Cabinet, at its meeting on 22 January 2020, resolved to:

Delegate authority to the Director of Housing, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Affordable Housing; the Head of Financial Services/Section 151 Officer; and the Council’s Monitoring Officer, to enter into agreement for the award of grant, contractual arrangement and/or spend, for the provision of additional affordable housing in perpetuity, using Retained Right to Buy Receipts or Recycled Capital Grant funding.

This delegation is now within the remit of the Executive Director (Communities and People).

Cabinet, at its meeting on 10 November 2021 resolved to:

Delegate authority to the Executive Director for Communities and People, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Affordable Housing, Housing Security and Housing the Homeless; the Head of Financial Services; and the Head of Law and Governance, to enter into the agreement for the award of grant, contractual arrangement and/or spend, for the provision of additional affordable housing, using Retained Right to Buy Receipts, within this project approval.

Council, at its meeting on 29 November 2021, resolved to approve a capital budget in the Housing Revenue Account for £2m expenditure, subsidised using £800,000 of Retained Right to Buy Receipts, to enable further property acquisition activity in the last two quarters of 2021/22.

Purchase of 53 Foresters Tower, Wood Farm Road, Headington, Oxford OX3 8QA.  Oxford City Council is the freeholder which allows for a buy back of the property to let as an affordable housing property.

The purchase enables the use of remaining Right to Buy Receipts to provide additional affordable housing.

To not complete the purchase.  This option was rejected as it would not allow affordable housing to be delivered.

Decision taken by Stephen Gabriel, Executive Director (Communities and People) in consultation with Councillor Diko Walcott, Cabinet Member for Affordable Housing, Housing Security and Housing the Homeless; Nigel Kennedy, Head of Financial Services; and Susan Sale, Head of Law and Governance.