Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Cabinet Member for Health and Housing.

(a)  That £1,744,421 be granted to a Housing Association (HA) after a competition process, who would act as the delivery vehicle and purchase the 10 properties using these funds and their own funds. Completion of the purchase of the properties to be finalised 31^st March 2026.

(b)  That a lettings plan is put in place with the successful HA so Dorset Council can ensure the properties are allocated in accordance with the funding requirements.

Reason for the decision

Dorset Council now owned 30 properties that were purchased with the funding granted from the Government as part of LAHF1, 26 of the properties were purchased to house Ukraine refugees and 4 of the properties were purchased to house Afghan refugees in accordance with conditions attached to the grant payment. All of these properties at some future date and on becoming vacant could be used as temporary accommodation to house those who were homeless or potentially homeless. The project was very successful however had taken a lot of resource from the Council’s Housing and Assets teams to carry out the work. Additionally, the Council was only able to grant non secure tenancies as the Council was not currently a stock holding authority. A requirement of the LAHF3 funding was that the Afghan refugees were offered secure tenancies.

To meet the short deadline, offer secure tenancies to the families from Afghanistan the properties should be provided, owned and managed by a registered provider.

Cabinet considered a report of the Cabinet Member for Health and Housing informing members that Dorset Council had been awarded £1,744,421 capital grant and £12,100 of revenue grant to acquire 10 properties by 31 March 2026 for the Afghan refugees as settled housing. Plus, three of those properties to be used for temporary accommodation for those who were homeless or at risk of homelessness. The proposal was to pass on the funding to a third party, i.e. housing association (HA) to meet the delivery target date.  This would also mean that the HA would be able to use its own resources along side the grant to purchase the 10 properties.

The Housing Enabling and Delivery Team Leader addressed several detailed questions from Cllr J Somper, confirming that the funding for 7 settled housing units and 3 temporary housing units aligned with the government’s funding formula.  The Cabinet Member for Health and Housing also suggested that an all-member briefing could be arranged to provide further clarity on these questions, whilst reminding members that the current recommendation was simply to seek approval to transfer the funding to a third party.

It was proposed by Cllr G Taylor and seconded by Cllr S Robinson

Decision

(a)  That £1,744,421 be granted to a Housing Association (HA) after a competition process, who would act as the delivery vehicle and purchase the 10 properties using these funds and their own funds. Completion of the purchase of the properties to be finalised 31^st March 2026.

(b)  That a lettings plan is put in place with the successful HA so Dorset Council can ensure the properties are allocated in accordance with the funding requirements.

Reason for the decision

Dorset Council now owned 30 properties that were purchased with the funding granted from the Government as part of LAHF1, 26 of the properties were purchased to house Ukraine refugees and 4 of the properties were purchased to house Afghan refugees in accordance with conditions attached to the grant payment. All of these properties at some future date and on becoming vacant could be used as temporary accommodation to house those who were homeless or potentially homeless. The project was very successful however had taken a lot of resource from the Council’s Housing and Assets teams to carry out the work. Additionally, the Council was only able to grant non secure tenancies as the Council was not currently a stock holding authority. A requirement of the LAHF3 funding was that the Afghan refugees were offered secure tenancies.

To meet the short deadline, offer secure tenancies to the families from Afghanistan the properties should be provided, owned and managed by a registered provider.