northlincs.gov.uk

21 (21) COMMUNITY RIGHT TO BID – NOMINATIONS REGISTER UPDATE– The Director of Places submitted a report updating the Cabinet Member on the progression of the Community Right to Bid process in North Lincolnshire.

The Community Right to Bid initiative allowed local community groups or parish councils to nominate buildings or land for listing as Assets of Community Value under the Community Right to Bid initiative.

For a local group to successfully nominate an asset it would have to show that:
• it was based within the local authority area (or a neighbouring authority); and
• it was a group that was qualified to make a nomination.

Listed assets must either improve, or had recently improved, the community’s social wellbeing or social interest.  They must also be likely of doing so in the future.

The Nominations Register set out the progress made for each nomination from the date it was received through to the listing review, as applicable.  The Nominations Register was appended to the report.

Resolved – That the latest information held within the Nominations Register be noted.

22 (22) SALE OF SURPLUS PROPERTY BY PUBLIC AUCTION – The Director of Places submitted a report outlining the proposal to dispose of three surplus properties by public auction.

The subject properties comprised briefly:

• Brumby Cemetery Lodge, Cemetery Road, DN16 1NT. A three bedroom detached bungalow, constructed circa 1960’s. The property was in need of modernisation.

• 76 Station Road, Scunthorpe, DN15 6RQ. A three bedroom
detached house requiring modernisation.
• Porters Lodge, East Common Lane, DN16 1QQ.
A three bedroom detached house requiring full modernisation.

All three properties were surplus to the council’s operational requirements and were included in the council’s approved disposal programme, where they were profiled for sale this financial year.

Resolved -That the proposed disposal of the three properties as set out in this report be approved.

23 (23) HOUSING LAW UPDATE – The Director of Places submitted a report which outlined the recent changes in housing and case law that had implications for Operational Housing.

There were two recent changes in Housing and Case Law to highlight.

The Deregulation Act 2015 amended the law surrounding retaliatory evictions and tenancy deposits.  The law relating to “no fault possession notices” (section 21 notices) was also changed. Landlords would now find it more difficult to evict their tenants as a result of the changes.

The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 now made it an offence to rent out a property if it does not have smoke alarms and a carbon monoxide alarm where there was a solid fuel appliance.  The local authority would have to issue a compliance notice where alarms were not provided.  If the landlord still did not fit the alarms after service of the notice, the council would have to fit the alarms and serve a fixed penalty notice to recover the costs.

The above changes came into force on the 1 October 2015.  Many of the changes in the Deregulation Act were only relevant for new tenancies started on or after the 1 October this year.

In addition to the changes in the law, there had been changes in case law related to homelessness and the council’s duty to rehouse. The vulnerability test for someone who was homeless had been amended.  This would result in an enhanced need for information at the initial assessment.

Resolved – (a)  That the recent legislative changes and those   resulting from court decisions and the potential impacts on staff resources, be noted, and (b) that a further report be submitted to the Cabinet Member to obtain approval for the statement of principles related to the fixed penalty notice under the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulation 2015.

The corresponding report of the following item (Minute 24 refers) contains exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

24 (24) PROPERTY TRANSACTION SCHEDULE – The Director of Places submitted a report for consideration, and where necessary, approval of a schedule containing the terms of all recently negotiated property transactions.

The schedule covered both operational and commercial property.

Resolved – That the schedule appended to the report be approved.

Where there is no report this is because it is exempt, as it contains information which is considered to be of a confidential nature, as detailed in the Local Government (Access to Information) Act.