Purpose

This report seeks the Corporate
Director of Resources & S151 Officer’s approval to
acquire an Ex-Right to Buy property, 173 Regina Road, South
Norwood, SE25 4TR.
 
The property is a
2nd and 3rd floor 2-bedroom maisonette. 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 and its appendices, the Director of Finance
(Deputy Section 151), on behalf of the Corporate Director of
Resources & S151 Officer AGREED:
 
To agree the purchase of
173 Regina Road,
South Norwood, SE25 4TR 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 12th October
2007 and has been offered back to the Council for
consideration.
 
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.