Issue - meetings

This item was Chaired by Councillor Todd-Jones (Committee Chair)

 

Matter for Decision

 

The report sought approval of a new Housing Strategy for Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District Councils. The draft Strategy is at Appendix A of the report.

 

Decision of Executive Councillor for Housing

 

     I.        Approved the overarching vision statement laid out in the Greater Cambridge Housing Strategy 2019-2023 (attached as Appendix A to this report): ‘Healthy, Safe, Affordable: Homes and Communities for All’.

   II.        Approved the vision laid out in the Greater Cambridge Housing Strategy 2019-2023 (attached as Appendix A to this report): ‘We want Greater Cambridge to be a place where: a) Everyone has access to a suitable home, and residents are able to live as healthily, safely, and independently as possible:

a) Everyone has access to a suitable home, and residents are able to live as healthily, safely, and independently as possible;

b) The housing market functions effectively, providing homes which are affordable to people on all incomes; to meet the needs of residents and support the local economy;

c) There is a wide and varied choice of good quality, sustainable homes of different sizes, types and tenures, including new provision of council homes, to meet the needs of a wide range of different households and age groups;

d) Homes are warm, energy and water efficient, with built-in resilience to climate change and fuel poverty;

e) Homes are affordable to live in, located in high quality sustainable environments, served by jobs and neighbourhood facilities, appropriate green space, effective and sustainable transport links and other necessary infrastructure.

f) People from all walks of life live in harmony, within mixed, balanced and inclusive communities; and homes and communities continue to meet the needs of residents into the future.

g) We have strong relationships with residents, developers and partners that enable housing and services to be delivered effectively, and that support innovation where appropriate.

  III.        Approved the objectives laid out in the Greater Cambridge Housing Strategy 2019-2023 (attached as Appendix A to this report):

a) Building the right homes in the right places that people need and can afford to live in;

b) Enabling people to live settled lives; and

c) Building strong partnerships.

 IV.        Approved the priorities laid out in the Greater Cambridge Housing Strategy 2019-2023 (attached as Appendix A to this report):

a) Increasing the delivery of homes, including affordable housing, along with sustainable transport and infrastructure, to meet housing need;

b) Diversifying the housing market and accelerating delivery;

c) Achieving a high standard of design and quality of new homes and communities;

d) Improving housing conditions and making best use of existing homes;

e) Promoting health and wellbeing through housing;

f) Preventing and tackling homelessness & rough sleeping; and

g) Working with key partners to innovate and maximise resources.

 

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 Head of Housing Strategy. She confirmed that as this was a joint strategy shared with South Cambs, there could be minor changes to the text at a later date as South Cambs had not yet agreed the Strategy. She assured the Committee that if the changes were anything more than minor textual changes, the report would come back to this Committee for further consideration.

 

The Committee made the following comments in response to the report:

     i.        Expressed concerns that South Cambs could amend a Strategy that this Committee had already approved.

    ii.        Suggested that it could be difficult to synchronise the definitions and delivery of affordable housing, shared ownership and viability assessments across the two authorities with such different land values. 

   iii.        Questioned why the Executive Councillor was now open to prefabricated options such as ‘Pocket Homes’, when the previous post holder had rejected this idea when it had been proposed as a Liberal Democrat motion to Council.

 

The Head of Housing Strategy and the Strategic Director (SH) stated the following in response to Members’ questions:

     i.        The City does not have a self-build programme but does maintain a self-build register. Demand in the City was low due to land values.

    ii.        The City and South Cambs were both working closely with the County Council to maintain housing support and Housing First initiatives. In the long term these offered the best value for money and the best outcomes for service users.

   iii.        Agreed that a full report on homelessness initiatives and services would be brought to this Committee later in the year.

  iv.        Confirmed that cross authority working was well established following work on the Local Plan and consultations were on-going regarding future priorities.

   v.        Confirmed that the Combined Authority had produced a Housing Strategy last year.

  vi.        Stated that it was important that the City had a robust strategy that reflected its position.

 vii.        Developers would always push against viability assessments and a defendable position was needed.

 

Councillor Johnson stated that no decision had been made regarding Pocket Homes but confirmed that he was exploring a range of options with an open mind.

 

The Committee resolved by 5 votes to 0 to endorse the recommendations.

 

The Executive Councillor approved the recommendations.