Bristol City Council has suddenly pulled out of two major housing projects, saying it can no longer afford them. The authority’s housing company Goram Homes was in partnership with developers to build hundreds of homes at Baltic Wharf caravan club at the Harbourside and part of the giant new Hengrove Park suburb, both of which have planning permission.
It would have bought 66 homes of the 166 homes at the city centre site – 50 social rent and 16 shared ownership – and 105 in South Bristol, comprising 80 social rent and 25 shared ownership. But in an unexpected announcement at the homes and housing delivery policy committee on Friday, September 20, chairman Cllr Barry Parsons (Green, Easton) said the council had withdrawn from the plans, although he said a registered social housing provider would likely purchase them instead.
Labour councillors said the decision was an affront to democracy and transparency because it was taken by officers in consultation with Cllr Parsons and the committee’s vice-chairman Cllr Richard Eddy (Conservative, Bishopsworth) in a secret “backroom deal” and was not brought to the meeting for a vote. Cllr Parsons told members: “Over the past 12 months, a significant amount of effort has been put into responding to areas of concern across the current housing stock.
“Fire and building safety works have required immediate and continued multi-year investment to introduce waking watches, install alarms and sprinklers, and accelerate the removal of expanded polystyrene cladding from dozens of our high-rise blocks. In more recent months, a huge effort has been stood up to get to grips with many areas of maintenance across the estate that we have fallen behind on over many years.
“The areas of concern I refer to include a sizeable backlog of repairs, over 50 per cent of properties not having up-to-date electrical safety certificates, only 15 per cent of homes meeting regulations related to carbon monoxide alarms, and a number of other issues. These matters have been subject to scrutiny by the Regulator of Social Housing following our own self-referral and they have returned the view that there are serious failings in how the council is delivering the outcomes of the nationally approved consumer standards.
“Progress is being made in rectifying this situation. This need for additional resource to raise our standards does have a financial impact and requires additional investment that was not planned into the current Housing Revenue Account (HRA) business plan.”
He said one option to plug the gap was to reduce the amount of forecasted borrowing costs to divert money to the much-needed improvements. Cllr Parsons said: “Having worked with officers to better understand the pressures and the impact of pursuing this option, both Cllr Eddy and I have given our support for the service to make some changes to the HRA development plan.
“This option will see the council no longer pursuing the purchase of housing units from Goram Homes on two sites currently within their development portfolio. This approach will reduce the borrowing need within the HRA and free up forecasted capital borrowing costs for investment in our current housing stock.
“I need to be clear that this is not a change in policy. My party, I’m sure along with others in this chamber, still firmly believes that building homes, especially social and affordable housing, is the main way in which Bristol will escape the crippling housing crisis we’re experiencing.
“The officer decision to not pursue the purchase of these homes for council housing is a practical approach to responding to a pressing financial need within the HRA.” Cllr Parsons said registered housing providers had expressed interest in replacing Goram to buy the affordable homes which meant they would still be delivered as social rent and shared ownership to meet the city’s housing needs.
He said: “The HRA will continue to have the first option of acquiring the affordable homes that will be delivered at the Hengrove Park development. The remainder of the HRA development plan is currently unchanged and will remain under review as we seek to balance our house-building priorities with the need to invest in our existing housing stock and future financial stability of the HRA.”
Committee member Cllr Kerry Bailes (Labour, Hartcliffe & Withywood) said after the meeting: “The Green Party inherited Labour’s plans to build Bristol’s largest council housing scheme since Thatcher was Prime Minister. Now, only four months in, the Green Party-led council is trying to axe around 170 new council homes without vote, in a behind-closed-doors, backroom deal with the Tory vice-chair of the housing committee.
“I’m not surprised that the Conservatives are happy to cut the council house-building programme but I expected better from the Green Party, after all their warm words about the need for more. This house-building plan was voted for by all councillors in only March this year.
“This U-turn is blatantly antidemocratic. Councillors need to have the opportunity to make their views known and vote on such a significant change.
“As a council tenant, I know firsthand how much our existing homes need improvement. The plans to do this are clearly vital.
“They have our full support and it’s important this work gets more funding and council time. “Tenants’ wellbeing and the standard of our homes of course always needs to be the council’s first priority.”
She said new council homes were not paid for from the budget to improve existing homes but through borrowing, so there was “no need to pit improving homes and building homes against each other”. Cllr Bailes said: “The best way to address Bristol’s housing crisis is with an ambitious council house-building programme.
“We fought George Ferguson’s plans to sell off council homes and we’ll fight the Green Party’s attempt to do the same.” Greens deny there was a “backroom deal” and that minutes of a meeting between officers, Cllr Parsons and Cllr Eddy in July advising of a likely need to walk away from the projects was circulated to all committee members.
They say the officer decisions did not require a committee vote because councillors had already given them delegated authority. The group also refuted Labour’s claims that new council homes were not paid for by the same budget as home improvements.
It said a “significant backlog of critical” safety measures and repairs built up under the previous Labour administration and that the “cost of fixing these failings is significant and will inevitably have an impact on previously planned activities”. A spokesperson said: “We are not ‘selling off’ council housing.
“We are continuing to invest in new affordable and social rent homes. Most residents won’t care whether their landlord is the council or a housing association, so long as we are providing the homes that Bristol needs.
“This decision is a pragmatic one that protects our ability to deliver these homes.”
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