Agenda and minutes
Homes for Londoners - Tuesday 4 December 2018 2.00 pm

1.1  The Mayor welcomed those present to the meeting, and welcomed Mary Harpley, Chief Officer who was attending her first Homes for Londoners Board meeting as an observer.

1.2  Apologies for absence were received from Gina Amoh, Chair, BME London and Chief Executive, Inquilab; Hugh Bullock, Chairman, Gerald Eve; Mike Brown, MVO, Commissioner, Transport for London, Cllr Claire Coghill, London Councils Executive Member business engagement, Brexit and good growth and Liz Peace CBE. Apologies for late arrival were received from Councillor Ruth Dombey, Vice Chair of London Councils and Dick Sorabji, Corporate Director of Policy and Public Affairs, London Councils.

1.3  The Mayor announced that he was aware that recent developments with regards to Brexit would be of great interest to the Board, and advised members that in the event of a ‘no deal’ exit from the European Union, he had requested officers undertake immediate work to assess the impact on the housing industry, and report back to the next Board meeting.

The Chair to invite Panel members to declare any interests which they may have in any of the items set out on the agenda.

[Note: In accordance with the GLA’s Code of Ethics for staff, officers must make a declaration of interest on any issue on which they are advising the Mayor which affects an interest held by them - or any person related to them or with whom they have a close personal relationship whether financial or otherwise - and ensure that the details are recorded in the Authority’s Register of Interests.]

2.1  It was noted that the London Councils members of the Board had a standing   interest in items touching on the 2016-21 affordable housing programme   (included in item 12), as representatives of organisations which had been allocated funding and/or of boroughs in which funding would be spent by third   parties. This was noted in the interests oftransparency as no decisions were sought under item 12.

3.1  DECISION:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 4 September 2018 be agreed as a correct record.

4.1  The Board received a report setting out progress against actions arising from previousmeetings.

4.2   DECISION:

  That the update on actions arising from previous meetings be noted.

5.1  Heather Juman, Head of Area South, presented a report which provided an update on bids for funding received and funding allocations made for the Mayor’s Building Council Homes for Londoners programme launched in May 2018. It was noted there had been a very strong response to the programme, with 27 councils having bid for over £1.5bn of GLA grant, and approved grant allocations following assessment totalling over £1bn.

5.2.  Board Members commended the success of the programme, citing it as an excellent example of effective partnership working between the GLA and London Councils. It was noted that London Councils were enthusiastic about continuing to work with the GLA to explore further opportunities to provide more homes for social rent and shared ownership, using cross-subsidy from market housing where appropriate.

5.3  There was discussion regarding how updates on best practice and new approaches such as precision manufacturing can be best shared with partners through the Council-led Housing Forum, which is being co-ordinated by Future of London. It was noted that the planning of sessions is driven by boroughs who steer future content, learning is shared via regular newsletters to boroughs, and that the GLA funds this so there is no  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.1  Rickardo Hyatt, New Business Manager, introduced the report which provided an update on the announcement of Government funding for the purposes of preparing sites for housing. It was noted that the GLA had provisionally secured £486m for London to support the GLA and partners to acquire land for housing development and help the release of sites. A Memorandum of Understanding for the release of funds was close to agreement.

6.2  The Board received an overview of the conditions attached to the funding, including meeting value for money requirements. It was noted that there was no prescribed tenure mix, which would allow for a flexible investment of funds. Income generated from the investment could also be reinvested in London. The GLA was aiming to invest a quarter of the funds within this financial year and was intending to call for proposals for investment in future years in early February.

6.3  London Councils members were invited to feedback to boroughs information on the availability of funding and encourage applications, noting that the funding could be applied to help unblock schemes and progress developments for smaller as well as larger sites. It was agreed that an update report on the application of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.1  Nick Taylor, Head of Area North West London, and Judith Carlson, Area Manager North West London, presented the report, which updated the Board on progress since September 2017 regarding central Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund. This included GLA bids for Forward Funding submitted in September 2018, business cases under development for submission in December 2018 and March 2019, and progress with Borough bids for Marginal Viability Funding.

7.2  The Board noted positive developments including that the Government had awarded £291m to the DLR Accelerated Growth Programme on 29 October 2018. It was noted that the Marginal Viability Funding schemes proposed by boroughs were expected to deliver around 18,000 new homes (approximately 40% affordable) and that the two Forward Funding schemes submitted in September could support the delivery of around 28,000 homes (35-50% affordable).

7.3   A significant challenge in delivery of the programme was compliance with a comprehensive due diligence process for Marginal Viability Funding validation including a March 2019 deadline for completion of financial review and other checks. There was a risk that provisional offers could be withdrawn, and that a compressed delivery window could mean draw down of all the approved funding by March 2021 may not be possible.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.1  Jamie Ratcliff, GLA Assistant Director – Housing, presented an update on the Homes for Londoners Property Portal, including an overview of the number of homes listed, visits to the site and number of organisations signed up to the portal. It was demonstrated that the response to the portal had been very positive, with 19,371 people who live or work in London registered to use the site, 75 organisations registered to list properties, 4,333 homes listed to date, and approximately 1.7m people from London visiting the webpage spending an average of four-and-a-half minutes on the site. It was noted that advertising of the site had been supported during a campaign over the summer, and that work was planned to further promote hits of the site on the Google search engine. The current total of 80,000 unique users a month was expected to level off at about 100,000 in due course. 

8.2  Partners were encouraged to promote the portal with residents and stakeholders, noting its uptake and highlighting its usability, particularly on mobile devices. It was also noted promoting case examples of specific successes from the portal would be beneficial.

8.3  London Councils members noted it would be useful  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.1  Geoff Alltimes, Independent Co-Chair of the London Estates Board, and Sue Hardy, Delivery Unit Director, London Estates Board (LEB) presented an update on the work of the LEB to provide greater transparency and oversight of NHS plans, activities and decisions within London. The Board noted that the LEB was shifting focus from strategic planning to ‘shadow decision-making’ from a target date of April 2019, whereby a phased approach to devolved decision-making would be implemented within a defined governance structure.

9.2  A key area of mutual interest for the Board and LEB was the LEB’s objective of identifying surplus NHS sites for release for new housing. It was noted that the LEB planned to publish the first London Health and Care Estate Strategy in the New Year, and that it is currently developing a prioritised London capital investment pipeline.

9.3  There was discussion regarding the importance of assuring Londoners that the work to release surplus NHS land for development would be a collaborative and considered approach, involving a reconciliation of Londoners clinical and housing needs, rather than any conflict of the two interests. The LEB was developing its capital investment pipeline being mindful of the six assurances required for the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.1  Justin Carr, Senior Manager – Public Land, introduced the report, which provided an overview of a new Memorandum of Understanding between the GLA and Whittington Health NHS Trust. The Memorandum of Understanding formalises a working relationship to support the health and wellbeing of residents in Islington and Haringey through estate transformation and improved clinical services, including potential opportunities to deliver housing.

10.2   The Board heard that the GLA was working collaboratively with the Trust to identify and address issues at the outset to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place and ensuring the Mayor’s six assurances are applied in the consideration of any release of land. It was noted that there was potential for this approach to also be applied in other boroughs where there is need and opportunity. 

10.3  Board members discussed that there was an opportunity for the GLA to write to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to seek support in addressing potential barriers to future collaborative work, such as timely communications with NHS partners. It was noted that GLA could share the LEB and the London Health Board experiences of partnership working to help develop best practice and enable responsive working between partners.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

11.1  Ellen Storrar, Housing Policy Manager, introduced the report and provided an overview of the previous work of the Construction Quality sub-group which was convened by the Board in 2017 to look at issues of construction quality in new homes. The Board discussed developments since June 2018, including the Mayoral response to the sub-group’s recommendations. Work undertaken so far included the Mayor’s lobbying of the Government to ensure that any future single Housing Ombudsman has a focus on providing redress for those purchasing new build homes. In advance of the establishment of any future Ombudsman, officers will be adding guidance for consumers to the GLA website.

11.2  A key output of the group was the development of a voluntary Zero Defects Charter which sets out a shared aspiration for the housing industry to work together to secure improvements in construction quality in London, achieving Zero Defects in new homes over the next 5 years. The Board discussed the Charter, endorsing its aims and noting the benefits of having a joint understanding of best practice, outcomes and standards. Board members expressed their commitment to the Charter – including Paul Hackett who highlighted that the G15 have endorsed the Charter and all  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

12.1  Jamie Ratcliff, GLA Assistant Director – Housing, presented a report summarising housing delivery across London since the previous meeting of the Board. Areas highlighted to members included: 2,400 affordable homes had been started in Quarter 2 of the financial year 2018/19, with starts in the quarter being five times higher than in the previous year; new starts were expected to exceed the 14,000 target by the end of the year; and 72% of sites brought to market on GLA-owned land since May 2016 were affordable.

12.2  Board Members shared their observations on the impact of uncertainty associated with Brexit on the housing industry. The Board noted that there were signs of increasing tender prices, ongoing labour shortages and a rise in the costs of imports which could be dramatically worsened by a ‘no deal’ Brexit. The dependency of the current affordable housing delivery model on cross-subsidy from market homes and the risks of a possible housing crash on current commitments were also discussed. It was further noted that the current uncertainty meant that some potential purchasers and private sector partners were nervous to enter into commitments. There was an observation that Housing Associations needed to be careful to avoid  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

The next meeting of the Homes for Londoners Board is scheduled for DAY, XX MONTH XXXX at X.XXam/pm in Committee Room X, City Hall

13.1  Tthe next meeting of the Board was scheduled for 2-4pm on 27 February at City Hall.

14.1  The Chair noted he had received one item of other business from Board member Gina Amoh, who had requested an item be added to the agenda of the next Board meeting to discuss the Leadership 2025 initiative, a programme of work to make the leadership in the housing industry more diverse in terms of ethnic background. This was duly agreed by the Board.  [Action: Gina Amoh/ Jamie Ratcliff]

14.2  DECISION

That an item be added to the next Board meeting agenda to discuss the Leadership 2025 initiative.

15.1  The meeting ended at 3.35pm.

Contact Officer:  Kirstin Lambert, Board Officer; Telephone: 020 7983 2566; Email:     [email protected]