Cash for more social housing in East Devon

Cranbrook looks best value, councillors told

Government cash has been secured for more social housing in East Devon, including for Afghan refugees.

The £686,000 grant from the Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) is for the notional purchase of four properties, one of which will be for the refugees.

However, this week East Devon District Council’s cabinet meeting heard a proposal to boost the grant by tapping into its nearly £2 million coffer built up from money developers pay the authority after getting approval for their housing plans.

This cash, known officially as Section 106 funding, helps pay for initiatives including affordable housing.

Officers proposed spending £760,497 of Section 106 money arising from a housing scheme in Sidford, alongside the LAHF grant, so it could buy more houses.

“Combining the Section 106 money with the LAHF grant is the best way to maximise what we can purchase as we will have more scope to negotiate on price per property and it will give us a total budget of around £1.45 million,” officer Tim Laurence-Othen told councillors.

“We have been doing work on the potential number of properties, and while we are still in the early stages of that work, Cranbrook looks the best value for money and we would be able to get the most properties, and we could further expand our presence in the town as a provider of good quality affordable homes.”

He added that he thought the combined cash could enable the council to buy six to eight homes, with four being for temporary accommodation and the rest going into general use for council tenants.

Cllr Dan Ledger (Independent, Seaton), portfolio holder for sustainable homes and communities, welcomed the proposal.

“This delivers affordable housing and reduces spot purchases, such as paying to put people in hotels or B&Bs when housing can’t be found for them,” he said.

The cabinet heard that the four properties for temporary accommodation would be made up of three new-builds that would be used to house people before more permanent option could be identified, while one would provide resettlement accommodation for Afghan refugees.

The LAHF cash came on the back of the council receiving another recent payout of £683,000 from the same government pot.

That money was put towards refurbishing 11 council properties that had been empty for long periods and needed to be brought back up to lettable standard.

The council expects to have £250,000 from that grant remaining, and has agreed with the government to use the money to buy two properties for temporary accommodation.

The cabinet unanimously approved using the grant alongside the Section 106 cash to purchase the properties.