Decision details

Matter for Decision

The scrutiny committee considered a joint report from the Head of Housing Development and the Head of Finance (s151 Officer) concerning a potential site acquisition to enable further development toward the new city council housing programme target for 1,000 net additional Council rented homes over the next 10 years.

Decision of Executive Councillor for Finance, Resources and Transformation

To recommend to Council to provide a budget of £33.94 million for a loan to the Cambridge Investment Partnership to cover land acquisition for the scheme explained in the confidential appendix to this recommendation.

To delegate authority to the Section 151 officer in consultation with the Executive Councillor to agree the final terms of the loan including the interest rate.

To note the risk that, due to revised MRP rules and PWLB funding rates at the time of the transaction, alternative funding arrangements may be more advantageous for CIP and the proposed scheme. In this case, CIP would make the decision on the choice of funding route from available options.

To note that the current scheme is an estimate and will require further detailed development. A final scheme and costs will be brought to the Housing Scrutiny Committee to consider the purchase of the affordable housing on this site.

To Delegate to the S151 officer to build the necessary funding requirement into the Medium Term Financial Strategy and to negotiate and agree terms for development finance to support this project in consultation with the Executive Councillor.

Reason for the Decision

As set out in the Officer’s report.

Any Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Not applicable.

Scrutiny Considerations

The Committee unanimously agreed to exclude the public after considering that the public interest was outweighed by paragraph 3 of Part 1 of schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 to enable committee debate of the officer report.

The Committee unanimously endorsed the recommendations.

The Executive Councillor approved the recommendations.

Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Executive Councillor (and any Dispensations Granted)

No conflicts of interest were declared by the Executive Councillor.