*O&S 69
The
Hub Lead Member with responsibility for Housing introduced Mr Paul
Crawford, Chief Executive, and Ms Suzanne Brown, Executive Director
of Operations, LiveWest, who provided
the Committee with a presentation which highlighted:
·
Working with 20 local authorities, entirely in the
South West;
·
Built 800 affordable homes last year and current
stock of 38,000
·
Ambition to build 15,000 affordable homes over next
10 years;
·
Employ 14,000 people and have high employee
satisfaction;
·
£420 million available funding to build new
homes and further borrowing in excess of £1 billion largely
through bonds. Also successful Homes
England grant for £123.6 million to build 2,550 new homes by
March 2028;
·
New home delivery for West Devon planning 6,000
affordable homes. Delivery through two
routes: Section 106 and land led, looking to secure land rather
than rely on developer, built 250 shared ownership homes last year
and plan to build 400 this year;
·
Dispose of properties on those dwellings which had
been identified as needing significant investment, with capital
receipt recycled for more affordable homes. Last year, in West Devon, eight houses sold, with
another six to be disposed of during 2022/23;
·
High demand in West Devon with 1,127 applicants for
a home;
·
Anti-social behaviour instances had increased during
the pandemic and the organisation had struggled to get engagement
with the community mental health teams;
·
Working through backlog of maintenance
repairs;
·
Increased rents to 4.1% in line with standard rent
guidance but provide financial support if required;
·
All new homes built to a high Energy Performance
Certificate (EPC) A or high B standard, with build programme in
place to update current stock;
·
Disproportionate number of homes in Borough
requiring investment of £2.7 million to get homes to EPC
standard rating ‘C’;
·
House building limited by land availability but
LiveWest had the desire to build more
often in rural areas;
The
Chair thanked LiveWest for their
presentation and wished them well with the delivery of their plans
and for the support that they provided to the residents of West
Devon and the good working relationship with Council
officers.