Issue - meetings

-       To Follow

RESOLVED: That

a)    A presentation from the Single Homeless Intervention and Prevention (SHIP) to be added to the Committee’s 2015-16 work programme.

b)    The Committee to receive an update on the Housing Strategy early in the 2015-16 work programme.

4.1      Jeff Endean (Housing Programmes and Strategy Team Manager), gave a presentation to the meeting. The key points to note were:

§  The four key themes that emerged throughout the consultation period, where respondents felt we should build in to, or strengthen in, the final strategy, were as follows:

o   Affordability

o   Sustainability, energy and climate change

o   Involving communities

o   Delivering the Housing Strategy.

§  The consultation consisted of the following:

o   Online consultation from 3 December 2014 – 19 January 2015

o   Lewisham Housing Summit held on 22 January 2015

o   housingstrategy@lewisham.gov.uk mailbox was open throughout the consultation process

o   A Homelessness Forum

o   Lewisham Affordable Housing Group (LewAHG).

§  The Online consultation had a small take-up, but results were overwhelmingly positive/majority in agreement. Some examples of the online consultation consisted of:

o   94% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement ‘building the homes our residents need’

o   92% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement ‘helping residents in severe and urgent housing need’.

§  In terms of feedback from the Housing Summit, there were eight tables for group discussion, with each table with a key topic for discussion

o   New build and regeneration

o   Private rental sector

o   Affordability

o   Housing tenures

o   Homelessness and temporary accommodation

o   Housing conditions and standards.

§   Some examples of the key issues were:

o   New build and regeneration: there should be a levy on empty land and support innovative models of development and scaling up, ensure you get the supply chain right.

o   Affordability: defining ‘affordability’ as there’s a difference between the 80% that GLA advocate and ‘truly affordable’; and more solutions needed for those in the ‘middle’.

o   Homelessness and Temporary accommodation: outreach to schools and young people; fighting zero-hour contracts and ensuring a living wage; and services need to be flexible to be accessible.

§  There was also written feedback to the consultation, for example from the Lewisham Green, Public Health and the Youth Offending Service.

§  The final draft will consist of sections on:

o   Helping residents at times of severe and urgent housing need

o   Building the homes our residents need

o   Greater security and quality for private renters

o   Promoting health and wellbeing by improving our resident’s homes.

§  It will also set out ‘housing affordability’ as a key theme throughout. It will also include a final section on delivery. This will set out Strategic Housing’s approach to involving our communities and working with partners, as well as our annual action plans.

4.2      In response to questions from the Committee, the following was noted:

§  Housing Options were working closely with schools in respect of young people and homelessness and this would be captured as part of the Housing Strategy.

§  Leaseholders are always given the option of staying in their property before any compulsory tender takes place.

§  The Committee is happy with the focus on homelessness in the Housing Strategy.

§  Strategic Housing and Planning work closely  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4