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RESOLVED:
 
1. 
The Hackney Private Sector Housing Strategy, attached
as Appendix 1 to the report, was approved.
 
2. 
The consultation process had concluded, and feedback
from key stakeholders had been considered in shaping the strategy.
Any final minor amendments to the strategy, prior to its
publication, was delegated to the Group Director of Climate, Homes,
and Economy.
 
REASONS FOR DECISION
 
Cabinet approval of the Private Sector Housing
Strategy is sought to establish a clear vision for Hackney’s
PRS. The strategy also aims to provide the Council, partners,
residents and landlords operating in the borough with an accessible
summary of the Council’s priorities and its approach to
addressing the borough’s housing challenges.
 
We know that good quality, affordable housing
is still severely lacking and too many people are trapped in poorly
managed rented accommodation. Home ownership is out of reach for
the vast majority of residents with the average house price in
Hackney at nineteen times the average household income. It is
essential for the Council and its partners to help meet these
challenges and work towards the provision of stable, high quality,
safe homes for all Hackney’s residents.
 
Growing demand in London and severe and
worsening housing affordability have meant that housing need is
rising faster than supply. We still have over 3,000 homeless
households in temporary accommodation and over 8,500 on our housing
waiting list. An overpriced PRS is all that remains to those who
are unable to access the open housing market, with 2-bed properties
in Hackney having seen the fastest rent rise in Britain in the last
decade.
 
Affordable options to lower and middle income
earners in the borough are few and far between and it is simply not
a viable option without entering into an often expensive house
share, or moving out of the borough entirely. With nearly a third
of all residents in Hackney in the private rented sector, it is
essential that we continue our work to protect private renters.
 
The priorities and actions in this strategy
are arranged into four key themes:
 
1. 
Improving property and management standards in the Private Rented
Sector.
2. 
Increasing the supply and access to good quality, well managed,
affordable homes in the Private Rented Sector.
3. 
Ensuring that housing standards and living conditions in the sector
contribute towards better health outcomes for all.
4. 
Ensuring that Hackney is a place where people want to live and are
proud to live.
 
There is close alignment between the proposed
strategy and other internal strategies, including the draft Housing
Strategy position paper; Hackney Strategic Plan; Hackney Community
Strategy; Poverty Reduction: Strategic Framework; Homelessness and
Rough Sleeping Strategy; and the Ageing Well Strategy.
 
Adoption of the proposed Private Sector
Housing Strategy does not itself have any direct financial
implications. The strategy contains a list of broad actions for the
Council and partners that will provide a clear framework for
ensuring that available resources are targeted towards meeting
need.
 
DETAILS OF ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED AND
REJECTED
 
As having a Private Sector Housing Strategy is
not a statutory requirement for local authorities, an alternative
option for the Council would be not to produce this strategy, or
include the objectives of the PRS strategy in the wider Housing
Strategy which is currently in development. However, it was decided
to produce a standalone strategy because of the benefits that it
offers. Some of these benefits are set out below, and all of which
could be lost if there was no strategy in place:
 
· 
It provides a clear statement of the Council’s vision and
priorities for housing in the private sector, for residents,
partners and other stakeholders.
 
· 
It shows how housing and other services across the Council will
work together to help address the housing and housing-related needs
and aspirations of residents.
 
· 
It will directly shape a delivery plan that will be developed and
adopted if the strategy is implemented. The delivery plan will be
‘live’ and will adapt to respond to new housing-related
circumstances that develop over the next five years. The action
plan will be monitored and a report will be published on the
Council’s website annually.