Decision details
CHE S138 Housing Strategy Position Paper 2023
Decision status: For Determination
Is Key decision?: Yes
Is subject to call in?: No
Decision:
RESOLVED
That the Cabinet:
Agreed the Hackney Housing Strategy Position Paper as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.
Adopt this temporary position ahead of the formal publication of the new five-year strategy.
REASONS FOR DECISION
Cabinet approval of the Housing Strategy Position Paper is sought in order to provide the Council and its partners with a vision and a roadmap to guide their housing and related activities until the publication of the new strategy. This is also intended to provide Hackney residents with a clear and accessible summary of the Council’s priorities and approach to meeting the borough’s housing challenges over the coming years.
We know that good quality, genuinely affordable housing is still severely lacking and too many people are trapped in overpriced rented accommodation. Home ownership is simply out of reach for the vast majority of residents with the average house price at nineteen times the average household income It is essential to set down a targeted plan of action for the Council and its partners to help meet these challenges and work towards the provision of stable, high quality, safe, and genuinely affordable homes for all Hackney’s residents.
The Council and its partners have an excellent track record in the provision of new affordable housing. Despite this, growing demand in London and severe and worsening housing affordability have meant that housing need is rising faster than supply.
We still have over 3,000 homeless households in temporary accommodation and over 8,500 on our housing waiting list. There are residents with increasingly complex medical conditions and disabilities, including large
multi-generational families caring for each other in the same dwelling. These more complex housing needs put even more strain on the housing register, health services and social care teams and make the need for more housing and more specialist housing even more acute. We are simply unable to continue delivering our key services and duties with our current stock if nothing changes.
An overpriced private rented sector is all that remains to those who are unable to access the open housing market, with 2-bed properties in Hackney having seen the fastest rent rise in Britain in the last decade. This sector has constricted further recently, with landlords leaving the lower end of the market and housing supply issues further driving demand for the sector. This means that affordable options to lower and middle income earners in the borough are few and far between and it is simply not a viable option without entering into an often expensive house share, or out of the borough entirely. With nearly a third of all residents in Hackney in the private rented sector, it is essential that we continue our work to protect private renters.
This position paper will build upon the existing themes presented in the previous strategy and refocus them into the present context. The priorities of this position paper will be centred around the six key themes below and these themes will continue to be delivered upon through both the work of the council and its partners:
1. Delivering the homes that Hackney needs
2. Improving homes, services and resident engagement
3. Protecting private renters and leaseholders
4. Supporting those in health and housing need
5. Promoting employment and sustainable communities
6. Preparing for a greener future
Officers have worked to ensure that there is close alignment between the proposed paper and other internal strategies, including the Resident Engagement Strategy, Inclusive Economy Strategy and the Local Plan. The Housing Strategy is also aligned with other housing-related and public health strategies.
While the Council is not statutorily required to have a Housing Strategy, if it chooses to have one, the strategy must have regard to Section 333D of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (as amended in 2007) which requires that any local housing strategy prepared by a borough council must be in ‘general conformity’ with the Mayor of London’s Housing Strategy.
A London Housing Strategy was published by the GLA in 2018 setting out the Mayor of London’s approach and proposals in key housing policy areas. Hackney officers have an ongoing dialogue with the GLA’s housing and planning officers regarding the alignment of housing strategy and policies, as well as planning policies and guidance. This paper, as well as the previous strategy that was published, aligns with these strategies.
Adoption of the proposed Housing Strategy position paper does not itself have any direct financial implications. The Strategy contains a list of broad actions for the Council and partners that will provide a clear framework for ensuring that available resources are targeted towards meeting need. It is expected that the vast majority of actions could be delivered within existing or identified budgets.
Publication date: 13/12/2022
Date of decision: 12/12/2022
Decided at meeting: 12/12/2022 - Cabinet
Accompanying Documents:
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