Issue - meetings

To receive an update on the Housing Investment Programme & Business Plan.

The Cabinet Members for Neighbourhoods, Planning and Sustainability; and Highways, Housing and Enforcement (Deputy Leader) presented a report by the Director for Prosperity and Investment, which presented for consideration and approval a new Business Plan for the Housing Investment Programme, which included a series of pipeline schemes for investment.

Councillor Overton said that he wanted to present, in particular, the work of Nuplace and Telford and Wrekin Homes because this programme showed how housing policy could deliver high quality housing alongside social value, regeneration and long-term financial responsibility at the same time.

This was an overarching joined-up approach, and a decision to build refurbished homes for the Council's own housing company was deliberate since it allowed it to build on brownfield land rather than greenfield, to raise standards in the private rented sector, to provide good quality homes with security of tenure, and to generate long-term income that helped protect vital Council services. By entering the private rented market, the Council was not competing to the bottom but was setting the standard.

This programme played a direct role in tackling rogue and irresponsible landlords by offering tenants a genuine alternative, well-built new and refurbished home. Professional management and stability in doing so helped drive up expectations across the whole market and supported the Council’s wider enforcement work. The Housing Investment Programme had delivered hundreds of new homes and by emptying redundant properties back into the use through Telford Wrekin Homes, the Council generated burn-through sites and delivered accessible and adaptable homes that supported independence and care needs. It had also created jobs, apprenticeships and a strong Council asset base that generated not just income year after year, but also capital growth.

This programme was a clear example of values in action. It protected residents by raising standards and tackling poor quality housing. It protected neighbourhoods by regenerating eclectic sites, and it protected Council finances by building a growing asset base that supported frontline services. It also showed the Council cared, provided secure homes where people could put their roots, support older residents, families and vulnerable people, and link housing with health, well-being and independence. It was also about investing in the Brownfield land, in high quality homes that lasted, and in a model that paid back into the Council, in order that it could continue to deliver its services that residents relied upon, such as  adult social care packages and children's care placements, but also supporting the Council to make sure it continued to collect green waste for free or free parking in the borough’s towns.

Feedback from residents moving into these homes demonstrated that they felt secure for the first time in years, families were benefiting from better quality homes, and residents no longer worried about short-term lets or poor conditions. These lived experiences showed why this programme mattered and looking ahead, the future of the Housing Investment Programme was clear. The Council would continue to look to expand new build and refurbishment, strengthen links between housing, care and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51