Decision details

Councillor Rachel Bishop-Firth declared a personal interest in this agenda item, on the grounds that her family were hosting a Ukrainian family.

RESOLVED that the Executive noted the Government grant allocation to Wokingham Borough Council and proposal to deliver 17 homes as part of the Ukrainian and Afghan resettlement scheme and approved:

(1)  The release of up to £2m commuted sums (developer contributions for affordable housing) to be used in conjunction with the £3.1m grant allocation for the purchase of the 17 properties;

(2)  That the properties go into either the Housing Revenue Account (“HRA”) and £3.7m of borrowing be undertaken within the HRA, or into Loddon Homes Limited (“LHL”) with a loan of £3.7m; with authority to be delegated to the Deputy Chief Executive in consultation with the Deputy Leader for the Council to determine and approve the end landlord and the borrowing terms;

(3)  The delegation of authority to the Deputy Chief Executive in consultation with the Deputy Leader for the Council and Executive Member for Housing to approve the transfer of commuted sums up to the value of £2m to support the purchase of each property.

REASON FOR DECISION

To mitigate against housing pressures on local authorities, the Government has provisionally allocated grant to those most affected by the Ukrainian refugee and Afghan resettlement programmes. This grant allocation has been allocated to Wokingham Borough Council based on part funding of 17 properties to help mitigate against the additional housing pressures. This report seeks approval to ensure that the funding allocation can be delivered effectively in Wokingham Borough within the restricted timescales and ensure that ownership of the properties are retained for housing other priority cohorts in the longer term, as per the Government’s guidance on this funding stream.