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17 The Housing Market in Greater Cambridge PDF 150 KB
Report enclosed separately
Additional documents:
Minutes:
This item was chaired by Councillor Todd-Jones
Matter for
Decision
i.
Cambridge City
and South Cambridgeshire district together represented the important economic
hub of Greater Cambridge. Housing was an essential contributor to supporting
economic growth and the paper showed why this must include a mix of tenures
including affordable housing and housing for social rent. The key characteristics
of the housing market in Greater Cambridge and the impact of Government
legislation were examined using local data and national studies. This supported
the asks to Government in the final section of the
paper. These asks would enable the City Council to
continue to develop housing that is affordable to rent and buy across a range
of tenures. This includes new council housing, to address a growing need as
access to housing in the Greater Cambridge area moves rapidly out of the reach
of many households.
ii.
At the time of
writing the paper legislation affecting housing was going through the final
stages of the parliamentary process, namely the Welfare Reform and Work Bill
and the Housing and Planning Bill. The details of how aspects of the Housing
and Planning Bill would work in practice had yet to be finalised. The terms of a potential devolution deal were
also under discussion. The asks in this paper contributed to making the case
for a better housing deal for Cambridge in our ongoing discussions with
Government about the impact of legislation and devolution.
Decision
of Executive Councillor for Housing
i.
Agreed to adopt
the statement as a summary of the Cambridge Housing Market and the impact of
impending legislation.
ii. Agreed the asks in paragraph 3.5 as the foundations for negotiation with Government
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 Director of Customer and Community Services regarding the Housing Market
in Greater Cambridgeshire.
The Committee made the following comments in response to the report:
i.
Suggested that Cambridge was becoming less viable
and increasingly unhealthy.
ii.
Highlighted the work around Healthy Cities.
iii.
Suggested that this report was unlikely to achieve its
desired result but agreed that is was worthwhile.
iv.
Suggested that some concessions had been made to
the original proposals. For example, pay to stay taper rates had been agreed.
The Director of Customer and Community Services stated that the
legislation was currently broad brush stroke and that there might be an
opportunity to influence the details.
The Executive Councillor for Housing confirmed that he would continue to
put pressure on central government and would endeavour to exert influence with
the Housing Minister where possible.
The Committee unanimously resolved
to endorse the recommendations.
The Executive Councillor
approved the recommendation.
Conflicts of Interest
Declared by the Executive Councillor (and any Dispensations Granted)
No conflicts of interest
were declared by the Executive Councillor.