Agenda item

Members gave consideration to a report which outlined the purpose of the forthcoming Housing Strategy and how this would align to the recent Housing White Paper “Fixing our broken Housing Market”.  The report further summarised the content of the White Paper for Members.

West Lindsey District Council had commissioned Arc 4 to provide the framework for its housing strategy and were working closely with officers to ensure it could deliver the corporate aspirations in regards to housing and growth. The strategy would set out the vision across a variety of areas and provide a local context alongside the relevant national legislative and policy areas. It would also enable the Council to identify its key priorities and understand how best to position itself to develop, deliver and influence to best meet the needs and aspirations of our communities.

The strategy would broadly focus on the following areas:  increasing housing supply and quality across all tenures; ensuring existing stock was safe, desirable and promoted health, wellbeing and independence; ensuring appropriate housing options and support for households in need to prevent homelessness and promote health, wellbeing and independence. Within each area the key challenges and barriers would be identified and following the completion of the strategy an action plan would be developed to enable the delivery of the strategy.

The strategy was currently in draft format and a tour of the district had been undertaken with Arc 4 alongside a number of progress meetings. Officers had provided information which would inform the evidence base and were liaising with Arc 4 to finalise the consultation process that would be carried out as part of the strategy development. The consultation would seek opinion on the key aspects of the strategy. As part of the work the Council was also exploring an option to carry out a district wide housing needs survey to inform future affordable housing provision.

An overview of the main themes within the recent Housing White Paper, as detailed in Sections 3 to 7 of the report was shared with Members. 

Debate ensued and Members, particularly those who currently served on the Planning Committee commented on several aspects of the White Paper.  There were concerns regarding definitions of low and high density and how the perception of such would differ from community to community depending upon its setting.  Members commented that the Housing Delivery Test would need to include an end date to protect the local authority from been penalised.  Regional Planning Policy documents would be more welcome than National Planning Policy documents as they simply could not suit all situations appropriately.

It was noted that consultation on the Paper ended on 2 May. Officers were formulating a formal response and welcomed Members comments.

Members were asked to make any detailed comments they had to the Director of Commercial and Economic Growth and / or the Chairman of the Committee for further consideration.

Reference was made to some pending CIL consultation and training and the Committee were of the view that Parish Council’s should be invited to take part in this.  The Chief Operating Officer undertook to look into this matter further.

RESOLVED that the content of the Housing White Paper and implications under consideration for the WLDC Housing Strategy be noted.