Decision details
Non Cabinet Members' Debate
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
Decision:
The following motion was agreed as an outcome of the non-cabinet member debate:
Somewhere to call Home
This Council understands that housing is amongst this city’s greatest social and economic challenges.
This Council recognises that there are no quick fixes or easy options, but remains nonetheless determined to make things better.
This Council can be proud of how far it has come in tackling the many problems afflicting the borough’s many housing markets and systems.
This Council notes its record of:
· Helping deliver more than 11,000 new homes, almost 30% of which at social or affordable level, including more than 1,000 brand new council homes;
· Bringing council housing services back in-house, leading to improvements in performance;
· Beginning the process of properly regulating and responding to the needs of people living in this borough’s substantial private rental market; and
· Tackling homelessness by developing i4B, an ethically managed, council-owned private rental service.
That said, this Council is of course alive to the fact that there is obviously much more to do if housing is to be made universally affordable, readily available, and of the highest possible standards.
To that end, this Council is determined to build on its proud record, and is committed to continue:
· Pressing government on giving us the powers we need to roll out landlord licensing across the borough;
· Campaigning against government plans to strip local residents of their democratic rights to participate in and contribute to the planning process;
· Intervening earlier when residents are at risk of homelessness, giving them the best possible chance of getting back on their feet;
· Helping every resident who loses their home find another they can afford;
· Working with other London boroughs and local partners to provide guaranteed emergency shelter to anyone forced to sleep rough;
· Growing i4B, changing the nature of the rental market from the inside, making it a fairer, more affordable, and decent place to live;
· Developing a new generation of Key Worker housing;
· Making it easier for those residents who need help to downsize, relocate or find a more suitable home;
· Encouraging and supporting the formation of independent Tenants and Residents Associations in the homes that we provide and manage, calling on Housing Associations to do the same; and
· Pressuring government to properly fund and support essential fire safety works across the public and private sectors.
Publication date: 16/07/2021
Date of decision: 12/07/2021
Decided at meeting: 12/07/2021 - Council
Accompanying Documents: