Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Councillor Peter Read. 

Condolences were extended to Councillor Linda Ann Jones following her bereavement.  

It was understood that Councillor Rheinallt Puw had resigned from the Care Scrutiny Committee; it was a matter for the Plaid Cymru group to appoint a member to replace him.  

To receive any declarations of personal interest.

Councillor Cai Larsen (Board of Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd).

To note any items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for consideration.

No urgent items were received.

The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meetings of this committee held on the 31^st January 2019 be signed as a true record.

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 31 January, 2019 as a true record.

Background:

The Senior Housing and Well-being Manager, Cabinet Member for Housing, Leisure and Culture and Housing Strategic Officer gave an update on the report, requesting members to consider the content of the strategy further, before the document was submitted before the Full Council for formal adoption.

The context was that the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 made it mandatory for every local authority to draw up a Housing Strategy for their area every five years.   The Housing Strategy was an opportunity to identify the factors that influenced the demand for housing and to outline the Council's priorities and how it would seek to achieve the strategic objectives as a local authority.

The Strategy's intention was to set the framework to ensure that the Council focussed on the correct priorities to provide homes for the people of Gwynedd and make the best use of scarce resources to improve the provision across the County.   This meant that the Housing Strategy offered a golden opportunity to make a difference over the coming years; in order to take full advantage, the Strategy would need to be a live document and respond to the various opportunities arising.   The consensus was to collaborate closely with the Housing Associations and other Partners to monitor progress and modify the priorities.

There had been an opportunity to discuss some of the priorities and development plans of the Housing Strategy with members of the Informal Care Scrutiny Committee on 31 January 2019; those comments had been considered when developing the content of the strategy and elements had been modified.

The Chair asked the officers to explain the headings within the strategy and gave members an opportunity to make their observations.

The following main points were highlighted during the discussion:-

·         Considering the cuts within the Council, would this cause difficulties to the Housing Strategy?

·         On what grounds did Housing Associations sell property at auctions, what was the difficulty in refurbishing these houses so that they reached an acceptable living standard?

·         Empty houses - the planning department objected plans on empty properties, in line with what recommendations did they base the decisions of the system?

·         Tax payable on empty houses in Gwynedd, questioned this time-frame and whether it was realistic? 

·         The pattern of the location of empty houses in Gwynedd - problematic areas needed to be defined

·         The challenge facing the youth of today such as employment - young people needed a trade (joiner, electrician, builder, plumber).  Third Sector - Bangor Homelessness Hub?

·         Waiting list - how many applications were on the list, what was the turnover of the applications?

·         Understanding of affordable housing.

·         Local authority building plan?

The Head of Adults, Health and Well-being, Housing Officers and Cabinet Member elaborated on the above points in turn, emphasising that this was the Council's Strategy, with contributions from the Housing Associations who shared our vision for the future.

Sub-standard property - Housing Associations:

Unfortunately, with a section of Housing Associations' properties, stock needed to be sold if it cost more to refurbish it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.