Agenda item

For Committee Members to scrutinise performance matters within the Department.

 

1.     To accept the report and note the comments

 

The report was presented by the Cabinet Member for Housing and Property.

 

It was explained that the report included reporting on the progress made in relation to the promises within the Council's Plan 2023-28, as well as the Department's day-to-day work. It was stated that the topic of 'dealing with the energy cost crisis and fuel poverty' had been removed from the Council's Plan, as the energy team was now in place and work was underway to provide advice and support to residents.

 

There was pride that the milestone of building 500 social houses had been reached, but despite this, there was concern that there had been opposition to the erection of social housing in a particular area within the county, with some members of the Planning Committee going against officers' recommendations. It was reported that this caused unnecessary delays and costs, and made it challenging to meet the need for social housing.

 

The increase in carbon emissions from Council buildings was highlighted as a concern. It was noted that some of the tools previously used to report on this were flawed, and therefore it had been under-reported in the past.

 

It was then identified that the main risk to the Department was the fact that it was not possible to ensure that no one was homeless in Gwynedd. It was added that the Department worked hard to try to address the problem.

 

In addition, pride was expressed that the Department managed to stay within its budget again last year.

 

It was asked why applications to develop social housing were being rejected, emphasising that there was a high demand for one- or two-bedroom houses. Concerns were also raised about the number of Council buildings that were out of use and it was asked whether these buildings could be used to create flats, for example. The Department's work was praised but further concern was expressed about the high number of homeless people in the county, and the empty houses figures in Gwynedd.

Referring to the concern about planning applications being rejected, it was noted that the target of 500 social houses had been met despite this. It was suggested that these applications were rejected due to a possible misconception of a lack of need in certain areas. It was confirmed that officers constantly monitored the Council's vacant properties, disposing of unnecessary properties and looking for more suitable sites for a number of the schemes that were in place. It was recognised that despite all the work being done, the numbers on waiting lists for social housing were not falling, due to a very high demand.  

 

It was revealed that the empty houses scheme was successful, adding that 145 houses had come back into use and over 200 people had benefited from this. It was reported that more empty houses officers had been recruited, therefore a further increase was likely as a result. A number of vacant properties owned by the Council across the county had been identified, and while not all of them were suitable for development, it was confirmed that plans were underway to develop a number of them.

 

Although so many houses had been built and many empty houses had come back into use, it was asked why the numbers on the waiting list were not decreasing. It was stated that more people were coming into the system than were going out, and it was emphasised that the need was far greater than the number of units available to house these people. High costs of living and high rent levels in the private sector were identified as one of the main reasons so many were coming into the system, as well as violence and mental health conditions.

 

It was explained that the applications for social housing were not made public, so people did not realise that there were so many on the waiting list. It was reported that 97% of all lettings that went through the county's letting policy were given to people with a local connection to Gwynedd, and the definition of 'local' was included in the policy.

 

In response to a question about how the number on the list was counted, it was confirmed that an application was counted once, regardless of how many areas were denoted in that application as places they would like to live in. It was mentioned that if one application denoted two areas to live in, it would appear on the list of both areas, but that did not change the overall number of applications. It was noted that the data on the number of applications per area was available.

 

Assurance was given that the new houses that would be built matched the type of housing needed, as well as locations. 

 

A question was asked about the rationale behind deciding which units to buy and where. In response, it was highlighted that this was decided by the officers of the Department by considering a number of factors including the need, and suitability of the house to meet the necessary standards. Those Councillors who brought houses to the attention of the Department were thanked, adding that they were passed on to the officer conducting the assessments against the necessary criteria.

 

A comment about housing associations taking a long time to re-let empty houses was answered and highlighted frustration because so many on the list were waiting for housing. It was proposed that this fair question should be asked of the housing associations when they came before this Committee later this year.

 

It was identified that there had been delays in some schemes, and it was asked whether this had cost the Department. It was confirmed that there had been no delays, but that some targets had not been met by the time that the Department had hoped for. It was added that no direct cost had resulted from not meeting the targets.

 

In response to a question about a further target, following achieving 500 social houses, it was highlighted that there was an intention to build an additional 200 units by the end of the Housing Action Plan in 2028/29. Attention was drawn to the impact of refusing planning applications on these targets, as well as on the waiting list.

 

A question was asked about the barriers facing the Department in trying to buy more properties in order to reduce the reliance on emergency accommodation. It was explained that cost, location and unsuitability were factors here, adding that the properties purchased in Bangor and Caernarfon would save a significant amount of costs.

 

It was asked whether there were any further plans to convert a large building into flats, noting that this was a less costly way forward. Reference was made to a number of properties in Bangor and Caernarfon that had been purchased and converted into flats, and it was confirmed that there were further plans across the county to develop more buildings in this way.

 

 

DECISION

 

1.    To accept the report and note the observations.