Agenda item

Committee received a presentation on New Build Homes from Stephen Nash and Alistair Gale, Head of Strategic Development & Delivery and Head of Programming Design & Customer Care. The following points were highlighted:

·       There is a housing crisis with a desperate shortage of genuinely affordable homes with over 15,700 registered on Islington’s housing waiting list.

·       At present under 3,000 Islington households live in overcrowded accommodation of which over 500 are severely overcrowded households.

·       Homelessness is on the rise and temporary accommodation availability is declining.

·       Meeting was advised that 146 applicants on the housing register require wheelchair accessible accommodation.

·       In 2008 Islington Council became one of the first local authorities to start building new council housing again for 25 years, following a period which it had been forced sell off housing stock through the Right To Buy scheme.

·       Islington remains one of the smallest and most densely populated boroughs in London, that much of the borough is already built up, resulting in a scarcity of land for new housing.

·       The lack of land supply and high property values in Islington has driven the council to look for opportunities to build new homes on land it already owns. Most of the completed and under construction new housing projects consist of building new homes alongside existing homes on council-owned estates.

·       It was noted that ‘infill’ projects are often on constrained sites that require carefully considered design and well managed construction which tends to result in higher construction and development costs.

·       Members were advised that with every project, the new build team aims to build as many new council homes as possible; improve communal areas, improve facilities and landscaping; making sure the new homes and any improvements made meet the residents’ needs on the estate.

·       In addition to the above, other aims of the new build team is to ensure  that there will be minimal disruption to its residents; achieving the best value for money; that proposals prioritise a mix of homes more closely aligned with housing need, including larger family homes, accessible homes and specialist supported housing.

·       Islington’s local lettings policy gives local residents priority for the new council homes built, particularly those living in homes that don’t meet their current needs which then provides another opportunity to release existing homes that are then re-let to meet the needs of other Islington residents.

·       With regards to design and construction, meeting was advised that council’s aspiration is to achieve higher standards for housing design and build quality homes.

·       Council aims to be at the forefront of building safe, secure, high quality, maintainable, energy efficient new homes that residents would be proud to live in, that its approach is bespoke to each individual site but pinned to a core set of principles to achieve a consistently high level of quality and performance.

·       All new homes are designed to be tenure blind, with no visible difference in the appearance and common areas of buildings of different tenure.

·       The Council has worked successfully with its contractors to maximise the training and employment opportunities for residents arising from our housing development projects.

·       In terms of resident engagement, meeting was advised that its contractor framework provides the Council with access to the right contractors to deliver the quality homes and to manage the construction impacts on local residents. Officer advised that committee will be receiving a presentation on resident engagement at a future meeting.

·       All schemes involve a significant amount of engagement with local residents, through a variety of different ways to ensure all residents have an opportunity to get involved and have their say.

·       Council is committed to involving residents at its earliest stages, encouraging them to provide their lived experience about their home and estate. Feedback received helps the team to design schemes that can address housing need, tackle anti-social behaviour and upgrade or provide new facilities for the community.

·       In terms of housing delivery, between 2009 and the end of August 2023, 580 new high quality, genuinely affordable council homes were built. Also new specialist supported accommodation was also provided, enabling Islington residents to live in their communities rather than outside the borough and to receive the best care and support possible.

·       The Housing Director acknowledged that development has taken place at more than 40 locations in 17 wards with the result Council has been able to house over 2,500 Islington residents.  

·       Islington Council has built 28 shared ownership, and 102 outright sale homes in the period stated above, with receipts from the sale of these private homes helping to pay for the new affordable housing and other associated estate and social infrastructure improvements.

·       In terms of funding for new homes, meeting was advised of rental income from the new council rent homes; prudential borrowing from the Public Works Loan Board; open market sales; Right to Buy (RTB) receipts and GLA grant funding.

·       Islington has a target to build 750 new council homes between 2023-2027, noting the schemes at Finsbury Leisure Centre and Vorley Road. All will contribute to meeting the target with 200 new homes, 50% council rent which meets Passivhaus standards and includes new leisure and medical centres, new public realm, play and landscaping.

·       In light of the current wider economic climate, the programme of new build homes presents significantly viability pressures and considerable risks such as high inflation, interest rate rises leading to higher borrowing rates for councils; construction costs at a 40-year high which is unlikely to fall; flatlining sales values and increased mortgage rates.

·       Delivery of homes has become increasingly challenging and many public and private sector housing developers have either paused, slowed, or radically altered their delivery programmes, resulting in fewer affordable homes being built, particularly in London, noting that work is underway to mitigate these challenges.

·       Director informed the meeting that as part of the review exercise, topics for discussion at future meetings will include consultation and engagement methods and communications; partnership working activities and opportunities; measures in place to meet the current and potential future economic challenges; lobbying activities to increase financial support and access to potential sites for development; how other Local Authorities are meeting the current economic challenges; compare performance with other LA housebuilders to measure performance; innovative practices, including modular, build-overs, garage conversions; estate transformation opportunities to increase new housing supply and address issues in existing housing stock.

·       In response to concerns about monitoring of works carried out by sub-contractors, Interim Director advised that a dedicated small After Care team has been in place in the last 18-24 months do carry out checks noting that lessons have been learnt and reassuring members that personnel involved have a construction background.

·       Meeting was advised that car parks on existing council estates are possibilities however acquisition of private car parks is more challenging as Council has no control over such land and such land attract exorbitant land values which is unaffordable. Meeting was advised that committee will be receiving a presentation at a future meeting on council’s partnership with land owners.

·       A member request for a further breakdown of bedrooms sizes could be provided especially in light of Council’s commitment to build more family homes was noted.

·       On a suggestion that Council consider using one standard design similar to well-known national home builders instead of having multitude of designs, the Director advised that this could not be replicated as most of the new build homes are being built on existing estates and it is important to note that besides building affordable homes, it is important that such developments do not have an impact on the amenity of existing residents.

·       On the number of homes being delivered, the Director clarified that the 28 shared ownership noted in the report is not included in the 580 homes built. The Chair requested that officers provide number of homes built year by year in the last 5 years so that members can have a full understanding of the trend.

·       On the role of planning and council policies, Karen Sullivan reassured members that following a discussion on Tall Buildings in the context of addressing overcrowding issues at previous committee meeting, issues around density are being discussed at corporate level and that going forward schemes will be brought to planning committee in the near future.

·       The Chair acknowledged the challenges in this area, noting that the Council will need to be both bold and innovative in order to address overcrowding and building affordable high quality homes stating that he welcomes the numerous awards that the council has received in terms of design but would be more delighted if awards could be received for building more affordable homes.

RESOLVED:
That the presentation be noted.