Agenda item

Councillor Roberts MOVED and Councillor Fielding SECONDED a report which presented an updated Housing Strategy.  The previous Housing Strategy (2015 – 2018) was approved by Cabinet in April 2015.  It was a three-year document and reflected the key housing challenges and opportunities facing Oldham at that time.  Good practice dictated that housing strategies were reviewed every five years and no longer than every seven years.  In addition, the local authority had a statutory responsibility which was usually articulated through the periodic publications of a housing strategy and housing stock conditions surveys.

Oldham has a diverse housing market which stretched out from the town centre surrounded by inner ring of high density and compact terraced housing neighbourhoods which were increasingly areas of regeneration priority to out suburbs, semi-rural parish standalone settlements and dispersed rural settlements within green belt and countryside.

There had been significant changes in the local housing market and the service operating model since the last housing strategy was refreshed which included devolution with agreement to meting housing targets through a Greater Manchester spatial planning process, new burdens in national planning methodologies and standards which dictated the need for a completely new approach as to how statutory planning and housing responsibilities were met.  The new Housing Strategy would complement our existing homelessness strategy, linked to the 30-year Housing Revenue Account business plan and set out the evidence base for the development of the new Local Plan.  The new Housing Strategy also responded to the travel of direction towards working in a new integrated health and social care service cluster model being driven by Oldham Cares.  The Housing Strategy pick up one if its key themes on the key function housing played in supporting health and social care integration and wider public service reform.

A key objective of the development of a new housing strategy had been to reset the housing delivery governance framework that could start to tackle the challenges identified in the evidence base and help meet the opportunities to achieve the housing priority themes acknowledged over the short, medium and long-term.  The accompanying delivery plan sought to begin to start to locate housing and place shaping at the heard of Oldham’s collective vision for the Borough.

The new Housing Strategy would:

·         Enable the Council to determine priorities in each district or local housing market area as defined by the LHNA evidence base;

·         Inform bids for both public and private funding to support the development of new homes in Oldham;

·         Support the Council and its partners to make more informed People and Place making decisions about the targeting and future integrated commissioning priorities under, for example, the Integrated Care Organisation (Oldham Cares) and underpin external funding bids to support investment in existing housing services and stock in Oldham.

·         Enable the Council to focus and develop new policies and ways of working that better fit the operating environment.

·         Inform the Council to progress its energy conservation work and to satisfy the Council’s obligations under the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 and subsequent guidance.

Councillor Brownridge spoke in support of the report.

Councillor Al-Hamdani spoke in support of the report.

Councillor S. Bashforth spoke in support of the report.

Councillor Harkness spoke in support of the report.

Councillor Roberts exercised her right of reply.

RESOLVED that the Housing Strategy adopted by Cabinet on 24^th June 2019 be noted.