Council to use new HRA borrowing powers to pump extra £125m into housing

Stoke has previously set itself a target to build 200 new HRA homes a year, with housing associations delivering just 30 new affordable rented homes there in 2018/19. There are 2,629 households on the council’s housing waiting list.

A number of councils have stepped up their housing plans since the HRA cap was scrapped; Inside Housing research last year found that local authorities are set to quadruple development over the next five years.

The new borrowing will allow the council to divert £30m previously earmarked for housing development to investment in its 18,000 existing homes – boosted by grant and Right to Buy receipts.

That would increase the capital investment programme for existing homes from £19m a year to £25m a year over five years.

Half of the £30m will be focused on reducing numbers of non-decent council homes in the city.

This will help cut “the risk of a breach of the Home Standard”, the report said, in reference to the Regulator of Social Housing’s requirement.

Another £7m will go into refurbishing 10 tower blocks, while £5.4m more could go into converting two high rises from general needs into sheltered housing.

The council will also seek to convert around 30 three-bedroom homes into either larger homes or two one-bedroom flats.

“Importantly, this will also help to address the feedback from tenants and leaseholders through the council’s Survey of Tenants and Residents (STAR) Survey 2017 about the desire to improve the quality and condition of their homes and neighbourhoods,” the report added.

The cabinet will also consider restricted reports on the future development programme of its market rent housing company Fortior Homes and ambitions for a new institutional investor partnership to deliver housing through a Registered Provider.

In January 2019, Stoke signed a £40m lease deal with Cheyne Capital’s Social Property Impact Fund to deliver 379 affordable homes.

A 28-home Fortior development approved by cabinet in January 2018, called Fenton New Development, will be flipped for HRA homes as “they are better suited to meet the demand for affordable housing in the city,” according to the main report.

The cabinet is also expected to approve a £1m initial programme for the Stoke-on-Trent home buyers scheme, which would aim to help between 80 and 160 households buy their first home through a loan scheme intended to bring long-term empty homes back into use.

Joanne Powell-Beckett, cabinet member for housing at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said: “These plans show our ambition and commitment to deliver for our residents. We are determined to meet the growing needs of our city by providing a mix of housing options that give local people real choice.

“It’s part of our vision for the city, and to deliver this we are taking decisive action now. We’re leading by ensuring our own house is in order first – we’re one of a number of authorities that has its own housing stock and we take this responsibility seriously.

“We carry out detailed rolling appraisals of our housing, and are investing heavily and appropriately to ensure they are of the best quality.”

Update: at 16.45pm, 14/01/20 a comment from Joanne Powell-Beckett was added to the story, while a line incorrectly stating that Stoke has among the country’s highest numbers of non-decent council homes was removed.