As the Task Force completed its work it was struck by how much innovative work is already happening on housing supply in Wales and published a series of case studies.
The examples below are grouped into different themes and are often the result of partnership working between local authorities, housing associations and the private sector, with financial support from the Welsh Government. The task force says they are ‘testament to the ambition of the social and private housebuilding sector in Wales’ and hopes they will inspire others to consider similar approaches.
Making the most of finance
Wrexham – using social housing grant to deliver new housing and training opportunities. Wrexham Council, Anwyl Construction and Wales & West Housing are working to deliver 147 affordable homes on two sites close to the town centre. Community engagement was fundamental to the success fo the project, which also includes regenerating a site formerly occupied by deck access flats and bringing a derelict brown field second site back into use.
Flintshire – the benefits of the Welsh Housing Partnership model. The partnership made up of Coastal, Hendre, Seren and Cymdeithas Tai Clwyd and represents an investment of £106 million by the end of March 2015, including £21 million from Welsh Government and £79 million from private investors. It will deliver more than 900 homes for low- income families to rent.
Rhondda Cynon Taff – shared equity model. Under this scheme developers offer part exchange properties to the council for use as low cost home ownership in lieu of on-site provision of affordable housing on sites where viability is an issue. This has been piloted on a site in Beddau where full on-site provision of affordable housing as required by the adopted local development plan would have jeopardised the viability of the scheme.
Working in partnership
Torfaen – Cae Nant. A surplus school site owned by Torfaen County Borough Council was marketed through an open tender and successfully purchased by Greenhill Construction. Greenhill entered into a joint venture with Melin Homes to increase the amount of affordable housing from 30 per cent to 64 per cent of the scheme. The site, therefore, not only delivered high levels of affordable housing in an area of significant housing demand, but has also provided a land receipt to the local authority. Cae Nant is a fully integrated partnership between Torfaen, Melin Homes and Greenhill. The scheme will be delivered through S106 contributions, social housing grant and RSL private finance. By pooling resources and working effectively together, the partners have ensured the delivery of affordable housing that is sustainable and will continue to meet their needs of residents.
New council house building
Carmarthenshire – building new council houses. Carmarthenshire County Council is delivering wider benefits building its own council homes, with the first phase being the building of up to 39 two bed bungalows. The two sites earmarked for redevelopment were previously sheltered housing schemes that required significant investment to bring then up to the Carmarthenshire Homes Standard. The council decided to demolish these schemes, consulting members and the local community in the first instance, and re-build new homes that were more suited to the needs of the area. An application was made to the Welsh Government to proceed with the development of bungalows for older people outside the current Housing Revenue Account (HRA) subsidy system.
Meeting people’s needs
Cardiff – providing smaller properties as an example of supporting downsizing relieving welfare reform pressures. Taff Housing Association’s Picton Place development, comprising ten houses, three duplex apartments and two flats, is sited right in the heart of Canton. The association had previously identified that there was a lack of smaller social houses and the new Picton Place residential scheme is part of a broader move to address this shortage. The new tenants include ten families (eight of whom were previously Taff tenants) that have decided to downsize.
Delivering community benefits
Blaneau Gwent – community benefits. Factory Road is a £4.1 million development by Melin Homes, in Brynmawr. It will provide vitally needed affordable and environmentally friendly housing for those looking to rent in the area as well as helping those looking to get a foot on the property ladder. The new development will also target specific housing need that has been identified by Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, including the provision of a six bedroom home for a large family, and a bungalow that has been specially adapted for someone with mobility difficulties. Alongside the new homes, the community is already benefitting from a brand new Scout Hut, which was built by Melin and contractor Leadbitter for the 1st Brynmawr Scout Group.
Engaging with communities
Bridgend – Chelsea Avenue – community engagement. The Chelsea Avenue regeneration scheme was developed in partnership with Bellway Homes and Bridgend Council, without social housing grant, and aspired to not only redevelop
a rundown estate and construct new dwellings but also re-integrate the estate back into the wider community. The original estate had a very poor reputation locally. In order to change perceptions and overcome negative attitudes towards the site, Valleys to Coast facilitated extensive community involvement throughout the regeneration process by involving, not only residents within the estate, but also neighbouring private owners. Consultation also led to a re-branding exercise where the street name was changed to Wood Green in keeping with the London theme of the surrounding streets, thereby maintaining local identity without the poor reputation.
Delivering in rural areas
Monmouthshire – rural exception sites. With an ever increasing demand for affordable housing and the likelihood of a diminishing grant allocation in future years, it will become even more difficult to deliver affordable housing on exception sites. Monmouthshire County Council has taken the step of allocating development sites for a maximum of 15 new homes on 19 different sites in 17 main villages throughout Monmouthshire. As these sites allow for 40 per cent open market housing the land values will be over and above agricultural land value and will provide enough of a financial surplus for the land owner to subsidise the affordable housing element on site. The first of these sites has been negotiated recently without the aid of social housing grant and this site will deliver nine affordable homes for local people in the Trellech area. There has been little, if any, opportunity to build executive housing in rural communities in Monmouthshire for a considerable amount of time, so this policy is already attracting considerable interest from developers and many of the land owners are acting in anticipation of the LDP in order to bring their sites forward.
Innovative uses of land
Blaneau Gwent – leasing land. Blaenau Gwent Council is trying to increase the supply of housing (open market not just affordable) in a development under licence approach with partners. The council provides development partners with a lease to develop new homes on council land. Running parallel to this is an agreement that money will be released to pay for the land at certain points throughout the development – mainly dependant upon sale rates. The council considered that a partnership arrangement where all partners look equal risk was the best approach and one of the most easiest to develop and model. lt identified potential sites and the business case is currently being developed. The council will be seeking 20 per cent grant to feed into the feasibility to provide some reassurance that an element will be affordable.
Anglesey – investing land values to maintain long term affordability. The county council has invited organisations to submit proposals for a first phase pilot of three areas that are expected to require 235 open market homes and 93 affordable homes. In order to facilitate developments the council will consider ‘investing’ land values to maintain the long-term affordability of the development and where appropriate utilising exception sites for affordable homes.
Torfaen – Crownbridge – using land value. In a pilot project Torfaen Council would dispose of a surplus school site for a lower land receipt to an RSL in exchange for, and increase to, 100 per cent of the units being affordable, bespoke accommodation for families requiring adapted properties, and smaller units to allow families affected by welfare reform to downsize. The reduction in land receipt has therefore been subsidised by the added value brought into the local authority by affordable housing delivery. Some 24 mixed tenure units will be delivered.
Caerphilly – Caerphilly Miners Hospital development. Lovell and United Welsh are developing the site primarily for affordable housing. The site was transferred to United Welsh by the Health Trust under the affordable housing protocol involving Caerphilly CBC to deliver a mixed tenure development. This project demonstrated good value for money in terms of the public purse and can be used as a template going forward to secure much needed affordable housing on public land. The success factors included close liaison between the local authority housing and planning teams; the early selection of a development partner which ensured commitment of resources to design and value engineering to reduce build cost; and no grant funding required to support the development.