Agenda and minutes

Subject to noting the apologies of Cllr Alan Till, the minutes were agreed as a true record.

Councillor Hall declared a non-prejudicial interest in item 3 as a board member of Phoenix Housing.

Councillors Bell and Nisbet declared a non-prejudicial interest in item 3 as board members of Lewisham Homes.

3.1         The Chair introduced the item and invited Genevieve Macklin to provide a brief introduction to the Draft Housing Strategy and the Draft Lewisham Response. The key points to note were:

·         There is no consultation on the Funding Prospectus, just on the Strategy. Officers have raised a number of questions regarding the prospectus with officers at the GLA.

·         The strategy sets out renewed targets for the delivery of homes across London, and a new range of “products” to deliver those homes.

·         The two rented models introduced are “capped” rent and “discounted” rent. Capped rent is set at not more than 50% of market rents, discounted is set at up to 80% of market rents.

·         The strategy states of the 42,000 new homes per year, 36% will be affordable of all types. Within that, there will be a further split of rented to flexible ownership of 60:40, and within the rented element there is a further 50:50 split between “capped” and “discounted” rent. The net effect of this is tht 11% of the total should be at capped rent and a further 11% at discounted rent.

·         Early discussions with Housing Association partners indicate that they agree with the view that the strategy is too prescriptive in terms of percentages of types of homes to be delivered, and that there should be more freedom for local authorities and partners to deliver homes that meet local need as appropriate.

·         London Councils estimate that the target outlined in the strategy, of 42,000 new homes to be delivered each year, is too small and that in reality at least 80,000 to meet London’s population growth and backlog need.

·         Lewisham’s current policy on tenancies retains security of tenure until the effects of welfare benefit changes and other housing changes are known; where no alternative was available flexible tenancies could be introduced, but the Lewisham policy states that this should be for a minimum of five years with lifetime tenancies retained for the over 65s and for people with serious permanent physical or mental vulnerabilities.

·         The strategy says that fixed term tenancies should be “encouraged”; the prospectus says they are “expected”. This is a concern as it removes local flexibility in managing tenancies, allocations and responding to local need

·         The proposed lifting of the borrowing cap is welcomed; however under this proposal the Mayor of London would want to retain decision making powers over how the money is spent, and stipulates that it must be on new supply; this limits local ability to use resources as effectively as possible to meet local need.

·         The strategy outlines plans for “institutional Investment” in the private rented sector.

3.2         In response to questions, Genevieve Macklin, Kevin Sheehan, Jeff Endean and Louise Spires advised:

·         80% of market rent for any property above 2 bedrooms in Lewisham is unaffordable when taking into account universal credit and the welfare cap.

·         On the “rent-to-save” product, the strategy advises that if the savings plan isn’t fulfilled within the 5 years, or if the tenant changes  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The Committee agreed to refer their views on item 3, as outlined in sections 3.5 to 3.22, to the Mayor and Cabinet for consideration.