Purpose

Cabinet is asked to approve the expansion of
the temporary accommodation acquisitions programme and to accept
the allocation of grant funding from the Local Authority Housing
Fund and Full Council is asked to approve the required budget to
support the opportunity acquisitions necessary to achieve the
objectives of this programme.

Content

Exempt Paragraph 3
Information relating to financial and business affairs of any
particular person (including the Authority holding that
information)

RESOLVED

That the
Cabinet:

a)            
authorises the Head of Strategic Housing Services to
enter into the necessary transactions and agreements to secure the
LAHF funding allocation and to satisfy the requirements associated
with this funding allocation.

b)            
delegate the negotiation, approval and completion of
all relevant documentation, including legal paperwork to the Head
of Strategic Housing Services, Head of Governance, People and
Performance, Head of Corporate Finance, in consultation with the
Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for
Housing.

(Generic Delegations 2 & 3
will be used to enact this recommendation)

That Full
Council be recommended to approve:

the uplift to
the Temporary Accommodation Acquisitions Budget as detailed in
section 5.8 below, for the purposes of securing additional
temporary accommodation aimed primarily at reducing the financial
burden of using expensive nightly-paid accommodation and to enable
the LAHF funding allocation to be utilised.

Reasons for
the Recommendations

The Council currently has 542
households in temporary accommodation, with 313 of these presently
in nightly paid accommodation, including 113 out of borough
placements. This represents the highest level of need and demand
for temporary accommodation across the County. 3.2. The Council is
presented with an opportunity to receive grant funding from the
Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) for the purposes of providing
temporary and resettlement accommodation, which needs to be
utilised by March 2026, with an element of match-funding required
from the Council to satisfy the conditions of the LAHF funding
allocation, and a budget is being requested to support this
programme.