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Housing Strategies

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Housing Strategy

Housing is a key priority for Rushcliffe Borough Council. People and families need safe, warm and affordable homes. The lack of adequate and affordable housing can damage our local economy. It can also detrimentally affect the health and wellbeing of our residents. 

Following consultation with our key stakeholders including:

  • Councillors;
  • Town & Parish councils;
  • neighbouring local authorities;
  • Registered Provider partners; and
  • private and voluntary sector organisations

We have produced the Rushcliffe Housing Delivery Plan (2022 - 2027). This sets out our priorities for action. It establishes the framework for working in partnership to improve housing and housing support in the Borough.

The Housing Delivery Plan sets out the vision and three key priorities for housing in Rushcliffe. Following consultation the overall vision and priorities remain unchanged from the Rushcliffe Housing Strategy 2009-2016. 

The Plan also supports the Council's Corporate Strategy priorities of:

  • Supporting economic growth to ensure a sustainable, prosperous and thriving local economy;
  • Maintaining and enhancing our residents' quality of life; and
  • Transforming the Council to enable the delivery of efficient high quality services.

The vision and priorities of the Housing Delivery Plan are:

Vision: Our aim is for every household to have real housing choice and to enjoy living in a good quality home that meets their needs. 

Priority 1. Supply: delivering housing growth including affordable housing to meet the needs of our diverse communities

Priority 2. Quality: ensuring that existing and new homes are of a high standard and contribute to improving the health of our residents. 

Priority 3. Inclusion: tackling homelessness and provision of effective housing related support for residents.

It is clear that the Borough Council cannot deliver its priorities alone. As such, we are committed to working effectively with partners to deliver our vision and priorities.

 

 

Homelessness Strategy

This section contains information and links in relation to the joint homelessness review and strategy. We carried this out in partnership with Broxtowe and Gedling Borough Councils. It also contains information about the South Nottinghamshire Inter-agency Homelessness Forum.

The Council is required to carry out a full review of homelessness in the borough at least every five years, and put in place a strategy to:

  • prevent homelessness;
  • provide help at the point of homelessness; and
  • support the move away from homelessness.

We have worked with Broxtowe and Gedling Borough Councils, Nottinghamshire County Council and a number of other partners to review homelessness across the whole of the South Nottinghamshire area. A South Notts Homelessness and Rough Sleeper Strategy 2022-27 has been published for the three borough areas to cover the period from 2017 to 2021. This builds on our history of co-operation in housing matters. We have also prepared a short Briefing note for the South Notts Joint Homelessness Strategy. This covers the main points of the strategy and how it was developed.

The aims of the strategy are being put into action through the South Nottinghamshire Inter-agency Homelessness Forum. This brings together statutory and voluntary sector agencies to share information and find solutions to local problems. The Forum will manage the strategy's action plan, with all partners taking a shared responsibility for implementing it. You can view the latest version of the South Nottinghamshire Homelessness Strategy Action Plan to see how we are doing.

The South Nottinghamshire Inter-agency Homelessness Forum meets every three months. We always welcome new partners who work with homeless or vulnerable people. We value the working relationships just as much as the strategy itself. If you think your organisation should be part of the forum, please contact us using the details at the right of this page.

 

 

Tenancy Strategy

Our Tenancy Strategy sets out what social housing providers should take into account when they are deciding what type of tenancies they will grant.

There have been a number of changes to the social housing system in recent years. One of the most fundamental is the flexibility for social housing providers to offer new tenants a tenancy for a fixed period of time as opposed to a lifetime tenancy. At the end of a fixed, the landlord can only bring to an end if the tenant does not keep to the conditions of the tenancy agreement.

Although we no longer own social housing ourselves, we welcome this new flexibility. It could make a contribution to meeting the need for affordable housing in Rushcliffe. We published our first Tenancy Strategy in 2011 to provide guidance to local Registered Providers and to inform their tenancy policies. This sets out what type of tenancies will be granted to whom. This Strategy was reviewed in 2018 and a refreshed Tenancy Strategy was published in 2019.

Our approach is that we recommend that ten year fixed term tenancies should be offered to most new social housing tenants (with some exceptions). After ten years, the landlord should review whether the household still needs the size and facilities provided. If so, they should normally renew the tenancy. If not, they should look at whether it would be appropriate or affordable to help them to move to the private sector. This would free up the social housing property for another family that needs it.

 

Strategic Housing