Affordable Housing Task Group Report's recommendations to be considered by Brent Cabinet on Monday

A report to Monday's Cabinet will be of much interest to local people on the housing waiting list as well as those struggling with expensive but poor private rented housing. Cabinet will, rather belatedly  consider the report from the Affordable Housing Scrutiny Task Group that went to the Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee in January.

Cabinet is asked to:

a.Note the Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny Committee’s endorsement of the report, and its recommendations

b.Note and consider the committee’s additional proposal: that plans for new housing developments take into account the known needs of people with disabilities awaiting housing provision.

 Recommendations (Link to report)

 

Affordable housing targets and viability 

1.     In the new Local Plan for Brent the strategic target of 50 per cent for affordable housing in new developments should be retained, with an expected tenure split of 70 per cent social rent / London Affordable Rent to 30 per cent intermediate affordable housing. 

2.    Brent Council should adopt the Mayor of London’s 35 per cent “fast-track” threshold approach to viability (with 50 per cent on publicly owned land and for industrial sites). Through this the council would forgo the requirement for a financial viability assessment and/or a late stage viability review in the event that a developer guarantees delivery of the requisite percentage of affordable housing across the entire development (with the 70 per cent social rent / London Affordable Rent to 30 per cent intermediate tenure split applicable). The policy should be subject to review. 

3.    To help meet the need for larger affordable homes in the borough, Brent should continue to require a minimum of 25 per cent of new affordable rented homes to be three bedrooms or larger, accommodating at least a household of six (2 people per bedroom). However, this approach must be combined with a clear and effective under- occupation strategy, enabling and incentivising down-sizing in order to release more existing larger homes for re-let. 

4.    The council should continue to use the “Existing Use Value Plus” (EUV+) method for determining benchmark land values. Any other uplift in value should be captured for the public. 

Corporate approach to affordable housing delivery 

5.    Future council policy with regard to the setting of rents for affordable housing should continue to be based on the traditional social rented model (like the mayor’s London Affordable Rent model) and should not be linked to volatile and irrational market rents rather than incomes. 

6.    Brent Council should create a cross-departmental Board of officers, reporting directly into the Corporate Management Team (CMT), to ensure a ‘one council’, joined-up, sustainable approach to the delivery of Affordable Housing. The board should have high level responsibility for programme management and monitoring of an Affordable Housing Action Plan and associated suite of Key Performance Indicators. The Board should include senior officers from Brent’s Planning, Housing, Regeneration, Property, Finance and Legal teams. 

7.     Brent should consider adopting a land assembly, master planner approach, working with key partners and designating Land Assembly Zones in its Local Plan. Where attempts to encourage and incentivise voluntary land assembly do not succeed, Brent should commit to extend its use of compulsory purchase powers in these zones, where the law allows. 

8.    Brent Council should maximise resources available through the mayor’s fund, RTB receipts and borrowing to support direct delivery within its own capital development programme with a primary focus on rented homes at social rent levels and on larger homes (3 bedrooms or larger). 

9.    Brent must adopt a clear policy on access to shared ownership in the borough, making the product accessible to people on incomes that are as low as possible and ensuring the policy is designed to enable keyworkers to take advantage of it. 

10. All new homes in Brent should be marketed locally first, as per the Mayor of London’s planned “first dibs” policy. Brent should investigate how such a requirement could be implemented. 

11.  Brent Council should explore all the options highlighted in this report for innovative partnering arrangements and delivery models with Registered Providers. 

Estate regeneration

12.Future estate regeneration projects in Brent should use the South Kilburn Regeneration Programme as a model of good practice and make a clear commitment to ensuring there is no loss (in quantum terms) of social rented affordable housing and to resident ballots. 

Land owned by public authorities  

 13. Brent should actively promote partnership working on publicly owned land with other public bodies, as promoted by the Naylor Review (One Public Estate), e.g. Network Rail/TfL sites such as potential over station and over rail land developments, as part of the Local Plan. 

Industrial/employment sites

14. Brent must adopt a proactive approach to identifying opportunities where surplus commercial space, underused retail sites and car parks may have significant potential for housing development, both strategic industrial land sites and smaller commercial land sites, and in particular where sites have potential for mixed-use developments.

Small sites

15. The council and its agents should proactively explore partnerships with developers and RPs on small sites to maximise the amount of affordable housing across the borough. Brent should identify potential opportunities and funding mechanisms for increasing development of small sites, including any further opportunities for infill development. It should be prepared to invest the necessary resources. 

16. Developers of small sites with capacity for 10 or fewer units should be expected to pay a commuted sum, wherever possible, based on a consistent tariff, to Brent as a contribution to the fund for affordable housing to be built elsewhere in the borough. All affordable housing in small developments should be included in Brent’s periodic performance stats. 

Community led housing

17.Brent should investigate and promote opportunities for community led housing projects, such as “Community Land Trusts” and “Self-Build” projects, which will protect homes and assets at affordable levels in line with local incomes for future generations. 

18. Brent should explore setting up of a CLT model on publicly owned land and encourage developers to do the same.

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Proposed 24 storey block opposite Stonebridge Station comes back to Planning Committee on Wednesday

In August Brent Council deferred a decision on the plans for a 24 storey block on the Argenta House site opposite Stonebridge Staion pending an independent review of the building's design and height. The proposed development replaces a 2 storey building. Four storeys were knocked off the original 28 storey proposal after consultation with the planning department.

The Planning Advisory Service found the officers' report to the Planning Committee to be 'balanced and sound' and the application returns to Brent Planning Committee on Wednesday.

Housing proposal for the tower block

Provision of 27% affordable housing by unit (30% affordable housing by habitable room) on a nil grant basis, broken down as:

o    21 units for affordable rent (at no more than 80% of open market rents, inclusive of service charges, and capped at Local Housing Allowance rates*), disposed on a freehold / minimum 125 year leasehold to a Registered Provider and subject to an appropriate Affordable Rent nominations agreement with the Council, securing 100% nomination rights for the Council on initial lets and 75% nomination rights for the Council on subsequent lets.

o    14 units for shared ownership (as defined under section 70(6) of the Housing & Regeneration Act 2008, subject to London Plan policy affordability stipulations that total housing costs should not exceed 40% of net annual household income, disposed on a freehold / minimum 125 year leasehold to a Registered Provider, and subject to an appropriate Shared Ownership nominations agreement with the Council, that secures reasonable local priority to the units). 

*Local Housing Allowance rates for the area

Shared Accommodation Rate: £92.72 per week

One Bedroom Rate: £203.03 per week

Two Bedrooms Rate: £257.09 per week

Three Bedrooms Rate: £321.45 per week

Four Bedrooms Rate: £385.63 per week

 Conditions include: (Full Report HERE)

• Safeguarding of a bridge link to the [neighbouring] Wembley Point to  be called upon in the future and made publicly accessible
• Contribution towards a local public space
• Contribution to carbon offsetting
• Contribution to expansion of Brent's controlled parking zone
• Contribution to Stonebridge Park Station capacity study

As mentioned in my previous report on this proposal LINK the proposed tower block is next to the North Circular Road - one of London's most polluted roads. It also continues the march of tower blocks throughout the borough, joining those at Wembley Stadium, Wembley High Road/Park Lane, Alperton and the Old Oak Park Royal development.

Wembley Central & Alperton Residents' Meeting October 15th at Ark Elvin

Wembley Stadium community engagement event on upcoming NFL fixtures - October 15th

From Wembley Stadium

Wembley Stadium invites you to attend a community engagement evening on Tuesday 15 October to learn about plans for the two forthcoming NFL (American Football) fixtures.

The two games are scheduled for Sunday 27 October, 5pm kick off, and Sunday 3 November, 2.30pm kick off.

The engagement evening will give local residents an opportunity to review event day transport and external operational plans, and to ask our team questions about traffic management arrangements, road closure timings, local bus diversion routes, and impacts on local underground and railway stations.

Representatives from Wembley Stadium, Wembley Park, Brent Council and NFL will be on hand to answer any questions relating to the two fixtures.

The evening will be held in the foyer of the Club Wembley Main Entrance, accessed at street level from the southern end of Olympic Way, and residents are welcome to drop in anytime between 6pm and 9pm.

SAVE THE NHS! Free showing of 'Under the Knife' October 15th Preston Library

 PRESTON COMMUNITY LIBRARY 

TUESDAY OCTOBER 15TH 7.30pm

Carlton Avenue East, Wembley, HA9 8PL (Preston Road tube)

This film is a weapon in our struggle to save the NHS. Armed with the evidence so eloquently provided here, we can win this battle." Ken Loach - Film Director 

Narrated by award-winning actress Alison Steadman, Under The Knife is a positive historical documentary unearthing how the NHS arrived at its modern-day crisis. From its stormy birth through seven decades of turmoil and political warfare, it has withstood almost everything that has confronted it, until now. 

Emmy award-winning director Susan Steinberg uncovers the covert, creeping privatisation of the NHS in the past three decades, culminating in a law which removed the legal duty of the government to provide universal health care. More than 200 MPs and Peers with vested interests voted for legislation which opened the floodgates to private companies. The democratic process had been subverted by the government.

Using interviews and archive footage, the film charts the history of the NHS which arose out of the ashes of post-war Britain to the turbulent times of today. From the influence of Neoliberal ideas on the NHS to the introduction of private finance initiatives, the film tells a ground-breaking story of complicity and survival.

Pam K Productions have partnered with Keep Our NHS Public and The Daily Mirror to host 50 nationwide FREE screenings between the 14th - 18th October. 

Register now for a free ticket! LINK

UPDATED: Brent Council set to borrow £110.5m part of which is to purchase units from Quintain for key worker housing

This article has been updated with additional clarification and correction from Brent Council.  The Room 151 article on which the original article was based contains errors according to the Council so I have removed it from this post.  Apologies for any confusion over what is a very complex proposal. MF

The Brent Council Cabinet is poised to approve a huge financial arrangement part of which would be for the purchase of units in a block which is one of four in the Quintain  development known as E01 and EO2. The particular block would cost a proportion of the proposed loan of 'up to' £110.5m.  The amount has not been disclosed publicly yet due to ongoing commercial negotiations with Quintain.

In addition there will be purchase of  shares by by Brent's investment company i4B or its housing company First Wave Housing for Phase 2 of the scheme.

The four blocks range from  12 to 15 storeys and are close to Wembley Stadium. The Cabinet paper refers to just one of those blocks.  Some of the flats would provide key worker homes for those on moderate incomes.

The Council would purchase 153 units: 63 one bedroom and 90 two bedrooms.   Key worker housing is badly needed in Brent with social workers, teachers, police and NHS staff being priced out of the borough and resulting poor recruitment and retention rates.

A £21.8m share purchase for Phase 1 was for the existing programme of purchasing homes to provide affordable housing for Brent residents who might otherwise be placed in bed and breakfast or other temporary accommodation. Brent Council says that more than 500 homeless residents have already found homes through i4B and the £21.8m is part of the financing package for these homes.

The Cabinet Report states:

 The acquisition is subject to negotiations with Quintain lead by the Operational Director of Property and Assets on behalf of i4B and FWH. Negotiations includethe timing of payments to Quintain and potential future financial obligations. The loan drawdown will be executed once these terms are agreed.

It is suggested that i4B/ FWH’s drawdown of funds to purchase the Quintain E01 02 block is contingent on the usual due diligence relating to blockpurchases and providing loans. 

It is recommended delegated authority is given to the Director of Finance to determine when the due diligence is adequately completed. For example, the Director of Finance’s considerations would include:(i)the robustness and affordability of operating assumptions relating to theblock; and(ii)the adequacy of protection for i4B/ FWH under different scenarios, including contractual default by Quintain.

A decision by the Treasury on Wednesday to increase the Public Works Loan Board 50 year new maturity loan rate from 1.81% to 2.82% may put the kibosh on the Council's plans. LINK

The Cabinet report notes the benefits and risks of the proposal: 

As lender and investor in i4B and First Wave Housing, the Council is also ultimately affected by financial implications for i4B/ First Wave Housing. These include being exposed to potential financial benefits and risks associated with owning and operating the building. For example, the Council would be impacted by 

(i) any future financial obligations entered into as part of the Heads of Terms with Quintain;
(ii) operational profits or losses associated with managing the block;
(iii) the block’s value increasing or decreasing over time (capital gains or losses).

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The Cabinet report to be discussed on Monday October 14th can be found HERE

How Brent could do better in responding to the Climate Emergency

Brent Council has declared a Climate Emergency. Friends of the Earth have assessed the Council's efforts and suggests changes in policy and actions which would do more to avert climate catastrophe:

The Brent area’s performance on climate change is average compared to other local authority areas. All local authorities, even the best performing, need to do much more if climate catastrophe is to be averted. Brent particularly needs to do much better on increasing renewable energy, increasing tree cover, and increasing waste recycling.

In Brent 43% of emissions come from housing, 22% from transport, and 35% are industrial and commercial emissions.²

There are different estimates of how fast the UK should reduce greenhouse gas emissions if it’s to do its fair share in combatting climate change, ranging from around 7% to over 25% per year.³

Researchers at the Tyndall Centre in Manchester University say that Brent should reduce emissions by at least 13% per year.⁴

What can local authorities do?

All local authorities, even the best performing, need to do much more if climate catastrophe is to be averted. The government needs to provide them with the powers and resources to do so, and it needs to do much more itself. All local authorities should adopt an ambitious local climate action plan, and they should join with Friends of the Earth and others in urging more government action. Each local authority should declare a climate emergency as a sign of political intent.

The people most vulnerable to climate change are often those on lower incomes, despite having done the least to cause it because of their lower levels of consumption. For example, people with lower incomes are less able to replace and repair damage from flooding or insure against it. This inequality is called climate injustice.

Researchers have identified over 10,000 neighbourhoods across the UK where people are particularly vulnerable to flooding due to their location and factors such as income.⁵ Brent has 117 of these neighbourhoods with high social flood risk for surface flooding, taking account a range of vulnerability factors. The local authority needs to target these areas for support in order to help people living there prepare for extreme weather and respond and recover when it occurs.

Housing

Only 41% of homes are well insulated in Brent.⁶ This represents a shocking waste of energy, high greenhouse gas emissions and unnecessarily high energy bills. 13% of households in the area are in fuel poverty, which means they can’t afford to heat their homes properly.⁷ Poor insulation contributes to this problem.

Upgrading the insulation of 5,809 homes per year within the Brent area will ensure all homes are properly insulated by 2030, lifting as many people as possible out of fuel poverty.
We also need to switch from gas central heating, which is a major source of greenhouse gases, to eco-heating (such as heat pumps), which doesn’t burn fossil fuels. The government provides grants for installing eco-heating. There are only 15 government funded eco-heating systems in the Brent area, yet the UK needs to fit around 1 million per year. A fair share for Brent would be fitting 3,638 eco-heating systems every year.⁸

Transport

Transport is the biggest source of greenhouse gases in the UK, and emissions continue to grow. Research suggests that to deliver the greenhouse gas reductions needed will require car use to be reduced by between 20% and 60%, depending on factors such as the speed of the switch to electric vehicles.⁹ This means that the UK should more than double the proportion of journeys by public transport, cycling and walking.¹⁰

In Brent only 57% of people commute by public transport, 3% cycle, and 7% walk. In the best performing similar local authority area, the proportions are 68%, 4% and 17% respectively.¹¹
Much more is possible. Research shows that 27% of commuter journeys in Brent could be by bike (assuming good cycling infrastructure, such as segregated cycleways and the uptake of E-bikes¹²), better walking routes can encourage more journeys on foot and improve health, and 6 in 10 drivers would shift to public transport if its quality improved.¹³

Friends of the Earth suggests Brent has a target of 80% of people commuting by public transport, cycling, and walking by 2030.¹⁴

When cars are needed, they should be electric and shared as much as possible. Only 7% of commuters share their car when commuting in the Brent area.¹⁵ According to social enterprise Liftshare, best in class employers have 40% of their staff sharing journeys to work.

According to research published in April, the Brent area has 52 electric vehicle charging points (EV chargers).¹⁶ The Committee on Climate Change, which advises the government, says there should be 1 EV charger for every thousand cars by 2030. This suggests that in Brent there should be at least 92 EV chargers.¹⁷ But we need a much faster transition to electric cars, which means many more EV chargers than this.

Energy

The proportion of our electricity produced by renewable energy has increased massively over the last ten years to around a third, and the cost of solar panels and wind farms has plummeted. But we need to produce up to 8 times more renewable electricity if the UK is to wean itself off climate-wrecking oil and gas, including for our transport and heating. Much of the additional renewable energy will come from offshore wind, but there’s also a need to significantly increase onshore wind and solar power.

Currently the Brent area has 3MW of renewable power.¹⁸ If the Brent area matched the best of similar local authority areas it would have 28MW.¹⁹ This is a minimum target to be achieved rapidly, and all local authorities should look to exceed it.

To give an indication of what this means in practice, the average onshore wind turbine in Europe is 2.7MW and a 25-acre solar farm will produce about 5MW of electricity. On average 1MW of renewable power produces enough energy for around 125 homes.²⁰

Trees

Trees play an important role in sucking the main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it as carbon. They also provide a home for nature, clean up air pollution and reduce flood risk.

According to the Government's National Forest Inventory (NFI) 3% of the Brent area is woodland. The highest proportion in similar areas is 13%.²¹ The NFI is known to significantly under-report tree cover in urban areas, so Friends of the Earth is carrying out further research which we will publish later this year.

All areas should aim to double tree cover as soon as possible.

Those areas with very little tree cover (less than 10%) should make an additional commitment to increase tree cover to 20%.

The Brent area should aim to increase tree cover to 20%.

For those few areas with already high levels of tree cover (30% or more) it may not be feasible to double tree cover. However, even in these areas some more tree planting will be possible.²²

Waste

Making the stuff we buy, using it, and throwing it away all contribute to climate change. Buying less stuff is an important step in cutting greenhouse gases.

For the stuff we do buy, we should reuse, recycle or compost it. Brent reuses, recycles and composts 37% of its household waste.²³ This compares to the best figure of 49% in similar local authorities, while Wales has set its local authorities a target of 70% by 2025. English local authorities should aspire to the same figure, and all local authorities must aim even higher on a path to achieve zero waste (e.g. aiming for zero waste by 2030).

Divestment

Local authorities across the UK invest billions of pounds in fossil fuel companies, the very companies that have caused the climate emergency.

Working out which local authority has what investments is not straightforward, because local authorities often pool funds. An analysis of UK local authority pension funds suggests that on average local authorities invest many millions of pounds in fossil fuels. Along with many others, Friends of the Earth is calling on local authorities to stop investing in fossil fuels.²⁴

Summary of targets for the Brent area

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Cease supporting or promoting new high carbon infrastructure, such as roads or airports

Annual emissions reductions – 13%

Homes to insulate per year – 5,809

Number of eco-heating systems, such as heat pumps, to fit each year – 3,638

Proportion of commuters walking, cycling or using public transport by 2030 – 80%

Increase lift-sharing – major employers should aim to have 40% of their staff who travel to work by car doing so by lift-sharing

Electric vehicle charging stations by 2030 – at least 92 stations

Renewable energy – at least 28MW

Trees – Aim for 20% tree cover

Household waste reuse, recycling and composting by 2025 – 70% (on path to reach zero waste as soon as possible)

Divestment – zero investment in fossil fuel companies as soon as possible.

Post-scrutiny report rejects additional provision proposals for Strathcona school site

The response from the Strategic Director of Children and Young People to Scrutiny Committee has now been published and it does not make happy reading for campaigners trying to save Roe Green Strathcona from closure.

Scrutiny requested reconsideration of the closure decision and the proposals that had come forward in relation to alternative and additional education provision on the Strathcona site.

The response considers each proposal made by campaigners in turn and rejects them all as not needed and some as not serving to increase the number of primary pupils on the site.

It does not go into pupil projections as these were not included in Scrutiny's request. Strategic Director Gail Tolley had put forward a proposal at Scrutiny to use the site after closure of primary provision for Special Education Needs pupils and those with a Disability aged 19-24 years. The report argues that as a former adult training centre the site is particularly suitable and puts this forward for further consultation with stake holders, local providers and special schools.

The report publishes figures seeking to justify the claim that school places cost more at Roe Green Strathcona because of the extra allowance given to the school to compensate for being on two sites. Redistribution of the £200,000 saved equates to £8 per primary pupils across the borough and £6,600 for a four form entry school and £3,300 for a 2 form entry. (Note para 6.2 of the report wrongly states £6,600 for a 3 form entry school).

The Cabinet has the choice of amending its original closure decision or confirming it. In the latter case it would take immediate effect.

The full report is below. Anyone wishing to speak at Cabinet on Monday should apply to via  an online form at https://www.brent.gov.uk/firmstep/forms/request-to-speak-at-a-meeting/ or email  Thomas.Cattermole@brent.gov.uk Requests will then be considered by Cllr Muhammed Butt.

Click bottom right corner for full page version.