Councillor Penberthy (Cabinet Member for Housing, Cooperative Development and Communities)introduced the report and highlighted the following points about Plan for Homes 4: 

a)     Since its launch in November 2013, more than 1,100 new homes had been built on Council-owned sites, under Plan for Homes; 

b)    Over 64% of the 1,100 new homes had been affordable; 

c)     The ambition was to deliver a minimum of 5,000 new homes in Plymouth over 5 years; 

d)    Increased housing supply, with a focus on both social and affordable home ownership; 
 

e)     Improved the private rented sector to ensure homes were decent, safe, and secure; 
 

f)      Bringing empty homes back into use to maximise existing stock; 
 

g)     Enhanced the condition and energy efficiency of homes across all tenures, retrofitting and delivering low-carbon new homes; 
 

h)    Supported estate regeneration and renewal to replace obsolete housing; 
 

i)      Reduced homelessness and reliance on temporary accommodation and expanded supported and specialist housing options; 
 

j)      Maximised inward investment through partnership working, including with Homes England; 
 

k)     Maintained flexibility and innovation in response to emerging housing challenges; 

l)      There were more than 8,000 households in Plymouth awaiting homes for rent at an affordable price; 

m)   Plan for Homes 4 had: 
 

                                  i.         Delivered 96 new affordable homes, including 42 for social rent; 
 

                                ii.         Returned 41 long-term empty homes to occupation; 
 

                               iii.         Worked with Plymouth Community Homes (PCH) to refurbish and occupy 86 ex-MOD family homes; 
 

                               iv.         Completed 25 veteran self-build homes at Stirling House, with a third project underway; 
 

                                v.         Secured £18.44 million in government funding for 144 homes and a new skills hub at the former Civic Centre; 
 

                               vi.         Formed a long-term partnership with Homes England to deliver 10,000 new homes in the city centre; 
 

                              vii.         Achieved a 66% reduction in families in bed and breakfast accommodation; 
 

                            viii.         Improved 1,029 dwellings and resolved 216 Category 1 hazards, issued 101 formal notices and 11 civil penalties to non-compliant landlords; 
 

                               ix.         Delivered 424 home adaptations and supported 280 residents to live independently; 
 

                                x.         Completed energy efficiency improvements on 234 existing homes; 
 

                               xi.         Engaged with developers to unblock 4,517 homes with planning permission; 
 

                             xii.         Developed a pipeline of future housing sites and a new market recovery plan; 
 

                            xiii.         Identified new surplus Council-owned sites for housing; 
 

                            xiv.         Working with investors and developers to establish a build-to-rent offer in Plymouth, that would capitalise the long-term investment in the dockyard and for people coming into Plymouth for dockyard employment; 
 

                             xv.         Preparing for the Renters’ Rights Bill; 
 

                            xvi.         Participated in the rollout of the advanced zoning pilot for the new heat network, focusing on Plymouth City Centre; 

n)    The action plan reported across all 10 of the Plan for Homes 4 initiatives and was RAG-rated with commentary; 

o)    The report would be presented to the Natural Infrastructure and Growth Scrutiny Panel, and every 6 month a detailed report on homelessness was presented to the Housing and Community Services Scrutiny Panel; 

p)    Continued lobbying of government for the resources and powers to tackle the housing crisis in the city. 

In response to questions, supported by John Green (Net Zero Delivery Manager, Strategic Planning and Infrastructure) and Dave Ryland (Head of Housing Standards, Community Connections), the following was discussed: 

q)    The Renters rights bill would seek to drive tenants stability and quality, with the abolishment of section 21’s and enforcement on quality of provision; 

r)     There had been inspections of over 1000 dwellings in the past year, trying to ensure that housing was warm and secure to ensure everyone had a home from which they could thrive;  
 

s)     PCC was on of 10 authorities that had been invited into the private rental sector portal, a database in which all properties that were rented now had to register through 

t)     There was an expectation that civil penalties would increase; 

u)    There was an expectation that there would be between £7,000-£40,000 worth of fines to landlords who failed tocomply with expectations; 

v)     Landlords would only be able to increase rent once a year and it had to bein line with marketable rates, and there will be a tribunal service which would sit around it; 

w)   The plans were expected to receive Royal Ascent in September 2025, following this, there will be secondary legislation put in place in early 2026; 
 

x)    There were some areas of impact of the bill that had no resource because these areas had not been in legislation before, so a gap analysis was being conducted to determine requirements to make the approach consistent across the region; 
 

y)     The team had engaged with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to understand and secure new burdens funding, there was a clear ask for funding before implementation to allow for training; 
 

z)     There were concerns that there was an expectation that increased costs would be covered by the fines from enforcement, but the team wanted to support good landlords, who deliver good quality provision; 
 

aa)  Important that this was a standards raising exercise, rather than a fund increasing exercise; 
 

bb)The Plan promoted low-carbon housing and retrofitting measures; 
 

cc)  Partnered with Plymouth Energy Community to deliver Warm Homes grants; 
 

dd)Recognised energy-efficient homes as an anti-poverty measure; 
 

ee)  Normalised sustainable development standards among developers; 
 

ff)    Plymouth City Council were a visionary, when it set up Plymouth Energy Community a few years ago and it was recognised throughout the country, as a way forward; 
 

gg)  Delivered retrofit on 234 homes of a target for 500 over three years; 
 

hh)The funding received for the warm homes local grant, was not as great hoped due to a lack of government funding; 
 

ii)     Acknowledgement of the cross-directorate collaboration and innovation within the Council on Plan for Homes 4. 

Cabinet agreed to: 

1.     Note the report; 
 

2.     To maximise the impact of the South West Housing and Construction Conference to promote development opportunities, overcome challenges to delivery and secure inward investment.