Ask
That the Government:
- Waive the one per cent rent decrease for those housing associations affected.
- Provide dedicated grant funding to support the acceleration of Phase 4 and Phase 5 to complete the regeneration of North Prospect.
- Commence discussions on a Housing Deal for Plymouth in the context of the Heart of the South West High Growth Corridor (please see Section 2 on the Economy).
Context
Plymouth has a proactive approach to development, regeneration and growth. The Joint Local Plan is planning for a city of over 300,000 people by 2034, with 26,700 homes (of which 6,600 will be affordable) and 13,200 jobs.
Plymouth’s award-winning Plan for Homes was launched in 2013 with the ambition of delivering 1,000 homes every year for five years. £80m has already been identified within the Capital Programme to support its delivery. For instance, the North Prospect Estate Regeneration Programme is the largest regeneration scheme in the South West. This is a £190m programme expected to deliver 1,133 new homes with 796 demolitions. Phases 1 and 2 have already delivered 573 homes with Phase 3 on site and set to deliver a further 159 homes. This programme has only happened because of the very close working between Plymouth City Council and Plymouth Community Homes to find innovative funding solutions to deliver homes that people need and can afford set against significant deliverability challenges.
The estimated costs of the post Grenfell corrective works are likely to have a significant impact on future housing plans for the city. The projected costs are £13.5m for the erection of scaffolding and removal/replacement of the cladding at the three Mount Wise Towers. In addition, £1.5m has already been committed by the owners, Plymouth Community Homes for the fitting of heat sensors, sprinklers and additional safety measures, Walking Watch and protection to stairwells. We have yet to absorb the findings of Dame Judith Hackitt’s review of building safety. Whilst the recently published report ‘Building a Safer Future’ does not recommend specific safety measures the new regulatory framework may still impose additional costs above and beyond the £13.5m referenced above.
If the city had to fund these works alone, the impact on the delivery of the Plan for Homes would be significant. It would equate to a significant reduction in Plymouth City Council capital support for housing in general and result in a potential reduction of 850 new homes over five years (170 new homes per annum). This would result in the loss of a range and mix of future homes including Extra Care for older people, supported and affordable housing to meet identified priority housing needs. For Plymouth Community Homes, it would directly impact the development of new homes and the maintenance/refurbishment of existing homes with a potential reduction of 220 homes or a deferred refurbishment of 413 homes.
We therefore welcome the Minister of State for Housing, Dominic Raab’s recent announcement that the Government will fully fund the removal and replacement of dangerous Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding on buildings owned by councils and housing associations.
We note his stated intention to get funding to local authorities and housing associations as soon as possible, and look forward to hearing shortly about how councils and housing associations can apply for funding, including conditions attached to the grant. We seek assurance that the funding that has been made available will be sufficient to cover all the works required to clad the three Mount Wise Towers and that the national costs estimated at £400 million are really sufficient to meet the cost of refurbishing all those buildings currently identified as requiring remedial action.
The money is coming from the Affordable Homes Programme in this spending review period. The same amount of money will then be put back into the programme in 2021-22, the Government states. The Affordable Homes Programme will therefore remain at over £9 billion, with £400 million of that now available in 2021-22. The programme will still deliver the same number of homes, however it could mean that fewer homes are delivered in the short term.
Proposals
- The benefit of waiving the one per cent rent reduction for Plymouth Community Homes would equate to an additional £1m over the next two years (before the new arrangement commences in 2020).
- Providing dedicated grant funding to support the acceleration of Phase 4 and Phase 5 to complete the regeneration of North Prospect.
- The Heart of the South West High Growth Corridor proposal, submitted to Government in February 2016, has the potential to accelerate housing supply across the Plymouth-Exeter-Torbay sub-region, delivering 50,000 homes by 2030.
Offers
We will continue to deliver the anticipated number of homes required for Plymouth identified in the Joint Local Plan.
Benefits/Outcomes
- Our plans to deliver more than 26,000 new homes in the Plymouth Housing Market Area making a significant contribution to meeting the Government’s target for delivering new homes.