Delivering aim A: More affordable and sustainable homes
We will support tenants and their families to live in well maintained and sustainable homes. These will be safe, secure, and of a high quality. In partnership with CBH we will proactively seek to increase the delivery of more affordable and sustainable homes for the town, by delivering a multifaceted approach through council owned land-led schemes wherever possible to enable better place shaping, good design, stronger communities and to meet the council’s carbon net zero delivery target, as well as progressing Section 106 with developers and other acquisitions.
What success looks like
- Increase delivery of affordable homes
- Provide higher quality homes that are safe and well-maintained
- Work with CBH to make Cheltenham carbon net zero by 2030
Measures of success
- Delivered 450 additional affordable homes (over 5 years)
- Invested a further £80m of the £180m Housing Investment Plan
- Maintained 100% decent homes (of the current decent homes standard)
- Delivered 100% compliance on building safety Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs)
- Worked towards delivering 100% of EPC C by 2030
- Delivered carbon net zero new homes on 100% of CBC land-led sites
Increase delivery of affordable homes
- Working in partnership with CBH, we are increasing the number of affordable homes through our £180m housing investment plan, which will continue to increase the number of affordable net zero carbon homes on CBC owned sites and seek to achieve additionality on these sites.
- Continue to work in close collaboration with CBH to deliver affordable homes on the Golden Valley Development, as part of CBC’s overall land led development.
- Acquisition of homes for sale, such as ex-council homes, for conversion into affordable housing.
- Work in partnership with CBH to seek to reduce long-term empty homes across Cheltenham e.g. through Compulsory Purchase Order.
- Explore opportunities to secure ‘additionality’ on s.106 schemes by working with private developers to acquire additional affordable homes over and above that which would be delivered through the s.106 agreement alone.
- Maximise opportunities for regeneration and redevelopment of housing estates and other sites across Cheltenham, which could include investigating changes in the use of land around the town
Provide higher quality homes that are safe and well-maintained
- Respond to new and existing legislation, meeting property compliance and health and safety standards, including embracing a new pending Decent Homes Standard (DHS).
- Enhance the responsive repairs and maintenance service to increase customer satisfaction through the delivery of excellent services, alongside ensuring maximum value for money through process, cashable and non cashable efficiencies.
- Review our void standard for all new customers who move into our properties by involving customers, colleagues and partners to share ideas for improvement.
- Develop the net present value (NPV) analysis of homes by including wider active asset management principles within the modelling exercise.
Work with CBH to help make Cheltenham carbon net zero
- Invest in the retrofit of existing homes to EPC C through a fabric first approach, to make them as energy efficient as possible for the benefit of customers and reduce fuel poverty, while also increasing biodiversity and green initiatives to mitigate the climate emergency.
- Deliver carbon net zero homes on 100% of CBC owned land-led sites.
- Seek to improve the specification of our S106 affordable homes acquisitions from private developers to help further secure our aspirations to achieve carbon net zero homes.