Agenda item

This report provides an update on the Council’s development programme and how it contributes to the commitment to see 3,000 new energy efficient homes constructed or underway in the borough over the next four years.

The report also outlines how the development programme embeds co-production with local residents at the heart of development activities, as well as the role the new council-led developments play in supporting the Council’s ambitious net-zero carbon targets.

At the meeting there will be an accompanying presentation, including an overview of the programme and an update on the Hartopp and Lannoy development project. The committee will hear from the scheme architects BPTW and the sustainability consultants Calford Seaden.

Matt Rumble (Strategic Head of Regeneration and Development) updated members on the following:

• The Building Homes and Community Strategy and its underpinning principles;
• the Development Programme overview, including the direct delivery programmes and partnership delivery projects;
• the housing tenures in H&F, including genuinely affordable homes, intermediate homes and market sales homes;
• funding and financial performance, including negotiating affordable housing obligations in private development (Section 106); and
• partnership delivery of the Education City: the Ark Swift Primary Academy site and its phases of development.

Peter Cook (Head of Development) outlined the following:

• the principles of co-production: doing things with residents, not to them;
• the Defend Council Homes Policy;
• co-producing White City Central and the White City Estate Resident Advisory Panel;
• co-production with the community in numbers;
• response to Climate and Ecology Strategy; and
• the redevelopment of Hartopp and Lannoy site.

Neil Campbell (Partner, Architecture, BPTW) gave a detailed account of the Hartopp and Lannoy Point Project, including co-production with the Resident’s Steering Group.

Emily Mansfield (Sustainability Consultant, Calford Seaden) introduced the Sustainability Strategy of the Hartopp and Lannoy Point Project, including the H&F’s target under the Climate & Ecology Strategy, the benefits and values of net zero, and the reduction of running costs through passive design under the Sustainability Framework.

Andrew Yates (Partner, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Calford Seaden) briefed members on the low energy design under the Passivhaus Principles, including energy efficient design via fabric enhancement, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery), the use of air source heat pumps for heating and hot water and the adoption of solar photovoltaic array to generate renewable energy.

Onur Osman (Senior Associate, Architecture, BPTW) outlined the Sustainability & Passivhaus Design Principles.  He also noted the project summary and the next steps.

The Chair said she was interested to see how the constrictions and challenges presented by residents could be overcome by co-production.  She requested for the sets of presentation slides be circulated to members after the meeting. (Appendices 3a and 3b)

NOTE: The presentations are attached as Appendices 3a and 3b

Councillor Paul Alexander asked if the residents had expressed any views during the consultation on the size of internal and communal living space, the window size and ceiling height, and the maintenance of heating installations.

Peter Cook noted that all the new builds were developed according to the national standards to accommodate modern living. The accessible units, co-produced with the accessible working groups, were bigger in size with larger furniture layouts.  Matt Rumble added that the provision and size of the balcony and outdoor space were also set out in the national space standards.

Councillor Alexander understood that the national standards allowed a range, and he was concerned whether the minimum was adopted by councils in London which might not meet residents’ expectation.  

Councillor Adronie Alford asked about the distribution of beds in the development. Peter Cook said there were 67 genuinely affordable homes made up of 28 one-beds, 27 two-beds, and 12 three-beds. There were 45 intermediate homes made up of 22 one-beds, 19 two-beds, and 4 three-beds.:

Noting the absence of 4-bedroom flats, Councillor Alford considered it necessary to provide more such units to cater for the needs of larger families to avoid overcrowding. Matt Rumble assured that a broader range of family-sized homes would be available across the borough under the other 16 projects based on a number of factors, including the plot of land in question, the local demand and residents’ affordability.

On maintenance, Richard Shwe remarked that new maintenance contracts would be H&F-specific and resident-centric.  Matt Rumble added that residents would be educated on how new homes and new technologies operated and how to maximise the benefits to keep the energy bills low.

The Chair asked about consumers’ understanding of and demand for homes built according to Passivhaus principles given a number of the housing units would be for private sale. Peter Cook referred to the schemes implemented by Exeter City Council where a premium was added to the leasehold properties on the open market. Peter further noted about the 5-year process of monitoring the performance of the new homes where various living style might lead to different maintenance charges.

In response to Councillor Alford’s concern on how to ensure residents would clean the filters of the new ventilation systems, Peter Cook noted that mechanical ventilation would be the standard going forward as it helped alleviate noise pollution of the heat recovery unit.  The Regeneration and Development team might replace the filters on behalf of the residents and that cost would be reflected in the net rent itemised under repairs and maintenance.

Councillor Alford referred to the demolition and rebuilding of housing blocks in Munster ward, where no compensation had been made available to the residents remaining on the estate. Richard Shwe undertook to look into the matter and provide a response outside of the meeting.

ACTION: Richard Shwe

Councillor Asif Siddique thanked the comprehensive presentations and sought information about similar developments, if any, in the UK.  He asked about the provisions of vehicle and bike parking and availability of electric charging points. Matt Rumble referred to the Council’s policy in promoting active travel away from car travel.  As such, all residential schemes in the borough were ‘zero car’ and hence all new homes were built without additional parking except for people with blue badges. On the other hand, there would be significant amount of bike parking facilities for promotion of active travel.

In reply to Councillor Siddique’s question about facilities accessible by disabled and elderly residents and their carers, Matt Rumble noted that for all projects under development, about 10% would fully be adapted for wheelchair use and the housing allocation team would match these properties with people on the housing register who needed them the most.  Such matching and allocation would be extended to affordable homes developed by the private sector. He added that these units were built with adaptable standards which could be life-time homes to those even if their conditions might change over time.  In terms of special support for elderly residents at homes, Matt Rumble said that while the primary focus was delivering affordable homes to meet the needs of those on the housing register, his team was exploring embedding social care in new homes to provide extra care housing for elderly residents, children leaving care, and people with learning difficulties etc.  He noted that over the next 18 months, the team would look at all sites and land across the borough for further development and he believed those opportunities might then come forward.

Summing up, the Chair requested the officers address members’ concern, including compensation for residents near the demolished elderly blocks, living space and population density, number of bike parking units and the number of genuinely affordable and social housing homes completed in the last couple of years and in the pipeline.

ACTION: Matt Rumble

RESOLVED

That the Committee noted the content of the presentation.