In the statement, the council presents an analysis of the housing market in the city and the impact of government legislation, based on local data and national studies.
The statement comes in the wake of recent proposals for a devolution bid for Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk and a request for councils involved to lay out their ‘asks’ of government.
The council says the government should allow it to add fresh impetus to tackling the housing shortage, and makes the case for delivering new affordable homes to rent and buy across a range of tenures, including new council housing.
The statement highlights changes in government policy which, without the proposed new freedoms and flexibilities, will have a highly detrimental impact on the Greater Cambridge area.
It points to the government’s policy and funding shift away from social housing for rent and towards home ownership and makes clear that this does not address the continued pressing need for affordable housing for those on lower and average incomes in the city.
It highlights that the government’s 1% social housing rent cut each year for four years will result in an income loss to the city council’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA) of £15 million over four years which has resulted in the council’s existing HRA new build programme being put on hold.
A further challenge posed by government policy, according to the statement, is the requirement for councils to dispose of ‘high value’ social housing in order to fund the implementation of the Right to Buy for housing associations.
Council housing plays a major role in the Greater Cambridge area, providing over 30% of all rental homes. The forced sale of a significant number of these homes would risk damaging the local housing market.
As Greater Cambridge is a high value area, with growing rents and house prices, even more people would find it difficult to find the homes they need as a result.
Only the top 20% of households here have incomes that enable them to buy homes with the remaining 80% including those on average or lower incomes unable to do so.
The council is proposing to open negotiations with the government to secure a number of new freedoms and flexibilities, including:
- Approval for a higher level of borrowing against the HRA;
- Flexibility for social housing providers to set council housing and housing association rents to better reflect local conditions;
- Exemption for new build homes from Right to Buy and the High Value Levy for 30 years;
- The power to retain a significant proportion of the receipts from the sale of high value properties, to fund a like for like, one for one replacement of council homes lost through compulsory sale;
- Approval to use Right to Buy receipts to match against borrowing and the ability to spend Right to Buy receipts within a five year period (rather than three years) to take account of land supply;
- The planning powers to agree the appropriate tenure mix on sites to meet local housing need.
Cllr Kevin Price, Executive Councillor Housing, said: “Any devolution deal must offer real benefits for Cambridge and for its residents. Tackling the housing affordability crisis is at the core of the growth challenge facing the city and so it is at the core of our ‘ask’ to government.
“Many people simply can’t afford to buy homes and Cambridge needs a mix of housing, including housing for social rent, to meet existing and future needs.
“The council has a good delivery record and ambitious plans to build new homes but to do that we need more flexibility from government and that’s what we are pressing for.”
The city council has already been working with other councils through the Greater Cambridge City Deal to make the case for housing, including making representations to government ministers to highlight how housing policies and legislation will impact on the Greater Cambridge area.
The proposed statement will be presented to the council’s Housing Scrutiny Committee on 8 March.
Cllr Price is recommended to approve adoption of the statement as a summary of the Cambridge housing market and the impact of impending legislation, and to agree the “housing asks” of government as the foundations for negotiation on any devolution deal.
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Contacts
Cllr Kevin Price (Labour Group), Executive Councillor for Housing, email: kevin.price@cambridge.gov.uk, tel: 07964 280689
Cllr Nick Avery (Liberal Democrat Group), Opposition spokesperson, email: nick.avery@cambridge.gov.uk, tel: 07798 802215
Cllr Marie-Louise Holland, (Minorities Group), Opposition spokesperson,
email: marie-louise.holland@cambridge.gov.uk, tel: 01223 564126
Liz Bisset, Director of Customer and Community Services, email: liz.bisset@cambridge.gov.uk, tel: 01223 457801
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