Agenda and decisions

Minutes of the meeting held on 14.11.23.

THAT, under Section 100(A)(4) of the Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business son the grounds that, they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as specified in the relevant paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12(A) to the Act.

Salford City Council - Record of Decision (Cabinet)

I Councillor Merry, Deputy City Mayor, in exercise of the powers contained within the City Council Constitution do hereby approve: The Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF).

The Reasons are:

To provide accommodation in Salford in accordance with the Local Authority Housing Fund’s aims to support families with housing needs who have arrived in the UK via Ukrainian and Afghan resettlement and relocation schemes.

Options considered and rejected were:

The LAHF prospectus and guidance allows Local authorities to determine the most effective means to deliver in line with the fund objectives in their area.

Different Registered Providers in Salford were contacted in relation to delivering under the LAHF. The decision to allow ForHousing Limited and Derive Group to deliver under the LAHF was made in response to a lack of suitable response/interest from other providers.

Further options were considered in determining the best way to allocate the grant to partners delivering under the fund. Legal advice was sought in order to determine the best way to approach this, with funding agreements between providers being the preferred choice.

Assessment of Risk:

 Low – The principal risk for the council is in not meeting delivery requirements under the Memorandum of Understanding with DLUHC and not being able to draw down the remainder of funding allocated.

Failure to meet the DLUCH delivery targets will result in the repayment of any unallocated LAHF grant but at no direct cost to council budgets.

The source of funding is:

The Department of Levelling Up Housing and Communities have allocated capital funding under section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003.

Legal Advice obtained:

The council has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with DLUHC which sets out DLUHC’s requirements in relation to the use by the council of Round 1 DLUHC LAHF Grant to deliver 20 LAHF Housing Units in Salford.  Under the terms of the MOU, the council is able to work with delivery partners to provide the LAHF Housing Units.  Under Round 1 the council will pass DLUHC LAHF Grant to ForHousing Limited for use to part-fund ForHousing’s acquisition of 15 properties to be used as LAHF Housing Units in accordance with DLUHC’s requirements. 

The council will enter into a Grant Funding Agreement with ForHousing which will require ForHousing to ensure that they use the 15 properties which they will acquire with DLUHC LAHF Grant in accordance with DLUHC’s requirements.  The Council will use DLUHC LAHF grant to part fund the council’s costs of construction of 5 new Housing Units at the council’s Irwell Valley Estate which Derive Group will be required to use as LAHF Housing Units.

The council enter into an Agreement with Derive Group which requires Derive Group to ensure that they use the 5 properties which have been constructed by the council using DLUHC LAHF Grant in accordance with DLUHC’s requirements.

Financial Advice obtained:

Where the council is reliant on partners to deliver under the LAHF, it will  ...  view the full decision text for item 6a