Purpose

This report seeks the Corporate
Director of Resources & S151 Officer’s approval to
acquire an Ex-Right to Buy property, 34 Vanguard Close, Croydon,
CR0 3RS. 
 
The property is a
ground,1st and 2nd  floor 2-bedroom
flat. It meets the requirements of the Property Purchase Project,
to acquire ex-Right to Buy and Private Street properties in the
London Borough of Croydon. The project’s objective is to
acquire a minimum of 300 (2, 3, and 4+ bedroom) properties over a
3-year period 2024-2027. 
 
This will enable the Council to
meet the corporate priority to increase the supply of Temporary
Accommodation, provide decant properties for Regina Road tenants
and replacement properties for tenants occupying the Croylease
(PRS) scheme. 
 

Content

For the reasons set out in the
report (Part A) and Part B report and appendices, the Corporate
Director of Resources & S151 Officer
AGREED: 
 
To agree the purchase of 34
Vanguard Close, Croydon, CR0 3RS on the terms detailed in the Part
B report. 
 

Reasons for the decision

The property was acquired by
the seller under the Right to Buy scheme on 30th January
2017 and has been offered back to the Council for consideration
under the 10 year Right of First Refusal
covenant.   
 
The Council has a significant
Housing supply challenge, we currently
have 3,600 families in Temporary Accommodation (TA) and 3,100
agreed on the housing register. 
 
 
The Council has previously
relied on the housing association sector to increase supply but the
rate of new supply of affordable homes within the borough has
declined significantly and there are significant constraints in
accessing suitable accommodation in the private
sector. 
 
Financial savings achievable by
reducing the demand on temporary and emergency housing, the current
average cost to the Council for every TA placement is circa
£8,000 per year.?? 
 

Alternative options considered

The Council has already
considered and entered a number of
different housing solutions to address the need for temporary and
emergency accommodation and continues to review
options.  
 
These have included taking long
leases, typically for 40 years with rents below Local Housing
Allowance levels but subject to RPI increases. At the end of the 40
years the Council can acquire the properties for £1. These
schemes have a future place in providing this type of accommodation
but do not offer the overall flexibility that straight purchase of
homes has to offer.