Decision details

Matter for Decision

The purpose of the report is to provide an update on city centre sites: Stanton House, East Road and Hanover and Princess Court. The report also sought approval to proceed with the demolition of Stanton House and redevelopment of the site through the Cambridge Investment Partnership (CIP) to provide 29 new highly sustainable affordable homes.

Decision of Executive Councillor for Housing

      i.         Approved that the Stanton House scheme be brought forward as an affordable housing development and included in the Housing Capital Programme, with an indicative capital budget of £9,808,469 for the construction costs, professional fees and further associated fees.

    ii.         Authorised the Director of Economy & Place in consultation with the Executive Councillor to deliver 100% affordable housing (29 units), with It is proposed that the affordable homes will be let in line with the Councils Housing Strategy, i.e. inclusive of a mix of social rent, 60% market rent and 80% market rent.

   iii.         Authorised the Director of Economy & Place in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Housing to approve variations to the scheme including the number of units and mix of property types, sizes, tenure, rent and the nature and level of the provision of special needs as outlined in this report.

  iv.         Approved that delegated authority be given to the Executive Councillor for Housing conjunction with the Director of Economy & Place to enable the site to be developed through Cambridge Investment Partnership (CIP) subject to a value for money assessment to be carried out on behalf of the Council.

    v.         Delegated authority to the Director of Economy & Place to instruct the demolition of the existing building at Stanton House.

Reason for the Decision

As set out in the Officer’s report.

Any Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Not applicable.

Scrutiny Considerations

The Committee received a report from the Assistant Director (Development).

The Assistant Director (Development) said the following in response to Members’ questions:

      i.         Planning Officers had been very clear that a community room would need to be provided as part of the redevelopment of Hanover and Princess Court. The Housing Development Team would work closely with the Communities Team to agree how this would be delivered. 

    ii.         Noted concerns raised about the loss of specialist housing with regards to the redevelopment of Stanton House but advised that the Housing Development Team had to respond to the current housing need, which was for general housing stock. There was specialist housing within the existing housing stock and unfortunately due to the nature of the occupants although there was a waiting list for the accommodation, people were able to access the specialist housing relatively quickly. Officers would reflect upon comments made at previous meetings about housing provision for older persons accommodation.

   iii.         Advised that a higher proportion of the residents within Stanton House were older homeless people as the accommodation wasn’t generally desirable as the studio flats were quite small. As part of the redevelopment relocation process, residents who continued to need sheltered accommodation were accommodated in other sheltered housing schemes and other residents had been relocated to ‘Long Drift Place’.  

  iv.         With the decant process, Officers worked with residents to find alternative accommodation which fitted their individual needs. Some residents had moved into general housing stock and other resident’s needs had increased and therefore some were accommodated in Ditchburn Place. If residents wanted to stay in a city centre location, Officers would try to accommodate this where possible.

    v.         Acknowledged the proposed Stanton House redevelopment scheme would provide less units than was there previously but advised that the units would be much larger. A consultation would take place with Housing Officers to determine the appropriate level of rent for the area. If the Council was awarded Homes England grant funding this may also dictate housing tenure / rent levels.   

  vi.         With reference to the Hanover and Princess Court redevelopment, paragraph 4.1 of the officer’s report summarised the starting point for redevelopment which included a percentage range of affordable housing provision of 40-60% of 138 properties. Officers were hopeful that the total number of homes that may be able to be delivered will be higher, but it may be towards the lower range of the affordable housing provision. If viability suggested that total numbers were lower than 138 or that a lower percentage (below 40%) of affordable housing would be delivered, then a further Executive Councillor decision would be required. 

 vii.         Biodiversity would be improved as part of the Hanover and Princess Court redevelopment and the community would be involved in developing ideas for this.

viii.         There was currently no date for the demolition of Hanover and Princess Court but once the planning application had been submitted Officers would meet with residents to advise them about the redevelopment timeline. 

  ix.         Officers would check the information contained within paragraph 5.9.1 ‘Physical Disability’. Post meeting note responding to the query raised. The needs analysis was carried out by the County Council. The County Council analysis seeks to identify the need for specialist accommodation; it is not identifying all people who have the specialist needs in question. Some people may have their needs met in other ways - for example by adaptations to their present homes or because in addition to their physical disability they have other needs which are a priority. The Committee Report is correct that the County Council analysis data does project that demand for supported living will reduce to 0 by 2026. As noted in the Committee Report the County Council analysis does also state that this may reflect a weakness in the available source data which may be unduly affected by an anomalous fluctuation in demand for the period 2020-2022.  There will be further discussions with the County Council about the best way to address specialist housing needs in the new development at Stanton House.

The Committee unanimously resolved to endorse 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.