South Cambridgeshire Housing Futures

You may recall that two years ago the Council consulted with its tenants and leaseholders on the ownership and management of its Council housing. At that time the Council decided to retain ownership of its homes.

Since then, the Council has continued to look at the cost of maintaining and managing its homes into the future and:

  • Financial forecasts show that within a few years the annual spending on Council housing will exceed income.
  • It is likely that, within the next few years, the Council will have approximately half the money it currently spends available to maintain properties to the Decent Homes Standard and carry out other planned works.

The Council has decided it needs to reconsider its position because it has to balance the books and this is where residents opinions matter. There are two possible options:

  1. The Council keeps the ownership and management of its 5,900 homes and finds funds within its own budgets, for example, by reducing our expenditure on housing improvements and some services to meet the Government's Decent Homes Standard.
  2. The Council transfers its homes to an existing or newly created housing association. This association would be a not-for-profit Registered Social Landlord (RSL).

Letter to Residents

On 14 June 2007 the Council wrote a letter to all its tenants and leaseholders to inform them of the process and ask them how they would like to get involved. A communications questionnaire was enclosed asking residents how they would like the Council to inform them of the process and provide them with more information. Residents were also asked if they wanted to join the Housing Futures Working Group (HFWG) and if so to complete the pink nomination paper (also enclosed with the letter) and get two other tenants or leaseholders to nominate them. So far over 1600 questionnaires have been returned and the council is now in the process of writing/telephoning or visiting tenants who asked questions or wanted more information. Should you wish to join the Tenant Participation Group, be part of an established residents group in your area, or even look to set up a new one, you can contact housing futures to find out more.

Visit our Getting Involved section to find out about other ways you can get involved.

Communication

This communications strategy has been developed to ensure that residents and other stakeholders can be engaged in and well informed about housing futures for South Cambridgeshire.

It links to the new Tenant Participation Agreement that has been reviewed through the Tenant Participation Group (TPG) and should link with the work of the Independent Tenant Advisor (ITA) and existing communications delivered by the council's corporate communications team and the 'Inspire' project communications workstream.

The communication strategy should be seen as a tool and not an end in itself. It is the starting point for the communications process and will be developed and reviewed as more is learnt about the needs and expectations of the project's stakeholders and lessons are learnt about what works well and what does not.

The principles underpinning the communications strategy are:

  • communications will support the overall aims of the South Cambridgeshire Housing Futures process
  • communication will be two-way either through information exchange or active discussion
  • communication should be planned with time allowed to discuss and review activity
  • effective mechanisms must be used to deliver information to all target audiences
  • communications will take the differences between people into account, value those differences and try to offer equal opportunities and access
  • expectations must match realities in terms of resources available
  • communication is not an additional task but is integral to all activities

Delivering the Housing Futures project is concerned with engaging residents of council housing about what future they want to see for their homes and local communities. This requires developing and delivering appropriate and regular information and communication, providing mechanisms that enable people to express their views and ensuring that all stakeholders who work with residents are equipped with the knowledge and tools to clearly explain what the Housing Futures project means for them.

In addition to the Communications Strategy the council has developed a Tenant Empowerment Strategy. Both these documents are designed to ensure that tenants and leaseholders are right at the heart of the decision-making process.

The Tenant Empowerment Strategy describes how it will enable residents to actively participate and be central to the decision-making process, not only during the Housing Futures process but also into the future.

It builds upon the council's Tenant Participation Agreement which was formally agreed the Housing & Environmental Services Portfolio Holder and the Tenant Participation Group (TPG) in June 2007. This document has been developed in consultation with the tenant members of the HFWG and the TPG

Independent Advice

Tenants on the HFWG have appointed PS Consultants as the Independent Tenant Adviser (ITA). The ITA will be able to give you free, independent advice on what each future option could mean for you on Freephone 0800 0852 207.

The examination of future options will be carried out over the next six months, giving everyone an opportunity to become involved and express their views before any decision is reached. The Council is looking to communicate to its residents in a number of ways including newsletters, articles in the South Cambs Magazine and events to name a few so keep a look out for more information.

If you have any queries or questions about this project please contact housing futures.