Financing Decent Homes

Financing Decent Homes

In the financial year 2007/08 the Council has received £12 million pounds for the Decent Homes programme managed by Ascham Homes. We received £5 million pounds for 2006/07. In total Ascham Homes will manage a Decent Homes programme of £20.7m in this financial year 2007/08. This figure is made up of other allocations in support of our statutory repair obligations. This money will be used to make 900 homes decent.

The allocation of the 90 million pounds was given based on the completion of a document by Ascham Homes called the, ‘Build Cost Model’. The ‘B.C.M.’ looked at the condition of the existing housing stock and using various formulae projected its repair needs over the next 30 years. This information then acts as a guide for Government as it seeks to resource for the needs of the authority for the next 30 years.

The key objective presently is to enable the Council to meet its target of making all homes decent by 2010/11. It is anticipated a total of £93.0m will be given to Ascham Homes to achieve decent homes by 2010/11. However, the Council has calculated that there is a shortfall of over £90m between the amount it is likely to receive and the amount it needs.

Money from the 90 million pound fund is allocated on an annual basis based on the amount of work carried out in the previous year and the expectation of work planned in the subsequent years based on the Build Cost Model (B.C.M.).. Of the 90 million pounds, only 17 million has been given to date, thus 73 million remains to be claimed for Decent Homes work.

Properties will be prioritised according to condition reports gathered following surveys undertaken to the property. Surveys carried out to a property are not the prelude to any works taking place to that property. The survey is an attempt to ascertain 100% accuracy on the condition of the property internally and externally so that the programme of works up until 2010 and the BCM can be updated t5o reflect more accurately the repair and refurbishment needs of the housing stock.

Because a property has been surveyed, it does not mean that works will immediately follow on from that survey. There is a likelihood that many of the surveys undertaken before the end of this financial year will result in nothing taking place before the latter end of the closure of the Decent Homes Programme. This is simply because of the way in which money is allocated for Decent Homes work. Money is allocated year on year, and not given in a lump sum.