Cabinet of Cornwall Council has voted to approve a £39.3m property deal to acquire 250 homes for temporary accommodation.
The proposal will be put forward to a council’s full meeting for the spending approval , £10m of which is to be made up of housing capital receipts, and
£29.3m of prudential borrowing.
The net cost of housing families in bed and breakfasts in the current financial year, according to the council, is predicted to be approximately £1.250m.
” Based on current market data, acquiring a 250 unit portfolio would cost approximately £39.3m and would also equate to a minimum efficient scale of operations given the relatively wide geographic spread of the portfolio. This figure includes for renovation costs to bring properties up to standard, as well as Stamp Duty Land Tax and other transaction costs.
“There are currently 267 households in temporary accommodation. Due to an increase in demand around one-third of households placed in temporary accommodation are placed in non-commissioned emergency accommodation such as Bed & Breakfast and hotels.
“The assumed mix for the initial portfolio includes 200 units of self- contained accommodation of which 15 per cent are one bed, 40 per cent are two bed units, 39 per cent are three bed units and seven per cent are four bed properties.
“It also assumes that an additional 50 units of HMO-type accommodation with shared facilities for single households, are acquired through the conversion of larger street properties.” – was said in the report.
The acquisition is to be made through Cornwall Housing Limited or another Council owned entity.