The material relevant to this item is the report on pages 39 to 43 of the agenda and 21 to 43 of the (main) agenda supplement considered by the Cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday 4 December 2018.
The following recommendation was made by the Cabinet to the Council:
RECOMMENDATION TO THE COUNCIL
That the allocation of £102,000 from the Housing Investment Reserve be approved to enable the scheme design to be finalised and submitted for planning approval.
Minutes:
The Council considered the recommendation made to it by the Cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday 4 December 2018, as set out in pages 39 to 43 of the agenda report and pages 21 to 43 of the agenda supplement for that meeting.
Mrs J Kilby (Cabinet Member for Housing Services) formally moved the Cabinet’s recommendation and this was seconded by Mrs E Lintill (Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Community Services).
In presenting the Cabinet’s recommendation Mrs Kilby said that during the preceding six months there had been an increase of more than 13% in the number of people who were homeless contacting CDC, which included many families. The existing emergency accommodation had been operating at full capacity for the past year and there had been problems trying to find suitable accommodation for larger families, with the consequent unfortunate result that it had been necessary to resort to bed and breakfast accommodation, often outside Chichester District. This was far from ideal for those involved, especially for families with young children.
In December 2017 CDC had purchased a property adjacent to its existing temporary accommodation, since when it had been bought back into use to provide four one-bedroom flats as temporary accommodation while a full options appraisal to evaluate the most effective use of the property was undertaken. A budget of £15,000 had been approved for that appraisal and also a further £10,000 to progress the preferred option to the planning application stage. Since the Cabinet’s approval of the initial project initiation document (PID) in February 2017, it had become apparent that there were greater development opportunities on the site than originally anticipated. Following the appraisal it was proposed to demolish and rebuild the existing building and to provide a flexible property asset which could provide up to 21 units of additional short-term accommodation for homeless families and single vulnerable people. As a result, consultancy costs to bring a scheme to planning permission had risen to reflect the size and scope of the development: now £40,000 rather than the original estimate of £10,000. The cost to finalise the design after a grant of planning permission was estimated at £72,000.
Accordingly it was proposed that the Council should be asked to approve the allocation of £102,000 from the Housing Investment Reserve, which would enable the scheme design to be fully developed to conduct the procurement and take all steps including seeking tenders up to the award of contract stage. Contractors’ bids would be presented to the Cabinet following their receipt and analysis for an award of contract to be agreed. At that stage approval would be sought from the Council for funds to cover the costs of the redevelopment.
The preferred option set out in the PID would give CDC an opportunity to provide many more units of flexible temporary accommodation, making it easier to house larger families. This project would make a real long-term difference to homeless families in Chichester District.
Several members commended the project, which would help to address the homelessness situation within Chichester District.
Mrs Kilby and Mrs D Shepherd (Chief Executive) responded to members’ questions and comments on points of detail (the responses are denoted by the use of italics):
(a) Mrs C Apel (Chichester West) asked about the ownership of the property and the rehousing arrangements for the current tenants while the existing building was demolished and redeveloped: the property was not owned by a housing association but purchased by CDC in 2017; there were currently four flats occupied by short-term tenants, and those families would remain there until the works (which were subject to the grant of planning permission) commenced in late 2019 and their rehousing needs would be addressed in due course.
(b) Dr K O’Kelly (Rogate) (i) mentioned the accommodation plan for the tenants who would be in occupation when the property came to be demolished and the cost involved and (ii) asked, with regard to CDC’s obligations to vulnerable households, whether CDC could provide a monthly update in the Members Bulletin of how many families and households were being housed in temporary accommodation within and outside Chichester District and an estimate of the number of rough sleepers: (i) the mention of the accommodation plan was noted (no specific answer was given) and the information in (ii) would be provided regularly to members as requested – the number of rough sleepers fluctuated but averaged approximately 15 per week.
(c) Mr G McAra (Midhurst) commented that in his view the sale by CDC of the Tatchells site was a contributory cause to the current homelessness situation in the District: the extent of homelessness was caused by the national housing crisis and was not exacerbated by the sale of Tatchells, which had occurred several years ago.
(d) Mr R Plowman (Chichester West) expressed the hope that the timetable for the redevelopment of the property could be expedited: the need to commence the work sooner rather than later was recognised and the project would be expedited if reasonably practicable.
Decision
On a show of hands the members voted in favour of the Cabinet’s recommendation with no votes against and no abstentions.
RESOLVED
That the allocation of £102,000 from the Housing Investment Reserve be approved to enable the scheme design to be finalised and submitted for planning approval.