Agenda item

The Director of Housing submits a report on the Housing Capital Programme.

The report will be followed by a presentation by the Assistant City Mayor for Housing and Education briefing the Commission on the Housing Revenue account capital investment programme.

The Director of Housing introduced the item, noting that the capital programme is an important part of the budget to ensure the housing stock remains in good condition and it is important for members to be aware of the detail of the capital budget investment when it comes to the HRA Budget report they will consider in January 2024.

The Head of Service presented the report, and it was noted that:

·         The capital programme forms part of the Housing Revenue Account which is a ringfenced budget and primarily made up of income from rent. All monies must be used to the benefit of tenants through delivering services and investment to ensure compliance with decent homes standards or investing in additional stock.

·         The HRA capital programme includes ongoing programmes of work, such as providing new kitchens, bathrooms or undertaking rewiring at properties. It also enables the delivery of new social homes through acquiring existing properties or developing new sites.

·         Programmes use data and the decent home standards to develop programmes and identify where works need to be complete in accordance with the age and condition of properties as well as appropriate legislation. Kitchens and bathrooms are updated after 40years and homes rewired after 30years.

·         Procurement exercises are undertaken to either utilise frameworks or tender on the open market to identify contractors to deliver works. Specifications are written internally, and works are monitored by the control team.

·         The current HRA capital programme is forecast to spend £10m this financial year with further details of ongoing projects outlined in the report.

·         The programme also includes the development of new social homes, including sites at Saffron Velodrome, Lanesborough Road, Forest Lodge Education Centre, Stocking Farm and Southfield and Newry. Units to be delivered at each site and associated costs of delivery is outlined in the report.

·         200 properties will also be acquired using monies from the capital programme.

In response to questions and comments from Members, it was noted that:

·         All properties currently receive investment in accordance with the identified timeframes of 40years for kitchen/bathroom replacement and 30years electrical rewire.

·         A mixed approach is used for delivering the capital programme, although a significant amount is awarded to contractors with in-house teams undertaking some works such as kitchen refurbishments and boiler replacements.

·         Properties for acquisition are identified by need in accordance with the housing register. It was agreed that further information would be circulated on the mix of the 200 acquisitions for this financial year.

·         The figures contained within the report in relation to programme budget and current spend was taken at period 6 and some works are undertaken at different points throughout the year, but works are forecast for all budgets to be achieved.

·         Properties will have either the kitchen or bathroom refurbished with an assessment of when the property last received investment and the condition.

·         Housing developments are at various stages for tender with developers required to tender on price. Completion of sites will vary but expected to be delivered within eighteen months to two years, although this is dependent on external factors and regular updates will be provided to the Commission.

·         New build homes will be built well above current building regulation standards and work is underway to explore how to improve existing stock through a fabric first approach to retrofitting.

·         A process is in place to audit and identify properties that require improvements. Various criteria is reviewed including repair history and frequency, time from previous investment, expected life expectancy of products etc.

AGREED:

·         The Commission noted the report.

·         Additional information be circulated to Members.

·        Progress with housing development sites be added to the work programme for the Commission to be kept updated.