Chichester District Council
Issue

Issue - meetings

Allocation of Affordable Housing Commuted Sums

Meeting: 02/10/2018 - Cabinet (Item 579)

579 Allocation of Affordable Housing Commuted Sums pdf icon PDF 56 KB

The Cabinet is requested to consider the agenda report and to make the recommendation to the Council set out below:

 

That the allocation of £165,000 commuted sum monies to Windsor and District Housing Association Ltd (Radian) to fund the delivery of eight additional affordable units at Flat Farm Hambrook be approved.

Decision:

RECOMMENDED TO THE COUNCIL

 

That the Council approves the allocation of £165,000 commuted sum monies to Windsor and District Housing Association Ltd (Radian) to fund the delivery of eight additional affordable units at Flat Farm Hambrook.

 

 

Minutes:

The Cabinet received and considered the agenda report.

 

This item was presented by Mrs Kilby.

 

Ms Nicol and Mrs Grange were in attendance for this matter.

 

Mrs Kilby summarised the report. CDC currently held just under £1.2 m unallocated commuted sum monies, which had been received by developers when on-site affordable units were impossible to provide eg when the contribution due was for only a fraction of a unit. This commuted sum fund was set aside solely to enable affordable housing. Of the £1.2 m, just over £221,000 had been received from schemes in the parish of Chidham and Hambrook. Radian Housing Association had obtained planning permission to demolish an existing house and to develop 11 new homes. Three of those units were secured as shared ownership affordable housing within the section 106 agreement, with the rest to be market sale homes. Practical completion of the site was expected at the end of October 2018. However, due to issues of mortgage availability on the site Radian was willing to deliver all of the units as affordable rented properties. Accordingly, it had applied to vary the section 106 agreement and the usual consultations would take place before any decision was made. As the scheme was acquired as a market site, Radian needed a £165,000 grant to supplement that which had already been awarded from central government to enable the viability of an affordable housing scheme. This was a great cost-effective opportunity to provide more much-needed high quality affordable housing for local people. There were currently 17 households on CDC’s housing register which claimed a local connection to the Chidham and Hambrook parish. As there were no other affordable rented units programmed for the parish up to 2029, this could be the last chance for an appreciable time for local people to be housed within that area. It was a fitting opportunity to allocate £165,000 of the sums received from the developments within Chidham and Hambrook parish, thereby enabling the parish to benefit directly from earlier development.

 

Ms Nicol and Mrs Grange did not add to Mrs Kilby’s introduction.

 

Ms Nicol replied to members’ questions with regard to (a) mortgage availability issues (para 3.2 of the report) and (b) nomination agreement rights (para 4.3). As to (a), this was to do with the mortgagees’’ reticence to lend because of the proximity of pylons to the properties notwithstanding that they did not pose any risk or danger. As to (b), the usual nomination rights arrangements would apply ie 100% of initial lets followed by at least 75% of all vacancies thereafter.       

 

Decision

 

The Cabinet voted unanimously on a show of hands to make the recommendation below.

 

RECOMMENDED TO THE COUNCIL

 

That the Council approves the allocation of £165,000 commuted sum monies to Windsor and District Housing Association Ltd (Radian) to fund the delivery of eight additional affordable units at Flat Farm Hambrook.

 

 

 


 

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