Council

Agenda Item 89

Subject: Affordable Housing

Date of meeting:    1 February 2024

Proposer:                 Councillor McLeay 

Seconder:                Councillor Hill

Ward(s) affected:   All

Green Group amendment

This council notes:

1) The Council has not been achieving its Affordable Housing supply target in recent years and there can be resistance from some developers to the implementation of the Affordable Housing policy.

2) The proposed publication of new guidance in the form of an Affordable Housing Practice Note (AHPN) which is intended to inform and guide applicants, developers, Homes England, Registered Providers and BHCC’s Development Management & Housing teams, of the steps that must be taken by all parties on the implementation of these policies and targets.

3) A significant proportion of sites coming forward for housing are for small sites where implementing the Council’s affordable housing requirements is challenging.

4) That over the past four years the council became the largest provider of affordable rented housing in the city achieving 430 additional council homes compared to 193 homes from registered providers (between 1.4.19 and 1.4.23) and is well placed to continue this achievement since the current administration inherit a 5-year pipeline with potential to deliver over 1,000 homes and pledged in pre-election literature to provide 800 additional council homes.

5) That the quickest way to add additional council homes is by buying homes and buildings (achieving over 424 additional council homes averaging 71 units a year since the home purchase policy started), significantly outstripping losses from the Right to Buy alone.

Council resolves to call for an officer report to Culture, Heritage, Sport, Tourism & Economic Development Committee which addresses:

6) A proposal for a model draft of an AHPN that can be delivered in Brighton & Hove.

7) Ways of requiring developers to meet the affordable housing target percentages set out in relevant Local Plan policies without public subsidy, with the AHPN setting out how this will be done on submission of the planning application.

8) A process that strengthens all participants’ expertise around delivery models. 

9) Incorporating possibilities for affordable units on smaller sites where there is a desire to ensure that such units are provided to meet the Council area’s housing need.

10)  Ways of incorporating support for smaller developers such as ‘alternative’ community-run providers to deliver Affordable Housing units through a stand-alone planning application or as a party to a scheme with another developer.

11) Considers the proposal that any affordable units on all sites which are designated ‘for any registered provider’ be considered by the councils housing dept initially to provide as part of our social housing.

12)The report sets out plans to achieve the target of 800 additional council homes between May 2023 and May 2027, using all means possible, including measures to continue to maximise the purchase of homes and buildings and the reinvestment of the councils share in profits from the joint venture with Hyde (estimated at £4.2 million) to maximise the viability of additional council house schemes.

Recommendations to read if carried:

This council notes:

1) The Council has not been achieving its Affordable Housing supply target in recent years and there can be resistance from some developers to the implementation of the Affordable Housing policy.

2) The proposed publication of new guidance in the form of an Affordable Housing Practice Note (AHPN) which is intended to inform and guide applicants, developers, Homes England, Registered Providers and BHCC’s Development Management & Housing teams, of the steps that must be taken by all parties on the implementation of these policies and targets.

3) A significant proportion of sites coming forward for housing are for small sites where implementing the Council’s affordable housing requirements is challenging.

4) That over the past four years the council became the largest provider of affordable rented housing in the city achieving 430 additional council homes compared to 193 homes from registered providers (between 1.4.19 and 1.4.23) and is well placed to continue this achievement since the current administration inherit a 5-year pipeline with potential to deliver over 1,000 homes and pledged in pre-election literature to provide 800 additional council homes.

5) That the quickest way to add additional council homes is by buying homes and buildings (achieving over 424 additional council homes averaging 71 units a year since the home purchase policy started), significantly outstripping losses from the Right to Buy alone.

Council resolves to call for an officer report to Culture, Heritage, Sport, Tourism & Economic Development Committee which addresses:

6) A proposal for a model draft of an AHPN that can be delivered in Brighton & Hove.

7) Ways of requiring developers to meet the affordable housing target percentages set out in relevant Local Plan policies without public subsidy, with the AHPN setting out how this will be done on submission of the planning application.

8) A process that strengthens all participants’ expertise around delivery models. 

9) Incorporating possibilities for affordable units on smaller sites where there is a desire to ensure that such units are provided to meet the Council area’s housing need.

10)  Ways of incorporating support for smaller developers such as ‘alternative’ community-run providers to deliver Affordable Housing units through a stand-alone planning application or as a party to a scheme with another developer.

11) Considers the proposal that any affordable units on all sites which are designated ‘for any registered provider’ be considered by the councils housing dept initially to provide as part of our social housing.

12)The report sets out plans to achieve the target of 800 additional council homes between May 2023 and May 2027, using all means possible, including measures to continue to maximise the purchase of homes and buildings and the reinvestment of the councils share in profits from the joint venture with Hyde (estimated at £4.2 million) to maximise the viability of additional council house schemes.