A CAUTIOUS welcome has been given to a new strategic housing plan for the borough – but with Thurrock Council planning to build just 373 homes over the next five years some members of the authority's housing overview and scrutiny committee have asked if the council is lacking vision and ambition.

It was 2015 when the council last produced a housing strategy document and committee members were given a briefing of a new one, which will run until 2027. Officers outlined their strategic aims and objectives in a report from housing strategy and quality manager Ryan Farmer.

It detailed all aspects of the housing responsibilities of the council including property maintenance, site management, new building and the council's social housing waiting list. And said the target number of new social housing homes over the lifetime of the strategy was 373.

And an executive summary of the council's plans was given in the draft strategy document, which comes with an introduction from housing portfolio holder Cllr Luke Spillman.

He looked back over recent times and says: "Despite the challenges faced 119 new council-owned homes have been handed over and let, the number of families in out-of-borough temporary accommodation placements is at its lowest in over three years and ever-closer work between the housing service and other council departments means that more support and positive outcomes are being delivered for those who are most vulnerable in our communities.

"The actions put forward in this strategy present an opportunity to go even further, with scope for major estate regeneration to provide more genuinely affordable council-owned homes, end out-of-borough placements entirely unless for safeguarding reasons or through choice, and deliver new integrated operating models in housing and with other partners to better focus on delivering the things that matter to residents in their different localities."

Cllr Luke Spillman: Together, we can work to ensure that every Thurrock resident will have a home that meets their needs and aspirations, serving as a foundation to support their health and wellbeing and their springboard to achieve their vision of a 'good life'.

Members of the committee had the opportunity to quiz officers and comment on the strategy.

Cllr Steve Liddiard said he had some concerns but applauded the spirit of the presentation and said he hoped the council could deliver what was promised.

Cllr Joy Redsell was concerned that the strategy did not give enough direction to officers about property management and how they should enforce responsibility for maintenance on tenants.

She said: "We need to get officers out on the street to check properties more often."

In particular, she focused on garages owned and rented out by the council, saying: I know there has a lot of work done and I applaud that, but it's not enough. There are a lot of garages falling down, or falling apart."

She said in many instances it would not take a lot of effort to improve the local environment, saying: "It is only a paint job sometimes. It makes the area look better."

She spoke about the state of some people's homes because they did not maintain them, saying: "We have also got to get more stringent about getting people to look after their homes. All councillors could take you to homes that are really horrible. We need to get some tenants to take responsibility for the homes they are in, we are not stringent enough to say 'this is your house, you should take care of it'. We need officers out there to do more visits. Why not talk to councillors, they know their area, some officers don't?"

Like Cllr Liddiard, Cllr Redsell said there were lots of good things in the document, but it was important they were implements, not just left as words on paper. She was also doubtful is some targets could be achieved, saying: "I think If we do some of these core principles, great but some of the things don't work. They need to work and we have to make this strategy work. It cannot go on for another year.

"However, I do applaud your vision. I'm not putting a downer on it, but we need to do it properly. If we do, we can do such a lot."

Cllr Lynn Worrall touched on a similar theme, saying it was also important that officers kept councillors informed about what is happening.

She said: "We last had this in 2020 and it's not been here since."

She felt it was important that a monitoring process was in place, asking: "Is there scope for us to review this. This is a working document, what's the use of having a plan if we don't do it. We do need to measure and see how far we are going. It needs a refresh at maybe two years, four years and then five."

Cllr Worrall also wondered if the strategy was out of tune with the ambitions of leading, ruling councillors.

She said: "Last week cabinet were talking about the local plan and the need to build a lot of houses. I do think we could be a little bit more ambitious than 373 houses over the next five years.

"One of the things Cllr Mark Coxshall and other cabinet members were talking about was that we want our young people to live locally. But young people don't make it into specific areas that we have identified houses for. We need to add that to encourage them to stay local otherwise they will up and leave and take everything they could bring to Thurrock out of the borough."

She also identified a perceived shortage of homes for older people and referred to the Happy Homes project which had not been included in the strategy. She was told it was being looked at.

Cllr Worrall also told why council leader Cllr Rob Gledhill and the cabinet's commitment to bring down the high rise blocks in south Grays was not included in the strategy. Are we not doing that now? She said. She was told they were not included at present.

Cllr Worrall was the most vociferous challenger of the strategy and said it also needed to be more ambitious in trying to cut social housing waiting lists.

She also said that a significant number of housing officers and estate managers 'did not know their patch' and did not get out and about enough, adding: "We have got to get tighter on how we run our estates. I am disappointed there is not enough about management of estates in here. We need to show a lead."

Cllr Augustine Ononaji was determined to make the point that affordable homes were crucial to the housing strategy, and he questioned what was meant by affordable. He said: "This is about housing. When I looked at this document I considered younger people.

"For them, when is a home is affordable? Most homes are not affordable. Young people who are on a very low income can't afford homes. How are we going to make homes affordable? We should start looking at how we can provide help for them."

In response Mr Farmer said: "There are some very real challenges in private housing sector affordability. I would love to be able to fix that, but truthfully that is beyond the control of the local authority. Across the lifetime of this strategy we are committed to giving as many people as possible affordable homes."

That brought Cllr Worrell back into the debate who spoke about modular homes being built off site and delivered to a new estate in Stanford-le-Hope. They have been featured on Thurrock Nub News, see this link. 

She said the council had to broaden its vision about how it achieved its objectives and think differently. She said: "Affordable homes are not affordable, our youngsters are not going to be able to afford houses that come onto the market. This strategy is supposed to be visionary, perhaps we should be looking at different types of housing, one bedroom starter homes for example, so young people can get on the list to try and better themselves. Things like part rent, part buy.

"We have got to think differently."

Summing up, before members unanimously approved the report, committee chair Cllr Allen Mayes offered a message to officers, saying: "The passion is great and there is ambition, I know you want to reach for the stars but sometimes you have to aim for what you can reach."

The full committee meeting can be viewed via this link.