Draft Housing Strategy Consultation
For more information on this consultation please click here.
We asked
We asked for your views on the draft Housing Strategy. Specifically, we asked for your views on each of the priorities of the draft strategy and then for your views on specific policies relating to each theme. The priorities of the strategy are:
- Raising standards in the private rented sector
- Delivering more homes people can afford to buy or rent
- Safe and secure homes
- Promoting independence
- Tackling homelessness and rough sleeping
You said
The survey received 172 responses. Overall, they showed strong support for the overarching priorities, with 83.2% mean average support for the priorities of the strategy. Support for all of the overall themes was relatively high, with 89% support for tackling homelessness and rough sleeping, 83% support for delivering more homes people can afford to buy or rent, 79% support for raising standards in the private rented sector and 76% for promoting independence.
This was also reflected in the individual priorities of each chapter, particularly around using enforcement powers to deal with rogue landlords which received 89% support.
Most of the free text responses reflected the themes that are already central in the strategy. For example, concerns were raised about the affordability of housing, with respondents stressing the need for both quality and quantity of affordable housing.
Additionally, other comments suggested the importance of raising standards in the private rented sector. This included new methods for finding unlicensed HMOs being suggested.
We did
All of the comments received in the consultation were fed into the final strategy and accompanying consultation report, which were approved at Housing Committee on 1st April 2019. The comments around affordability emphasised the importance of the theme on ‘Delivering more homes people can afford to buy or rent’.
Moreover, the suggestions on new ways to find unlicensed HMOs have been accommodated, as the council will investigate the business case for using additional data analysis tools to assist in positive identification of licensable HMOs.
To address the closer working with social housing tenants, the council will pilot a monthly drop-in session for tenants, which will then be evaluated for effectiveness in early 2019/20.
