A report by the Acting Director of Regeneration, Housing and Planning provide an update for Members on the outcome of the Housing Market Renewal Initiative Transitional Funding bid and outlined amendments to the Council’s Housing Investment Programme for 2011/12 to incorporate the Housing Market Renewal Transitional Funding.

The report also advised Members on proposals to prepare the exit plan for Wirral’s Housing Market Renewal Programme.

The Cabinet noted that it had been announced in November 2011 that the HMRI Transitional bid had been successful and that Wirral would receive £2.7m additional capital funding.  Although slightly less than anticipated, this funding, when combined with match funding, would enable the completion of most of the existing clearance commitments throughout the former HMRI area.  It may be possible to make up the shortfall with New Homes Bonus to complete the programme.  This would be subject to a separate report to the Cabinet in due course.

The table at Appendix 1 to the report provided the detail of Wirral’s revised HMR Transitional Funding bid and showed how the resources would be used.  It should be noted that since the bid had been submitted in July, work had been continuing on committed acquisitions, using some of the match funding resources.  As such, a proportion of the units identified in Appendix 1 had already been acquired.  It should also be noted that there was no compulsion to utilise all of the Transitional Funding in the current financial year.  This would allow both negotiations with property owners to continue and support any future CPO action, should this be necessary to acquire the remaining interests.

RESOLVED: That

(1)  the contents of this report be noted; and

(2)  the proposed changes to the Housing Investment Programme for 2011/12 be reported to Cabinet.