Agenda item

Michelle Hoyles, Housing Strategy Manager:

a.    provided an update to Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee on the Directorate of Housing and Investment’s progress on development of its Asset Disposal Policy, which sat underneath the strategy discussed within the previous agenda item

b.    shared with the Sub-Committee an extract from the current draft policy, at Appendix A, which listed the proposed considerations the Council would take into account when deciding whether to dispose of an HRA property asset

c.     advised that Lincoln Tenant’s Panel had been consulted on this report and would be involved in greater depth, prior to the full Disposals Policy being presented to the Sub-Committee in early 2025

d.    reported that the Council’s HRA was one of the city’s largest landowners, and its primary landlord, would from time to time need to consider disposing of land and property in its ownership

e.    advised that to ensure disposals were considered and enacted consistently and in the best interests of tenants, the service was developing an Asset Disposal Policy, a draft policy was almost complete and would shortly undergo consultation, prior to referral to the Sub-Committee in early 2025

f.      reported that a key section of the policy, which proposed the considerations the Council would take account of when deciding whether to dispose of an asset was ready for circulation at this stage, and officers were seeking feedback from the Sub-Committee on this extract to inform the final draft of the policy

g.    highlighted that Appendix A consolidated and clarified the approach the Council already took to asset disposal, which was robust and supported the making of sound decisions about land in HRA ownership; having an Asset Disposal Policy enabled the Council to better demonstrate these decisions were consistent as well as robust, by providing a published framework for decision making

h.    welcomed members feedback on the content of the report.

Members discussed the report in further detail, commented, asked questions and received relevant responses from officers as follows:

Comment: Members of Lincoln Tenants Panel were looking forward to being involved in this piece of work next year, which was progressing well.

Question: Within the General Fund Account temporary accommodation had to be provided under a statutory obligation to pay for suitable accommodation for homeless people, although the full cost was not totally covered by Government contributions. Were we any further forward with dealing with this problem?

Response: The Housing Authority were actively looking at opportunities to renovate existing buildings and also use modular construction types (pod format). We were also looking at leasing opportunities with other housing providers to minimise cost and maximise the needs of households. The long-term solution was to provide people with a permanent home. This was not a quick process which needed to flow through longer-term housing solutions.

Question: Was it possible for plots of land across the city used for student accommodation to be used as temporary housing needs moving forward?

Response: We could make use of surplus student accommodation; however, it was not always suitable for families due to it having shared studio facilities.

RESOLVED that the content of the report be received and noted with further consultation welcomed in due course.