Decision details

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Housing and Leisure Services seeking approval for the phased rebuild of Erskine Court.  Erskine Court will be developed by commissioning a Development Agent using the frameworks provided by the Wayfarer Consortium (which the Council is a member of) which provides the Council with the ability to utilise frameworks already in place.  Approval will be sought to add an allocation of funding to the Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme and to incur capital expenditure, in accordance with Financial Procedure Rules.

NOTE: The scheme cost assumptions will be included in a confidential appendix as the detail may include commercially sensitive information. 

(i)  To note that extensive prior consultation has taken place in relation to the rebuild proposals with residents however the proposed changes to previously discussed decant arrangements necessitates a further period of consultation under the Housing Act 1985. Therefore it is proposed to delegate authority to the Interim Director of Environment & Economy to:

a.  Carry out all necessary consultation on the revised decant arrangements under the Housing Act 1985, section 105.

b.  Determine the final decant arrangements following consideration of any representations received pursuant to 1(i) above taking into account the need to sensitively decant the remaining residents having regard to their individual circumstances and housing needs

(ii)  Subject to the satisfactory completion of the Housing Act 1985 consultation referred to in 91) above and subject to obtaining Care and Specialist Supported Housing (CASSH) Grant of £2,7000,000 from the Homes and Communities Agency

a.  To recommend that Council approve acceptance of the CASSH grant to part fund the rebuild of Erskine Court.

b.  To recommend that Council approve, in accordance with Financial Procedure Rules, the addition of £9,800,000 to the HRA Capital Programme for the rebuild of Erskine Court funded by the CASSH grant, any available capital receipts and the balance from additional borrowing within the HRA Business Plan.

c.  To recommend that Council approve, in accordance with Financial Procedure Rules, expenditure of £1,000,000 in 2013/14, £5,200,000 in 2014/15, and £3,600,000 in 2015/16  on the rebuild of Erskine Court.

d.  To delegate authority to serve Initial Demolition Notices on secure tenants under the provisions of the Housing Act 1985, to the Director of Environment and Economy following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Leisure, the Head of Legal, HR and Democratic Services and the Head of Finance and IT (CFO).

e.  To implement the Council’s adopted Decant Policy, including the award  of additional Housing register  points, for the remaining residents who are required to move as a result of the rebuild.

f.  To delegate authority to enter into a Development Agent agreement with First Wessex Housing Group, part of the Wayfarer Consortium, to the Director of Environment and Economy, following consultation with the Head of Legal, HR and Democratic Services, Head of Property and Procurement and the Head of Finance and IT (CFO).

g.  To delegate authority to enter into a build contract with a contractor engaged via First Wessex using their OJEU compliant framework to the Director of Environment and Economy following consultation with the Head of Legal, HR and Democratic Services, Head of Property and Procurement and the Head of Finance and IT (CFO)

1. Erskine Court is no longer ‘fit for purpose’ and the existing building can not readily be brought up to 21^st century supported housing standards. Some 16 of the 32 properties at Erskine Court do not have their own bathrooms and therefore any residents are required to use shared bathing facilities which are not an acceptable housing standard and result in flats being unpopular and empty for long periods of time with consequent loss of rent income.
2. Rebuilding provides a unique opportunity for the Council to deliver its new Public Health partnership agenda .to improve health outcomes for older people. The proposal also resonates fully with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s new quality standards for supporting people to live well with dementia;  these call for people with  dementia  to live  in housing designed to meet their needs and also enables them  to maintain their involvement  in community life and activities.

The new Erskine Court will create improved modern local facilities to meet the increasing needs of the elderly and is a partnership initiative that will bring added health and well being benefits to local communities serving as a hub for health and social care providers and a demonstrator site for telecare and other solutions. Flexible use of space will enable community access to services designed not just for extra care residents but for other elderly local residents in need..

3. The demand for older persons housing will continue to grow due to demographic factors and  a modern scheme where care and support can be efficiently provided to a larger number of residents will help provide a cost effect alternative to residential care provision.  Very few opportunities exist for building new supported housing and Erskine Court provides the Council with the opportunity to deliver a modern and vibrant scheme fit for the 21^st century whilst meeting our longer term strategic approach to providing improved ‘extra-care’ style accommodation. Health and Adult Social care’s joint strategic commissioning approach is explicit that the use of residential care is expected to reduce in favour of greater use of extra care accommodation

1. In 2009 the City Council developed a Supported Housing Asset Plan which reviewed all of its 24 Supported Housing schemes designated for older people.  The purpose of this plan was to set out the strategic decisions within a plan for the investment and use of the Supported Housing schemes to help meet the future needs of the City.  This plan identified those schemes where there was the need to invest, review or consider alternative options based on the demand, facilities and location of each of the individual schemes.
2. This plan was developed in coordination with Health and Adult Social Care in order to best reflect the changing needs of the city’s older population.  Since 2009 this plan has shaped decisions to:

·  Invest £1m in the refurbishment of the Manston Court extra care scheme to bring it up to modern standards for extra-care in the City;

·  Extend the number of units of extra-care at Rozel Court to meet increasing need; (SaxonWeald Housing Association have provided new extra care housing  in the East  of the City at ‘Rosebrook Court’.)

·  Invest £1.5m in partnership with Health & Adult Social care in the refurbishment of Graylings in Shirley to provide the first specific dementia flats within the city; and

·  Invest over £2m in improvements to the communal areas at a number of other schemes to improve the property condition, lettability and therefore viability.

This plan was refreshed in 2012 and further investment is now being planned in schemes as part of the current Capital programme. The refreshed plan incorporated the capacity planning for future accommodation options for people with social care needs and identified extra care accommodation as a growing need both to meet demographic changes and to actively reduce the use of residential care.

3. As part of this plan a number of schemes went through a review as to their future demand and viability and this included the three remaining schemes in the City that contained bedsits,including Erskine Court).  This was undertaken in 2010 and as a result of the review the two other schemes were able to have the shared bathrooms designed out due to the very small numbers of bedsits in each scheme.  However, the large number of bedsits left at Erskine Court plus the site and location of the scheme led the Council to undertake a further review as to the wider options.  This review looked at the following options:

·  Refurbish and remodel the scheme to remove the shared bathing facilities (as had previously been undertaken at Kinloss Court);

·  Let the scheme for alternative age group or housing needs;

·  Dispose of the scheme for a capital receipt; or

·  Redevelop the scheme for new housing.

As a result of the review it was proposed to redevelop the scheme for new housing due to the potential to increase the number of properties. on the site to help meet the wider demand for housing and ‘extra-care’ style housing in the City.

4. The Housing Strategy 2011-2015, has as one of its priorities, to provide extra support for those who need it, to enable vulnerable people (particularly older people) to maintain independence in their own home within the community that they live.
5. The proposal, following this review, is to develop a new purpose built scheme is based on local need, as identified in the city’s Housing Strategy and the city’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (2011-14) which highlights the growing older population within the city in future. The decision also fits with the Council’s wider priorities around the provision of housing and care for older people. The Council has undertaken significant work around looking at the future of its entire existing older people’s accommodation to maximise opportunities for current housing to meet the future demands of the city and Erskine Court provides the best opportunity for the development of a new purpose built scheme.
6. Adult Social Care has identified a growing need for extra care housing as a more flexible and lower cost alternative to residential care.  Extra care housing provides independence but with variable levels of planned and reactive care to support people with a number of disabilities.  Southampton has a significantly lower proportion of extra care provision relative to other similar authorities.  It is a clear priority for Adult Social Care to bring forward new models and locations for extra care across the city and the proposal for Erskine Court complements this.
7. The review discounted the option of undertaking a refurbishment of Erskine Court  for the following reasons:

·  The cost of the work was in the region of £1.5m with the net result of reducing the number of units from 32 to 24;

·  There would be significant disturbance and distress caused to the residents during the course of the works.; and

·  The net loss of 8 units would not help meet the growing needs for extra care within the city and would not make best use of the land available at Erskine Court.

8. The option of doing nothing would not achieve the Council’s objectives of creating sustainable communities on our estates and would not address the current serious issues with the accommodation.  The Council is unable to let the existing void properties due to the shared bathing facilities and has made a previous commitment to ensure that all Council housing designated for older people should have their own shower or bathing facilities.
9. The Council could decant remaining residents and attempt to relet the scheme as general needs housing. However this would not provide new care and support housing for older people and would still require major investment to remove the shared facilities.

10. The Council could decant remaining residents elsewhere and then dispose of the site on the open market. This would potentially bring in a small capital receipt but would not provide new supported housing for older people.
11. The existing residents have an expectation from the consultation process that the scheme will be rebuilt and the majority support the proposals.
12. In summary the following is a comparison of the three potential options: