Issue - meetings

Consideration was given to report of the Corporate Director Regeneration & Community Services.

The Corporate Director Regeneration & Community Services presented the annual service activity report for the period April 2020 to July 2021.  The Corporate Director went through the report and highlighted the main points contained therein.

A Member referred to previous discussions in relation to the Audit of Commemoration that went through Welsh Government in November 2020, and asked when a report on this could be expected.

In response the Corporate Director undertook to investigate.

Another Member enquired as to the current percentage of rented properties against home ownership, and whether there was greater need for social housing or private housing within the Borough.

The Corporate Director said balance was key in meeting the needs of the community and having the right mix of housing to meet those needs.  In terms of the percentage of rented properties, he said this was approximately 30% including social landlords and private rented.  He confirmed that the Housing Market Needs Assessment was used to identify trends and demands coming through, and there was currently a demand for people wanting to move to Blaenau Gwent, and also for people wanting to move-up the property ladder, which had resulted in interest from private housing developers, however, it was important not to lose sight of the needs of our existing community.  He confirmed that the Housing Market Needs Assessment would be brought to Scrutiny in due course to ensure we have the right balance and understanding of future demand.

The Team Leader Connected Communities said moving forward a more blended approach to new housing developments would be encouraged i.e. a mix of social rented and intermediate products, and also low cost home ownership.

Another Member asked how many long term empty properties there were currently in the Borough.

The Corporate Director said this figure was currently in the region of 800-900 vacant properties.  There were a number of initiatives to reduce this figure, i.e. reduced empty property discount, and there was also a very active grant and loan programme in place to bring empty properties back into use.  In 2019/20 56 properties were brought back into use, however, this number was less during 2021 due to the redeployment of staff in response to the Covid pandemic.  However, there were less properties vacant for a period of 6 months which meant the work being done in this area was proving beneficial.

A Member expressed concern regarding the impact of the rental increase of the Council’s business units, which had resulted in some businesses leaving the Borough.  She also felt that the new Box Works units had not been sufficiently advertised.

In response the Corporate Director said Members would be aware that as part of the Council’s plans to become a more commercial organisation and to manage our units more effectively a service charge was introduced for our business units.  Whilst this resulted in an increase in rental for occupiers, they were now getting an improved service.  He said  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9