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Cabinet:

(1)          
agreed that the council enters into a Memorandum of
Understanding with the  Minisitry of
Housing, Communities & Local Government (formaly known as
Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities), in respect
of the £6.57m London Authority Housing Fund to fund the
acquisition of a minimum of 28 homes, 23 to use for temporary
accommodation and five for refugee resettlement, subject to the
match funding contributions set out in paragraphs 2.1.3 and 2.1.4
of the report;

 

(2)          
approved £1.62m of
grant funding to be used towards major voids works costs for
existing council-owned properties;
 

(3)          
approved borrowing of £4.11m in the General
Fund towards the purchase and refurbishment costs for the 23
properties to use as tempoary accommodation;
 

(4)          
approved borrowing of £787,500 in the Housing
Revenue Account towards the purchase and refurbishment costs for
five properties to be used as permanent resettlement accommodation
for refugees;
 

(5)          
delegated authority for the final terms of the
acquisitions to the Commercial Director, Property and Delivery,
in consultation with the Corporate Director of Governance and
Law;
 

(6)          
delegated authority to the Strategic Director of
Resources, in consultation with the Strategic Director of Place, to
allocate the funding between acquisitions and refurbishment to
fully utilise the funding and maximise the value to the council;
and
 

(7)          
delegated authority to the Corporate Director of
Housing, in consultation with the
Strategic Director of Resources. and Corporate Director of
Governance and Law, the decision to determine the most
appropriate method through which the council will provide the
accommodation. This will be through the creation of a local
lettings policy (if so advised) and amendments to housing policies,
which govern the letting of properties by the council. This may
include consideration of using fixed-term
tenancies.
 

Options & Alternatives Considered

The following options have been considered to
provide new homes for temporary accommodation and refugee
resettlement:

‘Do nothing’
– accommodate households in B&B
or hotel accommodation, followed by Private Rented Sector Offers
(PRSO) once secured. Hotel accommodation is a costly option and
there is no certainty that suitable PRSOs can be secured given
current challenges in the rental market.

 

‘Do minimum’ –
acquire a fewer number of properties and
potentially return some of the grant. There will still be a need to
house residents in hotel accommodation followed by PRSO.

Preferred option – acquire a minimum 28 properties across the
borough and improve our void properties. This will provide
additional affordable homes and reduce
the need for hotel and PRSO accommodation.