Agenda item

To consider a report by Councillor Rhys Thomas, Lead Member for Housing and Communities (copy enclosed) presenting the draft Local Housing Market Assessment for Denbighshire and seeking Cabinet approval of its submission to the Welsh Government.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)      approves Denbighshire’s draft Local Housing Market Assessment for submission to the Welsh Government, and

(b)      delegates authority to the Lead Member for Housing and Communities to agree any minor editorial changes required to the draft Local Housing Market Assessment, prior to submission to the Welsh Government.

In the absence of Councillor Rhys Thomas, the Leader Councillor Jason McLellan presented the report and draft Local Housing Market Assessment for Denbighshire (LHMA) and sought Cabinet approval to submit the LHMA to Welsh Government.

The LHMA examined the current and future housing need/demand in Denbighshire and formed a key part of the evidence supporting policies including the Local Development Plan and Housing & Homelessness Strategy.  It was a statutory requirement for the Council to periodically review housing needs and the LHMA had been developed based on Welsh Government guidance and toolkit methodology to ensure a consistent approach across all Welsh local authorities.

The Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services, Strategic Planning and Housing Manager and Senior Officer – Strategic Planning and Housing were in attendance.  Cabinet was advised that the LHMA covered a period of 15 years with a full review every 5 years and a refresh between years 2 and 3.  The LHMA provided key evidence for many areas of the Council’s work and was data based, providing evidence to support policy making going forward.  It included 10 defined housing market areas and there had been wide ranging engagement with stakeholders in its development.  Cabinet was advised of the findings, in brief –

·       the majority of housing need was due to a backlog of existing need with only a small part from population growth

·       the majority of need was for social rented housing and smaller 1 or 2 bed properties due to 1 or 2 person households making up about 70% of Denbighshire’s population

·       there were affordability issues across most housing tenures and lack of housing availability was a key issue identified, particularly those available for rent

·       there was a need for 400 affordable homes per year for the first 5 years of the LHMA, the premise being that existing need should be met within the first 5 years although there was a question over whether or not that was achievable

·       there was a need for 153 affordable homes per year for the 15 year period covered by the LHMA and therefore much work was ongoing in terms of delivering affordable housing on development sites, bringing empty properties back into use, and various other ways of increasing the supply

·       the LHMA did not set the affordable housing target for the Local Development Plan (LDP) but was part of the overall evidence based used for the LDP.

Cabinet considered the comprehensive report, noting the prescribed process, key findings, and outputs from the assessment.  Questions were raised regarding the confidence in the figures produced, future market housing mix, meeting the need of 400 affordable homes, and bringing empty properties back into use.

Officers responded to the questions raised as follows –

·       referred to the wealth of data and complexity of the model and reported on the four different household forecast scenarios used, with the Welsh Government principal projection having been used to inform the LHMA housing need figure.  The principal projection figure of 3165 homes was comparable to the LDP requirement for 3275 homes so there was confidence in those figures given the consistency between the two and the robust process and detailed information upon which the LHMA had been based

·       in terms of the suggested market mix there was a difference between need and aspiration, but the aim was to provide flexibility in the housing market given the aspiration for a spare room or study space and given the difficulties at present to move between different tenures and properties due to the lack of availability.  Combining the 1 and 2 bed properties offered that flexibility and recognised the limited appetite for 1 bed market properties

·       confirmed that delivering the 400 affordable homes identified would be carried out in a variety of ways, including new build, bringing empty properties back into use and the acquisition of existing properties.  Denbighshire had a good track record of delivering affordable housing, the highest in North Wales over the last two years, and in 2023/24 £10m Welsh Government funding had been allocated for Denbighshire to provide affordable housing with a similar amount (£9m) for the next two years.  Given that good track record Denbighshire had also been awarded funding towards year end (underspends from other local authorities) with an extra £800k awarded in 2023/24 for delivering affordable housing

·       70% of households were 1 or 2 persons which was one reason why there was such a demand for smaller 1 and 2 bed properties.  The LHMA provided a breakdown of need by local housing market area and size so whilst needs were spread across the county, the highest need for 1 and 2 bed properties was the Rhuddlan/Dyserth housing market area with no immediate need in Rhyl, Ruthin, Denbigh, and Llangollen.  However, that reflected the existing housing supply in those areas including smaller properties for social rent and the model assumed a level of turnover and therefore supply of those properties in those areas

·       the 1 and 2 bed figures included properties in extra care housing schemes and there was a good level of demand for extra care housing which was very popular, another advantage was the potential that it freed up other housing

·       mortgage rescue (to prevent the loss of properties wherever feasible to do so) had been listed as one of the thirteen key strategic priorities for affordable housing and whilst not many had come through the system there was scope through registered social landlords to help support people in difficulty with their mortgages funded by the Welsh Government

·       there was some debate on the challenges in bringing empty homes back into use with an empty home delivery plan to capture the various different actions/activities to tackle the issue and a dedicated empty homes officer.  Whilst the Council had performed reasonably well in bringing empty properties back into use there were issues with long standing empty properties and the figures remained consistent over time, but proactive action and a holistic approach was being undertaken which was recognised by the Cabinet together with the hard work involved

·       it was assumed the backlog of existing need would be met within 5 years which was unlikely given all housing build equated to around 250 homes per year.

In response to a question from Councillor Brian Jones, officers confirmed that work continued on the replacement LDP through the Strategic Planning Group (SPG) who were reviewing the evidence base and undertaking the research and revision of policies.  Key flood guidance was still awaited from the Welsh Government which had an impact on the delivery timescale and caused some delay.  Further details were provided of the SPG with an open invitation for all members to attend and significant involvement of the Member Area Groups in that process.

Cabinet recognised the hard work and complexities in developing the LHMA and thanked officers for the hard work carried out.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)      approves Denbighshire’s draft Local Housing Market Assessment for submission to the Welsh Government, and

(b)      delegates authority to the Lead Member for Housing and Communities to agree any minor editorial changes required to the draft Local Housing Market Assessment, prior to submission to the Welsh Government.