Arun Council to pursue £1.09million grant towards temporary accommodation

The council’s Housing & Wellbeing Committee made the decision to delegate authority to Arun’s head of planning to pursue the Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) grant and secure the new homes for purchase and eventual use by March 29, 2024.

The grant comes from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, and will provide 40 per cent of the funding to buy seven new homes for temporary accommodation, with the other 60 per cent, £1.6million, to be borrowed by the council.

James Walsh (LDem, Brookfield) said the scheme was a ‘no-brainer’, adding: “The cost of this borrowing will result in the saving in our quite expansive budget we have at the moment for these services.

“We use delegated authority in this council quite often to expedite business – to ensure that we don’t lose the opportunities to get the best financial value at the time when things become available.”

According to the council, some 180 families live in temporary accommodation, 145 of which are having to use private accommodation, costing the council £2.6million a year.

Jacky Pendleton (Con, Middleton-on-Sea) voiced concerns about high interest rates from borrowing, saying: “In principle I support [the grant], in practice we need more information before this committee can make a decision absolutely on this.

“Now interest rates have risen substantially, we have no clear understanding of the financial commitment ongoing – what it’s going to cost us over time.”

She said it should not be ‘nodded through’ without the ‘full’ financial information available, even if the council schedule might not be as ‘nimble’ at negotiating agreement or responding to opportunities.

Trevor Bence (Con, Aldwick East) said the council needed to grab what it could, suggesting it buy back old homes on estates if time was constricted, saying the market was ‘bereft’ of options at the moment.

Officers stated they would be looking at new units, with no location yet decided as they need to borrow the £1.6million for the grant funding to also be available.

The LAHF was established to find temporary accommodation for refugees from Afghanistan, stating this scheme with Arun would be to alleviate the council’s temporary accommodation need.