Agenda item

Report of the Director of Property Services and Development

The Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change considered a report of the Director of Property Services and Development which sought  approval to transfer the freehold of the site of the former Faseman House to Citizen Housing Group Limited to facilitate the development of the site to provide Temporary Accommodation within the Councils Housing Team.

The report indicated that  Faseman House is a vacant cleared site off Faseman Avenue in Tile Hill and formally provided two storey office accommodation occupied by the Council.  The buildings were demolished to slab level in 2019, leaving a cleared vacant site (the land).  The site is currently fenced with the main vehicle access off Faseman Avenue. Citizen Housing Group Limited have submitted a planning application and secured Planning Committee approval to construct a new block of 50 flats on the land. A planning permission Decision Notice will be granted once a Section 106 Agreement has been completed.  The planning application is for a proposed single building, providing one, two and three bed flats set in landscaped grounds.  A new access will be formed together with a small new car park.

Citizen Housing Group Limited have also obtained grant funding to support the development, without which it would be unviable. The final details of the planning application are agreed and it is anticipated that the land transaction will complete simultaneously with the final planning agreements. The use of the new building, to be constructed on the land, will be supported accommodation for temporary housing needs.  The Council will benefit from 100% nomination rights whilst there is a housing need, helping to meet the Council’s ongoing service provision.

The Council have a freehold interest in the land and the proposal is to transfer the freehold of the land to Citizen Housing Group Limited.  The transfer must occur ahead of the commencement of development as a requirement of the grant funding.  There will be provisions to enable the Council to buy back the land (at the same price) if for some unforeseen reason the development is unable to progress within two years of the freehold transfer or Citizen Housing Group Limited amend the planning permission to provide 43 or less residential supported accommodation units.  The receipt will be ring fenced until there is committed progress on the development; the Council will not be committed to buy back.

There will also be a right of pre-emption over the site in favour of the Council for a period of 125 years which will give the Council the right of first refusal to purchase the site at market value should Citizen ever consider the disposal of the completed scheme.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change:-

1.  Approves the transfer of the freehold interest at the site of the former Faseman House to Citizen Housing Limited for £541,000.

2.  Delegates authority to the Director of Property Services & Development and the Director of Law and Governance, following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change, to conclude the legal documentation for the freehold transfer and any associated matters.