Agenda item

The Our North Tyneside Plan was approved at full Council on 23 September 2021 and included a target of delivering 5,000 affordable homes and a commitment to reduce the number of derelict properties in the borough.

To meet this ambitious target, Cabinet approved a two-phased delivery approach to the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) on 21 February 2022.

This report provides Cabinet with a progress update on the delivery of Phase One of the AHP and work planned for the year 2024-25.  It also provides information on the good progress that has been made towards delivering Phase Two of the AHP and presents a revised programme that includes several new initiatives that will contribute to the delivery of 5,000 affordable homes.

Cabinet received a report to provide an update on the delivery of Phase One of the Affordable Homes Programme and the work planned for the year 2024-2025.  Councillor Harrison thanked Cabinet for allowing him the opportunity to present the report.

Cabinet were advised that delivering affordable homes and reducing derelict properties are key priorities within the Our North Tyneside Plan. The Affordable Homes Programme was originally approved by Cabinet on the 14 May 2013 to increase the pace and scale of affordable homes delivery in the borough.  Councillor Harrison was pleased to report, that by the end of 2023-24, our programme will have delivered nearly 2,300 much needed affordable homes. This includes delivering over 600 council homes and bringing back 50, long-term empty and derelict properties back into use as affordable homes.

Councillor Harrison expressed how proud he was of our performance to date, and I am pleased to inform Cabinet that since our commitment back in 2013, the delivery of affordable homes in the last ten years has increased by 182% when compared to the ten-years, preceding the launch of our Programme.  This report provides Cabinet with a progress update on the delivery of Phase One of the Affordable Homes Programme and highlights the work planned for the next 12 months.

Furthermore, the report provides details of our progress to identify a further 1,000 homes in Phase Two the programme and seeks Cabinet approval for the revised 10-year Housing Revenue Account Affordable Homes Delivery Programme that will see the Council invest circa £44m to deliver 300 new Council homes by 2033 including delivering homes on several brownfield regeneration sites that the Council has recently acquired.   We have already made good progress in delivering Phase 2 and through our new initiatives, are forecasting to increase our delivery of homes by 227, bringing the total projected target up to 4,327 by 2032.

Our new initiatives include:

·              An innovative housing-led regeneration project in Wallsend that targets empty and derelict properties and supports the delivery of the Ambition for Wallsend

·              A new, private rented partnership approach to increase the provision of temporary accommodation

·              Identifying opportunities to work with Adult and Children’s services to deliver specialist housing and tackle rising care costs.

Cabinet considered the following decision options:

Option 1:  (a) to receive and note the update on the delivery of Phase One of the Affordable Homes Programme detailed in 1.2(1) of the report and; (b) Agree the recommendations detailed in paragraph 1.2(2) and (3) of the report.

Option 2: (c) to received and note the update on the delivery of Phase one of the Affordable Homes Programme detailed in 1.2(1) of the report; and (d) Reject the recommendations detailed in paragraph 1.2(2) of the report.

Resolved: 1) to note the progress to date to deliver 5,000 affordable homes through the affordable homes programme and programmed work for 2024/25; 2) that the revised 10-year Affordable Homes Delivery Plan including bringing forward next sites as outlined in section 1.5.5 of the report be approved; and 3) the Director of Housing and Property Services be authorised in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing, Director of Resources and Head of Law to undertake all necessary work to bring forward the proposals as identified in section 1.5.5 of the report.

(Reason for the decision: It will support the delivery of the Elected Mayor and Cabinet’s commitment within the North Tyneside Plan to deliver more quality homes, reduce the number of derelict properties and support the ambition for North Tyneside to be carbon neutral by 2030.