Thanet council plans to ‘significantly’ speed up its affordable housing development with the aim of providing at least 400 social homes by 2027.
The proposal will be discussed by councillors at a meeting on July 13.
Members will also be asked to approve a £7.485m spend to buy 51 new homes to “kickstart” the programme.
These are to be made up of 42 properties at the Spitfire Green development by Barrett Homes at a cost of £5m and 9 properties at Westwood using £1.19million of funding from a national £500 million scheme to enable local authorities to purchase properties for Ukrainian and Afghan refugee households for an initial period of 3 years. Thanet council will match-fund the grant with £1.996million from its housing capital programme.
Since 2015, the council has added to its existing housing stock by building or buying 144 new affordable rented homes. This represents over 60% of the 313 new affordable homes provided by the council and its housing association partners in that period.
As part of the on-going new build programme, the council has approved funding and delivery of 47 more homes. Sites have been identified and construction is due to start early in 2024.
Affordable rents
The revised target for Thanet District Council is to buy or build at least 400 new affordable rented homes by 2027 compared to the current target of 160 homes.
The council currently sets affordable rents at the lower of 80% of market rent or the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate. LHA rates have not been increased since April 2020 and will remain fixed until at least 2024/25.
This creates a risk that if the government does not vary the LHA rate then future income would not increase at the same rate as revenue costs. This means the council must decide whether to set affordable rents at up to 80% of market rent and move away from setting a maximum of LHA rates.
There are 1604 households in housing need on the council’s housing register, waiting for a new home.
Temporary accommodation
The council is also facing a rapid growth in the number of people who have become homeless. Currently 233 households are living in temporary accommodation provided by the council.
There is a further £2.2m in the general fund capital programme for a second temporary accommodation project following the success of Foy House in Margate. This project has the potential for up to 10 homes.
The council has also bought the former Oasis refuge in Edgar Road, with the final tranche of funding from the Cliftonville intervention programme (Live Margate) with the intention of converting to a further 16 homes.
The property is to be used by the RISE homelessness service until March 2025 with the housing project is planned to start on site for the conversion works in April 2025.
Councillor Helen Whitehead, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing said: “Having access to genuinely affordable housing is a huge concern for many Thanet residents; if we can provide that, we relieve many of the pressures that residents are currently facing, and as an administration we are determined to do so.
“Regeneration brings many positives; but without key infrastructure, such as affordable housing, regeneration can quickly become gentrification, and it is residents within the private rental sector who are often most affected by this; we can and will work to support residents in need, and provide genuinely affordable housing at a rate that will make a difference.
“An increasing number of residents are now facing homelessness, and many are having to be supported in temporary accommodation. Establishing our in house temporary accommodation service at Foy House to keep as many residents in area and near their support networks was a significant step; we will continue to deliver further in house temporary accommodation, but we also need to provide homes; and we will deliver them at a faster rate than we have ever done before, because protecting and supporting all of our community in Thanet is essential.
“Between 2015 and 2023 we delivered an average of 18 homes per year as a council; we are pledging now to deliver at least 100 a year for the next four years so that we can support residents at a time when they most need support.
“I know that Members understand the importance of delivering housing to support residents; I look forward to working together as a council to take this programme forward.”
Thanet council says a number of landowners have approaching it to explore whether the council would be interested in purchasing land for the delivery of new homes, or in working in partnership, or as part of a joint venture to deliver homes.
A report to councillors says: “We are currently aware of sites like this with capacity for around 90 homes, but it is likely that further opportunities will arise.”
If approved the draw down of additional funding for the 52 homes will be subject to Cabinet approval. This would take place at a meeting planned for Thursday 27 July.
