulated at Pages No. 65-75, provided information about the Affordable Housing Partnership which was made up of the three Joint Core Strategy (JCS) local housing authorities and had been formed to oversee the delivery, allocation and management of affordable housing in the JCS strategic allocations along with the preferred registered provider list used for those allocations. Members were asked to delegate authority to the Head of Community Services to evaluate and select additional preferred registered providers for the delivery and/or management of new affordable housing in the strategic allocation sites; and to delegate authority for the Head of Community Services, in consultation with the Lead Member for Built Environment, to make further operational decisions within the affordable housing partnership.

43.2           Members were advised that, in 2015, the JCS authorities had set up the affordable housing partnership to deliver and manage properties and had agreed ten registered providers for the list. Those providers had been assessed under criteria about how they brought properties through and how they managed the tenants in those properties. It had not considered how new providers could be added to the list so a procedure for that needed to be put into place. The current registered providers had accepted that, rather than reviewing the whole list, only new providers should be assessed and it was felt that a process was needed to ensure decisions on this could be made without being referred to Committee each time.

43.3           Members felt this was a sensible way forward; however, one query was expressed as to why the entire list was reviewed every five years rather than four yearly in line with the term of the Council. In response, the Borough Solicitor advised that, as the arrangement also involved the other two JCS authorities, it would not be possible for the review to coincide with each of the Council terms. In addition, the Head of Development Services, indicated that five years was in line with the JCS plan period and the housing land supply.

43.4           In response to a query regarding the fact that Cheltenham Borough Council had its own housing provider, the Strategic Housing and Enabling Officer explained that the list was maintained by the Strategic Housing Partnership but it was up to the developers, and the registered providers which providers were used in which areas. The idea of the list was that the Partnership could work with those providers to try and ensure they were being developed and managed as the Councils would like.

43.5           Accordingly, it was