Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Housing Enabling and Delivery Team Leader and the Senior Housing Funding and Delivery Officer.

There is one exempt appendix (Appendix 1) associated with this report.

That the award of contract for refurbishment of Hardy House to A Hammond and Sons Ltd (As set out in Appendix 1 of the report), be approved.

Reason for the decision:

Dorset Council has a statutory duty under the Housing Act 1996 as amended by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2018 to provide a number of principle duties to those threatened with or who are homeless, including providing emergency and temporary accommodation. By increasing the number of properties owned and managed by the Council there will be a reduction of the Council’s use of Bed and Breakfast (B&B) accommodation. This will lead to a direct revenue saving to the Council and an opportunity to generate income – whilst also providing a better service to our residents who find themselves homeless. Hardy House will be refurbished to provide accommodation for those threatened with homelessness or who are homeless.

The report was introduced by Cabinet Member for Health and Housing. A priority of council was housing and there was an aim to remove B&B use for temporary accommodation. The proposal was to convert the property to support 5 families on a temporary basis, where 1 flat would be accessible. Some of the funding for the project was provided by Homes England.

In response to a question about whether further development could be done on the site, the Cabinet Member said it could be investigated if it was a large area of land, however it would need to be appropriate and have agreement from the Planning authority.

A member asked whether there was an opportunity to use the Homes England funding to convert empty properties into temporary accommodation. The Cabinet Member confirmed that the funding from Homes England was specifically for this site. She stated that the council was doing other work on bringing empty properties into use and using compulsory purchase orders when necessary.

Proposed by Cllr G Taylor, seconded by Cllr N Ireland.

Decision:

That the award of contract for refurbishment of Hardy House to A Hammond and Sons Ltd (As set out in Appendix 1 of the report), be approved.