Issue - meetings

Report of the Director of Housing Services

1.      Approval is given for the draft Housing Asset Management Strategy, attached to the report, to go out for consultation with tenants and a report to be received back on that consultation in due course.

2.      It is noted that a resource plan will be developed for the delivery of the final strategy.

3.      Authority is to be given to the Director of Housing, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder, to set up a programme of small scale procurement of contract packages varying in value from £50,000 to £1.6 million as set out at appendix I of the draft Housing Asset Management Strategy, to commence as soon as is practically achievable.

Councillor Clarke addressed the Cabinet and referred to page 13 of the report where it was stated that over two thirds of the homes in the Spring Boroughs area would not reach the decent homes standard in 2009/2010. He felt that many homes in the Semilong, St. James and the town centre were also not benefiting from the decent homes standard in 2009/2010. He also felt that this was a poor situation and asked the Cabinet to look at ways of addressing deficit within the central area plan. It appeared that areas of non-urgency were being dealt with before areas that were in need like Castle Ward. He referred to paragraph 3.1.3. and expressed his opinion that decisions needed to be taken annually as well as over the long term and also advised against giving too much delegation to officers.

Councillor Malpas welcomed the report as well as the consultation. He was concerned about the report as although it was a draft, it had spelling mistakes and he felt that it could give a poor perception of NBC. He was also concerned about the report on Garages that had recently been presented at an Overview and Scrutiny meeting as it reported on different figures compared to the report attached to the agenda. He was worried that NBC would be perceived in a negative way due to the inaccuracies in the reports.

Councillor Palethorpe congratulated the Director of Housing and her team for preparing a readable document. As the document was easy to read, he felt that the public could now see the extent of the housing problems that NBC had to face. He asked that people who had bought their Council houses also be consulted, as these residents were also a vital part of the community. These owners living in council estates could be affected due to the deterioration of an area having an impact on house prices. Therefore he felt that there was a need to consider both leaseholders and freeholders.

As relevant Portfolio Holder, Councillor Beardsworth presented the report to Cabinet and explained that the reports for items 9 and 10 on the agenda should be considered together. It was noted that the report was in draft format leading up to the process of consultation. As it was a draft, all views would be considered. The aim of the report was to explain the investment options to provide good quality homes, safe neighbourhoods and attractive environments. Councillor Church commented that the NBC owned a range of properties in terms of quality, size, type and location.

RESOLVED

1.                  That Cabinet approve the draft Housing Asset Management attached to the report, for consultation with tenants and receives a report back on that consultation in due course.

2.                  That Cabinet note that a resource plan will be developed for the delivery of the final strategy.

3.                  That the authority be given to the Director of Housing, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder, to set up a programme of small scale procurement  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9