Wrthi'n llwytho
Y penderfyniadau fel y mae cofnodion y cyngor yn eu cofnodi. Bydd crynodeb mewn iaith glir yn dilyn pan fydd wedi'i ysgrifennu.
AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
RESOLVED – That the public be excluded from the meeting at this point during consideration of this item as the Committee discussed exempt information of the description contained in paragraphs 14, 16 and 21 of Parts 4 and 5 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Action 1972. The public may be excluded from the meeting by resolution of the Committee pursuant to Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 during discussion of this item. AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
Apologies were received from Cllr Melbourne.
There were none.
The minutes of the 18th November meeting were approved and signed as a correct record.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
Members were advised that this report provided background information and acted as a signposting tool to enable their pre-decision scrutiny of the report to Cabinet due to be considered on 12th December 2024. For this item, the Chair welcomed: Cllr Lynda Thorne Cabinet Member for Housing & Communities Jane Thomas Director of Adults, Housing & Communities Helen Evans Assistant Director of Housing & Communities The Cabinet Member was invited to make an opening statement, in which she emphasised the financial pressures on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) for 2025/26, which faced a projected deficit of £6.3m. The report set out the proposed approach for rent and service charge setting in council-owned properties from April 2025, and detailed high level assumptions for the HRA. Officers gave a presentation outlining the key aspects of the report, explaining that the HRA recorded income and expenditure from the provision of the council’s homes. It was ringfenced for the council’s housing landlord functions and could not be used for any other purposes. Its main source of income was from tenants in the form of rents and service charges, and the detailed HRA budget would come forward as part of the normal budget reports in February. The Welsh government’s Social Housing Rent Policy allowed for a maximum rent increase of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 1%, and required local authorities to take into account value for money, affordability for tenants and possible cost efficiencies when considering any price increases. CPI in September 2024 had been very low at 1.7%, meaning that the maximum increase was 2.7%, which equated to £2.89 per week for a one bed flat and £3.28 for a one bed house. 88.5% of council tenants were in receipt of housing related benefit, so most increases would be covered by their benefit payments. Officers outlined the key pressures on the HRA, including higher interest rates and above inflation increases in costs for pay, energy and materials, as well as new increases in NI employer contributions for commissioned services. Urgent and complex repairs and their associated costs had increased, as had the costs of delivering the Welsh Housing Quality Standard and electrical compliance with the requirements of the Renting Home Wales Act. These factors, in addition to the urgent need to acquire and build new homes and the limited increase allowed for setting rents, led to the projected budget gap. £1m of efficiency savings had been identified in the HRA and further work was ongoing to identify possible service changes. Consultation on the rent increase had been challenging because at the time they did not know what the maximum increase would be, and disappointingly only 124 tenants had responded. Officers suggested that council rents remained good value for money when compared to market rents and LHA levels. All properties were well below the Living Rent total calculated using the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) formula, and their energy performance was better than in owner-occupied, privately rented or socially rented dwellings. Following a review of service charges, it was proposed that they also be increased to align with the cost of delivery. Individuals and families in community living and homeless accommodation would be disproportionately affected, so these tenants were consulted with in November to find out how rent increases of varying amounts would affect them. Around half of residents had responded, and of those who were not receiving any assistance, very few cited any difficulty paying the current service charges. The Welfare Liaison team would contact all those not in receipt of housing related benefits to ensure they were applying for everything they were entitled to. It was proposed that the service charge for general needs would increase by between £1.43 and £1.79 per week for houses and between £1.43 and £3.28 per week for flats. In community living, the increase would be limited to £10 per week, and in homeless accommodation it was limited to £30 per week. Further help for tenants included the dedicated Welfare Liaison Team, joint working across teams, the updated person-centred tenant rent recovery procedure, the money advice team, practical help with employment, food and fuel vouchers and discretionary funds. Members noted the scale of the HRA budget deficit, which officers clarified was a projected figure which they were seeking to reduce through these proposals. Members asked how much money would be raised from the increases and heard that increasing service charges would raise £800k from general needs and £450k from specialist accommodation. £1m in efficiencies had been identified but a significant deficit remained. Service change proposals were being considered, as in the general fund, but if the gap couldn’t be closed then they would need to draw on reserves as a short-term solution. Members noted that those in community living were likely to be older people who had sold their homes, leaving them no choice other than to pay the increased fees. With this in mind, and with the cost of the Telecare service also rising, they queried whether older people were being disproportionately targeted. The Cabinet Member acknowledged this and emphasised that this was why the council was not seeking to collect the full amount recoverable and instead limiting it to £10. Social housing was about sharing costs, and more broadly they wanted to encourage older people to downsize and move into sheltered accommodation and community living to free up homes and have easier access to support services. Members queried the 29.8% increase in the cost of Telecare and heard that this was largely due to the move to digital. Members explored the poor consultation response rate, which officers suggested was partly because tenants were asked about hypothetical increases due to the specific figure not being known at the time. They had also found that people in receipt of full housing benefit were less likely to respond to consultation on rent rises because they did not think it affected them. Members advocated making the broader context of consultation clearer in future reports. The Committee noted the £30 a week increase for those in homeless accommodation and the proportion of tenants who were not in receipt of housing benefit (18% of community living contract holders, 15% of those in homeless family accommodation and 11% of single homeless people). Officers suggested that rents remained significantly lower than they would cost privately, but they would reach out to individuals and families not in receipt of housing related benefits to find out why this was the case. There were a range of funds available to support those falling into rent arrears, as well as the money advice team which focused on targeted one-to-one support. Members discussed the use of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation model for evaluating affordability, noting that the ‘living rent’ referred to those in full time employment on minimum wage. Members noted that not all contract holders were able to work and queried whether the living wage in this model was an appropriate marker for establishing social rent. Members asked how much rents and services charges had increased for these particular tenants over the last five years, which officers were happy to provide in writing. The Committee queried the relatively similar costs of a four bed flat and a four bed house considering the extra space there was likely to be in the latter. Officers agreed that houses should cost more and explained that the council had set its own rent policy some time ago with a £10 per week difference between the two which rose with inflation. The way the Welsh government controlled the rent applied the inflation plus £1 figure, which limited that disparity over time. Members queried the lack of a Health Impact Assessment and heard that this was aimed at specific issues relating to the health and wellbeing of the population. Members suggested that a rent increase would have an impact on tenants’ mental health, and heard that this was one of the protected characteristics taken into account in a standard impact assessment. AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED – That the public be excluded from the meeting at this point during consideration of this item as the Committee discussed exempt information of the description contained in paragraphs 14, 16 and 21 of Parts 4 and 5 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Action 1972. The public may be excluded from the meeting by resolution of the Committee pursuant to Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 during discussion of this item. AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
Members were advised that this report provided information on the procurement process for the appointment of a development partner for the Cardiff and Vale Housing Partnership (CVHP), and sought approval for the appointment of the preferred bidder and the list of specific development sites to be included within the partnership programme. The Chair noted that Appendices A, B and C and the non-redacted version of Appendix F were confidential, and any questions pertaining to them such as the name of the preferred bidder and estimated costs would have to take place in exempt session. For this item, the Chair welcomed: Cllr Lynda Thorne Cabinet Member for Housing & Communities Sarah McGill Corporate Director, People & Communities Kate Cutter Operational Manager, Major Projects Dave Jaques Assistant Director, Housing Development & Regeneration The Cabinet Member was invited to make an opening statement, in which she welcomed a significant milestone in an ambitious program, which would deliver 1,600 new homes across 18 sites in Cardiff and a further 600 homes in the Vale of Glamorgan. Appointing a partner developer reduced risk and sped up delivery, and they would keep innovating to adapt to the challenges of the housing crisis while expanding the range of social value opportunities and delivering investment to communities. Officers gave a presentation outlining the key aspects of the report, noting that it formed part of a wider program seeking to deliver 4,000 homes across 60 sites, with an overall projected development value of £1bn. The key challenges included market conditions, costs, decarbonisation and lengthy individual procurement processes. Collaborating with the Vale increased their offer to the market, while they had sought a flexible arrangement with the ability to add additional sites in, as well as an open book approach to greater understand cost, risk and viability. Officers noted that the second Cardiff Housing Partnership had been approved in November 2022, before the procurement process based on competitive dialogue began in November 2023. This process concluded in December 2024 with the identification of the winning bidder, and it would go to Cabinet for approval on 12th December. Members noted that while the previous Cardiff Living programme had been recognised by the Welsh government as best practice, its costs had escalated beyond initial projections, and asked how this would be mitigated in the new partnership. Officers emphasised that lessons learned from the first partnership had constantly informed the development of this one. Cardiff Living’s target of 1,000 new council homes had initially slipped but was now on target. This reflected the complexity of the market they were operating in, with inflation and costs higher than expected, and the removal of some schemes from the partnership leading to reduced grants. One key lesson learned was that designing schemes alongside the people who would actually deliver them was significantly less resource-intensive. Members welcomed the ambition of the program and asked how many units were likely to be delivered in the next few years, considering the significant current housing need. Officers explained that if existing schemes delivered on time then there would be 360 new units this year, 400 next year and 250 the year after, with the second partnership delivering homes the year after that. Schemes in the second partnership were at different stages but some had planning consent and were ready to go in 2025. Officers added that they sought to deliver a real mix of units including family homes, homes for single people and specialist accommodation. At present more single people were in need of accommodation than families, but the indicative mixes for future sites could be adapted to suit changing need. Members stressed the importance of infrastructure considerations in large projects and linkages with commercial opportunities. Members explored the arrangements for the joint partnership and in particular what would happen if the Vale were to drop out. The Cabinet Member reassured the committee that the Vale were very keen, as they had limited ability to do a scheme like this on their own, and had already approved the required delegations to officers. Officers also clarified that two separate partnership agreements had been set up, one with Cardiff and one with the Vale, so one could continue if the other were terminated. It was effectively a shared framework wherein the bidder would enter into two separate agreements with the same standards. The Committee discussed the broader housing supply and asked if there were a risk of reaching a point of saturation in the future. Officers responded that the current scale of need was huge, and this development program sought to redress the balance. The percentage of social housing compared to the overall population had significantly reduced, because Cardiff had grown significantly in recent years while the real terms number of units had barely increased. The Cabinet Member noted that the authority owned 26,000 council houses in the days before Right To Buy and now owned 14,000. This scheme sought to achieve a better balance by delivering the right properties in the right places, and the income from those properties would strengthen viability. RESOLVED – That the public be excluded from the meeting at this point during consideration of this item as the Committee discussed exempt information of the description contained in paragraphs 14, 16 and 21 of Parts 4 and 5 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Action 1972. The public may be excluded from the meeting by resolution of the Committee pursuant to Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 during discussion of this item. AGREED: that the Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, writes to the Cabinet Member conveying the observations of the Committee when discussing the way forward.
There were none.
The Chair noted that the meeting scheduled for 20th January 2025 had been cancelled, so the next meeting would be on 24th February at 10am to consider the budget proposals. She reminded Members of the upcoming visit to housing sites on 16th December.
Rhaid i gynghorwyr ddweud pan fydd ganddyn nhw gysylltiad personol â rhywbeth sy'n cael ei drafod, fel swydd, eiddo neu aelod o'r teulu. Mae buddiant sy'n rhagfarnu yn ddigon cryf i'r cynghorydd adael yr ystafell fel arfer a pheidio â chymryd rhan.
Caiff datganiadau eu darllen o'r cofnodion unwaith y byddan nhw wedi'u cyhoeddi.
Yn rhestru cynghorwyr presennol y cyngor yn unig. Nid yw aelodau cyfetholedig, swyddogion a chyn-gynghorwyr yn cael eu dangos.