Cheltenham Borough Council Housing & Homelessness Strategy 2018-23

 
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Cheltenham Borough Council Housing & Homelessness Strategy 2018-23
Cheltenham Borough Council
              Housing & Homelessness Strategy
                                      2018-23

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CBC Housing & Homelessness Strategy 2018-23
Foreword

It is a privilege to introduce Cheltenham          our existing stock. This includes bringing
Borough Council’s Housing & Homelessness           empty homes back into occupation and
Strategy 2018-23.                                  raising standards in the private rented sector.

Everyone should have the right to a decent,        Despite a loss of income over four years to
affordable home; this is something I               2020 because of changes to the Government’s
passionately believe. At present Cheltenham        rents policy, the Council and Cheltenham
doesn’t have all the homes that local people       Borough Homes together will continue their
need, so in order to address some of these         programme of maintenance and
issues the Council will be launching a £100m       improvements to council homes, including
building programme to provide around 500           works to improve the energy efficiency of
homes, with the needs of families and young        houses and flats.
people especially in mind.
                                                   With Austerity, and the continuing impact of
This step change in delivery will include:         national policies, our strategy also provides a
                                                   strong focus on preventing homelessness and
       Homes for affordable rent and shared       seeks to alleviate some of the key issues in
        ownership                                  our communities that can put pressure on our
       Leasing and open market purchase           housing. Much of what we will seek to
       Acquiring long term empty homes            achieve within this strategy will require strong
       Buying back homes lost through right       partnership and collaboration, but none more
        to buy                                     so than our work in preventing homelessness.
       Investing in and developing smaller
        sites that would not otherwise trigger
        an affordable housing requirement if
        delivered by a private landowner
       Private rented accommodation has its
        limitations and we are proposing
        direct investment in homes for
        market rent. Longer term security for
        young professionals and families is
        much sought after. Providing homes
        for market rent in the private sector is             Councillor Peter Jeffries
        a new and key priority.                            Deputy Leader of the Council,
                                                             Cabinet Member Housing
In addition to providing more new homes, our
strategy also focuses on making better use of

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CBC Housing & Homelessness Strategy 2018-23
Executive Summary
This Housing & Homelessness strategy sets out how we intend to meet the housing needs of our
communities within Cheltenham over the next five years. Our vision is to increase the availability,
quality, suitability and affordability of accommodation, and to create communities that are safer,
stronger and healthier.

We will seek to achieve this by focusing on the following four outcomes:

        Increasing the provision of affordable housing;
        Making best use of existing housing and improving our neighbourhoods;
        Tackling homelessness; and
        Improving the health and wellbeing of our communities.

Beneath each of these outcomes sit a number of key priorities, which are in turn supported by a
range of activities, many of which will require significant partnership working and collaboration in
order to bring about their delivery.

The table below summaries our priorities and includes an outline of the activities that we will
undertake (as at 2018) in order to make progress towards our priorities and outcomes.

For more details about the range of activities that we will undertake to support this strategy, please
refer to our action plan at Appendix 1. This action plan will be updated annually to reflect progress
made, and also to consider new initiatives in light of any changes to national policy and/or local
needs.

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CBC Housing & Homelessness Strategy 2018-23
Outcome            Priorities                                              Key activities to support delivery (as at 2018)
Increasing the      We will undertake measures to facilitate the           We will establish an internal coordinating group between planning policy,
provision of          supply of housing in sustainable locations, in          development management, property services and housing strategy and enabling
affordable housing    accordance with the Joint Core Strategy and             services, to understand key pressure points and risks, and to identify and work
                      emerging Cheltenham Plan                                with our partners to provide solutions. This will also coincide with a working group
                                                                              between Cheltenham Borough Council and Cheltenham Borough Homes to
                                                                              support delivery
                     We will secure additionality in the provision of      We will identify funding opportunities and work with housing providers to secure
                      affordable housing                                      the provision of homes that would not otherwise be delivered as affordable
                                                                              housing
                     We will increase the supply of long term private      We will work with Cheltenham Borough Homes to agree a business model to
                      rented housing                                          facilitate the delivery of private rented accommodation on a long term let basis
                     We will ensure that our affordable homes remain       We will investigate affordability issues in relation to Affordable Rents and capture
                      affordable                                              our position within a Supplementary Planning Document, or such other planning
                                                                              documentation
                     We will make best use of our commuted sums            We will seek to create greater flexibility in its use in order to maximise
                      (payments received in lieu of affordable housing)       opportunities, with the potential to alleviate housing need through the private
                                                                              rented sector as well as through the provision of more affordable housing, subject
                                                                              to appropriate approvals
                    We will improve the affordable housing offer for       We will work with our partners to agree a county-wide Housing with Care Strategy,
                      older people, and those with physical disabilities      which in turn will be supported by its own action plan for Cheltenham
                      and other specialist housing needs
Outcome            Priorities                                              Key activities to support delivery (as at 2018)
Making best use of  We will improve standards in the private rented        We will undertake a range of activities, from implementing the extension of
existing housing      sector                                                  mandatory licensing of HMOs and exploring new powers to tackle rogue landlords,
and improving our                                                             through to identifying health and safety hazards in peoples’ homes and promoting
neighbourhoods                                                                good practice via our Landlords’ Accreditation Scheme
                    We will reduce the number of empty homes               We will identify empty homes and work with owners to bring those properties
                                                                              back into use, taking enforcement action when necessary
                     We will promote affordable warmth and tackle          We will monitor the jointly commissioned Warm & Well Scheme and review
                      fuel poverty                                            outcomes. We will also implement a programme of works to improve the energy
                                                                              efficiency of our council homes

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      CBC Housing & Homelessness Strategy 2018-23
 We will maintain the quality of, and make better    We will improve the performance analysis of our homes by implementing an asset
                    use of, our council homes                             management modelling toolkit and by undertaking a commissioning review of our
                                                                          sheltered housing, with a view to developing a new Asset Management Strategy.
                                                                          We will also undertake activities to incentivise downsizing
Outcome           Priorities                                           Key activities to support delivery (as at 2018)
Tackling           We will develop a range of prevention offers for    We will implement new initiatives, such as a lodgings scheme for young people,
homelessness           homeless households and improve access into the    and empower front line officers to find innovative solutions via a ‘prevention
                       private rented sector                              purse’. We will also review the Homeseeker Plus Allocations Scheme and
                                                                          referral/pathway arrangements for specific groups
                   We will tackle debt and benefits issues, support    We will continue to commission the delivery of debt, benefits and housing rights
                      financial and digital inclusion, and ensure the      advice and review their outcomes. We will also ensure best use is made of
                      provision of housing rights advice                   Discretionary Housing Payments for households who are in a short term crisis,
                                                                           and seek additional funding opportunities, should this be required
                   We will support and develop initiatives to tackle   We will commission and promote the use of alternative options to B&B for young
                      youth homelessness                                  people who are homeless; review pathways and protocol arrangements for care
                                                                          leavers, and be involved in the county council’s future commissioning
                                                                          requirements for Accommodation and Community Based Support services
                   We will support and develop initiatives to reduce   We will review funding requirements for the recommissioning of target hardening
                      homelessness as a result of domestic abuse          services and the sanctuary scheme in order to protect those who wish to remain in
                                                                          their homes. We will also monitor and review our places of safety arrangements to
                                                                          ensure alternative housing options are available for those who need to move
                                                                          home as a result of domestic abuse
                   We will undertake activities to reduce rough        We will review funding arrangements and plan for the recommissioning of
                      sleeping                                            assertive outreach services. We will also monitor and review the outcomes of
                                                                          ACTion Glos, a jointly commissioned, outcomes based funded service focusing on
                                                                          supporting entrenched rough sleepers into accommodation, treatment services,
                                                                          and into training, education and/or employment
                   We will support vulnerable people in accessing and  We will review Homeseeker Plus Allocations Scheme and current pathways for
                      maintaining suitable housing                        move-on accommodation. We will inform the county council’s future
                                                                          commissioning arrangements for accommodation and community based support
                                                                          services. We will also undertake a new risk-based approach to tenancy
                                                                          management for our council tenants, identifying risks early, so that appropriate

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     CBC Housing & Homelessness Strategy 2018-23
support can be put in place sooner to sustain tenancies
Outcome            Priorities                                              Key activities to support delivery (as at 2018)
Improving the       We will undertake activities to help support           We will work with housing providers, through our Affordable Housing Partnership,
health and            healthy and sustainable communities                     to support good practice in lettings and housing management policies. We will
wellbeing of our                                                              also support the implementation of ‘Welcome to the Future – A local model for
communities                                                                   building socially sustainable communities’ on new, large housing developments
                    We will create a sense of place through estate         We will deliver affordable housing on under-utilised, council-owned garage sites.
                     regeneration and renewal                                 We will also consider options regarding the potential regeneration of parts of west
                                                                              Cheltenham
                    We will support people into training, education        We will develop initiatives that will assist tenants and young people into
                     and employment                                           employment through, for instance, apprenticeships. We will also explore how new
                                                                              development and refurbishment initiatives of our council homes can support this
                                                                              priority
                    We will undertake initiatives to tackle anti-social    We will continue to develop partnership arrangements via Solace to reduce anti-
                     behaviour                                                social behaviour. We will also undertake a preventative approach by developing
                                                                              diversionary and educational activities, particularly with young people
                    We will take steps to support independent living       We will undertake activities to reduce the effects of social isolation, such as the
                     for older people, and people with physical               provision of community hubs. We will ensure adaptations are provided for
                     disabilities                                             households with disabilities who wish to remain in their existing homes and
                                                                              develop greater consistency across the county. We will also work with health
                                                                              partners to reduce delays in hospital discharge, and support other initiatives that
                                                                              facilitate independent living

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      CBC Housing & Homelessness Strategy 2018-23
1. National Priorities – local impact                  enables developers to reduce their
                                                       affordable housing contributions,
                                                       potentially to zero, where they can
 1.1 Introduction                                      demonstrate that the financial viability of
 There is significant interest in housing at the       a scheme would otherwise be
 national level. The recent Housing White              compromised. Whilst this policy may have
 Paper - Fixing our Broken Housing Market sets         the benefit of stimulating the market and
 out the government’s current position by              bringing about development on what
 outlining plans for how developers and                might otherwise be stalled sites, the
 councils can assist in increasing supply,             consequence is that fewer affordable
 primarily through changes to the planning             homes are being provided locally. This can
 system and through increased funding                  be particularly so where developers have
 opportunities.                                        overpaid for their sites.
                                                      Recent relaxations in the Right to Buy
 Alongside increasing the supply of new                criteria, which have led to greater
 homes, the government is also keen to see             discounts for tenants and a shortening of
 improvements in standards within the private          the period (from 5 years to 3 years) for
 rented sector. It is planning to extend               which a tenant needs to reside in social
 mandatory licensing to include more Houses            housing in order to be eligible to buy their
 of Multiple Occupation, and, through the              home, have incentivised the take-up of
 Housing & Planning Act 2016, it is providing          right to buy, which in turn has reduced
 councils with new powers to tackle rogue              the supply of affordable homes.
 landlords.                                           Whilst councils are able to retain an
                                                       element of their Right to Buy receipts on
 There is also a focus on tackling
                                                       homes sold, there are restrictions over
 homelessness, with the Homelessness
                                                       how these receipts can be used, and this
 Reduction Act 2017 setting out new duties on
                                                       has the effect of limiting our options to
 councils to prevent homelessness for
                                                       increase supply.
 everyone, regardless of their priority need
                                                      The cap on how much councils are able to
 status.
                                                       borrow against their Housing Revenue
 Cheltenham Borough Council will take steps            Accounts (HRA) means that delivery of
 to capitalise on these measures through the           affordable housing through the councils’
 priorities that we have identified within this        HRA is restricted.
 Housing & Homelessness Strategy, working             Government rent policy change (from
 alongside the policies of the Joint Core              Consumer Price Index (CPI) +1%/year to a
 Strategy (JCS) and the emerging Cheltenham            rent decrease on social and affordable
 Plan (i.e. our local planning policies).              rents of 1%/year over 4 years to 2020) has
                                                       resulted in an estimated £6.7m loss of
 Notwithstanding these opportunities, there            projected investment in social housing
 are nevertheless a number of constraints              from Cheltenham Borough Council’s HRA
 which comprise the supply affordable                  business plan over this 4 year period. The
 housing. These are as follows:                        government has recently announced that
                                                       from 2020 rents will now revert back to
    The National Planning Policy Framework,
                                                       CPI + 1% over the following 5 year period.
     which has introduced a policy that
                                                       It is therefore hoped that this will provide

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some stability to the affordable housing       Allowance, has meant that benefits have
    market and create opportunities to             failed to keep pace with these increases in
    refocus more investment in this sector.        rents, forcing many low income households
1.2 Future government direction                    out of the private rented sector.

There are a number of other government             In addition, the implementation of Universal
initiatives, captured within the Housing &         Credit is also likely to have an adverse impact
Planning Act, which require further                on those households who are less able to
regulations before they can be implemented.        manage their financial affairs. Safeguards
These include - the ending of lifetime             have been put in place to help those who are
tenancies; the extension of the Right to Buy to    most likely to struggle to make online claims
Registered Providers; and the introduction of      and manage their finances, but there are risks
the Higher Value Levy on councils, which, it is    that in spite of these safeguards some
proposed, would be used to fund the discount       households will fall into rent arrears and
that Registered Providers would have to offer      become homeless.
through Right to Buy. We will keep a watching
                                                   More detailed information about the specific
brief on these, and seek to capitalise on any
                                                   pressures experienced locally is set out in our
opportunities and manage any risks arising
                                                   Housing & Homelessness Strategy Evidence
from these initiatives, if implemented.
                                                   Base at Appendix 2 of this strategy.
We will also await details of the government’s
forthcoming Social Housing Green Paper,
                                                   1.5 Strategic Context
which promises to provide a wide-ranging
review of the issues facing this sector.

1.4 Local pressures
                                                                        Housing &
                                                                       Homelessness
The number of new affordable housing                                     Strategy

completions has fallen in recent years, largely
due to our reliance on delivery through s.106
provision. These pressures have been
                                                          JCS &          Place
compounded by high house prices, which                 Cheltenham
                                                                                        HRA Business
                                                                                           Plan
                                                           Plan         Strategy
have led to more households seeking private
rented accommodation as a solution to their
housing needs. This in turn has pushed up the
price of the private rented market. The
                                                                       CBH Business
government’s introduction of the freeze on                                 Plan

welfare benefits, most notably Local Housing

The Council’s Place Strategy has a clear vision,   to achieve this by bringing forward housing
which is to ensure that our businesses,            that is affordable, accessible, safe and secure.
communities and people can thrive. A key role
for the Council’s Housing & Homelessness           Our Housing & Homelessness Strategy also
Strategy is to support this vision. We will seek   informs, and is informed, by the Joint Core

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CBC Housing & Homelessness Strategy
Strategy and the emerging Cheltenham Plan,        provide housing options and statutory
as well as our HRA Business Plan. The HRA         homelessness services on our behalf.
Business Plan sets out the Council’s high level
priorities in relation to the management of       We also operate within a number of key
our council homes and the services we             strategic partnerships, both county and
provide to our tenants. It also sets out our      borough-wide. These partnerships are made
aspirations to deliver a new supply of            up of: district and other statutory authorities,
affordable housing. These plans, and this         Registered Providers, and the voluntary
Housing & Homelessness Strategy, will guide       sector. We will use these partnerships, and
Cheltenham Borough Homes (CBH) in setting         our commissioning arrangements, to ensure
out their medium term priorities.                 that we are across key issues and trends as
                                                  they emerge, so that effective solutions can
Taking account of issues highlighted in the       be found in a timely manner.
evidence base to this strategy, we consider
there is a need for a step change in how we
approach housing delivery. This strategy sets
out our approach and the targeted
interventions which we use to drive forward
our priorities over the next 5 years.

1.5 Partnerships

Cheltenham Borough Council cannot deliver a
successful Housing & Homelessness Strategy
in isolation. As a commissioning authority,
much of our success in meeting our outcomes
will be dependent upon the efforts of a
number of organisations, including CBH, who
manage the council’s housing stock and

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CBC Housing & Homelessness Strategy
2. Our Vision, Outcomes and Priorities

Our vision is to increase the availability, quality, suitability and affordability of accommodation, and
to create communities that are safer, stronger and healthier.

We will seek to achieve this by focusing on the following outcomes:

                                  Increasing the provision of affordable
                                                 housing
                                Making best use of our existing housing
                                 and improving our neighbourhoods

                                               Tackling homelessness

                                 Improving the health and wellbeing of
                                           our communities

The following sections focus on each of these outcomes in turn, identifying key priorities that will
help us to support this vision.

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Outcome 1
                              Increasing the provision of
                                  Affordable Housing

1. Introduction                                    Affordable housing includes Social Rent,
                                                   Affordable Rent and Intermediate
Cheltenham has some of the highest house           accommodation, such as Shared Ownership
prices in the south west. In its ‘Home Truths’     (i.e. part rent/part buy). These terms, and
Report 2016/17, the National Housing               affordable housing generally, is defined at
Federation cited Cheltenham as having an           Annex 2 of the National Planning Policy
average house price of £274,000 and a ratio        Framework.
of house price to income of 9.9%. Real
earnings are failing to keep pace with house       The latest Strategic Housing Market
price rises, and these pressures are set to        Assessment (SHMA) 2015 sets out
grow, as the population both within                Cheltenham’s affordable housing
Cheltenham and more generally within the           requirements for the JCS area. It shows a
Joint Core Strategy (JCS) area continues to        requirement for 639 affordable homes/year
increase.                                          across the JCS area, of which 231 affordable
                                                   homes/year should be delivered to meet
In order to keep pace with the projected           Cheltenham’s needs (or 3,696 homes over the
growth in population, the JCS sets out the         16 year period from 2015). Matched against
number of homes that need to be delivered          this is a potential affordable housing supply of
over the plan period (2011-2031) to meet the       2,654 homes (derived from various planning
Objectively Assessed Needs of Cheltenham,          commitments, district plans and strategic
Gloucester and Tewkesbury. For Cheltenham          allocations assumptions). Taking this into
alone there is a housing requirement of 546        account, there is an additional affordable
homes that need to be delivered every year         housing requirement of 1,042 homes between
throughout this plan period in order to meet       2015 and 2031, which is as yet unmet. This
the required 10,917 additional homes. The          number may increase if viability issues are
JCS’s Housing Implementation Strategy has          presented on s.106 sites, resulting in a loss of
set lower delivery targets for the first half of   affordable housing, or if s.106 sites generally
the plan period (450/year to 2022), but to         become stalled, etc. Affordable housing
date actual delivery has so far fallen short of    delivery in the last 3 years in particular has
this target. (Net completions over the period      been poor, with the number of completions
2011/12 to 2016/17 were only 63.9% of the          for 2014/15, 2015/16, and 2016/17 being 24,
450/year target).                                  34 and 52 respectively. This simply cannot be
                                                   allowed to continue.
2. Affordable Housing Requirements

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3. Meeting Cheltenham’s Affordable                     understand whether or not we are on target
   Housing Requirements                                for the delivery of these new homes. If we are
                                                       off-target, then we will set out what action we
The Council relies significantly on the market         need to take to address any supply/delivery
to provide affordable housing through
                                                       issues.
landowners’ s.106 obligations. If sites do not
come forward in a timely manner, then                  These will include:
housing supply generally will be affected, and
this in turn will affect the delivery of the            Working with developers and
majority of our affordable housing supply. It            infrastructure providers to remove
follows that all practical steps must be taken           obstacles to the delivery of sites.
to ensure there is a timely delivery of housing         Seeking alternative sources of funding if
in accordance with the supply trajectories as            problems with infrastructure provision are
detailed within the JCS’s Housing                        delaying the development of key strategic
Implementation Strategy.                                 sites.
                                                        Exploring the potential for early release of
We have therefore set the following priorities           safeguarded land.
to bring about the delivery of affordable               Working with other authorities under the
housing:                                                 Duty to Cooperate to address any unmet
                                                         needs.
    Priority 1: Facilitating the supply of              Identifying alternative sites.
                   housing
                                                       In addition, we will commit to undertaking a
                                                       range of activities to minimise against site
                                                       delivery risks at various stages of the planning
We will track our progress of housing supply           process. The specific risks, and the activities
against our projected delivery trajectory to           we will undertake, are detailed as follows:
Risks                            Potential Actions to Minimise Risk
Planning application            We will ensure there is regular contact with the agents to
for allocated sites not          encourage timely submission of applications.
submitted
Outline applications            We will encourage the submission of hybrid applications with
submitted without                outline applications accompanying detailed phase 1.
clear implementation
strategies
Planning application            We will ensure there is extensive pre-application contact with
validation delay                 developers and prioritise resources for major site submissions.
Determination of                We will undertake targeted pre-application contact with developers
application takes                and establish Planning Performance Agreements for strategic sites.
longer than                    
anticipated
Application refused             We will ensure that planning policies are addressed during pre-
                                 application discussions, which should encourage developers to
                                 adhere to the plan policies.
                                We will undertake Member training and engagement to ensure
                                 that Members are aware of the decision-making framework for
                                 allocated sites and potential impacts on the overall housing land
                                 supply

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 We will adopt an enabling role to support strategic conversations
                                with statutory consultees.
                               We will adopt a co-ordinated approach across the specialisms
                                required to assess the detail of planning applications. The focus will
                                be on finding solutions in line with the approach set out in the
                                National Planning Policy Framework.
Delay in anticipated           Where specific factors can be identified, we will seek to work with
start date or where             the site owner/developer to identify ways to restart or bring
construction on site is         forward development. This will include consideration of Homes
stalled.                        England funding and potential renegotiation of planning conditions.

                                                        Focusing on s.106 schemes that are failing
   Priority 2: Securing additionality in the             to meet the full affordable housing
       provision of affordable housing                   obligations for viability reasons, by
                                                         purchasing additional dwellings that
                                                         would take the number of homes
                                                         acquired up to (and potentially beyond)
We want to bring about a step change in the
                                                         the full affordable housing requirement
delivery of affordable housing. In order to do
                                                         for the scheme.
this, we cannot simply rely on private
                                                        Buying back homes previously lost
landowners/developers delivering through
                                                         through Right to Buy. Going forward, we
s.106 obligations. Viability issues, stalled
                                                         will develop a policy position to provide
delivery and other delays have all contributed
                                                         greater clarity around the circumstances
to poor affordable housing supply in recent
                                                         when we will do this.
years. While we will take steps to tackle
                                                        Acquiring long term empty homes - if
supply issues we also need to have a clear
                                                         necessary through Compulsory Purchase
focus on bringing about the delivery of
                                                         Orders.
affordable housing over and above what we
                                                        Acquiring land for development. This will
might anticipate through the timely delivery
                                                         include large sites, and also smaller sites
of financially viable s.106 sites. By increasing
                                                         that would not otherwise deliver
supply in this way, we will aim to meet the
                                                         affordable housing.
needs of low income households and provide
                                                        Focusing on stalled sites with planning
greater opportunities for households, young
                                                         consent, and if necessary acquiring these
and old, to find stable, long term secure and
                                                         sites through Compulsory Purchase
affordable housing.
                                                         Orders.
As a minimum, we have set ourselves an                  Encouraging proposals that bring vacant
ambitious target of delivering 1,000                     floor space above shops back into
affordable homes, over and above what the                beneficial use.
market will provide without our intervention,           Acquiring homes from the open market.
during the plan period.                                 Developing and maintaining a pipeline of
                                                         affordable housing on Council owned land
We will seek to achieve this through a range             (i.e. both HRA and General Fund land).
of mechanisms, which include:
                                                       In addition, we will use these opportunities to
                                                       deliver a range of tenures and dwelling sizes,

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including potentially specialist housing            security that is generally absent in the
provision, where needed, and in accordance          private rented sector. We consider this is
with the SHMA. Where we buy land for future         not just important for helping deliver
development, it will also be in our gift to         security of tenure, but also to support
provide quality homes over and above                stable and balanced communities. We
minimum space and design standards to               want our residents to feel part of their
better meet the needs of older people and           community and take pride in their home.
those with physical disabilities, should these      We consider that providing greater
emerge as specific priorities for a particular      certainty will encourage this.
site.                                              Choice. The provision of more affordable
                                                    housing is our main priority; however, by
To turn our vision into a reality, we will work
                                                    providing additional homes as private
with CBH to explore the most appropriate            rented accommodation we will also be
delivery vehicle, and funding requirements, to      able to ensure there is a greater choice of
bring about this step change in affordable          longer term housing for residents across a
housing provision.                                  wider range of budgets and needs. We
                                                    anticipate that this in turn will help to
     Priority 3: Increasing the supply of           attract and support the retention of
     long term Private Rented Housing               young people and families in Cheltenham,
                                                    thereby supporting the growth of our
                                                    town.
                                                   Quality. We will provide quality homes
Private rental rates in Cheltenham have
                                                    for rent, absent of defects and health and
increased significantly in recent years,
                                                    safety hazards that can sometimes be
reflecting the fact that demand is outpacing
                                                    found in the private rented sector,
supply. This is hardly surprising given that
                                                    particularly at the lower end of the
home ownership is now out of reach for
                                                    housing market.
many, in particular young people. Whilst we
                                                   Affordability. It is our intention to let
will seek to address this by taking concerted
                                                    most of our homes at market rents.
action to ensure there is a timely delivery of
                                                    However, any surpluses generated will be
housing generally, and by focusing on the
                                                    used to support the delivery of more
supply of more affordable homes through
                                                    affordable homes, and/or to provide
additionality, we will also take the
                                                    private rented homes at subsidised rents,
opportunity to deliver our own supply of
                                                    in order that we can increase choice for
private rented housing.
                                                    lower-income households, particularly
This will offer the following benefits:             those who are homeless or threatened
                                                    with homelessness.
 Security. Tenancies will be offered on an
  assured shorthold basis, but our intention
  is that residents will be able to stay in         Priority 4: Ensuring that our homes
  their homes for as long as they wish,                      remain affordable
  provided the standard tenancy conditions
  are met. This will ensure that all those
  households seeking a home, including
  young families, will have a level of

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The government introduced the Affordable            We will seek to achieve the use of commuted
Rent product in 2011 as means by which              sums for these purposes by capturing our
Registered Providers could deliver new              requirements within s.106 agreements and in
affordable homes without public subsidy.            our Cheltenham Plan.
Affordable Rents are generally set at 80% of
market rents, though this is an upper limit.          Priority 6: Improving the Affordable
For some, the Affordable Rent product is not             Housing offer for Older People
affordable. This is particularly the case for
larger homes, such as 4 bedroom houses. We
                                                    Both nationally and locally we have an ageing
will keep this under review, but our intention
                                                    population. The population of older people
is to ensure that new, larger homes, and in
                                                    (over 65s) is set to rise in Cheltenham by
particular 4 bedroom homes, are set below
                                                    39.1% over the plan period to 2031. This has
80% of market rents and ideally at social rents
                                                    an impact on how we evolve as a community
(i.e. target rents as determined through the
                                                    and the demands on specialised housing and
national rent regime). We acknowledge this
                                                    services. In Cheltenham, the impact is
can affect the financial viability of schemes, so
                                                    exacerbated by the increasing aged ageing
any decisions about rent levels will be taken
                                                    population (those over 85).
with this consideration in mind.
                                                    The updated Strategic Housing Market
In any event, we will seek to ensure that all
                                                    Assessment (September 2015) states that
Affordable Rented homes are capped at no
                                                    9.2% of the total Objectively Assessed Need
more the Local Housing Allowance levels.
                                                    for the JCS area as a whole should cater for
   Priority 5: Making best use of our               older people; and that approximately 40% of
            Commuted Sums                           this supply should be affordable housing. The
                                                    SHMA also identifies specific requirements for
                                                    the provision of specialist older people’s
Commuted sums are payments made in lieu             accommodation for Cheltenham over the plan
of affordable housing. The Council will only        period to 2031.
accept commuted sums on an exceptional
basis - i.e. where the provision of affordable      We know from national research that the
housing on a particular site would be wholly        majority of older people would prefer to stay
unsuitable, or potentially where a commuted         in their family homes. To release these larger
sum could be used to help facilitate the            homes for families, we must therefore create
delivery of an otherwise unviable local estate      an affordable housing offer that meets not
renewal/regeneration programme, or where            simply the needs of older people, but their
we are looking to make targeted interventions       aspirations also, whilst remaining affordable.
against the objective of creating mixed and         Much research has been undertaken at the
balanced communities.                               national level around what older people want.
It is also our intention to use commuted sums       Supported by the Homes and Communities
to enable the Council to provide good quality       Agency (now Homes England), the Housing
private rented homes, and to increase their         our Ageing Population: Panel for Innovation
accessibility for low income households,            (HAPPI) undertook research to understand
particularly for those who are homeless or          and make recommendations on ten key
threatened with homelessness.                       design principles that ought to be captured

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when providing new accommodation for older         support networks needed to maintain
people. These are as follows:                      independence.

   Good space standards and flexibility
                                                    Priority 7: Supporting new provision for
   Daylight in the home and in shared spaces
                                                     households with physical disabilities
   Balconies and outdoor space                        and other specialist housing needs
   Adaptability and ‘care ready’ design
   Positive use of circulation space
   Shared facilities and ‘hubs’                   The last Census (2011) revealed that 15% of
   Plants, trees and the natural environment      Cheltenham’s residents considered
   Energy efficiency and sustainable design       themselves to have a long term health
   Storage for belongings and mobility aids       problem (17,506 out of a population of
   External shared surfaces and ‘home             115,732). 6.5% of these residents considered
    zones’ giving priority to pedestrians rather   themselves to have a condition that limited
    than cars                                      their day-to-day activities a lot.

These are general design principles that we        The last commissioned Private Sector
support and subscribe to; however some of          Condition Survey (2011) estimated that of the
these are likely to come at a cost. These          45,272 households living in the private sector,
design principles therefore need to be             15% were considered to have an illness or
balanced with affordability, so that everyone,     disability, and of these, 7% were considered
including low income households, can enjoy a       to have mobility issues.
good quality of life and independent living
                                                   Of those households with mobility issues, it
right through to the end of their lives.
                                                   was estimated that approximately 70% were
In partnership with Gloucestershire County         living in un-adapted homes. This represents
Council and surrounding district authorities,      about 5% of households living in the private
we will support further research into              sector. 95% of these households were
understanding the needs and aspirations of         estimated to be over 55 years, and 85% were
older people in our area, and work with the        over 65 years.
County to ensure that we are aligned on the
                                                   It stands to reason that the older we get, the
type of provision that is required, including
                                                   more likely it is that we will have mobility
helping to meet the needs of households with
                                                   issues. We therefore expect all new
dementia. We will also commission a new
                                                   accommodation for older people to be
SHMA to capture the needs of older people in
                                                   adaptable so that their accommodation
the context of housing needs as a whole, and
                                                   remains suitable as older people become less
then seek to identify a target proportion of
                                                   mobile.
new housing that should be developed for
older people on suitable, well-connected           We will also regularly review from our housing
sites, close to local amenities.                   list (i.e. via Homeseeker Plus) the specific
                                                   accommodation needs of younger households
In 2017 we developed a social sustainability
                                                   (under 65s) and families with disabilities so
model. The principles within this model will be
                                                   that we can better cater for their needs on a
used to better plan for our ageing population,
                                                   site by site basis through our s.106
by thinking about not just the type of housing,
but the environment around it and the

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negotiations, and through our own pipeline of     Gloucester will increase by 50% in the period
new affordable housing.                           up to 2031, resulting in approximately 4,000
                                                  additional students. Both Cheltenham
In addition, we will work with Gloucestershire    Borough Council and Gloucester City Council
County Council to better understand the           have worked closely with the University to
accommodation needs of other households           explore the provision of additional student
with specific needs, such as individuals with     accommodation, with a focus on expansion
learning difficulties, to ensure that potential
                                                  within existing sites. We will continue to
future developments are aligned with the          explore opportunities for increasing provision
County Council’s commissioning                    of student accommodation to meet this
requirements.                                     anticipated growth in population.
   Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling
    Showpeople

Under the Housing Act 2004 the local
authority must assess and plan for the
housing needs of all communities residing in
their area. The new Planning Policy for
Traveller Sites (August 2015) states that only
those travellers that travel for work are
defined as Gypsies, Travellers or Travelling
Showpeople in planning terms. We will
therefore review these needs look to build
any new, identified needs within our
Cheltenham Plan. All other accommodation
needs, for those members of the community
that have ceased travelling permanently, will
need to be considered in the context of the
SHMA.

   Student accommodation

The University of Gloucestershire projects
that student numbers in Cheltenham and

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Outcome 2
                           Making Best use of existing
                           housing and improving our
                                neighbourhoods

Introduction
Increasing the supply of affordable homes         standards in this sector by reducing the
isn’t just about building new homes. It’s also    number of homes with Category 1 Health and
about us making better use of the homes           Safety Hazards, and by ensuring that all
we’ve got, and ensuring that they are safe and    landlords fulfil their responsibilities to their
free from serious health hazards. We know         tenants, as most do.
that poor quality housing has a direct impact
on our communities – on their health,                Houses of Multiple Occupation
wellbeing, education, prosperity and safety.      A particular focus for the Council is on Houses
                                                  of Multiple Occupation (HMOs). These tend to
 Priority 1: Improving standards in the
                                                  be in older properties in central areas of the
          private rented sector
                                                  Borough. The last Private Housing Stock
                                                  Condition Survey (carried out in 2011)
The private rented sector is the least            identified that HMOs are more likely to be of
regulated part of the rental market, and yet it   a poorer standard of accommodation. In
has become increasingly the tenure of choice      order to improve these standards, the Council
for many, particularly for those who are          is rolling out a programme of identification
unable to afford to buy their own home. At        and inspection of HMOs across the Borough,
the time of the last census in 2011, over         to ensure that any remediation works are
10,000 of our homes were let as private rents,    carried out and that management standards
representing approximately 18% of the             meet the regulatory requirements.
market. With private rents increasing
                                                     Article 4 Direction
significantly in recent years, we can be
confident that the sector has continued to        The Council began its rollout of this work on
grow in Cheltenham since then.                    HMOs in the ward of St Pauls. As a result, 350
                                                  HMOs were identified in this ward alone. This
We want the private rented sector to be seen
                                                  translates into approximately 12% of
not as a last resort, but as a good option for
                                                  households. We know that areas with
residents wanting flexibility and wishing to
                                                  relatively high concentrations of HMOs can
access a range of housing types across the
                                                  often be associated with:
Borough. We are therefore keen to improve

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-   Antisocial behaviour, noise and nuisance,         Category 1 Health and Safety Hazards
-   Imbalanced and unstable communities,
-   Negative impacts on the physical               Hazards in our homes are assessed according
    environment and streetscape,                   to how serious they are using the
-   Pressures on parking provision,                government’s Housing Health and Safety
-   Increased crime,                               Ratings System. Category 1 hazards are the
-   Etc.                                           most serious. In Cheltenham, the most
                                                   common types of Category 1 hazards relate to
The National HMO Lobby states that the             excess cold and risk of falls.
‘tipping point’ for HMO dominance in a
neighbourhood is 10% of properties, or 20%         We will therefore take measures to reduce
of the population, suggesting that the St          the number of Category 1 hazards in
Paul’s ward may have too many HMOs, and            Cheltenham, with the Council’s Enforcement
that steps should be taken to address this.        team, CBH’s Housing Options Team and with
Through the Cheltenham Plan, we will seek to       housing advice and health services working
implement an Article 4 direction in the St         closely to ensure that these properties are
Pauls ward. This will mean that instead of         identified and that appropriate action is
there being permitted development for              taken.
conversion of a property into an HMO, there
                                                      Landlords Accreditation Scheme
will in future be a requirement for the owner
to obtain planning permission before               We want to encourage landlords to provide
conversion into an HMO can proceed. This will      good quality private rented accommodation.
enable the Council to have greater control         We believe that the majority of landlords
over the formation of all new HMOs in the St       want to do the right thing, but may not be
Pauls ward.                                        entirely across their responsibilities as a
                                                   landlord. In return for a fee, our Accreditation
The Council will also keep under review other
                                                   Scheme enables there to be dialogue between
areas of the town at risk of high
                                                   the Council and private landlords to improve
concentrations of HMOs, and we will take
                                                   standards. In return, landlords can receive
action where necessary.
                                                   Accredited Status which in turn can attract
As part of the government’s measures to            and give assurances to potential tenants.
improve the quality of accommodation in the
                                                   Clearly, the most important relationship in the
private rented sector, it is planning to rollout
                                                   private rented sector is that between a
a wider definition of a licensed HMO. This will
                                                   landlord and a tenant, with council
mean that shared houses of any size and
                                                   intervention only as a last resort. The Council
some flats which are occupied by five or more
                                                   and its partners can facilitate this relationship
persons in two or more households will also
                                                   by providing advice, education and guidance
be required to have mandatory licensing. This
                                                   to landlords, agents and tenants. This will
change to the legislation will extend the
                                                   enable landlords to manage their properties
standards of the existing mandatory licensing
                                                   and tenants more effectively, self-regulate
scheme, with the aim of improving the overall
                                                   and become more professional and provide
standard of accommodation across a wider
                                                   tenants with the knowledge required to
range of HMOs. We will implement these
                                                   maintain their tenancy.
changes as soon as the new regulations and
guidance are provided.                                Tackling Rogue Landlords

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We are keen to clamp down on rogue               The Borough has approximately 350 long term
landlords. The Housing & Planning Act 2016       empty homes currently, (i.e. homes that have
enables councils to tackle rogue landlords,      been empty for 6 months or more) and this
with powers to identify, ban and fine            number is gradually increasing. We are keen
unscrupulous landlords and lettings agents.      to renew our efforts to reduce the number of
Measures in the Act include:                     empty homes in our Borough. We will do this
                                                 by:
 Council access to tenancy deposit data,
  thereby giving councils an indication of        Working with the owner with a view to
  the size of the Private Rented Sector and        getting their property back into use again,
  to help us target resources on tackling          either through their own sale, let or
  rogue landlords as part of our                   occupation.
  enforcement work.                               Seeking to purchase the property
 Empowering councils to blacklist rogue           ourselves, with the cooperation of the
  landlords who have been fined or                 owner, with a view to either resale or the
  convicted of an offence, by entering their       Council keeping the property within our
  names on a database of rogue landlords.          stock and renting it as affordable or
 Empowering councils to obtain and issue          private rented housing, managed on our
  bans for the most serious offenders to           behalf by CBH.
  stop them from letting a property or            Use of Compulsory Purchase Orders when
  engaging in letting agency work for a            all other options have been exhausted.
  period of time, and new civil financial         Review Council Tax charges on empty
  penalties for breaching a banning order.         homes, and increase them if appropriate.
 Empowering councils to make
  management orders which will allow us to           Priority 3: Affordable Warmth and
  seize or take control of the management                    tackling fuel poverty
  of a property.
 Giving tenants living in poor housing the
                                                    Raising awareness of energy efficiency
  ability to claim back some of the rent they
                                                     measures
  have paid to rogue landlords (who neglect
  to maintain their home in good repair)         Improving the energy efficiency of our homes
  and for councils to also get back rent on      not only provides environmental benefits as a
  behalf of benefit recipients.                  result of reduced carbon emissions, it also
                                                 helps to reduce fuel bills and makes homes
The Act also allows councils who carry out
                                                 warmer, and our residents healthier.
their enforcement powers to keep the fines
that are imposed, thereby enabling councils to   The Council currently jointly commissions
target resources where needed to hold rogue      Severn Wye Energy Agency to provide a Warm
landlords and lettings agents to account. We     and Well Service. Severn Wye provides
will therefore investigate how we can best       energy advice, and supports residents with
tackle rogue landlords using the new tools       the installation of a range of energy saving
that are now available.                          measures, such as loft installation and cavity
                                                 wall insulation.
   Priority 2: Reducing the number of
               Empty Homes

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It is our intention to continue commissioning    priorities. Over 99% of our homes meet this
a Warm and Well service to benefit the           standard, and the few that don’t are because
residents of Cheltenham.                         they form part of our stock of non-traditional
                                                 build, some of which require more extensive
     Improving the energy efficiency of our     work in order for them to reach this standard.
      Council homes.                             We have recently considered our
The Council is keen to improve the energy        improvement options on a significant number
efficiency of our own Council housing stock.     of these homes, and we will be looking to
We are currently in the second year of a six     implement improvement works from 2019
year programme to install new more               onwards. We will also consider potential
thermally efficient windows and doors            options for the remaining non-traditional
throughout all of our homes. In addition, and    build with a view to progressing with the most
following the completion of our programme        appropriate solutions.
to install solar energy technology (PVs), we        Keeping our homes safe
will continue to work with our tenants to
ensure they maximise the benefits of free        We will ensure that our council homes are
electricity. We will also continue to improve    well maintained and comply with all current
energy performance through our boiler            legislative requirements, as a minimum.
renewal programme, with the installation of
‘A’ rated boilers and through the                   Sheltered housing
installation/upgrade of loft insulation.         We want to be sure that our sheltered
Via CBH, we are currently modelling the          housing meets the needs and expectations of
energy data of our housing stock. This will      current and future older tenants. Through
help us to understand better how we can          CBH we are commissioning a review to help
further improve the energy efficiencies of our   inform future investments decisions regarding
homes and assist in tackling fuel poverty.       our sheltered housing dwellings.

    Priority 4: Maintaining the quality of,         Under-occupation Strategy
    and making better use of, our council
                                                 We want to increase the options available to
                    homes
                                                 our tenants, so that if they wish to downsize
     Making the right investment decisions      there is sufficient choice, and ease, to do so –
                                                 thereby freeing up larger homes for families
CBH have recently procured software that will    who most need them. We already give priority
be used to calculate the net present value of    to those wishing to downsize through our
all our council homes. The information gained    Choice Based Lettings allocations scheme.
will enable us to make more informed             Going forward we will consider how the
decisions around future investment options       design of new build affordable
and give us the potential to achieve greater     accommodation can support these aims. We
value for money.                                 will also review our Help to Move Scheme,
                                                 which is a scheme that provides financial
     Maintaining Decent Homes Standard
                                                 assistance and practical support to help those
Maintaining compliance with the Decent           who wish to downsize within our council
Homes Standard remains one of our top            homes.

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Outcome 3
                                Tackling homelessness

1. Introduction                                        The relationship between homelessness
                                                        preventions and acceptances
This section sets out how the Council aims to
tackle homelessness across the Borough. It          Whilst the total number of households
details how we will ensure there is access to a     presenting to CBH’s Housing Options Team
range of housing and support services for           has remained unchanged when taken over the
those who are homeless or threatened with           longer term (there are approximately 300
homelessness in order to help them rebuild          approaches/year), our ability to prevent
their lives.                                        homelessness has diminished significantly.

A holistic approach towards homelessness is         One of the main areas where the team have
vital since the causes and effects are complex      become less effective in preventing
and intertwined. Solutions need to be more          homelessness is in securing alternative
than the simple provision of accommodation.         accommodation for low income households in
We need to seek to address the underlying           the private rented sector. This is largely
issues also, such as poor health, loss of           attributable to the rise in private sector rents
income and relationship breakdown.                  as more households are squeezed out of the
                                                    home ownership market and are having to
Our strategic approach to tackling
                                                    rent privately for longer. As the supply of
homelessness recognises the important role
                                                    private rented accommodation has failed to
that other partners and stakeholders have to
                                                    keep up with demand, rent rises are
play in harnessing skills and delivering tailored
                                                    inevitable. For low income households relying
solutions to some of these issues within our
                                                    on Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to help
communities.
                                                    subsidise their rents in the private sector, the
2. Review of Homelessness                           welfare reforms, which have placed a cap on
                                                    LHA increases, means that more and more
2.1 Understanding Needs                             low income households are unable to afford
                                                    private rents.
Below is a summary of our key findings which
have helped shape our priorities for tackling          The causes of homelessness
homelessness in Cheltenham. For more
details please refer to our Housing &               Not surprisingly, by far the main cause of
Homelessness Strategy Evidence Base at              homelessness in Cheltenham is loss of private
Appendix 2 of this strategy.                        rented accommodation (55% of all
                                                    homelessness acceptances in 16/17). This is

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followed by parents and other family              households requiring temporary
members/friends no longer being able to           accommodation remains relatively low. This is
accommodate (36%), followed by those              attributable to the fact that the vast majority
experiencing domestic abuse (9%).                 of households that are accommodated within
                                                  temporary accommodation are there for less
   Young People                                  than 6 months. And the vast majority of those
Nationally, the number of young people (aged      who leave this accommodation secure long
16-24 years) who are accepted as homeless is      term affordable housing either via the Council
approximately 20% of all homelessness             or through a Registered Provider.
acceptances. In Cheltenham, the percentage        The Council uses its own homes as temporary
is higher at 25%, suggesting that we need to      accommodation for homeless households.
place greater emphasis on finding a wider         These are a mix of furnished/part-furnished to
choice of prevention solutions for this age       reflect the needs of different households. We
group.                                            will also use our temporary accommodation
                                                  to house single people, in order to avoid the
   Rough sleepers
                                                  use of Bed and Breakfast accommodation
Rough sleeping has increased in Cheltenham,       where possible. The benefit of using our own
from 1 rough sleeper identified in our street     stock for temporary accommodation is that
count in 2010 to 9 rough sleepers identified in   we can flex the number of dwellings to meet
our street count in 2017. These street            need more easily, with the homes being
counts/estimates are undertaken during a          managed by CBH on our behalf. At present we
single night, between October and November,       have up to 17 dwellings within our council
so they do not reflect the actual number of       stock that we use for these purposes, and we
rough sleepers who will be present in             will continue to monitor the number of
Cheltenham during the course of a year.           temporary accommodation we need and
                                                  either decommission or provide more, when
 What has also become clear in the last couple    necessary.
of years is that current pathways into
accommodation (via Accommodation Based            a. Consultation with partners
Support) do not work for everyone,
                                                  In October 2017, the Council undertook a
particularly rough sleepers who have become
                                                  consultation event with key partners, which
entrenched. These rough sleepers will
                                                  make up our Housing and Support Forum, to
generally exhibit more complex issues, such as
                                                  help inform future priorities around tackling
mental ill-health, drug and/or alcohol
                                                  homelessness and the wider housing agenda.
addiction, with the result that sharing
                                                  Invited partners are made up of: charities
supported housing with other individuals with
                                                  working with the homeless; advice agencies;
similar needs can, and does, lead to tenancy
                                                  supported housing providers; Registered
failure. For entrenched rough sleepers in
                                                  Providers and other statutory agencies,
particular an alternative pathway into
                                                  including a commissioning officer from
independent living is needed.
                                                  Gloucestershire County Council.
   Use of Temporary Accommodation
                                                  We used this consultation event to
In spite of the increase in homelessness          understand current gaps/issues which we
acceptances in Cheltenham, the number of          should take into account when shaping our

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