Purpose

 
Ths report sought the Executive
Mayor’s approval to acquire an Ex Right to Buy property
– 32 The Lawns, Upper Norwood, London, SE19 3TS.
 
The property is a Freehold 3
bed terraced house. 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
Part A and Part B report and its Part B appendices, the Executive
Mayor AGREED:
 
To
the purchase of32 The Lawns, Upper Norwood,
London, SE19 3TS, on the terms detailed in the Part B
report.
 

Reasons for the decision

The property has been offered 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.