The report on pages 9 – 30 of the Agenda was presented by Sean Nethercott.

The Chair questioned how housing needs would be assessed to identify the number of homes to deliver; the affordability of affordable homes; and if the medical hubs had been considered in the housing process. She also asked if smaller developers were considered for housing developments. Sean Nethercott explained that the methodology for housing needs had changed over the last 10 years which had considered factors such as demographic changes, economic growth and a Local Authority’s (LA) local policies and plans. He said that 2017 was the most recent study which had looked at the demographics of the Borough and the market uplift had given a figure of over 1,000 and the further economics assessment had indicated a further 300 dwellings per year. He went on to say that national government had recently set out a standard methodology for housing assessment to use but it would not change figures by much and that the Council would have the baseline figure by autumn this year. In regards to the Chair’s query on whether affordable housing was affordable, he said that it was a wider issue for the Council to address. He also said that the Council encouraged SMEs to build with the Council but that in the short – medium term, the need was for ‘shovel ready’ sites that SMEs could get involved in which was difficult as this was dominated by big volume builders. He said that the Council was in discussions with Homes England to diversify this and make small parcels of sites available for SMEs. In regards to the medical hubs, he said that these were part of the infrastructure planning work with the assumption that the medical hubs would be built so was factored into what future facilities would be needed.

Councillor Kerin questioned whether the types of housing needed had been identified yet and said that the quality of housing needed to be considered. He commented that Thurrock had a broad range of salaries with the different types of employment that people were in and asked if housing affordability would be based on this. Sean Nethercott answered that once the baseline figure was identified in autumn, it would help to identify housing needs and affordable housing and what housing could be delivered. He said that the charrette process had collated a lot of information which would help in terms of affordable housing and that the Local Plan would take into account the housing from big sites. Further work would need to be undertaken before it could be confirmed what the Borough’s future needs would be and had to be considered alongside good quality housing in sustainable locations and infrastructure. He went on to say that even with the identified number of housing needed, this would need to be monitored yearly as it could fluctuate. In regards to housing quality, he said that through the charrette process, landowners and house builders had been shown examples of poor housing and good quality housing in areas similar to Thurrock in order to prevent the same type of developments that had been produced in Thurrock over the last decade. He went on to say that in addition to good quality housing, the environment within the location of the housing was important such as having walking and cycling amenities in place. The service wanted to ensure that places met people’s needs and also their health and community wellbeing needs.

Members commented that examples of good quality housing included a new development in Chadwell St Mary and one in Grays near Seabrooke Rise. Sean Nethercott said that various documents from South Essex authorities also highlighted these developments.

Councillor Rice highlighted that there were issues of affordable units which he felt should be managed by the Council and not by developers. This was to ensure that these units would be available for the people on the Council’s housing waiting list. He said that there were two disused pits in Chadwell St Mary that could benefit to have housing units built on and that the service needed to look at other areas within the Borough to contribute towards the housing target. He highlighted that some areas of the Borough were once marshland such as Stifford Clays before it went through regeneration. Sean Nethercott explained that each area had been looked at in detail through the charrettes process and had identified where potential housing could be brought forward but it was a case of what scale of development was appropriate for those sites. Landowners were promoting sites and the service was considering these properly and submitting these based on a rational judgement of deliverability.

The Chair said that some of the villages in the Borough should not lose their characteristics or community and that there could be another village built within the Borough. Sean Nethercott explained that development approaches looked at existing settlements to see what could be improved. In terms of new settlements, there was a potential new development in West Horndon which the Council was awaiting on for the Brentwood Local Plan and there was also South Fields to consider.