The Mayor approved the Housing Capiotal Programme for 2012-13 (as part of the Budget Framework 2012/13) subject to delegated authority for individual components of the programme.

Carpenters and Affordable Homes Programmes were not listed in the original decision and cannot be approved under delegated authority.

John East, Director - Community Infrastructure, presented this report which sought approval to fund the Carpenters Re-housing programme and the Affordable Homes programme to form part of the Housing Capital Programme.

The Mayor commented that a majority of residents had now left the Carpenters Estate and this was due to the good package of support offered by the Council.  Councillor Crawford also highlighted the positive feedback received from those who had moved from the Estate.

Decisions:

The Mayor in consultation with Cabinet agreed to:

1.  approve funding of £5.5m to continue to ensure the delivery of existing commitments for the Carpenters Re-housing Programme and to enable the Council to purchase properties by agreement on Lund and Dennison Point and Doran Walk and on the wider Carpenters Estate;

2.  approve funding of £700K to commence the Council Affordable Homes programme in 2012-13; and

3.  delegate authority to the Executive Director - Operations, on submission from the Director - Strategic Regeneration, Planning and Olympic Legacy, and in consultation with the Executive Member for Housing and Customer Service, to approve the yearly allocation of resources in respect of the Carpenters Re-housing Programme over 2012-15.

Reasons for the Decisions:

The proposals in this report seek to ensure the continued delivery of the Carpenters Re-housing Programme and to enable prompt commencement of the Council’s Affordable Homes programme.  The Housing Capital Programme 2012-16 was approved by Cabinet on 23 February 2012, but did not include a specific request for funding of the Carpenters Re-housing and Affordable Homes Programmes.  The funding for this will be met from within the Council’s current budget strategy.

The report and decision have complied with Part 4.5, paragraph 16 of the Constitution.

The decision is not subject to the Call-In process and may be implemented immediately.