To approve proposals for the use of funding provided under the Community-Led Housing Fund.

The cabinet member for health and wellbeing introduced the report.

The strategic wellbeing and housing manager drew attention to the supplementary information that had been published regarding the status of Marches CLTS. It was clarified that this organisation provided services and support for community housing developments but was not itself a community land trust and therefore was not eligible for any funding earmarked for grant aid to community land trusts.

The strategic wellbeing and housing manger highlighted that £252k had been paid to Herefordshire Council from the Community-Led Housing Fund. Subject to the submission of appropriate schemes a further £251k was expected to be released. The timescale for submission required a prompt decision.

The proposed schemes for submission were listed in the report. It was noted that there was a broad range of forms of community-led housing including community land trusts, co-housing schemes, self-build housing and self-help housing which made use of vacant or obsolete properties. Funding would be allocated with a focus on schemes which were already in development with land identified or on ways to build capacity within the council to support future community housing projects.

A group leader welcomed the funding but expressed concern that too much might be used on capacity building within the council and not enough on delivering projects on the ground. The cabinet member for health and wellbeing stated that the council would not be spending funding on consultants but that it was important to have good support mechanisms in place to deliver projects.

In response to a question the strategic wellbeing and housing manager stated that opportunities on larger development sites to have an element of community housing were already being considered and that there was good read across emerging development plans. The council would be open minded about the models of community housing that could be supported. He stated that this should be seen as the first year of a five year programme and that it was important to lay good foundations and explore which options had the most potential for future delivery.

The cabinet member for transport and roads noted that the sum allocated was relatively small in capital terms and asked if the council should focus on one or two projects to ensure delivery on the ground, rather than starting many feasibility studies that did not deliver tangible results. The strategic wellbeing and housing manager responded that the suggestion had merit but the council wanted to keep an open mind on options for delivering community housing and this would require some exploratory work.

A cabinet support member noted that the funds had to be spent by March 2018 and it was unlikely that the funds would be translated into bricks and mortar in this space of time given the length of the planning process. The strategic wellbeing and housing manager stated that the council was free to spend the allocation as either capital or revenue and that there was at least one co-housing scheme which had already made good progress through the planning process. Further guidance on expenditure was awaited from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

The cabinet member for economy and corporate services asked what the anticipated allocation for years 2-5 of the programme was. The strategic wellbeing and housing manager stated that it was not clear but the expectation was that the funding would be at least of the same level as that received in the first year.  

Resolved that:

(a)  the proposals detailed at paragraph 9 of the report for the use of funding to a maximum of £503k from the Department of Communities and Local Government under the Community-Led Housing Fund be approved; and

(b)  authority be delegated to the director for adults and wellbeing to allocate the available community-led housing funding to specific programmes, grants and initiatives in order to implement the proposals.