Purpose

As
part of the Surrey Homes for Surrey Children Strategy it was agreed
that a programme of purchasing up to 9 homes be established to
convert into new Children’s Homes for Surrey
children.  Cabinet agreed to the
proposal and Corporate Programme Panel approved the methodology for
managing the programme and purchase of properties.
 
The
programme has been progressing to identify, assess and consider
suitable properties across Surrey, and currently there are two
homes under offer- in Woking. 
 
The
appropriate teams have carried out due diligence checks and the
decision is to proceed with the purchase of the property identified
in Woking. 
 
The
new home will provide 4 spaces for children with High Needs
(social, emotional and mental health) as part of the
programme. 
 
During the due diligence process a number of covenants were
identified on the Woking property.  This
is not uncommon on larger houses in Surrey.  At this property they relate to maintaining fences
to the boundary, roof coverings, and only having one building on
site that is used for dwelling- other buildings on site can be used
for workshops.   These have been
investigated and the risks assessed and mitigated.
 
There will also be a need to change the planning designation of
the property from C3- Dwelling House to C2- Residential
Institution.  This will require a
planning application to be determined. 
If this application is not successful, the property would need to
be re-sold.  Although the sale income
would revert to the overall programme there would be some loss to
the council as Stamp Duty Land Tax and fees incurred in the
acquisition would not be recoverable.
 
The
assessed risks and mitigations have been considered by CLT and
approval given to proceed with the purchase.
 

Content

It
was AGREED that  the identified property
in Woking be purchased for use as a Children’s Home within
the Surrey Homes for Surrey Children Strategic Approach.
 

Reasons for the decision

Reasons for Decision:

1.    
the property fulfils the requirements of the need
identified within the programme

2.    
the risks associated with the purchase have been
fully considered and are deemed acceptable

3.    
appropriate mitigations are in place to manage the
risks
 

Alternative options considered

Alternative Option- not to proceed with purchase
This would have incurred abortive costs and delay to the
programme whilst another suitable property could be
identified.
As
stated above it is not uncommon for larger properties in Surrey to
have Covenants, and if the approach would be to only seek
properties without covenants that would excessively limit the
available properties, whilst still incurring costs in the due
diligence process to discover the existence of
covenants.