The council wanted to evaluate how it might best acquire or develop properties to alleviate temporary accommodation pressures specifically and to deliver additional housing more generally.
Housing Advisers Programme case study
2018/19 cohort
Working collaboratively with the council, we designed and executed an options appraisal to support Gloucester City Council to identify and evaluate the optimum delivery strategy.
Gloucester City Council are now pursuing a strategy to identify potential joint venture partners with whom they will seek to acquire a range of properties meeting differing needs, including temporary accommodation.
The challenge
The council is facing rising challenges in temporary accommodation (TA) use, driven in part by a lack of affordable housing supply in the city area. It wants to consider the options available to acquire and develop properties, both for temporary accommodation and for other tenures.
The solution
Section 1 of our report includes:
- An analysis of the context for the council
- Market analysis and description of local partners who may be able to work with Gloucester City Council
- A description of the strategic objectives the Council are seeking to achieve through this project
- A description of the wider context for local authority housing delivery
In section 2, we reviewed the options available to the council to deliver new homes. These were split between options that address how homes would be developed or acquired for the council purpose, and options which consider the delivery structure and/or vehicle that will be responsible for programme delivery.
In terms of development/acquisitions approach we considered:
- Development of new homes
- Residential conversion/refurbishment
- Purchase of properties
In terms of delivery structure we considered:
- Direct delivery
- Wholly owned company
- Joint venture options
In section 3 we appraised the options, and provided details of the workshop session undertaken with key council politicians and officers, before developing next steps for the preferred option in section 4.
The impact (including cost savings/income generated if applicable)
Our report has been taken forward by the executive team and the council are considering how best to implement the recommendations made within the report.
Lessons learned
- The importance of partnership to effective delivery particularly in local authorities facing constraints.
- How regional markets can be shaped by the activity of their neighbours.
- An awareness of the legal and financial constraints, including taxation that affect the type of structure to be pursued.
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