Issue - meetings

A report from Cllr Cummins, Cabinet Member for Housing Services is attached.

Councillor Cummins, Cabinet Member for Housing Services, presented the draft Housing Strategy, for public consultation. The draft strategy sets out the scale of the challenge facing theBorough on housing issues such as driving up quality, improving health and wellbeing, affordability, attracting and retaining skills, and climate change.

The last full assessment of housing need and demand in the Borough was undertaken in 2011. The changes within the housing market since then, together with the expected growth in population and household formation required an update to the housing profile; therefore in January 2020, Campbell Tickell in partnership with arc4, were appointed to support the Council to deliver a Housing Needs and Demand Assessment, which informs the new draft Housing Strategy.

The final version of the Housing Strategy will include an implementation plan, which will be reviewed regularly to ensure that it is up to date in terms of available and committed resources.

Delegated decision:

Cabinet agrees to

1. Acknowledge the work to date on developing the draft Housing Strategy.

2. Approve the draft Housing Strategy at Appendix 1 of the report for public consultation for a period of six weeks.

3. Note that a further report will be produced with the final draft Housing Strategy, that has taken into account the results and feedback from the consultation.

Reasons for the decision:

Although there is no requirement for a Housing Strategy, it is best practice and provides for consideration of associated duties such as homelessness provision. The Council has undertaken an assessment of housing need within the borough. This report presents the new housing strategy based upon that assessment, which ties into other strategies including the Council’s overarching 2030 Strategy.

Other option considered and rejected:

To reject the recommendations.