Have your say on North Herts’ housing strategy

How do you think the council should prioritise housing needs in the district, such as homelessness, affordable housing, and enforcing housing standards? These are all important aspects of North Herts Council’s Housing Strategy, and as we renew our strategy for 2024-29, we want to know what residents and local interested parties think.

Although we don’t own what’s known as housing stock – social housing is largely owned and managed by settle and around 30 other housing associations – the council has a duty to consider the housing needs of North Herts and we produce and deliver a local housing strategy which sets out our plans for tackling these housing needs. A five-year high-level strategy will be accompanied by detailed annual action plans, the first of which will be published with the strategy.

In North Herts, 15% of households privately rent, nearly 20% are in social housing and 65% own (with or without a mortgage). Together with settle, we manage the Common Housing Register, a list of people who qualify for social housing – and we consulted on how we allocate social housing in November last year. There are around 2,500 households on the register and we get over 120 new applications each month, with only around 430 lettings coming up each year.

Cllr Sean Prendergast, Executive Member for Housing & Environmental Health, said: “The main themes for most local authorities will be about preventing and managing homelessness, maximising the delivery of genuinely affordable homes, and ensuring high standards of housing. With home ownership and even private renting out of reach for around a fifth of our residents, affordable or social housing, is an important sector, providing homes at 50-80% below market rents. And we are acutely aware of how the cost-of-living crisis is impacting the ability for many residents to afford their housing costs. Social housing is scarce, as are our resources, so it’s important that residents have their say to help us prioritise and manage what we can do in this essential service.”

Cllr Dave Winstanley, deputy Executive Member for Housing & Environmental Health, added: “Most residents will know we manage the housing register but we also have specific legal responsibilities towards those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, including refugees fleeing war-torn countries and those fleeing domestic violence. We also ensure there are high standards of housing in the rented sector, as well as help people to remain living in their homes for longer, providing targeted grants for adaptations, disrepair and to improve energy efficiency.” 

Please have your say on our Housing Strategy by completing a short survey by 11 February. For those residents who don’t have digital access, councillors can provide support with completing the survey at councillor surgeries and residents can also call Customer Services on 01462 474000 to make an appointment to visit the council offices in Letchworth, which are now open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.