To approve the development work for the first proceedable site for affordable housing in Herefordshire.

The cabinet member housing, regulatory services and community safety introduced the report. She reminded cabinet members that a decision had been taken in November for the council to deliver up to 2,500 affordable homes in the county over the next 10 years. This subsequent paper sought agreement to work up outline proposals on the first development site, using funding from the Development Regeneration Programme (DRP), to establish the optimal mix. 

A correction to the wording of the recommendation was noted, that the housing should be ‘net zero carbon.

Cabinet members welcomed the proposal and noted that:

·        It had been identified that the site could deliver affordable housing and community space with approximately 180 units depending upon the ultimate type and style;

·        The environmental impacts had been considered including flood alleviation and integration with pedestrian routes to local services and other transport infrastructure;

·        The next stage would assess the deliverability of the site and present a number of options in terms of density of use, size of individual units and partners who might be interested in supporting the council, as well as a commercial review and viability assessment to identify the optimum mix of tenures;

·        As the council owned the site it could retain full control of what was built which would ensure the council’s sustainability policies and objectives were met and contribute to the proactive approach to ensure the right properties were available in the right location and built to a high specification.

Group leaders and representatives were invited to present the views and queries of their groups. The provision of affordable housing was generally welcomed although there were differences of opinion as to whether the council should be the body to provide this. It was noted that:

·        Value for money was important, and it might be necessary to sell some units to cross subsidise the affordable units;

·        The need to manage flooding on the site was recognised and the next stage would build on previous work to establish how this could be alleviated.

It was resolved that:

(a)   Cabinet approve to spend up to £68k to work up outline proposals for a net carbon zero affordable housing scheme on Sites 1b, 1c, 2a and 2b Station Approach for further review and approval by Cabinet.