Purpose

Following a Cabinet report in December 2023, Cabinet declared a Housing Emergency. The report clearly laid out the strategy to help address the demands and pressures on homeless services in the city. This included the purchase of properties from the open market to provide additional accommodation.

This report will propose the purchase of specific properties to help meet some of these demands.

Decision

Appendices B, C, D, E  F & G of this report are exempt from publication pursuant to Paragraphs 14, 16, and 21 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

RESOLVED: that

1. 1.         the ongoing Housing Emergency and the new demands that will add further pressures to homelessness services and temporary accommodation be noted.
2. 2.         the acquisition of the properties identified in the confidential Appendix B be approved and authority be delegated to the Corporate Director - People and Communities in consultation with the S151 Officer, Legal services and the Cabinet members for Housing and Communities and Finance, Modernisation and Performance for all matters arising from the acquisitions and to authorise exchange of contracts and completion of those properties in accordance with the Heads of Terms annexed to this report subject to:

a.    Approval of appropriate grant funding being secured from Welsh Government

b.    Confirmation of a suitable financial viability assessment for each purchase

c.    Confirmation that the decision does not result in commitments outside the budget framework.

d.    Receipt of updated/formal valuation confirming the value contained in confidential Appendix E & F

1. authority be delegated to the Corporate Director People & Communities, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing & Communities, to consider responses to the recent Homelessness Consultation and to implement any consequential policy changes as appropriate and within existing budgets.