To receive any apologies for absence.

None received

To receive any declarations of interest.

None received

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of 15 August 2017

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 August 2017 be approved.

To comment on the report to be considered by Cabinet on 28 September 2017.

Members considered the report that was due to be submitted to Cabinet on 28 September 2017. Councillor McWilliams, Deputy Lead Member for Policy and Affordable Housing, introduced the report. He explained that the Homelessness Strategy was the first of a trilogy of important documents, alongside the Borough Local Plan (BLP) and a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) on affordable housing.  The Strategy aimed to prevent homelessness and help those who were homeless.  The long-term vision was to build more homes so everyone who aspired to home ownership was able to do so.  The borough was focussing on the provision of affordable housing in light of the lack of supply and high property prices in the borough. The strategy was a statutory requirement that had to be produced every five years.

Members noted that table 1 of the report set out the key objectives of the strategy and the proposed actions. In 2016-2017, 9353 approaches were made to the council for assistance with housing; 1518 households were prevented from becoming homeless.

Councillor Walters asked how the council planned to get round the issue of viability to achieve the 30% target for affordable housing. He felt that there was not much information in the BLP on this issue. Councillor McWilliams explained that once the BLP was completed, the SPD on affordable housing would be produced to advise developers on the council’s strategy. The council would also advise developers and provide information on the different products available. On the Joint Venture (JV) sites this would be much easier as the council would work directly with the developers on delivery. In situations where a developer stated it would not be viable to delver affordable housing on a specific site, the council would then work with the housing associations to find other sites to develop.

Councillor Walters commented that new builds did not incur any VAT whereas refurbishing a property did. This was illogical as 20% was usually the developer’s profit level. The Chairman highlighted that the 30% target for affordable housing had been in place for some time yet was not remotely close to being met. Councillor McWilliams commented that the difference now was that the council was a partner in a number of JV sites; the 30% target was now more realistic.

Councillor Hilton commented that there were a number of significant sites in the south of the borough, the first of which had already come to the Borough-wide Development Management Panel. On the grounds of viability the hospital application had been approved with no affordable housing on a site with 220 homes. He felt this was ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ and was fundamentally wrong as both were important.  He felt the government should recognise this and contribute so affordable homes could be included. A second site was a former gasholder site therefore the developer was likely to say affordable housing was not viable. The process was flawed.  In the centre of Maidenhead CIL was 0% at the moment therefore viability was working  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

·         Thursday 19 October 2017.

·         Thursday 7 December 2017.

·         Thursday 1 February 2018.

·         Wednesday 18 April 2018.

Members noted the following future meeting dates (7pm start):

19 October 2017

7 December 2017

1 February 2018

18 April 2018

The Chairman requested future agenda items on CIL/S106 funding (including the CIL governance document) and an update on the speed of processing planning applications. Councillor M. Airey confirmed the second item was within his remit as Deputy Lead Member for Planning Performance.