03 09 2003

RESOLVED:  That the Minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 11 June 2003 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a true and correct record.

 Consideration was given to a report of the Housing Services Manager (a copy of which is affixed in the Minute Book as Appendix "A").

The Board was advised that the Council currently operated a voluntary Right to Buy scheme which differed from the statutory scheme only in that tenants were allowed to exercise their right to buy after a one year qualification period (the period of time the tenant had been a tenant of the Council) rather than the two years set down in statute.

 

There had been concerns around abuse of the spirit of the current legislation including rising property prices in some areas of the country, which encouraged early buying and re-sale to maximise a short term "profit" from the property. Additionally some sales were instigated by property companies who then re-let the property at market rent either by leaseback arrangements or deferred ownership deals. There was some evidence that the same abuses identified by the Government were occurring in Gosport Council property.

 

The Government was attempting to address this by proposing the introduction of changes to the statutory Right to Buy scheme, which would probably become effective in early 2005. This included lowering the maximum discount to £16,000 in 41 local authority "hotspots" from 1 April 2003, extending the qualification period for secure tenants from two years to five years, the discount at five years being 35% for a house and 50% for a flat, and increasing the period after sale within which a tenant must repay all or a proportion of the discount from three to five years. Currently the proportion to be repaid was one third per annum and the Government proposed that this would become one fifth although landlords would have the power to waive this repayment. The repayment would, under the Government's proposals, be calculated as a percentage of the market value of the property as opposed to a flat rate sum based on the amount of the original discount.

 

The Board was advised that the Government's proposals would further widen the disparity between the Council's voluntary scheme and the statutory scheme and it was therefore proposed to introduce the current statutory scheme on 30 November 2003 to replace the existing voluntary scheme.

 

RESOLVED: That the Housing Board:

 

(i)       note the proposed changes to existing Right to Buy legislation under the Housing Bill;

(ii)      support the abolition of the Council's voluntary Right to Buy scheme by changing from a one-year qualification period to the statutory two-year qualification period; and

(iii)      refer this matter to the Policy and Organisation Board for approval

           

Consideration was given to a report of the Housing Services Manager (a copy of which is affixed in the Minute Book as Appendix "B").

 

Members were advised that, following a series of whole stock option appraisals, analysis of the 2002 stock condition survey and the development of the HRA business Plan 2002, Housing Board had decided to consult further with tenants and leaseholders (together known as residents) of the five tower blocks belonging to the Council.

The Options Appraisal report that resulted from this process had been produced following an extensive period of consultation with a steering group consisting democratically elected residents, officers, Trade Union representatives and an Independent tenants and Residents Adviser (ITRA) – Tenant Initiatives. A ward Councillor representative from both the Town and Leesland wards had also attended the process.

 

The residents' representatives had determined the criteria by which each option had been examined and had led the subsequent evaluation of each option. The report had represented the outcome of their assessment.

 

Members were advised that, since the meeting of the Housing Board in March 2003, the Steering Group had appointed Kelsey Housing Association as the Council's partner housing association for the potential transfer and a communications sub-group of the Steering Group was overseeing the production of newsletters informing residents of the proposals. A range of consultation events, run in partnership with Kelsey Housing Association, would be taking place over the next few months.

 

The Steering Group was currently producing an "offer document" for tenants and leaseholders, describing the proposed terms of the transfer and which would give details of the improvement work to be undertaken. Kelsey Housing Association had indicated that they would ensure that tenanted flats met the Decent Homes Standard within three years of transfer.

 

The "offer document" would be prepared in consultation with the Chairman of the Housing Board and it was anticipated that this would be issued to residents in mid September 2003. Following a period of consultation and consideration of responses, notification of the final details of the proposal would be provided, upon which tenants would be asked to vote. Leaseholders would also be balloted to gauge their opinion of the proposal. The postal ballot of residents, which would be conducted by Electoral Reform Ballot Services Ltd., would commence in early November 2003 and would close on Monday 1^st December 2003. The results of the ballot would be reported to the next available meeting of the Housing Board. If tenants returned a decision that would allow a transfer to take place, the matter would then be referred to Council for consideration and, if appropriate, then referred to the Secretary of State for a decision.

 

Members were advised that the 2003 edition of the HRA Business Plan clearly indicated that, under the present national housing finance regime, the current strategy of pursuing the potential transfer of the Council's tower block homes to its preferred partner, Kelsey Housing Association, would, if successful, enable the Council to improve its remaining housing stock before the 2010 deadline. Given the wider health, environmental and socio-economic benefits of securing this improvement, the Council was working extensively with residents and its partners to deliver this strategy and was diverting significant resources to ensure that residents' aspirations were taken into account prior to the ballot of tenants and leaseholders in November 2003.

 

RESOLVED: That the Housing Board note the Housing Services Manager's report.

  

Consideration was given to a joint report of the Housing Services Manager and the Borough Solicitor (a copy of which is affixed in the Minute Book as Appendix "C") in connection with the proposed variation of the restrictive covenant imposed on the Portsmouth Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees in a conveyance dated 3^rd February 1954 when the site of the church and presbytery had been sold by the Council.

 

Members were advised that, on 5^th November 2002, the Regulatory Board had resolved to grant planning permission for a change of use from presbytery to committee and two flats, subject to the completion of a planning agreement relating to the payment of a commuted sum towards the provision and/or improvement of outdoor playing space.

 

At the time of sale, a restrictive covenant had been imposed, which stated that the use of the land would be limited to a church, church hall and presbytery. The covenant had been imposed in order to prevent the erosion of community facilities in that part of Bridgemary. There had been concern that, if there had been a lack of churches and their incumbents in the area, it could have proved difficult to encourage people to move to the Gosport area.

 

Records indicated that the Council had held the land until its sale for housing purposes and the surrounding land was, in part, Council stock.

 

Members were advised that the proposal was for two flats and a committee room (for church use) and did not appear to result in a significant reduction in community facilities. However, other development could have a more significant impact and therefore there would be a continuing need to restrict development on this site. It appeared that this could best be achieved by varying the covenant to allow the development authorised by the Regulatory Board to proceed rather than simply removing the covenant altogether.

 

The Board was concerned that the Portsmouth Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees were unwilling to agree to the Council having nomination rights on the two flats and expressed the view that officers should write a suitable letter indicating that the Council would still wish to have nomination rights on the two flats and that Members took exception to the tone of a letter received from the Trustees' solicitor and their attitude towards the Council's tenants..

 

RESOLVED: That –

 

(i)    a recommendation be made to the Policy and Organisation Board that the Council agree to vary the covenant so as to allow development under Planning Application Ref K5911/4 to proceed, subject to planning permission being issued; and

(ii)   officers write a suitable letter to the Portsmouth Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees (or their representative) to reaffirm the Council's request to be given nomination rights on the two flats and to indicate that Members took exception to the tone of a letter received from the Trustees' solicitor and their attitude towards the Council's tenants and that a copy of the letter and any response be circulated to all Members of the Housing Board.

RESOLVED:  That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the under mentioned items of business on the grounds that they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 9 and 12 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

  

Consideration was given to an exempt report of the Housing Services Manager (a copy of which is affixed in the Minute Book as Appendix "D").

 

RESOLVED: That the Housing Services Manager obtain two further quotations, select the most cost-effective provider and then enter into a rental agreement to enable the upgrade to be implemented early in 2004.

  

 

Consideration was given to an exempt joint report of the Housing Services Manager and the Financial Services Manager (a copy of which is affixed in the Minute Book as Appendix "E").

 

The Board placed on record its thanks to the Head of Housing Strategic Services for the work carried out in connection with the PPG3 sites.

 

Members also placed on record their thanks to Councillor Searle for representing the Council in its efforts to secure funding for the sites.

           

            RESOLVED: That –

 

(i)    the contents of the reports be noted; and

 

(ii)   approval be given, subject to funding being available, to the Social Housing

      Grant contributions outlined in Appendix 2 of the report.

             

 19.  INFILL SITE DEVELOPMENT

 

Consideration was given to an exempt report of the Housing Services Manager (a copy of which is affixed in the Minute Book as Appendix "F").

 

Members were advised that the figure quoted in paragraph 4.3 of the report should read £145,000.

 

RESOLVED: That –

 

(i)    approval be given in principle for the sale of the sites identified in the report at open market value and the matter be referred to the  Policy and Organisation Board for its approval, with a recommendation that the land be offered in the first instance to one of the Council's approved development partners ;

(ii)    should a disposal be approved by the Policy and Organisation Board, the Borough Solicitor be authorised to enter into such legal documentation as is necessary to transfer the land concerned to one of the Council's approved partners, on the terms recommended by the Council's Head of Property Services or other independent consultant valuer appointed for this purpose; and

(iii)    the Housing Services Manager, in consultation with the Chairman of the Housing Board and Group Spokespersons, be given delegated authority to work with one of the Council's approved partners to agree detailed proposals for each site.

  

 20.  SALE OF LAND FOR LRT ROUTE

            

Consideration was given to an exempt report of the Corporate Services Manager (a copy of which is affixed in the Minute Book as Appendix "G").

 

RESOLVED: That –

 

(i)     the sale or licence to Hampshire County Council of the plots of land set out in the report be approved subject to authorisation by the Policy and Organisation Board; and

(ii)    any money received from the sale or licence of the land be ring-fenced in order to finance the re-acquisition of the plots of land should the LRT project fail.

 

 

 

 

CHAIRMAN