Purpose

In recent years the Council and St Leger Homes
of Doncaster (SLHD) have been jointly involved with the delivery of
a property acquisition programme. St Leger Homes currently
administer the programme on behalf of the Council in which property
purchases and conveyance is undertaken by the Council, the
properties are brought into housing stock and are Council owned, St
Leger Homes then facilitate necessary repairs to appropriate
standards and subsequently let and manage the property.
This purchase has been considered in line with the need to address
the high demand for affordable rental properties, especially larger
properties in many areas across Doncaster where there is an under
supply of this type of property.
The property has been identified as one of the 4 bedroomed
properties requested as part of the Ukrainian and Afghanistan
resettlement scheme and is considered an appropriate property to
meet requirements.
The property is situated in an area of significant need in
conjunction with the Housing Needs Survey.The four-year capital
budget (2023/24-2026/27) approved on 27th February 2023 included
provision for acquisitions and buy backs of former Council homes,
to ensure as far as possible that all housing needs are met.
As the additional match funding from DLUHC has been identified to
facilitate the purchase of 9 properties (5x 3-bedroom and 4x
4-bedroom) to provide housing for Ukrainian and Afghanistan
Refugees, this purchase will follow the same criteria and process
although will be allocated in a separate manner for at least 4
years before being integrated into general let stock.

Content

To support the proposal for the purchase,
repair of 17 Barrel Lane, Balby.
The purchase price is £230,000 and provisional inspections
have estimated the further Housing Revenue Account investment costs
to be £15k to ensure the property is fully modernised, and up
to standard.

Alternative options considered

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED AND
REJECTED
Option 1 – Approve the property purchase – (recommended
option)
This option will support the acquisition programme by utilising
available funds to maximise the opportunity to provide additional
housing provision across the borough. Whilst consideration has been
given to the Housing Needs Survey, this purchase is also in
conjunction with the Ukrainian and Afghanistan resettlement
scheme.
Option 2 - Do Nothing
This option would lose the opportunity to deploy approved funding
to help ease the demand for properties on the housing waiting
list.