Agenda item

Affordable Housing

It was moved by Councillor Steve Ayris, seconded by Councillor Penny Baker, that this Council:-

(a)       notes the new Government’s proposal to extend the Right to Buy to housing association tenants;

(b)       notes the shortage of affordable rented homes in Sheffield with around 20,000 people on this Council’s housing waiting list and is concerned that the current government plans risk making matters far worse;

(c)        notes that a recent opinion poll showed that just 16% of the public believed that extending Right to Buy to housing association tenants would be the most useful way of tackling the affordability crisis; the public’s top choice was to help housing associations or councils to build more affordable homes, selected by 46% of the public;

(d)       is concerned that by allowing housing association tenants to purchase their homes at a large discount, the Right to Buy policy will lead to longer waiting lists for homes and fewer social houses, and do nothing to tackle our city’s affordable housing needs;

(e)       believes these measures will force housing associations to simply be catching up with replacing homes rather than building affordable housing to give more people homes they need and only benefit the lucky few;

(f)        notes that even the Conservative Mayor of London has said he did not want to see councils “deprived at a rapid rate of their housing stock” if more homes were not being built to replace them;

(g)       recognizes the desire by many to own their own homes and suggests that proposals put forward by the Liberal Democrats, such as a “Rent to Own” model and Shared Ownership housing, would represent a better way of reaching this goal;

(h)       also notes that there are existing routes for housing association tenants to own their own properties – some housing association tenants already have the Right to Acquire; and

(i)         proposes that:

(i)         this Council works with other neighbouring authorities and housing associations to oppose the current Government proposals; and

(ii)        a copy of this motion is sent to our local MPs asking them to support the Council’s position; to speak up in Parliament for more social housing and not less and to push for a genuine “one for one” replacement but not at the cost of losing more council housing.

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Jayne Dunn, seconded by Councillor Sioned Mair-Richards, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by:-

1.         the addition of a new paragraph (c) as follows:-

(c)        welcomes the current Administration’s plans to deliver new Council housing in Sheffield;”

2.        the deletion of original paragraph (g) and the addition of a new paragraph (g) as follows:-

(g)       understands and supports people’s aspirations to own their own home and supports a range of measures put forward by the Labour Party to achieve this, including the abolition of stamp duty for first time buyers on properties worth up to £300,000; First Call, a policy that will give first-time buyers the first choice of up to half of the homes being built in their area; and local first, an initiative to ensure local buyers have the opportunity to purchase properties;”

3.        the deletion of original paragraph (i) and the addition of a new paragraph (i) as follows:-

(i)         resolves to continue working with all stakeholders, including neighbouring authorities and Core City partners and local MPs, to oppose the current Government proposals and to promote more social housing and to improve on the disastrous legacy the last Parliament and Coalition Government had for social housing.”

4.         the re-lettering of original paragraphs (c) to (i) as new paragraphs (d) to (j).

On being put to the vote, the amendment was carried.

(Councillors Aodan Marken, Brian Webster, Robert Murphy and Sarah Jane Smalley voted for parts 1, 3 and 4 and abstained on part 2 of the amendment and asked for this to be recorded.)

The original Motion, as amended, was then put as a Substantive Motion in the following form and carried:-