(a) To agree to the award of a grant of up to £10,000 from the Community Housing Fund to Great Oakley Community Hub Ltd (the Society), towards the cost of architectural, structural engineer and similar professional services related to the preparatory work associated with the proposed redevelopment of the Red House in Great Oakley as community led housing; and
(b) To authorise the Assistant Director for Housing and Environment to allocate funding to the Society for additional financial support to enable them to complete the associated preparatory work to bring forward the scheme for planning permission to redevelop and bring back into use a long term empty property.

The recommendations are made in order to facilitate the delivery of community led housing in the District and to make effective use of the remaining Community Housing Fund allocation.

An alternative option considered is not to provide any funding to the Society. This would not however be in the spirit of why the Community Housing Fund Grant was allocated to the Council back in 2016. It would also not be supportive of potential development of the Red House in Great Oakley that is currently sitting vacant.