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RESOLVED THAT IT BE RECOMMENDED TO THE CABINET/COUNCIL TO: 5.1 increase the average housing rent by 2.7% (£2.85) per dwelling per week as per the Welsh Government’s Social Housing Rents Policy: · Properties at target rents will increase by 2.62% and · Properties where rent is below target rent will increase by 2.62% plus a maximum progression of £1.00. · Those rents above target are frozen until such time as they meet the target. 5.2 increase garage rents by 2.7% from £9.60 to £9.86 and garage bases from £2.22 to £2.28; 5.3 apply the Service Charge Policy to ensure tenants who receive the benefit from specific services pay for those services; 5.4 increase charges for using our sewerage treatment works in line with rent increase; 5.5 approve the Housing Revenue Account Budget for 2025/28 (2026/27 & 2027/28 being soft budgets) as set out in Appendix A; 5.6 approve the proposed Capital Programme and applicable funding for 2025/26 and the indicative spends for 2026/27 to 2027/28 as set out in Appendix B; 5.7 note the Affordability Assessment as detailed in Appendix C.
RESOLVED THAT IT BE RECOMMENDED TO THE CABINET/COUNCIL TO: 5.1 confirm the vision, priorities and areas for improvement for our housing investment programmes over the next three years; 5.2 agree that the 2025/26 Business Plan can be submitted to Welsh Government; 5.3 the specific actions as stated within the report be noted
RESOLVED that the list of forthcoming items for the next meeting on the 20th January 2025 be approved with the amendment that the abovementioned reports be scrutinised via email.
There were no apologies for absence.
Councillor Minute No (s) Nature of Interest H.A.L. Evans 4. HOUSING REVENUE ACCOUNT AND HOUSING RENT SETTING 2025/26 & 5. HOUSING REVENUE ACCOUNT BUSINESS PLAN 2025-28 - CARMARTHENSHIRE'S HOUSING INVESTMENT PROGRAMME Has a sister who is the chief executive of a housing association
The Chair advised that no public questions had been received.
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RESOLVED THAT IT BE RECOMMENDED TO THE CABINET/COUNCIL TO: 5.1 increase the average housing rent by 2.7% (£2.85) per dwelling per week as per the Welsh Government’s Social Housing Rents Policy: · Properties at target rents will increase by 2.62% and · Properties where rent is below target rent will increase by 2.62% plus a maximum progression of £1.00. · Those rents above target are frozen until such time as they meet the target. 5.2 increase garage rents by 2.7% from £9.60 to £9.86 and garage bases from £2.22 to £2.28; 5.3 apply the Service Charge Policy to ensure tenants who receive the benefit from specific services pay for those services; 5.4 increase charges for using our sewerage treatment works in line with rent increase; 5.5 approve the Housing Revenue Account Budget for 2025/28 (2026/27 & 2027/28 being soft budgets) as set out in Appendix A; 5.6 approve the proposed Capital Programme and applicable funding for 2025/26 and the indicative spends for 2026/27 to 2027/28 as set out in Appendix B; 5.7 note the Affordability Assessment as detailed in Appendix C.
(NOTE: Councillor H.A.L Evans having earlier declared an interest in this item, redeclared the interest and left the meeting for its consideration) The Committee considered a report on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Budget and Housing Rent Setting for 2025/26, being presented as part of the budget consultation process, that brought together the latest proposals for the Revenue and Capital budgets for the Housing Revenue Account to be presented to the Cabinet and Council for determination. The Committee was advised that the report had been prepared reflecting the latest proposals contained within the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan, being the primary financial planning tool for delivering and maintaining the Carmarthenshire Homes Standard Plus (CHS+) for the future. The proposed investment within the current business plan delivered the CHS by 2015 (to those homes where the tenants agreed to have work undertaken) provided investment to maintain CHS+ and continued investment for the Housing Regeneration and Development Delivery Plan. The report also detailed how rents would increase for 2025/26 with the HRA budget being set to reflect: - Social Housing Rent Policy (set by Welsh Government) - Proposals contained in the Carmarthenshire Housing Revenue Account Business Plan - Housing Regeneration and Development Delivery Plan The Committee was informed that Capital investment of more than £230m had been made to deliver the Carmarthenshire Homes Standard Plus, and since achieving it a further £134m has been spent maintaining the standard. Over the next three years the authority expects to spend a further £62m maintaining and upgrading the housing stock. The budget also provides funding of £50m over the next three years to support the housing development programme. The Committee was advised that guidance on rent levels is set by Welsh Government. For 2025/26 the guidance is of an increase of no more than 2.7%. This was set based on a CPI inflation level of 1.7%, with inflation now at 2.6% this along with other financial pressures such as contractor costs, pay rises and the Employers National Insurance contributions increase put an additional burden on the HRA. This would mean an average rent of £108.59, an increase of £2.85 and the Committee was informed that for 8,500 tenants who already pay the target rent, the increase will be slightly less, at 2.62%, whilst tenants paying less than the target rent will pay 2.62% plus up to an extra £1.00 a week. It was also proposed to increase garage rents by £0.26 a week to £9.86 and continue the service charge policy where charges are set to cover additional services not covered by the rent. The Committee was advised that if the rent levels were accepted, the authority would still have one of the lowest rent levels across the eleven stock-retaining Welsh local authorities and the levels would remain significantly lower than private sector rents. The proposals seek to balance the pressures on households with the need to continue the authorities housing development programme and ensuring properties maintain the CHS+ standard. The following issues / questions were raised on the report: · In response to a question regarding tenant engagement and income maximisation efforts, the Committee was advised that it is important for tenants to contact the authority if their circumstances change so that help can be provided, and that a lot of the rent debt is due to tenants moving to paying in arrears from paying a bond in advance in the private sector. It was also advised that an affordability assessment had taken place, and this had confirmed that all rents were below the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s affordable rent model of 28% of the gross weekly figure below which 25% of the lowest earners resident in Carmarthenshire earn. The Committee was also advised that housing officers will be more visible in communities around the time the rent increases are being communicated, to provide further support. · The loss of the £350k commission on collection of Water Rates that had previously paid by Dŵr Cymru was raised, and it was advised that this had been accounted for in the Revenue and Capital programmes previously as it had stopped in April 2023. · An observation was made regarding new technologies being installed such as solar panels and the future cost of maintaining these; that it would be crucial to make sure the authority had access to the skilled workforce required for this maintenance. · A question was asked regarding the £6.2m Major Repairs Allowance from Welsh Government and whether this had increased, the Cabinet Member for Housing confirmed that it had remained static. RESOLVED THAT IT BE RECOMMENDED TO THE CABINET/COUNCIL TO: 5.1 increase the average housing rent by 2.7% (£2.85) per dwelling per week as per the Welsh Government’s Social Housing Rents Policy: · Properties at target rents will increase by 2.62% and · Properties where rent is below target rent will increase by 2.62% plus a maximum progression of £1.00. · Those rents above target are frozen until such time as they meet the target. 5.2 increase garage rents by 2.7% from £9.60 to £9.86 and garage bases from £2.22 to £2.28; 5.3 apply the Service Charge Policy to ensure tenants who receive the benefit from specific services pay for those services; 5.4 increase charges for using our sewerage treatment works in line with rent increase; 5.5 approve the Housing Revenue Account Budget for 2025/28 (2026/27 & 2027/28 being soft budgets) as set out in Appendix A; 5.6 approve the proposed Capital Programme and applicable funding for 2025/26 and the indicative spends for 2026/27 to 2027/28 as set out in Appendix B; 5.7 note the Affordability Assessment as detailed in Appendix C.
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RESOLVED THAT IT BE RECOMMENDED TO THE CABINET/COUNCIL TO: 5.1 confirm the vision, priorities and areas for improvement for our housing investment programmes over the next three years; 5.2 agree that the 2025/26 Business Plan can be submitted to Welsh Government; 5.3 the specific actions as stated within the report be noted
(NOTE: Councillor H.A.L Evans having earlier declared an interest in this item, redeclared the interest and left the meeting for its consideration) The Committee received a report on the Housing Revenue Account Business Plan 2025-28 Carmarthenshire Housing Investment Programme which highlighted the importance of the Council supporting its tenants and residents in everything it did, with the following four key themes having been identified as driving the business forward over the next three years: · Theme 1 – Listening to tenants and our approach to estate and tenancy management. · Theme 2 – Investing in homes. · Theme 3 – Delivering more homes · Theme 4 – Local economy, community benefits and procurement. Those four themes were supported by a number of actions which were detailed within the report The following questions or issues were raised regarding the report: · The Committee was advised in response to a question regarding the expected extent of solar panels being added to homes, that the initial focus would be on ‘fabric first’ improvements to energy efficiency i.e. insulation. There would be a focus on improvements such as solar panels on new homes, and a focus on making sure tenants were able to operate the systems effectively. · In response to a query regarding void properties, the Committee was appraised of the current situation, that there are 144 voids, this comprising 1.53% of the total housing stock. It was advised that there can be a lengthy process to bring voids back into use, as 10% of the housing stock is not compliant with current standards due to some tenants’ reluctance to allow major works. · The Committee queried the figures around heating types in the housing stock. It was advised that the 4.7% communal heated figure was comprised of sheltered schemes. The Committee was also appraised of the intention to fit air source heat pumps into some retrofit and new build properties. · In response to a question about supporting to tenants to live independently, the Committee was advised that the housing department link closely with social care, Delta Wellbeing, and the adaptations team to do this. · The ‘Critical Friends’ initiative was welcomed; the Committee was advised that 200 tenants had expressed an interest in being part of the scheme initially and that the department was building on this interest to continue adding more tenants to the programme. · The Committee agreed to ask for a report on Supported Housing Schemes for young people to be brought to the committee at a later date. This will be added to the Forward Work Plan for a future meeting. · There was an observation regarding Appendix C of the report where some figures showed the percentage of tenants satisfied with specific services, and some figures showed the percentage of tenants not satisfied, that this may have been better presented uniformly as the percentages satisfied. · The Committee was advised in response to a question regarding responsive repairs that the percentage of urgent repairs being completed within 24 hours was very high, but there was a backlog in non-urgent repairs that needed to be shifted into being dealt with through planned repairs and the minor works programme. · The Committee commended the vision of the authority in looking after its own housing stock, as well as building homes and buying properties when appropriate. The authority’s leadership on the collaborative agreement for the South West Wales Regional Contractor Framework was also recognised as an excellent initiative. · The report references a total of £34m of expected Welsh Government grants for the Major Repairs Allowance, and the Committee was advised that the authority was very confident in receiving these based on its performance in previous years and the robust business plan and development programme in place. UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED THAT IT BE RECOMMENDED TO THE CABINET/COUNCIL TO: 5.1 confirm the vision, priorities and areas for improvement for our housing investment programmes over the next three years; 5.2 agree that the 2025/26 Business Plan can be submitted to Welsh Government; 5.3 the specific actions as stated within the report be noted
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RESOLVED that the list of forthcoming items for the next meeting on the 20th January 2025 be approved with the amendment that the abovementioned reports be scrutinised via email.
The Committee received a list of forthcoming items to be considered at its next meeting to be held on the 20th January, 2025. In noting the heavy agenda, the Chair proposed that the following agenda items on the agenda be circulated for scrutiny by e-mail: Performance Monitoring (Q2) and Revenue & Capital Budget Monitoring 2024/25 (April to October 2024) Managing the agenda would enable to the Committee to undertake quality scrutiny. The proposal was duly seconded. Members were informed that any queries in relation to the reports circulated by e-mail would be collated by the Scrutiny Officer and the responses would be included on the forthcoming items at the next meeting. UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the list of forthcoming items for the next meeting on the 20th January 2025 be approved with the amendment that the abovementioned reports be scrutinised via email.
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 11th November, 2024 be signed as a correct record.
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