Issue - decisions

(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.