Agenda item - Housing Delivery Programme Update

The Director of Housing, Economy & Regeneration to present a report which outlines progress on the Housing Delivery Programme since the last Executive report in October 2020 and seeks approval for submission of a planning application to deliver new homes, community and flexible commercial spaces at the Ordnance Lane and Hospital Fields Road site and associated funding allocations.

Resolved: (i) That approval be given to submit a planning application to deliver new homes, community and flexible commercial spaces at the Ordnance Lane and Hospital Fields Road site.

(ii) That it be noted that an outline business case has been developed and that this will be refined and brought before Executive post planning permission, to allocate a construction development budget to the project, transfer the general fund part of the site into the HRA through appropriation, and agree the procurement of a construction partner.

(iii) That the grant offer of £2.64m under the Brownfield Land Release Fund be accepted to support projects at Ordnance Lane, the former Tang Hall Library site, and Chaloners Road Garage Court, and that approval be given to:

· use up to £700k of this allocation for the Ordnance Lane project to undertake utility works on site and prepare a tender pack to procure a contractor to undertake enabling works; and

· put the enabling works contract out to the market, with the contract signed after the business case for the whole site redevelopment has been approved by Executive.

(iii) That an additional £500k be allocated from the Housing Delivery Programme capital budget in order to undertake detailed design work at the Ordnance Lane and Hospital Fields Road site in conjunction with the submission of the planning application and completion of the financial business case for this site.

(iv) That a grant application be submitted to Homes England to support the delivery of additional Shared Ownership affordable homes on the Ordnance Lane and Hospital Fields Road site.

(v) That the lessons learned on Phase 2 projects within the programme, and the progress and approach to projects which may form part of Phase 3 of the programme, including continuing use of the high standards defined in the ‘Building Better Places’ design manual as the set of objectives for the Housing Delivery Programme, be noted.

(v) That the progress made on bringing forward proposals for the community-led redevelopment of the former Tang Hall Library and the Morrell House site for housing be noted, and that approval be given to dispose of the former Tang Hall Library and Morrell House sites on long leases for the purpose of enabling construction/delivery of community housing, on condition that any such disposal is made at or above its open market valuation and is subject to a deliverable business case provided from community housing organisations.

(vi) That authority be delegated to the Director of Housing, Economy & Regeneration (in consultation with the Chief Finance Officer, Executive Member for Housing, Executive Member for Finance & Performance and the Director of Governance or her delegated officers) to take such steps as are necessary to negotiate and complete the disposal of the sites.

Reason: To progress with the construction, rental and sale of much needed new homes in York set within healthy and sustainable neighbourhoods.

The Director of Housing, Economy & Regeneration presented a report which outlined progress on the Housing Delivery Programme since the last report to Executive on 22 October 2020 (Minute 48 of that meeting refers), and sought approval to submit a planning application for Ordnance Lane and Hospital Fields Road site.

The Programme aimed to deliver over 600 new homes in York, with a minimum 40% of these being affordable housing tenures such as social rent and shared ownership. To date it had attracted grant funding of over £7.5m and was expected to deliver more than 100 affordable homes by the end of 2021. Progress made since last October on Phases 1, 2 and 3 of the Programme was summarised in paragraphs 10-13 of the report, and the financial position was detailed in paragraphs 24-26. Site maps and images of completed and proposed building works were attached at Annexes 1-6.

The Executive Member for Housing & Safer Neighbourhoods welcomed the report, highlighting the quality and sustainability of the new developments, the level of affordable housing, and the amount of community engagement in the Programme. In response to matters raised under Public Participation, she welcomed the involvement of Scrutiny, noting that some houses at Lowfield had been prioritised for key workers and that there were plans to work more closely with Housing Authorities, including at York Central. Regarding Ordnance Lane, officers confirmed that retaining the buildings referred to, which were in poor condition, would constrain the site layout and reduce the number of homes.