Decision

The Assistant Director of Housing Services has
approved the purchase of the property listed in the exempt appendix
1 with an estimated acquisition cost of £241,000.

Reasons for the decision

Successive governments have recognised that
Local Authorities such as Wirral Borough Council which have
welcomed Ukrainian and Afghan arrivals, continue to face challenges
in securing settled accommodation for these households, which
unless alleviated will further impact on existing housing
pressures.

In December 2022, the Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) was
launched, providing Local Authorities successful in securing
funding, 40% of the total costs to secure 25 properties for both
this purpose and to support councils in increasing their temporary
accommodation for homelessness pressures.

The Council has maximised the use of its overall LAHF funding,
carefully ensuring properties purchased are value for money and
within financial parameters. Property prices have varied, as have
the costs to bring these properties up to the regulatory required
standards for affordable housing and this has meant there is an
overall underspend on this project.

The match funding allocated for the LAHF2 programme has been rolled
into the new LAHF3 allocation which the Council has been
awarded.

This will enable up to six properties to be purchased using this
resource, one of which must be for Afghan resettlement with the
remaining five for use as temporary accommodation, in line with the
funding requirements of LAHF.

Match funding comes from eligible ring fenced grants, which means
the Council can purchase these homes at no capital cost. Owning the
properties directly allows the Council to generate regular rental
income and make significant savings on housing benefit subsidy
losses by using them as emergency temporary accommodation. This, in
turn, helps reduce the need for expensive bed and breakfast
placements.

The underspend for the LAHF2 programme, of £547,000 and the
additional LAHF3 allocation awarded by The Ministry of Housing,
Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to the Council of
£303,000, plus match funding, gives a combined total of
£1,210,000 to further progress property acquisitions and
associated costs.

Officers from Strategic Housing Services and the Asset Management
Team are working collectively to identify suitable properties to
purchase utilising this funding.

Given the need to progress this scheme within ambitious timescales,
the Council entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)
in recognition of its allocation and the target to progress the
acquisition of a further houses to add to its existing small social
housing stock base.

Costs associated with compliance checks and any essential repairs
required to the properties will also be met from this
funding.

Two properties that were approved under LAHF2 have now been moved
to LAHF3.

An additional property has now been identified (details in appendix
1) which can be included and will bring the total number for LAHF3
up to 3 and total spend on acquisitions up to £610,000
(excluding associated costs which will also be met from this
funding).

Property acquisition details are set out in the attached exempt
appendix 1. Appendix 1 is exempt from publication pursuant to
paragraph 3 of the part 1 of Schedule 12 A of the Local Government
Act 1972 (Information relating to the financial or business affairs
of any particular person (including the authority holding that
information) because it contains or refers to information relating
to the financial and business affairs of the Council and the public
interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest
in disclosure.

Alternative options considered

The Council could have given this grant
funding to Registered Providers to acquire additional housing stock
in the borough, but the preferred option is to acquire the
properties for Council Ownership so that an income can be generated
in the future from rental income and reduce the burden on housing
subsidy loss for use of bed and breakfast.

The Council already has an existing management agreement in place
with a local Registered Provider of Affordable housing in relation
to its small social housing stock base and these homes can be added
to this agreement without the need to procure a further
partner.