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Agenda item

Draft Cotswold Housing Strategy

Purpose

To seek approval to consult with partners and the public on a new five year Cotswold Housing Strategy. The strategy directly responds to the Council’s Corporate Plan that seeks to address housing affordability and increase the supply of affordable housing.

 

Recommendation(s)

That Cabinet resolves to:

  1. Approve the draft Cotswold Housing Strategy for public consultation as presented at Annex A and B; and
  2. Delegate authority to the Forward Planning Manager, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to agree a questionnaire for the public consultation exercise and to make minor modifications to improve clarity.

 

Invited

Cllr Joe Harris, Leader of the Council

James Brain, Forward Planning Manager

 

Minutes:

The Forward Planning Manager introduced the item.

 

The purpose of the item was to seek approval to consult with partners and the public on a new five year Cotswold Housing Strategy. The strategy directly responded to the Council’s Corporate Plan that seeks to address housing affordability and increase the supply of affordable housing.

 

As this was an item for pre-decision scrutiny, members were being asked to comment on it, making any relevant recommendations to Cabinet. Members discussed the report, including various points on the report itself, and the broader work surrounding it.

 

Members raised the following points on the report itself, which the Forward Planning Manager stated they would take away to amend or action necessary:

  • Members commended the quality of the report and the utility and relevance of the work.
  • On page 42 and 43, the housing need number was higher than in the Council’s Housing Supply report. The Forward Planning Manager stated that the housing targets were being met.  The figures on this page would be reviewed by the Forward Planning Manager after the meeting, as the table may be out of date.
  • The Forward Planning Manager stated that the map on page 50 would be amended to include a key. It was also suggested that Waterloo Road be amended to ‘The Waterloo’.
  • In objective 3.2, members asked whether reference to retrofit could be included.
  • It was also stated by the Forward Planning Manager that the consultation questions would be shared with the Committee once they were ready.
  • It was confirmed by the Forward Planning Manager that the technical document would be available as part of the consultation.
  • The Committee commented on the elements surrounding the strategy, including the neighbourhood and environmental elements to the housing. The Forward Planning Manager stated that the local plan included this information and they would not want to duplicate it, but would reflect on this as part of the strategy.

 

Members discussed the strategy, raising the following points;

  • Members asked the Forward Planning Manager about the costs surrounding the proposal. The Forward Planning Manager stated that a digital consultation would be carried out using a platform that had been secured through grant funding. There was a marketing budget associated with it in order to engage residents, particularly younger people. Although uncertain of the specific figure, the Forward Planning Manager stated that it would be relatively modest.
  • Members asked whether a Tourism Tax could be added as a part of this, or similar work. The Leader stated that they would welcome this, but were constrained by central government legislation, but they would continue to lobby on this. The Forward Planning Manager stated that paragraph three of the report also addressed this point.
  • Members stated that the consultation on the strategy should be undertaken in such a way as to inform the public on issues outside of the Council’s scope (including the above example) and potentially include a video explanation. The Forward Planning Manager stated that this was a good suggestion, and they would consider how to best incorporate this as part of the consultation.
  • Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) inhabited by students were discussed. Specifically, it was stated that certain areas in Cirencester had over 10% of the housing utilised by students in HMOs. The Committee, Officers and the Leader discussed this, and it was stated that engagement with the Royal Agricultural University was already carried out through other documents associated with the work plan, but ways to include it within the housing strategy would be evaluated. The Leader caveated this by stating that HMOs were largely delivered through the private rented sector.
  • Members discussed how social housing was allocated, and referenced a perception held by some that housing was made available to non-local people. The Leader stated that a local connection was necessary unless there was an exceptional circumstance, but stressed that the importance was to ensure plenty of provision of affordable housing.
  • Members also stated that it was important to engage with the private rented sector to ensure quality provision of long term rented housing and dissuasion of short-term holiday rentals.

 

RESOLVED:

1)    To recommend to Cabinet that the Council consults with the Royal Agricultural University to ensure that there is suitable provision of accommodation for students.

2)      To recommend to Cabinet that the Council consults with businesses to ensure local employees have access to housing within the district.

3)    To request that the consultation questions for the housing strategy are shared with the Overview and Scrutiny Committee

 

Councillor David Cunningham proposed the resolution and Councillor Coleman seconded the resolution.

 

For- 7, Against 0, Abstentions 0

Supporting documents:

 

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