Purpose

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Housing seeking approval to redevelop the council-owned garage site at Dunkirk Road to provide new affordable housing and make more effective use of underutilised council land.

Decision

(i)  To approve progression of the Dunkirk Road garage site pilot from

RIBA Stage 3 into the next delivery stages through to completion on

site, subject to planning, procurement and legal requirements.

(ii)  To approve the use of Right to Buy receipts as the proposed funding route for the development.

(iii)  To delegate authority to the Director of Housing, following

consultation with the Executive Director of Enabling Services,

Executive Director of Growth and Prosperity, the Director of Legal

and Governance and the Cabinet Member for Housing, to agree and approve the operational decisions required to progress planning, procurement, lease/access arrangements and delivery within the approved budget envelope provided that the overall project costs remain within the overall budget envelope and no materially significant variation to the proposed scheme is approved.

Reasons for the decision

1.  Recent Government reforms have increased the flexibility available to local authorities in the use of retained Right to Buy receipts. Councils can now retain 100% of RTB receipts and utilise receipts for both acquisitions and new build development.

2.  In March 2026 both Cabinet and Full Council approved up to £12.13m to fund an acquisitions project delivering additional housing stock as part of the Homelessness Prevention Transformation Project. This proposal requests using the already agreed budget to build homes on an unused garage site in Southampton. This is considered a change in spending and requires additional approvals to continue with the RIBA Plan of Work. 

Alternative options considered

Do nothing 

The garage block would remain unused and the opportunity to deliver two

accessible family homes and test a wider delivery model would be lost.

Maintenance liabilities and neighbourhood impacts associated with outdated

garage structures may continue.

Acquire existing homes only

Existing acquisitions have not consistently secured wheelchair-accessible or

readily adaptable family homes. Some properties have not progressed or

have been unfeasible to adapt because of condition, cost or lack of space.

Defer the pilot

Deferral would delay delivery of accessible housing and risk increasing

project costs through inflation or changes in market conditions. Planning and

access/lease dependencies would also remain unresolved.