The
minutes of the meeting held on 14 October 2025 were approved as a
correct record.
5.
REVIEW OF THE CURRENT CHALLENGES AND CONTEXT AROUND HOUSING DELIVERY
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To hear
from officers and from representatives of the Council’s
developer partners on the current context around and approaches to
housebuilding and wider development.
The
Chair introduced the item, explaining that the opportunity to hear
directly from Officers, the Cabinet Member and especially
partner-developers would inform and enable the Commission to hold
Cabinet to account regarding its housing delivery targets. In turn,
this means the Commission’s recommendations to be published
at the end of the Municipal year should be better
informed.
The
Chair also made a general note to the public, clarifying how the
Commission works namely as a body making recommendations to Cabinet
rather than making decisions itself. It is for Cabinet to adopt or
reject the recommendations.
The
Chair then invited Officers (Stephen Platts, Director of Planning
and Growth, Colin Wilson, Assistant Director for Strategic
Developments, and Cameron Radford, Senior Planner) and the Cabinet
Member for New Homes and Sustainable Development (Councillor Helen
Dennis) to speak to the Commission and provide some context around
housing delivery in Southwark before the Council’s
developer-partners focused on specifics.
Steve
(Stephen Platts) began by describing London’s housing
delivery crisis, referencing the slides streamed on screen for the
Commission and public.
Steve
noted that:
housing delivery in London was at its lowest since records
began
a
central constraint is viability (i.e. profitability) at a level
sufficient to attract capital compared to alternative investments
(e.g. bonds, equities). Without returns commensurate to risk,
residential development becomes less attractive to lenders as an
investment choice
further pressures included the collapse in international
investment, reduced domestic investment, lack of affordability for
buyers, Housing Associations diverting capital away from Section
106 acquisitions towards maintaining existing stock to meet
regulatory requirements (in turn increasing risk for
developers)
nationally, there may be issues with the planning system slowing
development but, in Southwark, this was not the case
Colin
then provided further historical and technical background,
informing the Commission that:
targets around social housing delivery would be difficult to
meet without the levels of investment seen in the postwar period up
to circa 1979
earlier policies such as the 2012 NPPF shifted social rent
completions to “affordable” rent, driving growth in the
housing waiting list and the need for Temporary
Accommodation
with
reduced grants and delivery increasingly dependent on Section 106
contributions, dependence on developers and market conditions had
increased
build
costs have increased 44% since 2016 whilst growth in flat prices
increased only 4%
increased regulation of, for example, thermal efficiency and
safety was important but in a context
where regulatory control lacked capacity, the time required for
revenue to flow to investments increased by 50%
viability for first time buyers had decreased (the average
income required in 2015 was £68k but £103k by
2025)
the
regulatory regime around student and co-living housing is less
demanding than that for private housing, enabling developers of the
former to outbid private housing developers in competition for
limited sites (although uniquely in London, Southwark also ensures
private housing is delivered in student- and co-housing
schemes)
Steve
then focused on housing delivery in Southwark, observing
that:
The
Chair invited officers to introduce themselves – Tom Vosper
(Strategic Project Manager for Heat Networks), Ryan Collymore
(Director of Repairs and Maintenance) and Paul Gathercole (Gas and
Water Contract Manager).
Taking
their report as read, the officers responded to questions from the
Commission, noting that:
guarantees against mechanical failure (for example of those
components responsible for activating heating systems) could never
be 100% effective and so the Council had used extensive testing of
the compensating mechanisms to check for and remedy any
failures
other
strategies (e.g. planned maintenance, increased testing during cold
periods, AI remote monitoring-testing) formed part of the work to
deliver better services
it is
planned that Acorn Estate would gain an additional source of
heating via the SELCHP network providing a further line of defence
in case of heating failure
internal controls so that residents could adjust the temperature
within their properties were being added (through radiator
thermostatic controls, for example)
on
some estates, the existing heat pipes ran in such a way that the
buildings could become hot and where it was not practicable to
replace the whole system – in these cases, the Council had
managed to lower operating temperatures to some extent although it
was a fine balance ensuring water temperatures were hot enough to
kill Legionella without creating excess discomfort for
residents
overheating can occur for a range of reasons depending on the
particular system architecture in place
work
was underway to install heat metering (with accompanying radiator
and room thermostat controls) so that residents had the incentive
and means to maintain their property’s temperature at
comfortable levels
consultation with both homeowners and tenants on the Consort
Estate had helped to identify individual problems (e.g. lack of
adequate insulation on cylinders) and this work would be
supplemented with longer term changes such as heat meters and
controls
95% of
the Council’s properties had mechanical or electrical
thermostats to prevent the hot water from becoming too hot –
having been presented with the case of one property with hot water
reaching 90 degrees Celsius (then rectified), officers asked for
any similar cases to be brought to their attention as the high
temperatures presented a safety concern and suggested a component
failure warranting urgent intervention
the
question of billing and clarity for residents was complex as there
was no one process – billing differed for properties with
heat meters and those without, and then by tenure type
in
addition to the above four billing types, a small number of
residents in new builds were billed on a credit basis via an
external company
some
residents were angry as, from 2022, they may have faced both very
large increases in gas costs and increases in repairs and
maintenance costs
the
gas cost element of bills has already reduced in some cases and
looks likely to reduce for all residents in the future though this
is market-dependent
given
the issues and strength of feeling, officers were in agreement with
Members that billing should come back to ...
view the full minutes text for item 6.
7.
UPDATE ON PROGRESS IMPLEMENTING THE GOOD LANDLORD PLAN
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To
receive a report, Good Landlord Plan Progress Update, noting
the Plan’s status and progress.
The
Chair invited officers to introduce themselves – Ryan
Collymore (Director of Repairs and Maintenance) and Abi Oguntokun
(Director of Landlord Services).
Ryan
and Abi responded to the Chair’s invitation with Ryan noting
this was an update on previous work coming under The Good Landlord
Plan and which included:
progress being made on electrical testing and smoke alarms
although not as much as planned with 25% no access to
properties
trying
different ways to communicate with residents to gain access and
conduct testing
increased contract capacity to assist with testing and smoke
alarm installation
20%
stock condition survey completion by March
Plentific(a
platform for showing contract jobs and inviting bids from
contractors) going live on 11 November with an average of 5-6 bids
per job indicating value for money from the approach
Estate
surgeries which launched in October as part of the Better Estates
element of The Good Landlord Plan and which were held across
leisure centres, TRA Halls, and local libraries
finding new ways to communicate with residents generally but
also to help spread news of the surgeries and increase
attendance
work
to reduce the complaints backlog had been successful with no
complaints by September (down from 700+ in May)
the
new Resident Engagement Strategy being agreed today by Cabinet
which would lead to establishing the new Resident Housing Boards
and ensure resident voice feeds effectively into
decision-making
the
monthly resident newsletter now including performance
data
Officers then responded to questions from Commission members,
noting that:
communications could improve further and, specifically, the
information around Estate Surgeries had recently been improved and
made available online
the
Tenants Forum and Homeowners Forum would have two representatives
on the Boards
the
pilot for the Stock Condition Survey showed 93% decency (based on
the two estates in which it was conducted) which was slightly
higher than expected but, as the survey proper extended, this
figure would likely vary with the level of investment in a given estate
the
condition of Thaxted Court and Damory
House and reported in their Stock Condition Surveys had led to
plans for their regeneration
Resident Services Officers were conducting the Estate Surgeries
as tenancy surgeries, not repair surgeries, however, they were
signposting residents to the repairs
teams – Repairs Action Days still happen and are additional
to the Estate Surgeries
the
programme of Repairs Action Days was close to finishing with just a
few estates left – following comments from Commission
members, officers would return to the Commission and discuss
possibilities around combining estate surgeries and repairs
information
the
Resident Engagement Plan had been revised to reflect concerns from
some residents as well as recommendations from independent
consultants
reducing the number of Stage 1 Complaints to zero had negatively
affected the number of Stage 2 Complaints although additional
resource was being employed to reduce this
8.
WORK PROGRAMME 2025-2026
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To
consider the work programme for the 2025-2026 year.
The
Commission had two meetings remaining in the Municipal Year
(February and March 2026). The Chair and Vice-Chair would meet with
the Scrutiny team to plan for the February meeting on social
landlord communications with residents and partners.
The Commission also discussed
the importance of work in respect of Voids (including
“pre-voids” i.e. homes which had been left empty but
without yet being officially registered as such), Empty Homes and
downsizing, and the potential to include this in the work
programme.
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