Agenda item

Nicole Smith, Head of Strategic Housing; will give a presentation on:

·       National policy context

·       Wiltshire priorities

·       Assessment of need

·       Local data

·       Next steps

Nicole Smith, Head of Strategic Housing gave a presentation on Affordable Housing. Councillor Jonathon Seed was also in attendance for this item.

National policy context

·       Starter homes for first time buyers, under 40 available at 80% of the market value.

·       Housing associations build homes by borrowing against their future rents, with the requirement to reduce rents by 1% a year for the next four years was making housing providers reconsider their business plans.

·       Following the introduction of the benefit cap from April, the Council was looking into this and hoped that it excluded supported and temporary accommodation.

·       With an extension of the Right to Buy initiative, there was a possibility that a grant would be available to cover the loss of these properties.

·       Possible introduction of 2 – 5 year fixed term tenancies for social housing.

·       Those tenants who earn over £30k would be asked to pay higher rents and this extra money would be paid to Government and not kept by the authority.

Wiltshire priorities

·       To ensure there were a range of housing options available to meet needs.

·       To promote home ownership housing.

·       To enable a provision of homes for the most vulnerable.

·       To help people to achieve independence and choice enabling them to live at home for longer.

·       To improve the quality and make best use of existing stock

Assessment of need

•        The Core Strategy

•        Strategic Housing Market Assessment

•        Town and parish surveys

•        Under-occupation and overcrowding data

•        Demographic trends & census updates

•        Existing stock information

•        Re-let supply

•        Housing register

Local data

·       Proposed homes to be built 2006 – 2026 (Core Strategy) 6,060 (including Wilton town)

·       Delivered 300 new affordable homes during 2010 to 2016 in Salisbury Community Area

·       There were 1879 people on the housing register for Wiltshire, with 271 of those with Salisbury as a first choice.

·       In Fuggleston Red there were 56 affordable houses, with 42 of those rented and 17 shared ownership.

Next steps

·       Commissioning research at community area level

·       Developing housing strategy & agreeing priorities

·       Work with local communities & partners to understand local need and deliver new homes

·       Consider options to increase choices for those not able to meet needs in open market

·       Respond to national policy changes

Questions and comments included:

·       Salisbury City Cllr, Tom Corbin noted that Bemerton ward had a high proportion of social housing for Salisbury, the benefit cap would have a huge impact on many residents in the area. Zero hour contracts also had a massive impact on their incomes with most not being able to get a mortgage as they did not have a regular income. For families on fluctuating income, going above the £31,000 cap, how regularly would their income be reviewed before they were deemed as being under the lower level again? Answer: Any household earning above £31,000 a year would have an assessment carried out y HMRC. The income of the first two main earners in a family and not include siblings. There were people in need of social housing who could not access it because properties were taken by people with lifetime tenancies who were no longer in need.

·       The core strategy figures for new housing in Salisbury were for the three community areas, were the figures quoted in the presentation just for Salisbury or for the larger area? Answer: This was not known, Cllr Seed agreed to find out and feed an answer back to the Board. Housing would be looked at on a community area level.

·       Have the figures been calculated by the extended pension age or the age of 65? Answer: The figures were based on the last census. An exact answer would be fed back to the Area Board.

·       With the extension to the right to buy initiative, would the assets from the sale of properties in Salisbury go towards building new houses in other parts of the county? Answer: This amendment was put in by the House of Lords. All housing providers accepted this on a voluntary basis. The money would go to central government. Instead of this Wiltshire will propose that the funding is used to build housing locally.

·       If Housing Associations were not building new homes and Wiltshire Council was building homes, were the housing developments still required to provide sustainable housing? Answer: Many developments were appealing against the 40%.