Councillor Penberthy (Cabinet Member for Housing, Cooperative Development and Communities) introduced the item and highlighted the following points:

a)     Plan for Homes 1 had started in 2013/14;

b)    There would be a rolling target to build a minimum of 5000 homes in the next five years;

c)     There had been more than 7500 new homes built since 2013;

d)    The Council’s priority was to meet the housing needs of people in Plymouth;

e)     More than 8000 people were waiting for a home;

f)      There was not enough suitable accommodation for older people to downsize too, which meant family homes were not being put back on the market;

g)     The housing stock on Plymouth was not well balanced with Band A and B homes outweighing Band E and F homes;

h)    There were six key areas of activity which consisted of: affordable housing, market housing, private rented housing, supported and specialist housing and partnerships;

i)      All of the key areas had a theme of tackling climate change and taking positive climate action;

j)      The Housing Task Force would develop the detailed action plan and would ensure this was deliverable and strong partnerships were in place;

k)     Plymouth City Council had worked alongside the Southwest Landlords Association.

Matt Garrett (Service Director for Community Connections) added:

l)      The Plan would help deal with needs being experienced with regard to temporary accommodation and homelessness.

Paul Barnard (Service Director for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure) added:

m)   Plan for Homes was able to bring forward initiatives within the three growth areas of the city;

n)    The Local Authority stepped into the housing market to delivery some enhanced housing outcomes such as veterans accommodation;

o)    Plan for Homes allowed for innovation.

Tracey Lee (Chief Executive) added:

p)    There had been a large amount of cross Council working on the Plan for Homes;

q)    Although there was a focus on the city centre, there were other growth areas in Plymouth which were as equally important;

r)     The work the plan had set out was integrated with the private sector, public stock and Market Housing.

Councillor Penberthy (Cabinet Member for Housing, Cooperative Development and Communities) concluded:

s)     The resources had been agreed and were ready to start delivering the Plan.

Cabinet agreed to support the development and delivery of Plan for Homes 4 from 2024 through to 2029.