Council refutes affordable homes cash claims

THE COUNCIL has refuted claims that it is sitting on millions set aside for affordable housing, saying that the funds are in the process of being allocated to a range of projects.

On Sunday, online news site HuffPost UK published a story claiming that across the country, more than £360 million is sitting in councils’ bank accounts instead of being used to tackle the housing crisis. Two-thirds of that cash – £235 million – is by held by just 14 councils.

It also said that in its Freedom of Information Request Wokingham Borough Council had a total of

£20 million set aside – a figure the council says is actually £16m.

HuffPost UK asked every council in England and Wales to reveal how much they had received in Section 106 monies since 2013/14, how much they had spent and how much was unallocated.

The money, also known as developer contributions, is given in lieu of building affordable homes on a development.

The HuffPost said that in Wokingham, £8,920,223.75 has been committed for projects but not yet spent. This could include plans to revamp Gorse Ride estate in Finchampstead, but has not yet been confirmed.

The remaining £11,071,568 has not been allocated to any projects just yet and the total revealed to HuffPost as a result of its Freedom of Information request is £19,991,791.10.

Graham Ebers, deputy chief executive and director of corporate servicess, said: “Our executive has approved a range of affordable housing projects, totalling £27,308,469 of expenditure (against received and anticipated S106 receipts). £8,395,000 of this was spent during 2017/18 financial year on three different affordable housing projects (Phoenix Avenue, Fosters Extra Care and Anson Walk).

“Circa £16 million of expenditure on affordable housing projects is expected in 2018/19 financial year.

“It’s a very successful policy to get Section 106 money in and use it as wisely as possible so that it doesn’t increase the burden to the council tax payer.”

He added that after the election, a special Executive meeting is planned to approve plans for the new Gorse Ride development, something he said is a “huge project”.

However the view is not shared by the borough’s opposition parties. Labour councillor Andy Croy was angry that the council is not building the houses now.

He said: “It’s playing politics with people’s lives. There are 2,000 families on the waiting list [in Wokingham borough] who are in overcrowded or poor living conditions. Their everyday lives are a misery because the Tories will not build social housing.

“It’s an absolute disgrace.”

The Bulmershe and Whitegates councillor said that he was being regularly contacted by families from all over the borough who were “desperate for housing”.

“The money shouldn’t be sitting in a bank account, it should be straight out of the door [to build the homes],” he added.

And Cllr Lindsay Ferris, leader of the Wokingham Liberal Democrats, had concerns over where the money was going.

He told The Wokingham Paper: “How is this money being spent? Is it solely for housing or is it being used to support council generally or cross subsidising other projects?

“What has Wokingham Borough Council done with the £11 million?

“If it’s sitting in a bank account, what will they be using it for?”

He added that the party had looked at the issue of social housing in its manifesto, which they released last September.

“We identified the need for social housing back in September. This is a very, very crucial area to expand,” Cllr Ferris said.

“What is happening is that Wokingham Borough Council is not adding to its social stock. We urgently need houses for local people who cannot afford the rents.

“It’s about time Wokingham Borough Council got off its backside and provided the homes that people need.”

But Wokingham Conservatives’ Pauline Jorgensen said that the council was committed to building affordable homes.

“The Borough Conservatives are committed to providing affordable housing – indeed we are investing £42million in affordable housing over the next three years,” she said.

“We are trailblazing as a Council, using our wholly owned housing companies to develop housing on Council land to make the money go further.

“This includes schemes such as the £13million project to provide 68 affordable and social rented homes at Phoenix Avenue and the development of six two-bedroom houses at Grovelands in Winnersh.

“Upcoming developments include two two-bedroom homes for Shared Ownership at Middlefields in Ruscombe, as well as three two-bedroom affordable rent houses and six two-bedroom apartments at Norton Road in Wokingham.

“We have plans for lots more affordable housing. This includes affordable/social rented, shared ownership and our new Rent to Buy scheme, and we are working actively on these schemes.

“We have another 140 units in the pipeline and are working on more sites.

“Rather than sitting on the sidelines like the Opposition, local Conservatives are working hard to deliver much needed housing for local people.”