Decision

RESOLVED to recommend to full Council:

i.                     To adopt the Housing Asset Management, Development and Growth Strategy 2026 2056 as the framework for the stewardship, investment in and growth of the Council’s HRA housing assets, and to refer the Strategy to Full Council where required for inclusion in the Council’s policy framework.

ii.                   To note that the Strategy is underpinned by the 30-Year HRA Business Plan 2026–56, which confirms that the management and growth ambitions it describes are affordable and sustainable.

iii.                  To note the Council’s intention to bring forward the HRA Asset Management & Development Delivery Plan and the Housing Delivery Plan – which hold the costed investment programme, the development pipeline, the performance targets and the year by-year financial profile for adoption in autumn 2026.

iv.                 To endorse the strategic priorities and investment hierarchy set out in the Strategy, under which statutory compliance and building safety come first, followed by decency and health, then planned and energy investment, with need-led growth pursued from the headroom that remains and maximised through retained Right to Buy receipts, grant and partnership.

v.                   To authorise officers, in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holder, to keep the Strategy under annual review alongside the Business Plan and Delivery Plan, and to undertake a fuller review on material change in regulation, finance, stock condition, housing need, land availability or organisational structure, including the transition to the West Essex unitary authority. 

Reasons for the decision

The report sought Cabinet’s recommendation to full Council regarding the adoption of the Housing Asset Management, Development and Growth Strategy 2026–2056 (“the Strategy”), the thirty-year framework that sets the Council’s direction for the stewardship of, investment in, and growth of the homes held within its Housing Revenue Account (HRA). The Strategy sits alongside the Asset Management, Development and Growth Policy endorsed by Cabinet, and the report explains how the two connect to the Delivery Plan and the 30-year HRA Business Plan that complete the framework. 

Alternative options considered

None.