Peterborough City Council-owned buildings 'could become affordable housing'

Peterborough City Council (PCC) should prioritise affordable housing providers when choosing buyers for buildings it sells off, a new policy suggests.

The emerging council policy says that its “affordable housing provider partners” could help deliver a much-needed boost to the city’s housing stock.

As it grapples with its growing budget gap, the council has identified numerous assets it could dispose of, which include community buildings such as leisure centres and libraries.

But it’s also in the process of selling off administrative buildings and parts of its rural estate, which could be more easily adapted into housing.

PCC’s new overarching housing strategy – which will encompass the years 2024 to 2029 – also suggests that bringing empty houses back into use could improve its housing stock.

There are currently around 600 unoccupied homes in Peterborough, more than 200 of which have been empty for more than two years.

But councillors discussing the emerging strategy at a meeting this month asked why the council can’t directly provide more housing despite the huge need: there are currently around 2,500 households on Peterborough’s housing register, with around 1,000 more waiting to be assessed.

PCC’s housing manager Anne Keogh responded that the council has recently concluded that, “partly because of the financial issues that the council’s been facing in recent years and the resource implications, we [aren’t] in a position to go down that road at the moment.

“I think the fact that we haven’t got a huge amount of land to use to deliver affordable housing ourselves was one of the big issues as well,” she added. “It’s not a quick solution either; it would take a long time to build and we haven’t got a development team or a housing stock management team and all that in-house expertise.”

Ms Keogh added that going through Medesham Homes, the council’s joint venture with Cross Keys Housing, or through other partners is the quickest way to provide affordable housing.

The housing strategy she and her team are currently working on is expected to reach first draft stage in January, at which point it will be presented to the council’s decision-making cabinet before going out for public consultation.

As well as suggestions for increasing Peterborough’s housing stock, it also outlines ways in which housing conditions and standards can be improved.

These include ideas such as including a new design code and net zero targets for developers and introducing additional licensing requirements for private landlords.

The strategy continues that PCC should aim to uphold its policy of demanding 30 per cent affordable housing from developers, particularly when approving large schemes, to meet its target of 1,250 new affordable homes built by 2028.

This can sometimes be shed by developers on the grounds that it would make their development unviable.

More detail about the council’s emerging strategy is expected in the new year.