To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 20 June 2023.

Decision

That the minutes of the meeting held on 20 June 2023 be approved as a correct record.

Report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development)

This report provides an update on the progress made towards the objectives during 2022-23.

The Committee received a report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development) which provided an update on the progress made towards the Strategy’s objectives during 2022-23.

Key points and themes within the report included:

·         Increasing affordable housing supply and building more new homes for all residents;

·         Work to end homelessness and ensure housing was affordable and accessible to all;

·         Addressing inequalities and creating neighbourhoods where people wanted to live; and

·         Addressing the sustainability and zero carbon challenges in new and existing housing;

Key points and queries that arose from the Committee’s discussions included:

• To welcome the ambition for the city and the progress being made, while recognising that there was significant work still to do and the challenges the Council was facing;
• Domestic violence and the allocation of housing priority bands;
• Barriers preventing local authorities from delivering more social and affordable housing;
• The age of many buildings in Manchester and the challenges with retrofitting;
• The definition of affordable housing;
• The number of people on the waiting list for different types of properties; and
• Consideration of access to amenities such as GPs and shops when planning new housing developments.

The Executive Member for Housing and Development reported that domestic abuse victims were classified as band one and he offered to provide further information on the allocations policy and how this was working.  He highlighted the progress in reducing the use of temporary accommodation. In response to Members’ comments, he stated that it was very important to develop on the city’s brownfield sites to deliver social and affordable housing, although there were challenges with contamination and viability.  He outlined the progress being made with retrofitting housing, while stating that more needed to be done and that some of this work was conditional on Government funding.  In response to a Member’s question, he highlighted that the Council worked with Arawak Walton, the largest independent black and minority ethnic (BME) Housing Association in the North West, which had a long history of working in central Manchester.

The Executive Member for Housing and Development reported that, for planning purposes, the Council had to use the Government definition of affordable housing but that the Council had introduced the Manchester Living Rent, which they believed was truly affordable, and which many of the Council’s partners were signing up to.  In response to a Member’s question about delays in construction of new developments, he advised that work had to start within three years of planning permission being granted.  He highlighted some of the challenges with this and stated that, in relation to partners within the Manchester Housing Provider Partnership (MHPP), the Council could have a positive dialogue on overcoming delays, but that this could be more challenging in the case of private developers.  In response to a Member’s question, he outlined some of the challenges that the Council’s partners were facing with building lower carbon buildings, including funding and the legal framework, while stating that MHPP partners had a strong commitment to delivering this and highlighting the mechanisms  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

Report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development)

In December 2021, the Executive approved a business case outlining the ambitions and intentions of This City, the Council’s wholly owned housing delivery vehicle.

This report outlines the significant progress to date both in the formation, constitution and governance of the operational company but also in the spearheading of the construction of its maiden scheme, Rodney Street alongside the development of a long-term business plan.

The Committee received a report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development) which outlined the significant progress to date in the formation, constitution and governance of This City, the Council’s wholly owned housing delivery vehicle, and also in the spearheading of the construction of its maiden scheme, Rodney Street, alongside the development of a long-term business plan.

Key points and themes within the report included:

·         Company formation and initial business planning;

·         Phase 1 developments;

·         Pipe of development – Phase 2;

·         Investment partnership(s); and

·         Recruitment.

Key points and queries that arose from the Committee’s discussions included:

• To welcome the work taking place;
• Would the rented homes be retained in the rented sector to ensure low-cost rents in the long-term;
• Communication with and involvement of Ward Councillors on Phase 2 development and future phases;
• The housing allocation process for these developments and the importance of building mixed communities; and
• Governance arrangements.

The Deputy Executive Member for Housing and Development confirmed that the rents would be within the Council’s control and that the homes would not be eligible for right-to-buy. 

The Executive Member for Housing and Development reported that there were outline ideas for Phase 2 but that this would be discussed with local Councillors.  He stated that the Council was looking to use a Local Lettings Policy to get a good mixed community in the developments, including using a local connection as part of the criteria.  He expressed concern that the Local Housing Allowance had been frozen for a number of years, while market rents were increasing, and called on the Government to increase this.  In response to a Member’s question, he confirmed that Ward Councillors would be involved, with Council officers, in the naming of the buildings in their area. 

In response to a Member’s question about whether the proportion of affordable housing would increase as debts were paid down on individual developments, Jason Hingley, Director of This City, confirmed that this was the intention. 

The Director of Development explained the governance arrangements for This City, which included a Strategic Programme Board, a Non-Executive Board and checks and balances on decision-making.  He stated that there would be intensive work over the next six months to get an investor partner on board, following which early consultation with Ward Councillors could take place, most likely next year.

The Executive Member for Housing and Development acknowledged the importance of a Member’s point about This City being representative of the communities it served, including in leadership roles, stating that there was a degree of diversity in the Non-Executive Board and that this was something that the Council was committed to.

Decision:

To note the report and that the Committee would continue to monitor this work.

Report of the Strategic Director (Growth & Development)

This report provides an overview on how the Council works with partners in the Manchester Housing Provider Partnership (MHPP) and within the Private Rented Sector to achieve our strategic objectives. It also provides an introduction to the Council’s role as a good landlord following the move to bring the homes previously managed by Northwards Housing back in-house.

The Committee received a report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development) which provided an overview on how the Council worked with partners in the MHPP and within the Private Rented Sector to achieve the Council’s strategic objectives. It also provided an introduction to the Council’s role as a good landlord following the move to bring the homes previously managed by Northwards Housing back in-house.

Key points and themes within the report included:

• The review of the MHPP;
• How the Council worked with MHPP to deliver affordable homes, improve outcomes for existing residents across Manchester and meet the city’s strategic objectives;
• The Private Rented Sector, including selective licensing and short-term lets; and
• The Council’s role as a good landlord.

Key points and queries that arose from the Committee’s discussions included:

• The importance of supporting vulnerable residents to understand their rights, noting that some groups, including refugees, might not be aware of sources of advice, such as Citizens Advice, and might also face other barriers such as language barriers and lack of trust in institutions;
• Selective licensing, including the future for areas where schemes were coming to an end and areas for the next phase;
• Short-term lets and their impact on the local housing market;
• Concern about increasing rents and the freezing of the Local Housing Allowance; and
• Whether MHPP was being used to secure improvements from social housing providers, for example, in the time taken for repairs to be carried out, noting that this seemed to have got worse.

In response to a Member’s concerns about a particular street in his ward, the Executive Member for Housing and Development asked to be provided with further information so that this could be addressed, in consultation with the Member. 

The Executive Member for Housing and Development reported that Citizens Advice had previously had a strong presence in local communities, including libraries, but that this had reduced, following a funding cut from the Government; however, he reported that Citizens Advice were still providing advice services, including running pop-up advice sessions, and he stated that it was important that people were signposted to this support, using different languages and methods.  He highlighted that housing associations provided advice to their tenants on a range of issues and that information on available support, including for people renting in the Private Rented Sector, was on the Council’s website. 

The Executive Member for Housing and Development stated that selective licensing targeted the lower segments of the private rented sector, as referred to in the table at 4.2 in the report.  He reported that there was good evidence of the impact of selective licensing but that schemes ended after 5 years and that the Council was monitoring the situation after these schemes had ended and looking at what other interventions could be used to keep housing standards in these areas higher. 

The Executive Member for Housing and Development highlighted the information in the report on short-term lets and the Council’s response to the Government consultation on this, in which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

Report of the Strategic Director (Growth & Development)

Following the implementation of the revised Manchester City Council Part VI Scheme for the Allocation of Social Housing on 3^rd November 2020, there is a risk that new social housing developments could find significant numbers of potential tenants with support needs and concentrating dependency in a very localised area.

In order to create genuinely mixed communities in new build developments and enabling local people the opportunity to get a new local home it is necessary to put in place a strategic response in the form of a New Build Local Lettings Policy (LLP) for all new developments of social homes to be let at social or affordable rent.

The Committee received a report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development) which proposed a strategic response in the form of a New Build Local Lettings Policy (LLP) for all new developments of social homes to be let at social or affordable rent.

The Committee was invited to comment on the report prior to its submission to the Executive.

Key points and themes within the report included:

• Background information;
• Developing sustainable communities;
• The proposed New Build Local Lettings Policy, which would apply only to “general needs” properties at first let;
• The effect of restricted lettings; and
• The equalities impact of the policy.

Key points and queries that arose from the Committee’s discussions included:

• To welcome the report and recognise the important issues it addressed;
• That the name might suggest that it applied to all new build properties;
• Had the percentage allocated to each of the three categories been modelled to check it met the needs of the housing register; and
• Why was living in an adjacent ward taken into account under criteria (i) in the second category but adjacent wards were not taken into account under the other criteria in this category.

The Head of Strategic Housing reported that it was not possible to reflect the numbers on the waiting list.  He explained that this policy was an attempt to deal with the new social housing which was becoming available and that the split between the three categories had been agreed with Ward Councillors for Miles Platting and Newton Health, where new social housing had been built.  He informed Members that the purpose of this policy was to create a standard lettings policy that could be used for any new build social housing but that it could be adapted for new developments in particular areas, where this was agreed with local Ward Councillors, including amending the criteria in relation to adjacent wards.  A Member commented that it would be useful to have a data-informed approach to the split between the three categories.  The Head of Strategic Housing stated that he would look into this.  He explained that in 2020 any priority relating to working households had been removed from social housing allocation but that a number of Members had highlighted the importance of mixed communities, including working households, leading to the proposal for 50% of lettings in new builds to be allocated to working households.

The Executive Member for Housing and Development reported that it was useful to have this standard policy as a baseline but that it could be tailored for individual developments, recognising that needs varied across the city.

The Chair commented that it was not clear from the report that this was a standard template which could be adapted for different developments in different parts of the city and suggested that this be made clearer in the report before it was submitted to the Executive.

Decisions

To commend the New Build Local Lettings Policy to the Executive, subject to:

• The information submitted to the Executive  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

Report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit

This report provides the Committee with details of key decisions that fall within the Committee’s remit and an update on actions resulting from the Committee’s recommendations. The report also includes the Committee’s work programme, which the Committee is asked to amend as appropriate and agree.

A report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit was submitted. The overview report contained key decisions within the Committee’s remit, responses to previous recommendations and the Committee’s work programme, which the Committee was asked to approve.

The Chair highlighted that a report on the Cultural Strategy had been added to the agenda for the February meeting.  He advised that he was considering theming this meeting around culture and tourism and suggested that the report on short-term lets be added to the agenda for that meeting and that it also include a general update on hotel accommodation.  He recommended that the item on Design for Life and Rightsizing be removed from the “to be scheduled” list, as this had been included in the Housing Strategy report.

Decision:

That the committee note the report and agree the work programme, subject to the above comments.