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1.       Approved that the Council
enters into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department for
Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, as set out in Appendix 1 of
this report, to deliver Round Two of the Local Authority Housing
Fund and provide the Royal Borough of Greenwich with
£10,000,000 of capital grant funding.
 
2.       Noted that on the 20th
November 2023 the Leader of the Council approved a report to sign a
Memorandum of Understanding with the Department for Levelling Up,
Housing and Communities to deliver Round Two of the Local Authority
Housing Fund, in the sum of £8,000,000 of capital grant
funding.  Subsequent to this approval the Department for
Levelling Up, Housing and Communities have agreed to provide the
Royal Borough of Greenwich with a further £2,000,000 of
capital grant funding from Round Two, thus the requirement for this
variation.
  
3.       Approved the following
budgets, in addition to the Local Authority Housing Fund Round Two
budgets already agreed on 20th November 2023, to enable the
delivery of Round Two of the Local Authority Housing Fund
programme:
•          
DLUHC Grant = £2,000,000
•          
General Fund Borrowing = £1,735,000
 
4.      Noted the assumptions
outlined in Appendix 2 of this report, which apply a portfolio
approach to the delivery of the programme and set indicative
purchase prices per property against each bedroom size.  These
assumptions ensure the proposals in this report do not provide a
General Fund budget
pressure.     
 
5.      Delegated to the Director
of Regeneration, Enterprise and Skills authority to acquire
properties funded with the additional capital grant from Round Two
of the Local Authority Housing Fund, and otherwise apply the
funding under, and in accordance with, the Local Authority Housing
Fund programme.
 
6.      Noted that the Memorandum
of Understanding relating to the Local Authority Housing Fund was
originally due for signature on 14 August 2023 but this was delayed
so that additional funding could be sought.
 
7.       Noted that as access
to the funding is required as a matter of urgency and before the
next Cabinet, the Leader of the Council has amended the Scheme of
Delegation to enable these matters to be approved by the Leader of
the Council owing to the urgency with which the Council is required
to take these matters forward in fulfilment of its
duties.