Newheartlands' comments on memoranda submitted
to the Committee
WDC RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION
No comments.
LIVERPOOL HOUSING
SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
The comments put forward in the written submission
have not been discussed by Liverpool City Council's HMRI Scrutiny
Panel and there was no sign up to such a submission at the last
meeting of the panel.
— Property pool lists grown from 7,500
to 18,500 in three years.
The Council and the RSLs in the City have been
amalgamating their housing waiting lists through PropertyPool,
and are working to adopt a common list. This work is ongoing,
and as RSLs have joined the list, the gross number of households
on the waiting list has grown as each RSL has brought their own
list. Before the move towards a single list, applicants could
be registered on a number of waiting lists, giving an inaccurate
picture of housing need and demand across the City. However, throughout
this process, the number of people on the Council's waiting list
has remained relatively constant, and the increased numbers of
people on the PeopertyPool list reflect the addition of the RSL
waiting lists. Work is ongoing to review these registers with
a view to eliminating double or even multiple counting.
— Demolitions areas—average wage
£10,000?
In 2006, the average household income for Liverpool
HMR (excluding city centre) £22,467.
In 2006, average household income for NewHeartlands
(excluding city centre) £22,810.
In the financial year 2006-07, the average cost
of a new home across Pathfinder was £117,017.
— Those affected by CPO £30,000
to £35,000 worse off after being moved into houses in neighbouring
areas.
To date there have been few problems re-housing
resident s affected by clearance with 50% able to access a high
street mortgage product and shared ownership being very popular.
NewHeartlands continues to pursue a range of measures to ensure
as many residents as possible can access the housing market. These
include:
— National Affordable Housing Programme.
— Recycled Capital Grant Fund.
— Section 106 agreements where appropriate.
— Planning policies and individual
development agreements.
— Empty Dwelling Management Orders.
— Intermediate/shared ownership products.
— 9% city wide vacancies?
Liverpool's HMR Area shows an average of 9%,
city wide vacancy rate is 7%.
— Current three year programme of demolitions
will add 3,000 people to be displaced into other social housing.
We are unclear where these figures have come
from. Our records show that the majority of owner occupiers displaced
by clearance remain in owner occupation.
— Liverpool consultation issues.
With regards to consultation in general, the
NAO case study on the Welsh Streets clearly demonstrates the extensive
and long-term nature of how the City Council and its partners
undertake community consultation and engagement on schemes.
— Final para re: only clear beneficiaries
are the four national housebuilders.
NewHeartlands' constituent local authorities
have entered into long term agreements with national housebuilders
for each of their priority intervention areas. Their appointment
as lead developers followed a competitive process and this approach
has been adopted to ensure that developments would be brought
forward in areas in which there had been little or no private
housebuilding over the last 30 years. These agreements can last
up to seven years subject to performance (and may be automatically
renewed). These agreements commit the lead partners to develop
new housing on packages of sites which are put to them by the
local authority.
An increasing number of sites are being brought
forward by private developers, which would not have been viable
without the confidence created by the areas' Housing Market Renewal
status and on some occasions where the Pathfinder has played an
enabling rather than a direct funding or land assembly role.
Whilst lead developers are in place, this does
not prevent other housebuilders from investing and developing
within the Pathfinder. The development under construction of Bootle's
first ever high rise apartments for sale block, Stella Nova, by
developers Dreaming Spires is one such example. Each local authority
has adopted planning policies which direct new development to
the HMR areas, and which are helping to bring in additional investment
eg Wimpey, which is not a lead developer, is looking to build
in the Wirral HMR area.
NEIGHBOURS AGAINST
DEMOLITION
1. The Status of Neighbours Against Demolition
(NAD)
1.1 The status of "Neighbours Against
Demolition" (NAD) was discussed during the Public Inquiry
held during July 2006 into the Bedford Road and Queens Road (No
1) Compulsory Purchase Order 2005, which has subsequently been
confirmed by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local
Government, following a High Court Challenge to it's validity.
NAD was a small group of no more than 20 like-minded people who
opposed Housing Market Renewal activity in south Sefton generally
and the Priority Intervention Area of Bedford / Queens specifically.
The group has no formal membership, never became constituted nor
held regular meetings. The number of people "affiliated"
to NAD has decreased rapidly over the past two years. It is thought
that NAD now comprises of three people, none of whom have ever
lived within the areas subject to HMRI intervention in south Sefton.
2. Impact on Social Rented Accommodation
2.1 In terms of analysis of the provision
of social rented accommodation, the presence of the Pathfinder
assists to provide a comprehensive statistical data-base on all
aspects of housing supply, via the GIS based Asset Management
Projects that operate across the Pathfinder area. Newheartlands
are in the process of commissioning research to enhance the range
and quality of housing market data in south Sefton and Wirral
in order to bring it tp the detailed and comprehensive standard
of Liverpool and thus further enhance knowledge and understanding
of housing markets across the Pathfinder area. During 2006, the
Pathfinder commissioned further research to analyse housing market
demand across the area in order to further understand the requirements
for future housing supply.
2.2 The primary responsibility for ensuring
that an adequate supply of appropriate housing is delivered lies
with the Local Authority. Sefton Council has recently refreshed
it's housing needs analysis and has identified an increasing requirement
for affordable housing. The Borough's housing strategy is currently
being re-written and it's policies and priorities will reflect
the need to meet the demand for affordable housing. Interim Planning
policies already reflect the requirement for affordable housing
and the forthcoming Local Development Framework (LDF) will reflect
identified need within the borough as well as reflecting new and
emerging national policy, as outlined within the recent Housing
Green Paper.
2.3 Therefore, the presence of the Pathfinder
has assisted in developing a complex and sophisticated knowledge
of housing markets, including the supply of and demand for social
rented accommodation. This knowledge, together with commissioned
research has assisted to develop an extremely effective, proactive
approach to cross tenure housing provision.
2.4 Furthermore, the Pathfinder's aim is
to reduce the requirement for social rented /affordable accommodation
by improving the economic situation of local people, thus reducing
reliance on public subsidy in terms of benefits and housing. This
point is reflected in the submission by Mr McConaghy to the Committee.
3. CURS Report
3.1 The CURS report was commissioned by
a wide range of housing related organisations including Local
Authorities, Registered Social Landlords, Government Agencies,
Housing Corporation, National House Builders Federation to seek
reasons for and solutions to extreme low demand and not, as NAD
contend, by social housing providers.
3.2 The report identified a number of criteria
linked to low demand that affect both private and social rented
housing.
3.3 The creation of Pathfinders sought to
address extreme low demand across all tenures. It is no coincidence
in south Sefton that areas of high RSL ownership—where low
demand properties were acquired and refurbished by Housing Associations
in order to extend their life in the 1980's—are now the
same areas suffering market failure. The absence of a "re-development"
centred tool due to negative connotations associated with "clearance"
during the 1960's, led to refurbishment being utilised as the
key tool for tackling low demand. Housing Associations provided
an important element of this solution, by accessing 100% grant
funding via the housing Corporation to acquire significant numbers
of low demand dwellings in both of Sefton's key intervention areas,
where RSL ownership exceeded 50% of all stock at the commencement
of HMRI. Put simply, policies focussed upon refurbishment during
the 1970's and 1980's used RSL ownership as a key funding source
for refurbishment, whether or not there was ever demand for 50%
owner occupation in such areas. Indeed, for most of the past 30
years, RSL's have been forced to relax their lettings policies
in order to sustain these properties, despite refurbishment. By
"relaxing" policies, it is meant that RSL's allowed
under occupation and not, as it is sometimes suggested, allowing
"anti-social" or undesirable tenants to occupy property
without appropriate references and checks).
3.4 It is common to find areas now subject
to HMRI re-development have previously been the focus for three
or more refurbishment initiatives since the 1980's that have achieved
their ultimate aim of extending the life of such property but
have clearly failed to deliver sustained regeneration.
4. Current Patterns of Change
4.1 The statistics provided by NAD reflect
the excellent work that has been achieved by the Pathfinders to
reduce the proportion of low demand and vacant stock across the
north-west. The increase in demand for affordable housing in latter
years—reflected by an apparent increase in "Need"
(not all Local Authorities, Sefton included, any longer operate
a formal waiting list)—reflects the significant increases
in house prices that have made owner occupation increasingly difficult
to achieve, thus increasing the need for affordable housing.
4.2 As identified in 3.3 (above) The provision
of such a high proportion of social rented accommodation in both
intervention areas in Sefton does not reflect demand for social
rented accommodation in those areas either at the time it was
acquired by RSL's or indeed now.
4.3 The key objective of HMRI is to provide
balanced housing markets and this is the rationale for targeting
clearly identified areas of housing that is subject to market
failure, often with more than 50% rented accommodation and seek
to re-develop on the basis of a balanced tenure mix which, is
identified as 70% owner occupation and 30% social rented within
confined geographical areas. This will reduce the overall proportion
of social rented housing in south Sefton overall by a very small
amount but will not skew supply so as to fail to meet demand.
4.4 For instance, in the Bedford / Queens
neighbourhood, re-development of circa 250 units, of which 55%
are rented accommodation, will facilitate their replacement with
a similar number of new homes, comprising 70% of units for sale
and 30% for social rent, thus reducing the raw number of rented
units by circa 62 units in a neighbourhood of over 3,500 dwellings.
4.5 Furthermore, the retention of obsolete,
low demand social rented accommodation in areas such as Bedford
/ Queens would have done nothing more than create areas of housing
of "last resort" that are occupied for no other reason
than a lack of an affordable alternative. This indeed was the
situation prior to HMRI intervention, evidenced by low demand
and high turnover and the need for RSL's to relax lettings policies
to allow under-occupation in order to artificially sustain demand.
Sefton's HMRI strategy is about providing quality and choice and
is not about retaining stock that is not wanted in order to force
those without choice to occupy property they do not wish to occupy
in areas that they do not wish to live in. Indeed, Sefton's Choice
Based Lettings approach no doubt emphasised the undesirability
of accommodation in our key intervention areas since it was introduced.
4.6 The numbers and tenure of new-build
units in south Sefton, together with identification of areas for
refurbishment have been carefully assessed to ensure that they
not only meet the requirements of all households requiring re-housing
as part of HMRI proposals but which will provide sustainable,
high quality and desirable neighbourhoods, meeting the needs of
future communities.
4.7 HMRI Pathfinder authorities are tasked
with constantly reviewing their proposals to ensure they remain
relevant. In the areas where re-development intervention is taking
place, the proposals were reviewed as part of the development
of the 2007 Business Plan and remain relevant. Indeed, HMRI has
done much to replace outdated obsolete and low demand social housing
with high quality accommodation, both refurbished and new build.
For example, during the 2006-08 Housing Corporation programme
£12.9 million that delivered a total of 227 units of affordable
accommodation, exceeding by far previous allocations to Sefton.
4.8 It is of course, natural that Sefton's
policies will continue to evolve as circumstances change and new
policy arises. However, the rationale behind the creation of the
Pathfinders remains robust and is work in progress. Pathfinder
activity seeks not only to address housing market imbalances but
assists in the essential renewal of the housing stock as well
as developing new and innovative means of improving the condition
and popularity of the retained Victorian housing stock, the vast
majority of which does and will continue to, provide a key element
of local housing markets.
4.9 Pathfinder activity is also assisting
to diversify the social structure of an area, thus reducing overall
deprivation and reliance on state benefits, increasing affluence
and disposable income, sustaining local businesses, reducing the
reliance on greenfield development and the private motor vehicle
as main mode of transport whilst assisting to provide housing
for the employees who will be needed to meet the increasing need
of employers to fill new jobs that will be available within the
Liverpool City Region.
4.10 In conclusion, it is acknowledged that
"stress" will be created by the necessary activity of
the Pathfinder. However, it is significantly less than the stress
that would have occurred if intervention had not taken place and
the decline that had taken firmly hold in areas such as Bedford
/ Queens had been allowed to continue. Appended to this note is
a summary of the activities undertaken by one of our lead RSL
partners in one of our key intervention areas, to minimise "stress"
on local communities. This would not have occurred but for the
activity of the Pathfinder.
LIVING THROUGH
CHANGE: THE
KLONDYKE COMMUNITY:
TACKLING STRESS
THROUGH COMMUNITY
SAFETY AND
VULNERABILITY INITIATIVES
Breathe + is South Sefton HMRI's partner RSL
for the Klondyke Estate, and area of around 800 "2-up-2 down"
back-of-pavement terraced houses which are to be demolished and
redeveloped in phases over a period of 10 years. The first new
homes have been completed, and residents are moving to their new
homes.
As well as providing new social rented and affordable
shared ownership homes for households displaced by redevelopment,
Breathe+ also has a base in one of the vacant houses in the middle
of the area, staffed full time, from where they provide support
and advice on rehousing and other matters, as well as working
with the community, with financial support from the HMRI programme,
in tackling residents' issues, and working to mitigate the adverse
effects of change on the community.
These examples—amongst many—demonstrate
the kind of small-scale street level work being done throughout
NewHeartlands to respond to the pressures on residents, and to
mitigate stress. This was recently identified by the National
Audit Office as an issue to be tackled. We are doing so!
STREET LIGHTING
Street lighting in the Klondyke Estate is rudimentary,
and consists in the main of wall mounted lamps, there being no
room within the narrow Victorian streets for more traditional
lamp posts. As a result, without light spillage from the living
rooms of houses in the street, lighting levels are inadequate.
As properties have become void, there is less of this incidental
lighting. Residents expressed concern about the levels of the
street lighting and their consequent fear of crime. So, in March
2007 additional lighting was installed to the fronts of the properties
in Staley, Humphrey, Willard and Glynne Street within the redevelopment
area. The additional lighting operates using a system that provides
additional lighting between dusk and dawn. This will be re-used
on later phases in due course.
LIFELINE PHONES
In April 2007 BReathe+ undertook a survey of
residents to identify those who are vulnerable. From these surveys,
the most isolated and vulnerable residents were offered a lifeline
phone. So far 10 lifelines have been installed and a further 2
are planned. The cost of the phones and the monitoring charge
is being met through the Living Through Change budget.
REDUCING FIRE
RISK
BReathe+ commissioned a School Fire Liaison
Officer to be based in St George of England's school during the
academic year 06/07. The Fire Officer spends one day per week
at the school mentoring young people and building relationships
between the Fire Service and young people. It is hoped this increased
relationship will reduce the chance of arson attacks on void properties
being started by young people.
RESPECT ACTION
WEEK
During the week beginning 17 September 2007
BReathe+ organised a Respect Action Week involving a number of
agencies. During the week the following was achieved:
— 1 arrest for intent to supply controlled
drugs.
— 1 arrest for possession of a controlled
drug.
— 3 on the spot fines issued.
— 8 requests to produce driving documentation.
— 14 truants stopped, seven returned
to their schools.
— £75,000 of council tax arrears
pursued.
— 127 Housing Benefit verifications.
— Graffiti removed from 15 telecom
boxes, one sub station and the gable ends of five properties.
— Every property in the core demolition
area was visited by the Fire Service.
— Every property in the core demolition
area was visited by Merseyside Energy Advice Service.
— 43 young people were engaged with
by Youth Services.
MINIBUS
As part of a Post Office review of sub-post
office provision, and despite opposition from HMRI, the local
post office was closed. This has resulted in older residents having
to travel further to collect their pensions. Due to this extra
distance older residents had not been collecting their pensions
on a weekly basis. Instead they were visiting the post office
on a 2/3 weekly cycle and are collecting larger sums. This makes
them more vulnerable to robbery. Following two distraction burglaries,
a number of older residents informed BReathe+ that they were uncomfortable
about carrying large sums of money back from the post office.
In response BReathe+ organised a free bus service to the local
post office to coincide with a local church coffee morning. Residents
are able to socialise before taking a bus to the post office and
being dropped home. For added security the Police Community Support
Office has accompanied the residents on this journey.
ANTI SOCIAL
BEHAVIOUR
On 19 October 2007 Merseyside Police's dedicated
Anti Social Behaviour Team, Axis, carried out a day-long operation
in the Klondyke neighbourhood. This was the first time the Axis
team had been deployed in Sefton and the only the fifth time such
an operation has been carried out in Merseyside. In addition to
high profile policing 20 offenders were targeted and arrested.
A quantity of drugs, weapons and stolen goods were seized. Whilst
partner agencies such as Sefton's ASB team, DVLA, Customs and
Excise, Benefits Agency, Court Service, Fire Service, Utility
Companies and TV Licensing also took to the streets. The message
from the day was unanimous that any form of Anti-Social Behaviour
would not be tolerated. The operation has restored the confidence
of local people in these agencies.
VOLUNTEER VISITORS
BReathe+ have been working with a number of
local churches to establish a volunteer based visiting service
for the most vulnerable residents living in the Klondyke neighbourhood.
CRB checks are being carried and the volunteers are to undergo
training in December 2007 before the scheme goes live.
INTRUDER DETERRENTS
BReathe+ are also currently working with the
Police and Sefton ASB team to install a Smart Water sprinkler
system to vacant properties in the Klondyke to deter, and catch
those responsible for thefts from vacant properties. This is the
first time Smart Water will have been installed in this manner
by Merseyside Police.
Des McConaghy
The only inaccuracy we would like to amend is:
— P2 4th para, last sentence, "
. . . multi-storey housing . . . .around the city centre . . .
remain about 34% empty". The City Centre vacancy rate at
March 2007 was 17.7%
30 November 2007
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