This is a section from the Minutes of the City Council meeting, the appendix is excluded due to space restrictions EXECUTIVE BOARD - 18 SEPTEMBER 2007Title of Paper STONEBRIDGE PARK REGENERATION PROJECT
Key decision: Yes
Chief Officer(s)Sallyanne Johnson, Corporate Director of Adult Services, Housing and Health
Wards affected: St. Ann’s
Portfolio Holder(s): Councillor Clark, Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhood Regeneration
Summary of issues raised. This report seeks a number of key decisions and approval for the Neighbourhood Plan to enable the delivery of the Regeneration Project in line with previous decisions by the Board.
Summary of recommendations It is recommended that:
1 The draft Stonebridge Park Neighbourhood Plan be approved and adopted.
2 The proposed amendment to the City Council’s Regulatory Reform Order (RRO) (including the Nottingham Home Improvement and Relocation Assistance Policy 2007) to facilitate intervention in private sector housing for the purposes achieving central government targets and for neighbourhood transformation be approved and adopted.
3 The proposal to grant fund works to privately owned properties, while retaining the option to use other funding mechanisms on future projects be approved and adopted.
4 The proposal to waive the recovery of Right to Buy discount for Stonebridge Park owner occupiers be approved and adopted.
5 The proposal to carry out Decent Homes work for vulnerable residents in privately owned properties using grant from the Regional Housing Board be approved and adopted.
6 The proposal to set up the Stonebridge Park Board be approved and adopted.
7 The proposal to decommission Fairholm Court be approved and adopted and the investigation of the feasibility of the redevelopment of Welland Court to provide an Extra Care scheme and to replace Fairholm Court, be noted and will be reported to a future Executive board.
Summary of implications
1 The Neighbourhood Plan and Consultation undertaken provide a robust basis for the regeneration scheme including the use of statutory powers if needed. Should friendly acquisition processes fail; the statutory powers will enable the Council to meet contractual commitments for land assembly and disposal to the Developer.
2 The Council has duties and opportunities under the 2004 Housing Act to intervene in order to achieve improvements in Private Sector Housing and the revised RRO will provide the City with the necessary powers for this intervention. Stonebridge Park will be the first project to utilise these extended
Powers.
3 This is necessary to ensure as far as possible that all properties are included in the programme of work in order to achieve comprehensive regeneration of Stonebridge Park.
4 The recovery of Right to Buy discount normally levied on properties sold on within five years, may be unfair where homes are reacquired by the Council for strategic land assembly reasons. These recent home owners would be disadvantaged through no fault of their own and if unable to buy another home often return to the Council as tenants.
5 The Council has succeeded in securing £289,000 grant from the Regional Housing Board for this purpose.
6 The draft Terms of Reference for the proposed Board can be seen in Appendix D.
7 The proposal will release the land from Fairholm Court to achieve a more comprehensive and viable regeneration project on Stonebridge Park and if the investigation of the redevelopment of Welland Court shows the proposal to be viable, this could provide high standard replacement accommodation incorporating Extra Care.
Impact on Corporate Objectives The project will contribute to safer, cleaner neighbourhoods and the neighbourhood transformation agenda.
Benefits to customers / service users the project will improve the quality and choice of housing in a high quality, safer and more secure environment. Property values will increase. The construction work will create job opportunities and opportunities for local suppliers / businesses. Community development work will create a stronger and more empowered Community.
1. KEY DECISION
This matter is the subject of a Key decision because it involves capital expenditure with a total value in excess of £1 million.
2. RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that:-
2.1 The draft Neighbourhood Plan be approved enabling the use of statutory powers in order to complete land assembly where friendly acquisition procedures have been exhausted.
2.2 The amendment to the Regulatory Reform Order is approved to enable the Council to fund work on owner occupied homes.
2.3 The proposal to fully grant fund the work for bringing the exterior of owner occupied properties up to Decent Home Standards and the use other funding mechanisms such as equity release, interest free loans etc on future projects be approved.
2.4 The recovery of Right to Buy discount for Stonebridge Park owner occupiers losing their homes for redevelopment, (except those returning to the Council as tenants) is waived.
2.5 The proposal to carry out work for vulnerable residents in privately owned properties using grant from the Regional Housing Board be approved.
2.6 The establishment of the Stonebridge Park Board be approved.
2.7 The decommissioning of Fairholm Court is approved and, the investigation of its replacement with an Extra Care scheme by the redevelopment of Welland Court, subject to a satisfactory outcome of the comprehensive feasibility study, be noted. The results of the feasibility study will be submitted to the Executive Board as soon as possible. .
3. REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
3.1 The Council needs to put in place the key policies and strategic actions to facilitate progress with the regeneration of Stonebridge Park.
4. BACKGROUND
4.1 In 2005 the Council followed an Official Journal of the European Union tendering process for the regeneration of the Stonebridge Park estate which led to the selection of the LHA - ASRA Group Limited as preferred Development Partner (see section 5.2 for more details).
4.2 Since being selected, LHA-ASRA has been developing the master plan for regeneration of the estate in consultation with residents. The design has been introduced at workshops and at open days where interactive sessions have led to design modifications to improve the outcome for residents. A number of issues raised strong feelings for some residents at these workshops which were used as key questions in the consultation process carried out earlier in 2007.
4.3 At its meeting on the 18th July 2006 the Executive Board resolved the project should be progressed and the following action points were agreed:
* develop a neighbourhood plan;
* Nottingham City Council to consult all the residents;
* the project delivery principles were re-aligned so that Nottingham City Council would take responsibility for consultation, decommissioning and demolition in order to deliver cleared sites to the LHA - ASRA Group and use the capital receipt from the land to finance the Decent Homes work and the wider regeneration of the estate.
4.4 A further report was submitted to the Council Executive Board on the 19th September 2006 identifying a number of issues that needed addressing to ensure the project was delivered in accordance with Council objectives and legislative requirements including:-
4.4.1 Consultation with residents. This was completed in February 2007 (see Appendix A for the details and results).
4.4.2 Carry out a programme of Decent Homes works to retained homes. Decent Homes works on Council properties are now in progress and due for completion by December 2007.
4.4.3 Right to Buy and re – letting suspended. Implemented in January 2007
4.4.4 Purchase of existing freeholders and leaseholders to be agreed. This has been implemented see progress report below.
4.4.5 Regulatory Reform Order Policy is reviewed. This is included in this report.
5. PROJECT PROGRESS TO DATE
5.1 A comprehensive consultation exercise took place in February 2007 resulting in overwhelming support for the project from all residents (see Appendix A for details). Some amendments to the Master plan were suggested by residents including:
? Retention of rear garden access for all properties;
? Removal of a proposed sports court shown on original proposals;
? Change to estate road layouts to reduce the number of through routes.
5.2 Decommissioning of 54 properties in Phase 1 does nearing completion with just 7 residents need to be re-housed.
5.3 The friendly acquisition of 3 leaseholder properties in Phase 1 is virtually complete with the last leaseholder having recently been offered alternative accommodation.
5.4 Demolition of Phase 1 is expected to start November 2007.
5.5 Subway closure and new road crossings are being designed by City Development
6. STATUTORY POWERS AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN
6.1 The Neighbourhood Plan provides the framework for the regeneration of Stonebridge Park and enables the Council to use its statutory powers for land acquisition.
6.2 Where it has not possible to negotiate an agreed purchase price of leasehold or owner occupied property through friendly acquisition, statutory powers may then have to be used to acquire such property to enable the delivery of the project.
6.3 The Neighbourhood Plan can be seen in Appendix B.
6.4 It is recommended that the draft Neighbourhood Plan is approved.
7. LAND ACQUISITION BY LHA ASRA
7.1 Negotiations have been taking place for a number of months with LHA-ASRA regarding the acquisition of the parcels of land shown in the Master plan in Phases 1-5 (see Para 6.2 Appendix B). Discussions are still ongoing regarding the potential Capital Receipt the Council may receive for sites. This will be subject of a future report for Executive Board.
8. AMENDMENT TO REGULATORY REFORM ORDER TO ENABLE IMPROVEMENTS TO OWNER OCCUPIED PROPERTIES
8.1 The Regulatory Reform (England and Wales) (Housing Assistance) Order 2002 (the RRO) is national provision that allows local authorities to create a policy to support residents living in the private housing sector, appropriate to their area and needs. This amendment to the to the City Council’s Regulatory Reform Order (RRO) is being proposed to facilitate intervention in the private sector housing for improvement to private sector housing and neighbourhood transformation (see Appendix C for details).
8.2 Most of the properties on Stonebridge Park are of ‘no fines’ construction and suffer from poor thermal efficiency resulting in damp and associated problems.
8.3 It is proposed to fully fund the external treatment of privately owned properties for the following reasons.
* To comprehensively deal with the external insulation of all properties in terraces to achieve the most efficient thermal insulation.
* To avoid ”pepper potting” if private houses are not included in external works, this would compromise the consistent and improved appearance of the estate as a whole, in turn undermining the effectiveness of the regeneration project.
8.4 It is therefore recommended that the proposed amendment to the Regulatory Reform Order is approved and adopted to enable the Council to fully fund work on owner occupied homes.
9. VULNERABLE HOUSEHOLDS
9.1 Nottingham City Council has been successful in securing funding from the Regional Housing Board to carry out Decent Homes work for vulnerable households in privately owned properties.
9.2 Letters were sent to all residents on the estate in May 2007 explaining the eligibility criteria for improvement works including the installation of new kitchens, bathrooms and re-wiring.
9.3 It has been established that 22 residents living on the Estate may be eligible for assistance and work packages to these homes are being assembled with a view to works starting in September 2007.
10. OWNER OCCUPIERS AFFECTED BY DEMOLITION
10.1 Property prices on Stonebridge Park have been reviewed regarding circumstances where displaced owners might not be able to buy elsewhere in the City. Current evidence indicates that home owners affected by demolition are able to replace the home they are losing with ones of a similar standard without being worse off. It is therefore not considered appropriate at this stage to offer additional financial support to displaced owner occupiers beyond the current open market valuation. This will be kept under review as house prices changes over the life time of the project.
11. WAIVING RECOVERY OF RIGHT TO BUY DISCOUNT
11.1 There is a technical issue regarding the voluntary sale of properties within 5 years of acquisition by residents under the Right to Buy requiring repayment of discount. It is in the Council’s interests to secure these properties by friendly acquisition in order to expedite progress on the redevelopment. Furthermore, the acquisition of these properties by the Council is necessary as part of the regeneration of the Estate. If friendly acquisition cannot be secured then the Council will have to resort to
compulsory purchase. In these circumstances, suspension of the repayment of Right to Buy discount is considered appropriate where friendly acquisition has been secured. Voluntary sale by residents within defined timescales as indicated in the table in Appendix E.
11.2 There are four properties where acquisition in accordance with the programme would trigger recovery of discount amounting to £ 50,957, depending on the timing of the re-purchase by Nottingham City Council. There are three others that could be affected by discount recovery if acquired ahead of programme these are included in the information in Appendix E.
11.3 It is recommended that the recovery of Right to Buy discount is waived for Stonebridge Park to facilitate progress of the redevelopment
12. FAIRHOLM COURT
12.1 The Master Plan proposed by the LHA - ASRA Group includes the redevelopment of Fairholm Court site in Phase 3.
12.2 An important element of the regeneration proposals is retention rather than displacement of existing communities. Many of the residents live in Fairholm Court because they have local connections within the area or nearby relatives.
12.3 A feasibility study to assess the potential for a redevelopment of Welland Court has been commissioned as part of the regeneration proposals.
12.4 In addition the future of Welland Court has been considered as part of a wider review of sheltered housing within the City carried out by the Extra Care Housing and Supporting People teams.
12.5 Welland Court is considered to be an appropriate scheme for redevelopment to provide an Extra Care housing scheme for the elderly. An initial feasibility study has shown that sufficient additional Extra Care units can be provided on the Welland Court site to accommodate the rehousing requirements of Fairholm Court and a detailed feasibility study is ongoing.
12.6 The timeframe for the proposed redevelopment of Welland Court is in line with the redevelopment timeframe of Stonebridge Park estate.
13 OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED IN MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS
13.1 This has been covered in previous Stonebridge Park Executive Board reports (18th July and 19th September 2006).
14. LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
14.1 Legal Implications – Councils have discretion in certain circumstances as to whether or not to insist on repayment. Government guidance largely encompasses situations where to forego recovery would alleviate potential hardship.
15. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
15.1 A separate memorandum on financial implications will be circulated to Executive Members (See addendum).
16. VALUE FOR MONEY
16.1 It is considered that the proposals in this report provide value for money as the potential for any knock-on delay to the regeneration scheme would incur greater expense.
17. RISK MANAGEMENT ISSUES
17.1 A draft project risk register has been prepared for Stonebridge Park and is being finalised in consultation with the Corporate Risk Manager.
18. EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY IMPLICATIONS
18.1 The proposals provide benefits to all residents on the estate and no adverse equality and diversity implications are envisaged.
19. CRIME AND DISORDER IMPLICATIONS
19.1 The demolition, subway and footpath closures and regeneration work will reduce the public spaces and potential for crime and disorder to occur.
20. LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS OTHER THAN PUBLISHED WORKS OR THOSE DISCLOSING CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION
20.1 None
21. PUBLISHED DOCUMENTS REFERED TO IN THIS REPORT
21.1 Executive Board Reports: 18 July 2006 - Implementation of the Stonebridge Park Regeneration Project and 19 September 2006 - Stonebridge Park Regeneration Project”.
Chief Officer: Sallyanne Johnson, Corporate Director of Adult Services, Housing and Health
