East Devon hopes to increase borrowing for social housing

Cllr Dan Ledger (Independent, Seaton), portfolio holder for sustainable homes and communities, said he is overseeing initiatives aimed at ensuring its social housing stock is up to scratch, and that empty homes are filled more quickly to help boost income.

Last week, the council’s cabinet approved borrowing of nearly £12 million on top of £85 million it has already borrowed for housing.

“Our council has put decent homes for all as a top priority and what I hope we will see if the council collectively saying it is more than happy to stick its hands in its pockets to deliver the necessary homes to the required standard needed,” Cllr Ledger said.

He believes persistent under-investment in the housing stock has meant that the authority faces significant work to bring properties back up to the required standard, including some that are empty and need to be made suitable again.

Councillor Dan Ledger, the portfolio holder for housing in East Devon. (Image: East Devon District Council)

“I don’t want to bad-mouth previous administrations, but there has been under-investment for around a decade,” he said.

The Conservatives were in control of East Devon for 44 out of 50 years until 2019.

Cllr Ledger continued: “When we came in, we realised there were issues with the service and so have moved to try and rectify things.

“And the new management team has been fantastic, that was necessary to get us where we need to be.”

Mr Ledger said the council had been evidence-gathering this year so that it could make informed decisions on the work needed so it could improve properties and bring others back into use.

“We also have a new voids manager, and so voids – or empty homes – have dropped significantly in recent weeks,” he said.

“And I’m really hopeful that we see a downward trend and get more families in homes, and also earn more rental income.”

The call for the additional cash comes as the council claims it has to meet increasingly stringent and wide-ranging requirements on social landlords, such as councils, who are facing rising costs, and to rectify the impact of historic underspending.

The council’s cabinet heard earlier this month that it needed £2.5 million to balance the 2023/4 budget, having overspent.

It also requires an extra £9 million to fund the current financial year’s capital programme, which covers aspects such as physical repairs to properties, taking the total to £12 million.

“Everyone is in the same boat and everyone has those pressures,” Cllr Ledger said.

“But it’s how we manage them, and I have full confidence in our team… and I’m excited by the steps we’re taking as it is a positive change for the people of East Devon and I’m privileged to be a part of it.”

Cllr Ledger said he would “love to see the repeal of right-to-buy”, legislation that allows eligible social rented tenants to buy the properties they live in for a discount.

“It’s about having a level playing field, as it isn’t equitable and doesn’t make business sense for councils to develop houses when those properties could be purchased and the authority doesn’t even get the full amount for them,” he said.

“It is something the council has lobbied previous governments on and is something that has been repealed in Scotland and Wales, so I can’t see why England can’t do it too.”

Catrin Stark, interim director of housing and health, said the extra funds the council is seeking might “seem like a large number, but compared with colleagues in other parts of the country, it is smaller”.

Ms Stark said a large part of the housing division’s financial struggles related to inflation.

“The prices of things have increased, so as we’ve been experiencing inflationary costs we haven’t seen rent increases keep up, because they are capped at a certain level,” she said.

She added that councils are disadvantaged compared to housing associations, as the latter could access more diverse funding streams, such as banks, whereas councils had to use the Public Works Loan Board or use reserves.