Cllr Emine
Ibrahim, Cabinet Member for Housing and Estate Renewal, responded
to questions from the Panel:
- Cllr Gunes asked about the type of
social housing to be delivered through the Housing Delivery
Programme. Cllr Ibrahim said that all of the social rent properties
to be delivered through the programme would be Council homes at
Council rent levels.
- Asked by Cllr Diakides whether she
was confident that the financial problems with ALMOs experienced in
Croydon could not occur in Haringey. Cllr Ibrahim said that a
number of solutions had been put forward by various Councils over
the years to try to meet the challenge of delivering social
housing. Haringey Council had decided to deliver this through the
HRA a couple of years ago, when the HRA borrowing cap was lifted,
so she was confident that Haringey would not end up in the same
situation.
- Cllr Diakides asked about weaknesses
in consultation processes, Cllr Ibrahim said that she was aware of
the issues, which were common across the sector, and expressed
concerns about the problems of engaging with hard to reach groups.
This would be exacerbated by the need to rely on online solutions
in the current circumstances so it would be important to continue
to try to find solutions.
- In relation to the Housing Delivery Programme, Cllr Brabazon asked about the West Indian Cultural
Centre which was marked on the spreadsheet provided to the Council
as ‘direct delivery’, though she said that her
understanding was that it was being delivered through Paul Simon
Magic Homes. Cllr Ibrahim said that, to her knowledge, there was an
ongoing conversation with the Cultural Centre about delivering
something in partnership. Robbie Erbmann added that there was a long leasehold
interest at the Centre, which had an existing relationship with
Paul Simon Magic Homes, but that did not necessary mean that the
Council would need to deliver the new homes through this route. In
response to further questions, he added that there was no current
agreement between the Council as freeholder and the leaseholder
interest to deliver a scheme.
- Cllr Brabazon queried why
Stokely Court and Chettle Court were listed on the Housing Delivery
Programme spreadsheet as she had understood that these were not
being put up for development. Cllr Ibrahim said that, in relation
to Stokely Court, the debate had been
on the type of development and what happened to the existing blocks
and not on whether there would be more homes delivered there. The
Council did intend to deliver something on this site, but a
conclusion had not been reached on what this would look like. She
said that, in relation to Chettle
Court, the development would be on a piece of vacant land. This
would not involve the demolition of the block and residents had
been written letters to reassure them of this.
- Cllr Say asked about Waltheof
Gardens being listed on the Housing Delivery Programme spreadsheet
as she understood that a conservation area was being extended to
cover this area. Robbie Erbmann said
that he would provide written information to the Panel on this
site. (ACTION)
- Cllr Gordon said that, of the 379 units listed as being
delivered up to March 2021, 320 were acquisitions rather than
direct delivery. She asked whether this trend would continue
throughout the programme. Cllr Ibrahim said that acquisitions were
obviously quicker, so were showing up near the beginning of the
programme, but this was not the basis of the programme as a whole.
The acquisitions could only be purchased for the purpose of using
them for Council rent if they could be obtained for the right
price. She said that direct delivery would be the more sustainable
option in the long-term. Cllr Gordon said however that the expected
demolition of Council housing and the acquisition of 500 homes from
Lendlease at Love Lane would continue
the trend of acquisitions. Cllr Ibrahim said that this was a
historic scheme and did not sit within her portfolio as it was a
redevelopment issue.
- Cllr Gordon asked about the number of staff employed in the
Housing Delivery team and whether any of the team had been diverted
to other duties because of Covid.
Robbie Erbmann said that the team was
now up to 25 staff and all were working directly on the programme
and had not been diverted elsewhere. More staff would need to be
recruited as the programme developed. Cllr Brabazon asked how this recruitment was being
funded. Cllr Ibrahim said that they were funded through the HRA and
Robbie Erbmann added that the costs can
be capitalised as they were working on major capital
programmes.
- Asked by Cllr Brabazon how she
engages with the HfH governance
processes, Cllr Ibrahim said that she meets with the Managing
Director of HfH, Sean McLaughlin on a
regular basis. She confirmed that she attended the last Board
meeting and would continue to do so.
- Cllr Diakides asked whether the
delivery of new homes by March 2022 could be speeded up. Cllr
Ibrahim said that it would be difficult to do this as it was
important not to cut corners in terms of planning and the quality
of build.
- Cllr Diakides asked about the cost of acquisitions and
whether Council properties could be sold to the CBS rather than to
developers when cross-subsidies were required, Cllr Ibrahim said
that this was a good question and that she would arrange for a
written response to be provided to the Panel on this.
(ACTION)
Cllr Gordon noted that there had not been time to go
through all the questions that had been submitted to Cllr Ibrahim
in advance and it was agreed that the written answers should be
circulated to the Panel. (ACTION)