HOUSING STRATEGY 2016-2019 - Cambridge City … City Council Housing Strategy 2016-2019 (Consultation Draft) Vision, Strategic Aims, Priorities & Cross-Cutting Principles 1 Cambridge

HOUSING STRATEGY

2016-2019

CONSULTATION DRAFT

July 2015

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Cambridge City Council Housing Strategy 2016-2019 (Consultation Draft)

Index

HOUSING STRATEGY 2016-2019

CONSULTATION DRAFT

INDEX

Foreword: Cllr Kevin Price, Executive Councillor for Housing ………….i

Vision for housing in Cambridge …………………………………………..1

Chapter 1: Housing – The Challenge for Cambridge …………………...9

Chapter 2: Increasing Housing Supply ………………………………….18

Chapter 3: Existing Homes & Communities …………………………….36

Chapter 4: Homelessness, Housing Advice & Housing Options ……..54

Chapter 5: Resourcing & Implementing the Strategy ………………….72

Annexes:

Annex 1: Glossary

Annex 2: Action Plan 2016-2019 (to be agreed)


Index

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Foreword

i

Foreword

Cambridge is a city of both regional and national importance and our ambition is to make it an even better place to live and work. Our draft Housing Strategy brings us closer to this by setting out a clear direction to make it a city fair for all – a city where everyone has access to good quality housing that is affordable to them and meets their needs. It demonstrates the council’s commitment to supporting local people in housing need, building more homes and improving the quality of our existing homes to help us build strong neighbourhoods. Our Strategy is supported by planning policies and gives the framework for delivering housing and related services with our partners in a co-ordinated way. We know there are significant challenges ahead for us, our partners and our residents. Cuts from central government, further welfare reforms and reduced grant for building more social housing provide a stark backdrop to the strategy. Cambridge continues to grow and there are increasing levels of deprivation in some wards. Many more homes are needed but they must be built in a way which makes the city a better place for its residents and to meet the needs of a diverse population. Affordability is at the forefront of every decision, and the private rented sector will continue to play an increasingly important role in meeting housing need. We have responded to these challenges by allocating resources where we consider they will be most effective in addressing housing need. This draft Strategy includes plans for managing our own council house finances, improving our council estates, building more social housing at truly affordable rent levels and improving the private rented sector. We plan to work closely with other social landlords and our partners in the City Deal to deliver more affordable housing for social rent or intermediate market rent. We must also work with our tenants and all City residents to make sure that they benefit from Cambridge’s growth and we will do all we can to bring new investment into the city with an unrelenting emphasis on building more affordable homes across all tenures. With the support of our partners and residents I am confident that we will rise to the challenge. Councillor Kevin Price Executive Councillor for Housing


Foreword

ii

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Vision, Strategic Aims, Priorities & Cross-Cutting Principles

1

Cambridge City Council

Housing Strategy 2016-2019


The Council has a clear vision to lead a united city, ‘One Cambridge - Fair for all’, in

which economic dynamism and prosperity are combined with social justice and

equality.

‘One Cambridge – Fair for All’

Cambridge – a great place to live, learn and work

Cambridge – caring for the planet

To achieve our vision for Cambridge, our strategic housing vision is for a City

where:

Fair for all

Everyone has access to, and a choice of, good quality housing which is

affordable to them and meets their needs.

A great place to live, learn and work

Residents are able to live healthily and safely, and as independently as

possible.

Our vision for Cambridge

Our vision for housing in

Cambridge



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Places where people live are attractive and accessible; people from different

backgrounds and of different household types live side by side in harmony;

and homes and communities continue to meet the needs of their residents

into the future.

Residents and others with a stake in the City have the opportunity to influence

the services we provide and how we provide them.

Caring for the planet

Homes are energy and water efficient, and fuel and utility bills are affordable.



3

To achieve our vision we will work, in partnership, towards the following aims

and priorities:

Increasing housing supply

Our strategic aims:

o Provide, and promote provision of, good quality, energy and water efficient

housing, in a range of sizes, types and tenures, to meet a range of needs, and

which people can afford.

o Create healthy, mixed, sustainable and green communities which complement

and benefit existing communities.

Our priorities

Adopt and implement the new Cambridge Local Plan and associated

Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document.

Work with public authorities and the development sector (including Private Registered Providers) to ensure the right housing is built at the right time and in the right place.

Work with partners on the joint delivery of new housing under the Greater

Cambridge City Deal, to support local economic growth.

Deliver a programme of new council homes for rent and shared ownership, making best use of our available resources.

Seek opportunities to provide new homes for letting at intermediate rents, and

investigate the feasibility of a social lettings agency to let and manage those properties.

Promote and maintain a mix of sizes, types and tenures of new housing,

including social housing, to meet as wide a range of needs as possible.

Our strategic aims & priorities



4

Improve our understanding of the housing needs of older people and those with other specialist housing needs, and promote delivery of housing to meet those needs.

Promote the provision of good quality, energy efficient housing.

Promote the provision of new housing which is as affordable as possible to

those who need to live or work in or close to the City.

Seek out funding opportunities to increase social housing delivery.

Monitor the profile of homes built and residents moving in, and use this information to inform future developments and service delivery.

Develop appropriate methods of integrating new and existing communities.

Start work on a new joint Local Plan with South Cambridgeshire District

Council.



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Existing homes and communities

Our strategic aims

o Ensure homes are healthy, safe, and energy & water efficient.

o Make, and promote, the best use of existing homes.

o Recognise the council’s role as the main single provider of housing in the City - in providing homes and communities that people want and can afford to live in, and in tackling poverty, inequality and social exclusion.

o Manage and maintain the council’s homes and estates in a cost-effective way, balancing business needs with customers’ needs and expectations.

o Promote a well regulated, fair, good quality private rented sector.

o Recognise links between health, social care & housing, and work positively

with partner organisations to promote and improve quality of life and health and well-being.

o Ensure people who need it have access to high quality information and advice

to enable them to fund a suitable housing environment and make informed choices about living independently.

o Promote community cohesion, and positively tackle crime and anti-social

behaviour.

Our priorities

Review our Housing Revenue Account services and spending priorities for

council housing, and explore opportunities to provide new or enhanced

services if appropriate.

Minimise the impact of the introduction of Universal Credit on tenants and

leaseholders and on the council’s business plan.

Support health and social care partners in their plans for transformation of

commissioning and services, including provision of advice and information to

enable people to make informed choices around independent living, and

developing more integrated services.

Bid to provide care and support services where appropriate to do so.



6

Expand and promote council tenant and leaseholder involvement, and carry

out bi-annual satisfaction surveys to inform decision-making.

Support owners and landlords in making private homes more energy and

water efficient, and in providing safe and healthy living environments.

Complete a private sector house condition survey, and use it to inform

investment priorities, enforcement & regulation activity, and targeting of

information and promotion.

Support private landlords in managing and maintaining their homes, and

effectively tackle poor and illegal practices by landlords and letting agents.

Bring empty homes back into use, by supporting landlords through financial

and other assistance, and by robust use of enforcement.

Work with landlords and other partners to tackle anti-social behaviour –

particularly in relation to people with mental health issues who may need

additional support.



7

Homelessness, housing advice & housing options

Our strategic aims

o Prevent homelessness and rough sleeping

o Minimise use of temporary accommodation and maximise access to longer term housing solutions

o Enable people to make informed choices about their housing

o Promote sustained and settled lifestyles and minimise social exclusion

Our priorities

Focus on preventing homelessness – preferably by enabling people to remain

in their existing homes, but where this is not possible, by supporting them to

secure alternative accommodation.

Work with private sector landlords to try to reduce the risk of eviction from the

private rented sector.

Increase access to housing – particularly to private rented housing - for all

household sizes, but especially for family and couple sized households.

Work with owners of long-term empty homes to bring them back into use for

those in housing need.

Minimise use of, and length of stay in, bed and breakfast.

Assess whether more domestic abuse victims can be supported to remain at

home, and whether more can be done in responding to perpetrators.

Review the sub-regional social lettings agency (Town Hall Lettings) pilot.

Develop interventions to help prevent youth homelessness and improve

young people’s access to supported housing.

Support Cambridgeshire County Council in improving support to those who

need it, particularly for those with mental health issues.

Continue to seek opportunities to improve access to training and skills, and to

other services which can help promote employability and self-esteem.

Review how the council’s homelessness prevention fund is allocated,

including the criteria for funding to external bodies.



8

Improve systematic monitoring of homelessness and rough sleeping, and

support partners to effectively monitor trends and activity.

Monitor move-on rates from supported housing, to assess how they can be

improved.


Ch1. Housing – The Challenge for Cambridge

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Chapter 1: Housing – The Challenge for Cambridge

Cambridge is a world-renowned historic City, with two thriving universities, a strong

economy, a growing population, and high demand for housing demonstrated by high

rents and house prices.

Significant housing growth is required in and around the City to provide sufficient

homes for people to live in and for businesses and local services to continue to

thrive. At the same time, we need to protect existing communities, and ensure that

they can link with and benefit from the advantages arising from housing growth. We

need to take particular care to ensure that people who are vulnerable, or potentially

vulnerable, are not left behind and are able to share in the benefits that growth can

bring to the City.

We have an ambitious vision of the sort of place we want Cambridge to be, but we

have some particular challenges to overcome in order to achieve our objectives.

This chapter of our Housing Strategy outlines some of our main issues and

challenges, with the following chapters showing how we plan to rise to and tackle

these challenges.

We cannot deal with these on our own, and partnership working is key to developing

and implementing our Strategy. We already have strong partnerships with a wide

range of agencies and with local people and communities. But we need to continue

to strengthen these relationships, and develop new ones, to deal with the housing-

related issues that we face and for Cambridge to continue to thrive.

AFFORDABILITY OF HOUSING 1

Affordability of housing is one of the most critical issues facing the City at the present

time, with rents and house prices amongst the highest in the country.

Market Housing

The average house price currently stands at £428,250, with median prices over 11

times higher than median incomes. Average prices have risen by almost 49% since

they bottomed out in 2008/09 –more than any other city in the UK outside of London.

Even at the bottom end of the market, lower quartile priced homes (ie the cheapest

25%) are currently averaging £275,000 – up 10% over just the last twelve months.

Lower quartile house prices are now 15.7 times higher than lower quartile incomes.

1 House price and private rental data from Hometrack, published in Cambridge Sub-Region Housing

Market Bulletin (Dec 2014 data): http://www.cambridgeshireinsight.org.uk/Housingmarketbulletin



10

Private rents

Private rents are also high, and rising fast. Median weekly rents are £184 for a 1

bedroom property, having risen by 6% over the last twelve months. For a two

bedroom property the median weekly rent is £252. Two bedroom rents have gone up

by 10% over the last year, and are 57% higher than rents in the East of England, and

50% higher than in England as a whole.

Social Housing

As well as market housing being unaffordable to many, we are finding it increasingly

difficult to ensure that social housing for rent remains affordable to those on low

incomes.

National policy requires that if providers are to be eligible for grant funding for new

housing they must let the new homes – as well as some of their existing homes – at

Affordable Rents. These can be up to 80% of local market rents, so with rents rising

fast, Affordable Rents are becoming increasingly unaffordable to those on low

incomes.

Increasing pressures on our business plan are also making it more difficult to retain

rents at lower Social Rent levels, and to keeping annual rent rises to a minimum,

although we remain committed to doing so wherever possible.

DELIVERING NEW SOCIAL HOUSING

Pressing affordability issues in Cambridge mean that we need to do everything we

can to increase the supply of housing that is affordable to local people – through

developing, and promoting and supporting development of, social housing for those

unable to afford to rent or buy decent quality market homes.

Where many other parts of the country have struggled, Cambridge has weathered

the global recession relatively well, and some of the required growth in and around

the City is well under way. We have used the local planning framework to ensure

that, wherever possible, new developments include appropriate levels of social

housing, and we have embarked on our own social rent programme to deliver new

council homes across the City.

However, there are a number of issues which are now threatening our ability to

continue to support and deliver the social housing which we know is needed.

Cost of development

With a strong housing market, local land costs remain high. With more development

planned - both locally and nationally – the construction industry is reporting that skill



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shortages are becoming an issue as well as shortages of building materials. Build

costs are therefore expected to continue to rise, which will affect the cost of

developing social housing on our own land.

Although property sale values are also rising, increased costs could potentially lead

to more incidences of developers wanting to renegotiate section 106 agreements on

viability grounds. We need to continue to take a robust approach to scrutinising

claims of non-viability, to maximise provision of social housing on new

developments.

Availability of funding for new development

At the same time that costs are increasing, the availability of government grant for

delivering affordable housing has reduced, and we are having to rely more than ever

before on using our own resources. Cambridge has agreed with the Homes and

Communities Agency that we can retain a proportion of Right to Buy (RTB) receipts

to fund new homes, but use of grant and RTB receipts cannot be combined, so the

remaining costs have to be funded from our own resources.

National planning policy

Recent national planning reforms, whilst aimed at boosting the new supply of

housing overall, are likely to make it more difficult for us to ensure the delivery of

social housing for those who need it.

The government recently announced that developers would not be required to

provide social housing on smaller sites of less than ten dwellings. With

Cambridge being a tight urban area, we have a number of smaller sites on

which we are now unlikely to be able to require developers to build any social

housing.

A further recent change relates to vacant buildings being brought back into

use or demolished for redevelopment. This enables developers to claim a

financial credit, equivalent to the existing gross floor space, to be deducted

from any Affordable Housing contributions sought from the scheme. The likely

impact of this in Cambridge is not yet clear, but it is likely to further reduce the

amount of social housing required to be provided.

Extension of the Right to Buy

The government recently announced that the Right to Buy is to be extended to

Housing Association tenants, funded by sale of council properties above a set value.

This is likely to affect the ability of both the council and our Registered Provider

partners to borrow against their assets to build new homes. Although the scheme

aims for one-for-one replacement, there is national scepticism as to whether this can



12

be achieved. It is also not clear where the replacement homes would be provided,

and in an area like Cambridge where land and development costs are high, one-for-

one replacement anyway is likely to be extremely difficult to achieve. (This is also

likely to adversely affect our existing stock numbers, as shown below).

The borrowing cap

There is a cap on the amount local authorities can borrow to build new homes,

based on the value of their assets. Cambridge took on a relatively high level of debt

when we came out of the Housing Revenue Account subsidy system, and

consequently we have limited capacity for further borrowing. We, with other

authorities, have been strongly lobbying government to lift the borrowing cap, but so

far without success.

RETAINING SOCIAL HOUSING STOCK

Alongside the challenges in delivering new social housing, we are concerned that it

will become increasingly difficult for Cambridge to maintain its levels of existing

social housing stock.

Right to Buy policy

In 2012, the government raised the discounts available to people wanting to exercise

their Right to Buy their council home. In the three years since then, we have sold

over 150 homes, compared to just 40 in the previous three years. These higher

levels of sales are expected to continue for the short to medium term.

We are now extremely concerned about the proposed scheme for extending the

Right to Buy to Housing Association tenants. Although full details are yet to emerge,

as well as affecting the ability of ourselves and our Registered Provider partners to

build new homes this is likely to have a significant detrimental effect on the existing

social housing stock in the City.

Demand for sales of our own properties suggests that, despite high property prices,

there is likely to be take-up amongst Housing Association tenants locally, reducing

the number of social homes available to let in the future.

Because of the high value of properties in Cambridge compared to the rest of the

Eastern region, early indications suggest that a significant number of homes from

our general stock are likely to be valued at above the local regional thresholds

currently being proposed, and may therefore need to be sold when they become

empty. These are ordinary homes, some of which will be in City wards with high

levels of deprivation. South Cambridgeshire, as the only other stock retaining

authority in the Cambridge housing sub-region, is also likely to have its stock



13

numbers reduced. Furthermore, any replacement homes built in Cambridge are

likely to be valued over the proposed threshold, and would therefore need to be sold

once they become empty again.

DEMOGRAPHIC & HOUSEHOLD CHANGE

As elsewhere, Cambridge is experiencing considerable demographic and household

change, which we need to take into account in formulating and delivering our

Strategy. For example:

Cambridge’s population is rising fast, with the fifth highest population growth

of any City in the country in the ten years to 2014. 2

Although Cambridge has a relatively young population, people are living

longer. The City’s population aged 85 and over is expected to increase from

2,800 in 2013, to 5,000 in 2031.3 And the number of older people with

complex needs is also increasing; for example one in six people in the UK

aged 80 and over have dementia.4 We need to consider carefully the needs

of older people in the provision of homes and services.

As well as an increase in the older population, we have seen an increase in

the number of children with disabilities and/or long-term conditions surviving

into adulthood, leading to an increase in demand for adaptations and services

to enable people to live independently at home.

The private rented sector already makes up a higher proportion of homes in

the City compared to the national picture, and demand is increasing, making it

more and more important that we promote a good quality, well managed


We need to continue to monitor demographic and household changes, and other

housing market signals, so that we can target resources in the most effective way.

2 Centre for Cities – Cities Outlook 2015: http://www.centreforcities.org/wp-

content/uploads/2015/01/Cities_Outlook_2015.pdf 3 Cambridgeshire County Council population estimates:

http://www.cambridgeshireinsight.org.uk/population-and-demographics/population-estimates 4 Alzheimer’s Society website:

http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=341



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TACKLING POVERTY & INEQUALITY

Although Cambridge is a relatively affluent City which was more resilient to the economic downturn than many other areas, the benefits of prosperity have not been shared by all our residents. For example, a fifth of households in the City have annual earnings of £19,169 or less, and one in ten households earn £16,518 or less each year. 11.2% are in receipt of benefits such as Housing Benefit and Council Tax benefit, rising to more than 20% in some wards in the City.5 Based on the national definition of child poverty, 15.3% of children in Cambridge were living in poverty in 2011, higher than the figure for Cambridgeshire as a whole (12.6%).6 There is a risk that with Cambridge and its economy continuing to grow, those on low incomes, some people from minority groups, and those less able to look after themselves, may get left behind. Anti-Poverty Strategy The council has developed an Anti-Poverty Strategy which provides a framework for the council, in partnership with others, to tackle poverty.7 As well as the provision of new social housing and aiming to keep rents at affordable levels, objectives in our Housing Strategy around issues such as improving energy efficiency, helping people to improve the condition of their homes, and helping those who need to access support services, all contribute towards reducing poverty and social exclusion. Welfare Reforms We are in the midst of large-scale national changes to the welfare system, and

unprecedented cuts in welfare spending, which are having an impact on local people

on low incomes – many of whom will be in work. For example:

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates - on which housing benefit is calculated

- are based on the lowest 30% of rent levels across the Cambridge Broad

Rental Market Area (BRMA). But with the BRMA covering a wide

geographical area, and Cambridge rents significantly higher than most of the

rest of the BRMA, LHA is nowhere near enough to cover even the cheapest

rents in the City. Research carried out in summer 2014 found virtually no 1-

bed or smaller properties, and no 2-bed or larger properties at all available to

rent in the City or surrounding area at or below LHA rates.8

5 NOMIS, 2012, Annual Survey of Household Earnings – resident analysis

6 HMRC Child Poverty data, 2013, via ‘Breaking the Cycle: Child Poverty Annual Performance

Monitoring’, Cambridgeshire County Council, April 2014 http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/513/child_poverty_breaking_the_cycle_mo nitoring_report 7 Anti-Poverty Strategy: to follow

8 CCHPR – Baseline Study for Intermediate Housing Market in and Around Cambridge City,

September 2014.



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People aged 35 and under are now only able to claim housing benefit for

private rented housing at the ‘shared accommodation rate’. (Previously those

aged 25 and over were entitled to claim for a single room).

The government is proposing that the current £26,000 cap on the overall

amount of benefit that a household can claim in a year from a specified list of

benefits will be reduced to £23,000. Whilst only a small number of local

households have so far been affected by the benefit cap, this number is likely

to increase as the cap is reduced.

Social housing tenants have also been affected by the ‘removal of the spare

room subsidy’ - a reduction in the amount of housing benefit payable to those

deemed to have more bedrooms than they ‘need’.

The pending roll-out of Universal Credit as a single payment to working age

claimants is due to start in Cambridge from December 2015. Details are still

emerging, and the full implications are not yet know, but it is likely to be more

difficult for households on low or fluctuating incomes to budget effectively, and

to affect the council and other Registered Providers’ rental income streams.

The government is proposing a further £12bn of welfare cuts. It is not yet

clear where all these cuts will fall, but they are due to include reducing the

overall benefit cap, freezing or reducing working age benefit rates, removing

the automatic right to housing support for young people, and reducing

availability of Tax Credits.

Equality and Diversity

As a council, we are committed to challenging discrimination and promoting equality of opportunity in all aspects of our work. Our Comprehensive Equalities and Diversity Policy and Single Equality Scheme set out our objectives and priorities in this area. 9,10 Key areas in terms of housing are around preventing discrimination, harassment and victimisation – and tackling these if they arise - and making sure that people from different backgrounds can access and use our services and participate in the community. We will carry out an Equality Impact Assessment on this Strategy, and take this into account in implementing our Strategy.

9 Comprehensive Equalities and Diversity Policy:

https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/sites/www.cambridge.gov.uk/files/docs/comprehensive-equalities-and-diversity-policy.pdf 10

Draft Single Equality Scheme 2015-18: https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/sites/www.cambridge.gov.uk/files/documents/Draft%20Single%20Equality%20Scheme%202015-2018%20v1.3_0.pdf



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TRANSFORMATION OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE SERVICES Housing can have a significant impact on health and well-being, affecting people’s ability to live healthy, full and active lives, and to participate in their local communities. Provision of health and social care nationally is undergoing fundamental transformation. The Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) now commissions health care locally, and, from April 2015, all health and social care services for older people are commissioned by the CCG through a single provider.

Cambridgeshire County Council is experiencing unprecedented funding cuts, at a time when the number of older people is expected to rise significantly. In light of this, and in line with the requirements of the new Care Act – which explicitly recognises the role of housing in the provision of care - they are implementing fundamental changes to the provision of adult social care. 11 A number of the elements of our Housing Strategy should help to support these agencies in the transformation and delivery of their services. For example in promoting well-being and independence, supporting prevention of ill health and early intervention, provision of information and advice, and supporting the development of accommodation options. We are committed to continuing to strengthen partnership working in this area, and to playing a key role in the development of more integrated services. ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

As a local authority we have an important responsibility in caring for our environment, and we aim to become a leader in tackling climate change. We already do this in a number of ways, for example through promoting the sustainable development of energy efficient new housing, and improving – and supporting the improvement – of energy and water efficiency in existing homes. Our Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan shows how we will manage climate change and reduce carbon emissions, and our Carbon Management Reduction Plan outlines how we will manage carbon emissions from our estate and operations. Both are due to be reviewed, to help increase our energy efficiency and reduce our carbon footprint 12 PUBLIC SPENDING CUTS

Cuts in public spending are expected to continue as part of the plan to reduce the national deficit. This means we are having to be more creative about how services are provided and funded, carrying out fundamental service reviews, and shifting 11

Care Act 2014 12

Climate Change Strategy & Action Plan, and Carbon Reduction Management Plan: https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/climate-change



17

towards initiatives such as sharing services with other authorities and seeking more investment from external partners. Spending cuts are also hitting other partners hard, and we need to continue to strengthen our approach to partnership working to deliver outcomes.


Ch2. Increasing Housing Supply

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Chapter 2: Increasing Housing Supply

Introduction

With high demand for housing from people wanting to live, work and/or study in or close to the City, and rising rent levels and house prices, it is becoming more and more difficult for people even on middle incomes to live in the City. People working here are needing to travel into Cambridge from further and further away; Census data shows that the City’s population increases by 35.3% on work days - more than any other place outside of London. It is therefore becoming more and more difficult for people to remain living close to family and friends, which can be a particular issue for young people setting up home, and for those needing care or support. It is essential to have a variety of housing available at a range of prices to meet a range of needs and demands. Our emerging Local Plan – currently being examined by a government-appointed Inspector - sets out the development strategy for the area, including how many homes and jobs are needed over the next fifteen years, and where they should be located. This chapter of our Housing Strategy, covering the provision of new homes, summarises some of the key requirements in our emerging Local Plan, and outlines our approach in relation to social housing (otherwise referred to in planning terms as ‘Affordable Housing’).

Our priorities:

Adopt and implement the new Cambridge Local Plan and associated Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document.

Our strategic aims:

o Provide, and promote provision of, good quality, energy and water efficient housing, in a range of sizes, types and tenures, to meet a range of needs, and which people can afford.

o Create healthy, mixed, sustainable and green communities which

benefit and complement existing communities.



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Work with public authorities and the development sector (including Private Registered Providers) to ensure the right housing is built at the right time and in the right place.

Work with partners on the joint delivery of new housing under the Greater

Cambridge City Deal, to support local economic growth.

Deliver a programme of new council homes for rent and shared ownership, making best use of our available resources.

Seek opportunities to provide new homes for letting at intermediate rents, and investigate the feasibility of a social lettings agency to let and manage those properties.

Promote and maintain a mix of sizes, types and tenures of new housing,

including social housing, to meet as wide a range of needs as possible.

Improve our understanding of the housing needs of older people and those with other specialist housing needs, and promote delivery of housing to meet those needs.

Promote the provision of good quality, energy efficient housing.

Promote the provision of new housing which is as affordable as possible to

those who need to live or work in or close to the City.

Seek out funding opportunities to increase social housing delivery.

Monitor the profile of homes built and residents moving in, and use this information to inform future developments and service delivery.

Develop appropriate methods of integrating new and existing communities.


Council.



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Key data

Estimated population of Cambridge:

128,000

Cambs County Council 2013

estimates

New homes

needed by

2031:

14,000 in

Cambridge &

19,000 in

South

Cambs

SHMA 2013

Average

house price:

£428,250

Up 12% over

the last 12

months.

Hometrack Dec 2014

(

Lower quartile house price:

£275,000

Up 10% over

the last 12 months

Hometrack Dec 2014

Ratio of median

house prices to median incomes:

11.1 to 1 Hometrack Dec 2014

Ratio of lower quartile house prices

to lower quartile

incomes:

15.7 to 1

Hometrack Dec 2014

Weekly median

private rents:

1 bed = £184 2 beds =

£252

Hometrack Dec 2014

Average household

size:

2.2 people

Census data

Proportion of Cambridge households projected to be aged 65 and over by

2031:

25%

CLG All Homes 2008

Approx. number of

households on social housing register:

2,300

Home-Link



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Progress since the last Housing Strategy

Over the last three years the Council has:

Prepared and consulted on the emerging Cambridge Local Plan and

associated draft Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document.

Updated our Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) and

identified more than 5 years’ supply of land for housing.

Delivered new housing jointly with South Cambridgeshire District Council on

growth sites, and co-ordinated the development of the two districts’ Local

Plans.

Secured a City Deal with central government that sets the framework for

future investment in transport infrastructure, skills development and housing,

to secure successful growth of the local economy.

Developed new design and sustainability standards through the emerging

Cambridge Local Plan within the context of national requirements.

Facilitated delivery of nearly 1,800 new homes between 2012/13 and

2013/14. Over 1,000 new homes are now occupied on the southern fringe.

Completed the development of 36 new Council homes for rent between

2012/13 and 2014/15, some of which are specifically designed for older

people; with a further 95 in the pipeline for 2015/16.

Supported delivery of around 700 new social housing units through Private

Registered Provider Partners between 2012/13 and 2014/15.

Negotiated successfully with the Homes and Communities Agency that rent

levels for new Council homes should be set at or below Local Housing

Allowance levels (approximately 60% of market rents).

Published a Tenancy Strategy outlining to Registered Providers the issues to

take into account in deciding the types and lengths of tenancies they will offer,

and how tenancies will be reviewed.

Worked with local people and developers to support the integration of new

communities with the existing communities.



22

Key National and Local Strategies and Policies

National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)

National Planning Practice Guidance (NPPG)

Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA)

Cambridge Local Plan 2014: proposed submission

South Cambridgeshire Submission Local Plan

Greater Cambridge City Deal

Draft Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document (AHSPD)

Draft Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning Document (SPD)

Tenancy Strategy

Cambridgeshire Quality Charter for Growth

Climate Change Strategy 2012-2016

Key Issues to Address

THE NEED FOR GROWTH As outlined in Chapter 1, demand for housing in Cambridge is high, and housing affordability is one of the most critical issues facing the City today. The shortage of housing is also a national one, with 243,000 new homes per year calculated as being needed to meet the national housing shortage. 13 With Greater Cambridge recognised as having an essential role in helping to deliver national economic growth, we need to play our part in meeting the housing shortfall, and in supporting those who need to live or work within or close to the City. Development is already well under way, with new communities under construction on the southern and north-western fringes of the City, and within the City itself. Plans are also moving forward for development at Cambridge East, and on key sites in South Cambridgeshire. Delivery of new homes is largely driven by the market, and recent and likely future changes in national policy will also have a significant impact going forward. There are limits to the amount of control we as a local authority can have on issues such as rates of build, timing of provision of infrastructure, affordability of housing, etc. However, we are committed to using the powers and resources we have to work in partnership to meet the City’s housing needs as effectively as possible.

13

A Holmans (2013) – New Estimates of Housing Demand in England, 2011 to 2031



23

JOINT WORKING WITH OTHER AUTHORITIES

We have been working particularly closely with South Cambridgeshire District Council for a number of years in relation to housing supply, especially in taking forward cross-boundary developments on the fringes of the City, and we will continue to do so. 14 We will also maintain a strong interest in other growth sites close to but outside of the City, including proposed development at Cambourne, Northstowe and Waterbeach, etc. We have closely co-ordinated work on our emerging Local Plans, and - subject to approval by the Inspector examining both plans - agreed a joint housing trajectory, to ensure that development is phased appropriately. We aim to develop our next Local Plan as single Plan for the two districts. The Cambridge housing market also extends beyond South Cambridgeshire, and we work closely with the other districts in the housing sub-region through joint projects, sharing best practice etc. We have agreed a memorandum of co-operation with these districts and Peterborough, confirming where housing needs across the wider area will be met.15 The Greater Cambridge City Deal The Greater Cambridge City Deal has been heralded as a ground-breaking partnership which sets the context for future housing delivery, involving the City and South Cambridgeshire District Councils, Cambridgeshire County Council, the University of Cambridge, and the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Enterprise Partnership. In terms of housing, it aims to optimise use of land, finance and resources, accelerate the delivery of 33,000 homes already planned across the

14

Cambridge City Council growth pages: https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/growth 15

Cambridge & Peterborough Memorandum of Co-operation: https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/public/ldf/localplan2031/may2013dpssc/part1/Appendix%20N%20Memorandum%20of%20Co-operation.pdf

4,000 new homes on the Southern Fringe

4,000 new homes are planned at Clay Farm, Glebe Farm, Trumpington

Meadows and Bell School, plus student housing. There will also be

community facilities including primary and secondary schools, play areas,

shops, allotments, and a country park.

A public event was organised earlier this year in conjunction with local

residents, to celebrate passing the 1,000 homes mark.



24

two districts, and enable delivery of 1,000 new additional homes on exception sites.16 Partners are committed to leading a build programme of at least 4,000 homes, with the potential to deliver up to 8,000 if business plans allow. Over a sixteen year period this equates to at least 250 more homes per year. We are working with the local authority partners to the City Deal to set up a new Housing Development Agency as a shared service to pool land and staff resources. The aim is to make best use of land and funding made available through the City Deal partners to deliver new housing, and to acquire new land and deliver additional housing through innovative partnership and funding mechanisms. This should help to overcome the inherent risks associated with relying solely on the market to deliver new social housing.

16

Greater Cambridge City Deal: http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/citydeal/

A new deal for Cambridge

The Greater Cambridge City Deal is an agreement signed by Central

Government, Council leaders, businesses and the University of

Cambridge which aims to secure hundreds of millions of pounds for the

areas of Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire.

It aims to ensure that the success of the Cambridge area continues by

investing in the transport infrastructure, housing and skills needed for

future economic growth.

As part of this, a joint Housing Development Agency is being set up

between the two district councils and Cambridgeshire County Council

to:

Deliver 1,000 dwellings on rural exception sites by 2031

Deliver approximately 2,000 new homes planned as part of the

two districts’ house-building programmes.

Deliver up to 1,000 new homes for Ermine Street Housing, the

new private limited company created by South Cambridgeshire

District Council, subject to the approval of its long term plan.

Act on land and funding opportunities proposed by the County

Council and the University and Colleges, with the aim of

retaining a long-term stake in any development, and in the

income generated by it.

.



25

SOCIAL HOUSING

The need for social housing

There has been a significant increase in the number of people renting privately over recent years. In addition, national policy has been shifting towards prioritising provision of market housing – particularly for first-time buyers – through schemes such as Help to Buy equity loans, Right to Buy, etc. As highlighted in Chapter 1, with private rents well above Local Housing Allowance levels, and people on average incomes unable to purchase without a large deposit, the need for social Housing to rent and/or buy at rents and prices that local people can afford has never been more important.

Working with the development sector and Registered Providers

Most of the new social housing provided in recent years has been through Private Registered Providers, and we will continue to work with them in their plans for development going forwards. In order to maximise provision of social housing the council will continue to seek, as a minimum, 40% of new homes to be provided as social housing (subject to planning restrictions, and to scheme viability as demonstrated through full financial appraisal). As well as seeking funding opportunities through the City Deal, we need to continue to engage with the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Enterprise Partnership and other emerging partnerships to maximise the delivery of social housing. Our Charter for New Affordable Housing provides a guide to agencies seeking council support for new schemes and we will continue to update this as appropriate.17

Cambridge Social Rent Programme

The council has been able to start building again over the last few years, and so far has successfully delivered 36 new homes on its own land.18 More are planned, including development on council land at Clay Farm on the southern fringe, and on land owned by Homerton College. We will continue to seek further opportunities for development. A government-imposed cap somewhat restricts our borrowing capacity, although we will continue to lobby for more flexibility in how much we can borrow.

17

Charter for New Affordable Housing: https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/sites/www.cambridge.gov.uk/files/documents/charter-for-new-affordable-housing.pdf 18

Cambridge Social Rent Programme: https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/housing-development



26

We have agreed with the Homes and Communities Agency that we can retain Right to Buy receipts to help fund our Cambridge Social Rent Programme. However, not being permitted to combine use of Right to Buy receipts with any grant funding, and having to top up the build costs with our own resources, makes achieving one for one replacement of homes sold under the Right to Buy a significant challenge. We will continue to lobby strongly for greater freedom to borrow more against the value of the council’s housing stock to build new Social Rent Homes. As highlighted in Chapter 1, we are also extremely concerned about the impact that extending the Right to Buy to Housing Association tenants, to be funded by sales of higher value council homes, might have on our ability to fund new-build going forward as well as on our existing stock. We will continue to highlight our concerns about these proposals in their current form, and lobby strongly against them. We will investigate further the levering in of investment from the private sector and from City Deal partners for new private rented housing at sub-market rents, outside of the Housing Revenue Account. This is a growing area nationally, and we will carefully monitor developments in this field. However, our position is clear that new private rented housing at sub-market rents should not be considered as an alternative to providing social housing on new sites.

Tenure of social housing

With around 2,300 applicants on our housing register, and based on other evidence from our Strategic Housing Market Assessment, we will continue to aim for 75% of new social housing on each site to be provided for rent. However, we recognise that there are significant numbers of people who cannot access social housing but who are also unable to afford to buy or rent on the open market. So we aim for 25% of the new homes on council land to be provided as Intermediate Housing – eg for shared ownership sale and/or at sub-market rents.

Converting garages into homes!

Well, not quite….

The council has a number of blocks of under-used garages, some of which are falling into disrepair. Four of these sites are being redeveloped to provide 32

houses and flats as social housing, to be owned and managed by the council.

A site at Atkins Close in the north of the city is almost complete, and work is just starting at Hawkins Road and Ekin Road.

.



27

The council’s position is - wherever possible - to retain its own Housing Revenue Account land for social housing. We will consider the feasibility of directly developing more homes through our Social Rent Programme to be let at sub-market rents, and are looking at other opportunities to develop intermediate tenure housing. We are investigating whether Intermediate Rent housing could be let and managed through our own Social Lettings Agency – either by expanding the role of our existing sub-regional agency, Town Hall Lettings, or setting up a separate new agency.

Size of social housing

There is a relatively high level of need for smaller homes from applicants on our housing register, so our new draft Affordable Housing SPD proposes an increase in the percentage of smaller homes we seek to be provided on new sites.19 Each site will be considered within its own local context. However, our aim is for one-bedroom homes to be no more than 20% of the general needs social housing on larger sites, with at least 40% two bedrooms, 30% three bedrooms and 10% four bedrooms. This is to recognise the need for settled family accommodation, changing aspirations, need for homes to be attractive to and suitable for older and/or disabled people, and the need to promote balanced and sustainable communities.

Quality of social housing

Whilst there is significant pressure to build more social housing, maintaining quality remains a priority, and we need to aim for housing and wider environmental designs that promote health and well-being. We will continue to promote standards through the Cambridgeshire Quality Charter for Growth20 and our emerging Local Plan, within the context of new national standards.

Affordability of social housing

We know that rent levels are a concern for many tenants. By using our own resources to fund new council homes we are able to let many of our homes as part of our Cambridge Social Rent Programme. This is instead of the higher Affordable Rents required to be charged (at up to 80% of market rents) where government grant is used. However, because of restrictions on our sources of funding, to maximise the number of homes we can build we will need to let new social housing schemes at rent levels that make the overall housing programme viable. We will keep our social rents below Local Housing Allowance levels, and avoid converting existing homes to Affordable Rents. Where we have to charge Affordable Rents we will also keep these at or below Local Housing Allowance rates.

19

Draft Affordable Housing SPD (Appendix 6) 20

Cambridgeshire Quality Charter for Growth: https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/sites/www.cambridge.gov.uk/files/documents/cambridgeshire_quality_charter_2010.pdf



28

Whilst we cannot control rents set by other providers, our Tenancy Strategy states a preference for other providers’ Affordable Rents to be around 65% of market rents and close to Local Housing Allowance rates.21 We will review and re-launch our Tenancy Strategy, re-emphasising our commitment to keeping Affordable Rents rents as low as possible. We will also continue to monitor the balance of Social Rent, Affordable Rent and Intermediate tenure homes, and to share that information with other providers to help to ensure that housing remains affordable.

TENURE MIX ON NEW DEVELOPMENTS

A mix of tenures is desirable to create healthy, mixed and sustainable communities. However, whilst we have some control over the balance between social and market housing, we are less able to control the tenure of market housing, or whether homes are let as shared housing or small houses in multiple occupation which do not require planning permission. We aim to monitor buy-to-let activity and we will keep abreast of any new national initiatives which might enable us to address any emerging imbalances. There is no hard evidence to suggest that purchasers buying properties to leave them empty is currently a significant problem in Cambridge. Monitoring this is difficult, but we will keep a watch on the situation, and investigate use of any powers which may become available.

TYPES OF NEW HOUSING

Older people’s housing

There is a growing need, both nationally and locally, for new homes of all tenures to meet the needs of older people.

21

Tenancy Strategy: https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/housing-and-related-strategies#tenancy-strategy

New council housing on Clay Farm

The council is building 104 new units of social housing as part of the Quad development on council land at Clay Farm on the southern fringe.

Homes will be a mixture of rent and shared ownership, and there will also be

commercial space opening on to a public square.

There will also be a new community centre next door, to including 20 flats - provided by Bpha

.



29

In our draft Affordable Housing SPD we aim for a percentage of smaller new affordable homes to be for older people, or as other forms of specialist housing for disabled or vulnerable people. We will continue to improve our understanding of older people’s housing needs, and promote the issues amongst partners. Our aim was to require homes of all tenures to be designed to enable the Lifetime Homes standard to be met, and for 5% of schemes of 20 or more homes to either meet wheelchair design standards, or be easily adapted to meet them. However, we will need to reconsider this to meet with new national standards which have been announced, as further details emerge. Although no new extra care schemes are currently planned for Cambridge over the next few years, an Extra Care Commissioning Strategy for Cambridgeshire is in place, outlining priority areas for development across the county. 22 We will work with partners to review this Strategy, and to develop a broader Older People’s Housing Strategy for Cambridgeshire.

Specialist Housing In addition to housing for older people, there are other groups who may require specialist forms of housing, including those with physical, sensory and learning disabilities. As well as requiring a percentage of homes to be built to wheelchair design standards, we will work with health and social care partners to identify what mix and location of housing is required to meet the needs of those groups.

22

Cambridgeshire Extra Care Strategy 2011-2015: http://www.cambridgeshireinsight.org.uk/housing/homes-wellbeing

Housing for Older People

A number of new schemes have been developed recently in Cambridge for people aged 55 and over, including:

21 council apartments for rent at Jane’s Court on Seymour Street

10 units at Carter House on Clay Farm, provided by Metropolitan

73 units being developed by bpha on Bell School on the southern fringe

Further council apartments are planned at Water Lane in Chesterton.

.



30

Gypsy & Traveller Accommodation

Our sub-regional Gypsy & Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessment identified the need for one permanent Gypsy/Traveller pitch in the City between now and 2031, and for a temporary or emergency stopping place somewhere within the Cambridge area. We have developed a criteria-based policy for assessing the suitability of land. However, we have been unable to identify any land to date which would be suitable for Gypsies and Travellers to live on.23 We will continue to seek land within Cambridge, and to work with South Cambridgeshire District Council to try to identify any other land close to the City.

Employment related housing

Development of The University of Cambridge’s land in north-west Cambridge includes, as well as market and student housing, provision for 1500 homes for University key workers. The emerging Cambridge Local Plan supports new housing for employees as part of schemes for employment development, where need can be fully evidenced. However, with such high levels of housing need, social housing will be required on such sites in line with the agreed social housing threshold.

Student Housing

We recognise the importance of student accommodation, and our emerging Local Plan permits development if it meets identified needs of an existing educational institution for students attending full-time courses of one academic year or more.24 With two universities and a number of other educational establishments, demand from developers to provide new student housing is currently strong. However, we need to achieve a balance of housing types, both in individual areas and City-wide. We are working to gain a better understanding of the need for further student accommodation and the extent to which provision of new student housing in Cambridge is or is likely to free up existing homes.

Flat conversions

There is strong demand for shared housing, which conversion into self-contained flats can help to meet, although we need to take into account the impact on existing communities. The emerging Cambridge Local Plan sets out conditions under which such conversions would be permitted.25

23

Draft Cambridge Local Plan: Proposed Submission, Policy 49 24

Draft Cambridge Local Plan: Proposed Submission, Policy 46 25

Draft Cambridge Local Plan: Proposed Submission, Policy 53.



31

Self-build

Although we do not anticipate significant demand from people wanting to build their own home within the City, we would be supportive of appropriate applications. If demand does increase we will explore further options.

Residential moorings

Our waiting list for residential moorings identifies demand from people wishing to live on the river, and the emerging Cambridge Local Plan supports the development of new residential moorings within off-river basins or marinas.26

OTHER PLANNING POLICY ISSUES

The review of the council’s Local Plan has been taking place at a time of significant change to the national planning policy landscape, and some modifications to the emerging Local Plan will need to be made.

Changes to affordable housing thresholds.

We had proposed that smaller sites with capacity for between 2 and 9 dwellings would require on or off-site provision of a minimum of 10% social housing. However, this may now be unachievable due to a recent government decision which precludes developers from having to provide social housing on these smaller sites. We will discuss this matter as part of the Local Plan Examination, and any changes to the policy will need to be in line with government requirements.

Housing Standards.

Our draft Local Plan includes a set of minimum standards for new homes across all tenures, around space, accessibility, sustainability, etc. As a result of standards proposed since under the national Housing Standards Review, some changes will need to be made to our own standards – eg removing reference to the Code for Sustainable Homes. We will continue to promote standards through use of the Cambridgeshire Quality Charter for Growth, and through use of Design Codes on the fringe developments. 27 As with the social housing thresholds, this will be discussed as part of the Local Plan Examination, and any changes made will be in line with government requirements.

26

Draft Local Plan: Proposed Submission, Policy 54 27

DCLG consultation – Housing Standards Review: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/housing-standards-review-consultation



32

Vacant Building Credit

Under the new Vacant Building Credit, where empty buildings are demolished,

replaced or brought back into use, developers must now be offered a financial ‘credit’

equivalent to the existing gross floor space when affordable housing contributions

are calculated. The likely impact in Cambridge has not yet been fully assessed, but it

is likely to further reduce the amount of social housing that we can require to be

provided.

Change to permitted development rights

Legislation allows the change of use from office to residential use without planning permission for a set period between 2013 and 2016. Although it could help to increase housing supply, there were concerns that this could adversely affect the economy, and the balance between employment and residential use within local areas. However, although we applied for an exemption to this policy, our application was unsuccessful. It is not yet clear whether the policy will be extended beyond 2016, but we will continue to monitor any impact.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

We need to do everything we can to ensure that Cambridge develops in the most sustainable way possible. We need to ensure that all new development both mitigates and is adaptable to climate change, and our emerging Local Plan details how we will require this to happen (subject to the emerging new National Standards).28 This sets standards required in relation both to the homes themselves, and the wider environment – for example in mitigating against potential water

28

Draft Cambridge Local Plan: Proposed Submission, Section 4 – Responding to Climate Change and Managing Resources

Quality Charter: ‘The Four Cs’

The Cambridgeshire Quality Charter for Growth sets out core principles for the

level of quality to be expected in new developments in Cambridgeshire.

Supported by local authorities, statutory agencies like the Homes and Communities Agency, utilities, and major landowners and developers, it sets out

a series of basic principles for achieving higher quality under four themes:

Community, Connectivity, Climate, and Character

.



33

shortages and the need to manage flood risks, which are both particular risks for Cambridge. In developing council housing, we will continue to seek high levels of energy efficiency. We aim to build homes on Clay Farm to the current Code for Sustainable Homes level 5, and have developed a prototype eco-house, to monitor the extent to which such an approach can help keep fuel costs down and reduce carbon emissions. We are also the first local authority to become a developer member of the Good Homes Alliance. We will review our design and development specification for social housing to ensure we are able to specify our requirements once the Code for Sustainable Homes is superseded by the new National Housing Standards.

IMPACT OF GROWTH

Housing growth can bring many positive benefits, but there are also challenges in making sure that these benefits are felt by both the new and existing communities. Having infrastructure in place is critical to the success of new communities, and although we only have limited control on how soon new facilities can be provided, we will continue to work with developers to promote early provision. Too often communities can feel that they are not benefitting from change through growth in their own area. A number of initiatives have been introduced on the southern fringe to support new residents and integrate new and existing communities. These include: use of local volunteers to welcome new residents; adult learning opportunities; close working with the existing Residents Association; and use of Community Forums to enable dialogue between residents and key partners, and give residents the opportunity to raise concerns and influence developers’ thinking.

The Good Homes Alliance

The Good Homes Alliance (GHA) is a group of housing developers, building

professionals and other industry supporters whose aim is to transform the UK

housing sector to ensure it creates and maintains ‘Good Homes for all’.

Cambridge City Council is the first local authority to become a developer

member. As part of this we have signed up to the GHA standard for some of our

council housing development, which means that homes must be low energy,

healthy, and have proven performance – through monitoring not just of building

performance, but through feedback from people living in the new homes.

.



34

These sorts of initiatives will be expanded elsewhere as other developments come forward. How we do this will depend on resident involvement opportunities already in place in the existing communities affected, and we will need to seek new ways to harness community resources in developing new communities. We are determined that, where we lead new developments ourselves through our Cambridge Social Rent Programme, the principal beneficiaries will be local people and existing communities. We will therefore work with residents to agree a new Community Charter, to ensure that there is a real partnership between local residents and the council in relation to the Programme. We want people to be able to have a real say in issues such as: what work will be carried out under the Programme; how it will be taken forward; how they can be more directly involved in the process; and how they and their communities can benefit from the development. This includes giving residents the right to move back to the same community where they have been required to move for the purposes of redevelopment. We will continue to improve our understanding of the profile of residents moving into new communities, to help us understand how the new developments might impact on the overall profile of the City, and to inform service priorities going forward.

Actions:

To meet our aims and priorities we will:

Adopt and implement a new Local Plan and Affordable Housing

Supplementary Planning document (subject to approval by the government

Inspector).


Council.

Set up a new Housing Development Agency with local authority partners to

the Greater Cambridge City Deal.

Involving residents in major new developments

The Southern Fringe and North West Community Forums each meet regularly to

bring residents, local authorities and developers together to exchange information

on the new housing developments taking place in their areas.

The Forums aim to help integrate the new and existing communities, celebrate

successes, and promote the new developments as good places to live.

.



35

Together with City Deal partners, lead a build programme of at least 4,000

homes over the next 16 years.

Deliver around 208 new homes on council land at Clay Farm, with half being

social housing for rent and intermediate sale

Deliver, through our Cambridge Social Rent Programme, additional new

homes on other council owned land in the city, continually reviewing our

specification in respect of design, sustainability and positive impact for

residents.

Investigate the feasibility of the council purchasing and/or developing new

Intermediate Rent homes on its own land, and of setting up a social lettings

agency to let and manage those homes.

Review our Tenancy Strategy, outlining what we and other Registered

Providers should have regard to in deciding the types and lengths of tenancy

to be offered, and in setting Affordable Rent levels.

Monitor, through the Cambridge Sub-Regional Housing Board, how the

balance of social housing tenures changes over time, and develop actions to

try to address any emerging imbalance.

Agree a programme of new development surveys, to identify the profile of

people moving in to new developments, and use the information to inform our

approach to future developments.

Work with partners to review the Cambridgeshire Extra Care Commissioning

Strategy, and to develop a wider Older People’s Housing Strategy for the

county.

Work with partners to identify the size, type and location of new specialist

housing needed by people who are disabled or have mental health issues.

Develop a Community Charter in relation to council house-building, to enable

local communities to influence and benefit from new developments.


Ch3. Existing Homes & Communities

36

Chapter 3: Existing Homes and Communities

Introduction

Although increasing the supply of housing is an important part of our work, it is not our only focus. We also have a strong role to play in ensuring that existing residents can live settled lives in homes that are well managed and maintained; that people can stay living independently for as long as possible; and that people from different backgrounds can access and use services and participate in the community without fear of harassment or discrimination. The council, as one of the minority of local authorities who have retained their own housing stock, is the main single provider of housing in the City, and we are responsible for managing and maintaining those homes and the estates in which they are located. However, we also have a large private rented sector compared to many other parts of the country, which is growing fast. We need to make sure that people renting privately can live in decent, well-maintained homes which are properly managed. A well-managed private rented sector is not only good for the tenants involved, but it is also important for the other residents living in those communities. And for those who need a little more help to live independently, we have a role in supporting people in all tenures to live safely in their homes, and to access the advice, information and support they need.



37

Our priorities:

Review our Housing Revenue Account services and spending priorities for

council housing, and explore opportunities to provide new or enhanced

services if appropriate.

Minimise the impact of the introduction of Universal Credit on tenants and

leaseholders and on the council’s business plan.

Support health and social care partners in their plans for transformation of

commissioning and services, including provision of advice and information to

Our strategic aims:

o Ensure homes are healthy, safe, and energy and water efficient

o Make, and promote, the best use of existing homes

o Recognise the council’s role as the main single provider of

housing in the City - in providing homes and communities that

people want and can afford to live in, and in tackling poverty,

inequality and social exclusion.

o Manage and maintain the council’s homes and estates in a cost-

effective way, balancing business needs with customers’ needs

and expectations

o Promote a well regulated, fair, good quality private rented sector.

o Recognise links between health, social care & housing, and work

positively with partner organisations to promote and improve

quality of life and health and well-being

o Ensure people who need it have access to high quality

information and advice to enable them to fund a suitable housing

environment and make informed choices about living

independently

o Promote community cohesion, and positively tackle crime and

anti-social behaviour



38

enable people to make informed choices around independent living, and

developing more integrated services.

Bid to provide care and support services where appropriate to do so.

Expand and promote council tenant and leaseholder involvement, and carry

out bi-annual satisfaction surveys to inform decision-making.

Support owners and landlords in making private homes more energy and

water efficient, and in providing safe and healthy living environments.

Complete a private sector house condition survey, and use it to inform

investment priorities, enforcement & regulation activity, and targeting of

information and promotion.

Support private landlords in managing and maintaining their homes, and

effectively tackle poor and illegal practices by landlords and letting agents.

Bring empty homes back into use, by supporting landlords through financial

and other assistance, and by robust use of enforcement.

Work with landlords and other partners to tackle anti-social behaviour –

particularly in relation to people with mental health issues who may need

additional support.



39

Key data

Progress since previous Strategy

Over the last three years the Council has:

Implemented significant improvements to our day to day repairs service for

council homes, including introducing mobile working technology and

extending the appointments service. Performance has improved against a

number of key indicators.

Improved the energy efficiency of the council’s homes, increasing the overall

SAP rating by 1% percent per year since 2011/12.

Estimated population of Cambridge:

128,000

Cambs County Council 2013

estimates

Estimated no. of

dwellings in Cambridge:

49,050

Cambs County

Council 2013 estimates

Percentage of

households renting

privately:

26%

Up from 21% in 2001

Census 2011

Percentage of households renting from the council:

15%

Census 2011

No. of council homes:

7,016 rented

79 shared ownership

1,128 leasehold

Internal data.

April 2015

Age 85+ population forecast 2031:

5,000 (3%)

Cambs County

Council 2013 estimates

Population with long-

term illness or disability:

13%

Census 2011



40

Introduced home energy grants to private rented homes through our landlord

accreditation scheme, and targeted and supported home owners to carry out

almost 700 energy efficiency measures in their own homes.

Worked with partners to set up a county-wide Green Deal scheme,

Cambridgeshire Action on Energy, securing funding for solid wall insulation,

energy efficiency improvements in the private rented sector. 67 jobs had been

completed by March 2015, with a further 377 in the pipeline.

Reviewed and implemented changes to our shared ownership scheme,

including improved eligibility criteria, better decision making around dealing

with homes which come up for resale, and improving communication with

shared owners.

Developed, in partnership with Cambridgeshire County Council, a housing-

related support service across all tenures, providing assessment of needs and

signposting to other services.

Introduced, and subsequently reviewed, a Tenancy Policy, aimed at keeping

rents for new homes as affordable as possible within national policy, and

introducing limited use of fixed term tenancies.

Brought 25 empty private sector homes back into use, and increased funding

and staff capacity to deal with long term empty homes.

Improved our approach to tackling anti-social behaviour relating to private

rented housing.

Reviewed and improved our approach to management and enforcement in

relation to Houses in Multiple Occupation.

Key Strategies and Policies

Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan

HRA Asset Management Plan

Climate Change Strategy

Carbon Management Plan 2011-2016

Fuel and Water Poverty Action Plan 2015-2017

Tenancy Policy

Private Sector House Condition Survey 2014

Empty Homes Policy



41

Lettings Policy

Anti-Social Behaviour Policy

Anti-Social Behaviour Charter

Community Safety Plan 2014-2017

Enforcement Policy

Cambs Home Improvement Agency Business Plan (draft)

Cambridgeshire Domestic Abuse & Sexual Violence Strategy


MANAGING AND MAINTAINING THE COUNCIL’S HOMES Housing Revenue Account Business Plan With responsibility for managing over 8,000 council homes we have an obligation to tenants and leaseholder to spend the money raised – largely through rents and service charges - in the most effective way possible. All the money allocated for spending on council homes is held separately from money spend on other council activities, in our Housing Revenue Account (HRA). The HRA was previously funded through a system of government subsidies, but in 2012 the rules changed, so the HRA became self-financing, and we now manage this activity through a 30 year business plan. Since then, there have been a number of changes in national policy which are having – or will shortly be having an impact. These include reducing the annual amount by which rent levels can be increased, increases in discounts available to people wanting to buy their homes under the Right to Buy, plans to require local authorities to sell off stock to fund the extension of the Right to Buy to Housing Association tenants, implementation of reforms to the welfare system, increased emphasis on localism, and fundamental reforms to the delivery of health and social care services. So now, three years on, we need to take stock and assess whether we are still going in the right direction to take the business forward into the future, whilst ensuring that our tenants and leaseholders can get the best deal possible, and that the most vulnerable remain protected. We are carrying out a fundamental review of the business plan, taking into account financial and policy opportunities and threats which have emerged since the plan was agreed, and trying to anticipate what further changes may lie ahead. In carrying out this review we will work closely with tenants and leaseholders, and take into account the results of our recent STAR tenant satisfaction survey.



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Responsive repairs and planned maintenance Over the past few years we have worked with tenants and leaseholders to agree and implement some significant changes to our day to day repairs service. Our Repairs Improvement Plan has now been largely delivered, but we will review how the service can be further improved within the resources available. We also need to ensure we are achieving value for money in the planned maintenance of council homes. All of our homes meet the national Decent Homes standard, and we currently carry out work to a standard based on the national standard plus some additional works. We will consult with our customers to better understand their priorities, and to review our investment plan and the standards to which work should be carried out. We also need to improve how we keep both tenants and leaseholders informed of what work is to be carried out in their area. Warm, energy and water efficient homes We have made significant progress over recent years in improving the energy efficiency of the council’s homes, with our average SAP rating now well above the national average. We will focus on continuing to improve thermal efficiency, including improving loft and cavity wall insulation, and, as part of the planned review of our investment standard, we will consider the extent to which we should prioritise solid wall insulation for properties of non-traditional construction. Council tenants will be one of the main groups targeted for support through our Fuel and Water Poverty action plan.29 Re-letting homes Re-letting council homes as quickly as possible remains a priority, both in meeting the needs of housing-register applicants and reducing the rent lost during that period. We will continue to review how we deal with repairs on empty homes to help reduce average relet times. Support to live independently Although Cambridge has a relatively young population, the number of older people, as nationally, is increasing, and people are living longer with chronic health conditions and disabilities. The expected increase in the number of people with dementia prevalence is of particular concern to health and social care providers. The council has an increasingly important role to play in supporting its tenants – and others in the wider community – to live as independently as possible. Cambridgeshire County Council commissions care and support services to people in their homes. Already providing housing management services, Cambridge City Council, as a major housing provider, is ideally placed to: provide housing-related support to tenants in our sheltered schemes; provide care services to those in our

29

Insert Fuel & Water Poverty Action Plan: to follow once agreed



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extra care schemes; and to extend these services to people in the wider community, across all tenures. We are currently providing these services on behalf of Cambridgeshire County Council, but we are concerned that if, due to funding pressures, services other than housing management are carried out by other agencies, the overall quality of the service to these residents may suffer. We need to work with partners to ensure that high quality, joined up services can continue to be provided when arrangements come up for renewal, and consider bidding for relevant care and/or support contracts where appropriate to do so. As outlined in Chapter 1, significant changes are under way both nationally and locally in how health and social care services are commissioned and delivered to older and vulnerable people. Services provided by health and social care partners are being fundamentally transformed, and we need to work with and support our partners in developing and delivering their current and future plans and in provision of more integrated services. Disabled adaptations Providing disabled adaptations for council tenants forms a significant proportion of the spending on our housing capital programme. With an ageing population, changes in health and disability profiles and the ongoing shift towards people remaining at home into old age, we are reviewing our approach to providing adaptations to enable people to continue to live independently, whilst making sure we can achieve value for money and make best use of the council’s homes. Additional services We will explore opportunities to build on our current landlord services to provide better support to vulnerable people, and to support tenants who need a little more help to sustain their tenancies. We will also look at opportunities to generate income from existing or new services. Length of Tenancy We believe that tenants should be able to live settled lifestyles without the fear that they may be required to move if their circumstances change. Therefore, in most circumstances we will continue to offer secure council tenancies on a lifetime basis. However, to allow some flexibility to meet wider needs, our agreed Tenancy Policy allows for fixed term tenancies to be offered to new tenants of homes with four bedrooms or more, for move-on accommodation, and in exceptional circumstances based on the type/location etc of the property. Rent levels We recognise the need to keep rents at levels which tenants can afford to pay. For homes which were grant-funded, or part-funded using Right to Buy receipts, and which are therefore let at Affordable Rents, we will continue to aim to introduce rents at or below Local Housing Allowance levels wherever it is financially viable to do so.



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However, at the same time, as well as complying with national rent policy requirements, we need to generate sufficient income to invest in and manage the existing housing stock and build new homes. Where homes have been brought up to agreed energy efficiency levels we will increase the rent charged to Target Rent levels when they are relet to new tenants, on the basis that better thermal efficiency can help to reduce household costs through reduced fuel bills. Financial inclusion Higher living costs and welfare reforms are having an impact on increasing numbers of households, which in turn can affect their ability to pay their rent. We have recruited a new Financial Inclusion Officer to help tenants to deal with financial issues, and we also need to work closely with other partners to ensure that people receive the financial advice and support they need. Leasehold homes Around 1,100 homes sold under the Right to Buy – mainly flats and maisonettes - are owned by leaseholders. We have recently reviewed our approach to managing these homes in consultation with leaseholders, and will consider whether further improvements can be made as part of our wider HRA review. Shared Ownership We currently provide around 80 homes on a shared ownership basis, and plan to provide more through our housing development programme. We recently reviewed and improved shared ownership service in consultation with shared owners. We will review the impact of the changes made as a result, and assess whether further improvements are required. Resident involvement We have a strong track record of engaging with and involving tenants and leaseholders in decisions around service priorities and operations – eg through representation on our Housing Scrutiny Committee and Housing Regulation Panel, through testing the quality of services, etc.30 We will continue, working with residents, to improve our approach in this area. We aim to carry out a residents’ satisfaction (STAR) survey every two years, to help inform our approach to investment in the housing service. Following our last survey in 2014, we identified more tenants interested in becoming involved, and we will work to ensure that the capacity and skills of tenant and leaseholder representatives are targeted in the most effective way.

30

Resident involvement opportunities: https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/ways-to-get-involved



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Welfare Reforms affecting social housing tenants Just under 500 council tenant households are currently affected by the national ‘spare room subsidy’ policy under which social tenants deemed to have more bedrooms than they need have had their benefit entitlement reduced. (The policy currently affects just under 700 households overall in the City, which includes tenants of private registered providers). We have reviewed our lettings policy to give more priority for rehousing to applicants considered, by this standard, to be ‘under-occupying’. At the same time we aim to continue to protect more vulnerable households through use of Discretionary Housing Payments. Universal Credit is due to start being rolled out locally from late 2015 to early 2016. We are already working with partners to communicate with all social housing tenants likely to be affected, to help them to understand the implications and support them in adjusting to the new arrangements. Our work with CHS Group on a digital inclusion project to help more council tenants to access the internet will help in this area. Direct payment of Universal Credit to social housing tenants themselves is likely to present us with some significant challenges in collecting rents which would have previously been paid direct to the council through housing benefit. We will review our approach to rent collection and arrears management in the context of the new arrangements.

We value residents’ views

Every two years we carry out satisfaction surveys with council tenants and

leaseholders to get their views on services provided, and to help us in

decision-making going forward.

Following our STAR satisfaction survey in 2014 it was not always clear

why some services scored lower than others.

We are running a series of focus groups with tenants and leaseholder to

understand why, and to explore in more detail residents’ image of the

council and how we can manage expectations. We will use this to help

inform improvements to service areas and to how we communicate with

residents.



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Getting online

More and more organisations are expecting people to communicate with

them on line, and those without access to the internet are likely to

become increasingly disadvantaged when it comes to things that many

others take for granted, including, seeking employment, sorting out

finances, etc.

In partnership with CSH Group, we have developed a number of

initiatives to help get social housing tenants on line, including:

A computer skills course, focusing on financial inclusion and

employment, enabling participants to buy computers at a discount

price - through opening a credit union account if necessary.

Recruiting sheltered scheme residents as ‘Digital Champions’ to

support older people to get on line.

Investing in some tablet computers to give residents who have

never used the internet before a chance to see how easy it can

be.

It is early days, but so far feedback has been positive.



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PRIVATE SECTOR HOMES Private rented sector conditions and management The private rented sector in Cambridge, as in other parts of the country, has grown significantly over recent years. Government policy relies heavily on self-regulation and on local authorities using the powers they have to tackle issues around management and poor conditions, so it is essential that we use these powers to ensure that private rented homes are fit to live in. We recognise that most landlords and letting agents are reputable and provide a good service. This was backed up by a survey we carried out recently as part of a review of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in the City, in which there were relatively high levels of satisfaction with how homes were managed and maintained. Our Property Accreditation scheme helps to support landlords who are committed to high standards of management. We plan to revitalise and relaunch this as the Cambridge Landlord Accreditation & Safety Scheme (CLASS), to offer new benefits to members, and to develop new tools to support them in the marketing and managing of their properties. However, we are taking an increasingly robust approach towards the minority of landlords who are not managing their properties effectively, to ensure that homes are healthy, safe, and fit to live in – particularly in relation to HMOs. We are stepping up our approach to enforcement, reviewing how we regulate the private rented sector, and looking at new ways of tackling poor conditions and management. This includes plans to: improve education and awareness amongst landlords and tenants to help them to better understand and fulfil their rights and responsibilities; develop a property standard for the City; and investigate whether introducing discretionary licensing for particular types of property or more broadly across the City would be an effective way forward. We have also been carrying out a survey of the condition of private sector housing within the City, to understand better whether there are particular areas or property types towards which we need to better target our resources to help improve the condition of the housing stock.



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Home energy, and fuel & water poverty The Energy Act 2011 introduces new energy efficiency duties for landlords, and we will support them in complying with the new requirements. We will continue to promote our Green Deal scheme, Cambridgeshire Action on Energy, which currently provides funding for solid wall insulation and energy efficiency improvements in the private rented sector. This has acted as a catalyst for improving our approach generally – eg improving planning guidance, developing a local solid wall insulation market and supply chain, etc, and the partnership also makes us well placed to adapt to changes in national policy and to make maximum use of any future funding opportunities which may arise. Tackling fuel and utility costs is important in tackling poverty. We have agreed a Fuel and Water Poverty action plan, to help those who find it difficult to manage fuel and water bills. This includes actions around promoting ‘collective switching’ whereby residents can reduce bills by negotiating group deals with utility providers, and investigating how homes occupied by private tenants in receipt of benefits can be made more water and/or fuel efficient. We will use income data and the results of our private sector house condition survey to better target the promotion of energy and water schemes towards areas most in need of improvement. Our Climate Change Strategy is to be comprehensively reviewed during 2015/16.

Improving private rented housing

The vast majority of landlords and letting agencies operating in the City provide a good service to tenants. However, a small minority are failing to meet their legal obligations, with tenants living in poorly managed and/or

sub-standard housing.

During 2014-15 the council investigated over 200 cases relating to housing disrepair, poor management, and tenancy issues such as illegal eviction

and harassment.

We served 44 statutory notices and had five successful prosecutions. The remaining cases were resolved without the need for formal action.



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Long-term empty Homes Bringing long-term empty homes back into use is essential, to help meet the high demand for housing and to deal with the impact that they can have on local communities. We are setting up a scheme to provide loans to owners to bring homes up to standard and lease them to the council or another Registered Provider for meeting housing need. We have also increased Council Tax liability for empty homes. We will continue to assist landlords, and where appropriate use enforcement action, to reduce any negative impact and bring homes back into use. Disabled Facilities Grants With issues such as longer life expectancy and medical advances leading to more children surviving with long-term conditions or disabilities, demand for grants for disabled adaptations is expected to rise, and the council aims – subject to available resources - to continue to top up government funding, to ensure that eligible applicants do not have to wait unreasonable lengths of time for work to be done. Grants and loans for repairs and improvements We currently offer a range of means-tested grants and loans for home repairs and improvements to enable people to live safely in their homes. We will review our approach taking into account the results of our private sector house condition survey. Although providing grants and loans is a decision for individual authorities, we will try to ensure that our approach does not become too inconsistent with that of other districts served by the Cambridgeshire Home Improvement Agency.

Grants and loans to promote independent living

The council has a statutory duty to award grants to disabled people living

in the private sector, to adapt their homes to meet their needs. The sorts of

works funded include walk-in showers, stair-lifts, and home extensions.

In the two years 2012/13 to 2013/14 we awarded over £1 million in

Disabled Facilities Grants to carry out disabled adaptations for older and

disabled people – funded partly by government grant, but also from the

council’s own Housing Capital Programme.

We also provide grants and loans to people on low incomes to carry out

repairs and improvements to their homes so that they can live safely and

independently at home. We provided 59 repair and improvement grants

and loans in 2012/13 to 2013/14, worth £184,300.



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Home Improvement Agency – Cambs HIA Our shared service Home Improvement Agency, Cambs HIA, carries out disabled adaptation and repair works for disabled, older and vulnerable people. Changes in the national and local health and social care landscape offer an opportunity to extend the Agency’s role to provide a more comprehensive ‘no wrong door’ point of contact, providing information and advice for older and disabled people. This includes: further improving links with other agencies –including the voluntary sector; improving customer involvement and experience; and offering a wider package of services such as advice on prevention, financial and housing options etc. The Agency will shortly be consulting on a new business plan. Handyperson Service We are working with other local authorities in Cambridgeshire to commission a county-wide Handyperson service aimed mostly at older people, providing a home assessment and small jobs around the home. As well as helping people to live independently, Handyperson services can also play an important role in enabling patients to be discharged more speedily from hospital. This will replace the existing Safer Homes service currently provided in City, South Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire. Residential Moorings The council manages 94 moorings on the River Cam, with around 150 people living on the river at any one time. There is a waiting list for moorings, which reflects a demand for this as a form of cost-effective living for some groups. We are carrying out a full review of moorings policy in consultation with owners and other relevant parties, to better understand the issues and improve the management of moorings. We will also use this as an opportunity to improve links between council services in dealing with boat-dwellers. Welfare reforms affecting private rent tenants As outlined in Chapter 1, tenants in the private sector have been hit hard by housing benefit reforms, and there are no areas in the City where even the cheapest rents are fully covered by housing benefit. We have challenged this with the government on a number of occasions, but without success. Although nationally there has been a rise in the number of people in work claiming housing benefit, the number of private rented sector claimants in the City has been steadily reducing – from 827 in April 2013, to 704 in April 2015. Anecdotal evidence suggests that claimants are moving further out of the City to areas which are more affordable. With LHA increases now being capped, this is likely to continue, affecting the mix of people living in local communities, and potentially affecting the ability of local businesses to recruit to lower paid jobs. Our approach to helping people to maintain their tenancies in the light of this is discussed in Chapter 4 of this Strategy.



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COMMUNITY SAFETY & ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR Community safety continues to be a high priority for the council, particularly in its work through the Cambridge Community Safety Partnership. Anti-Social Behaviour We will continue to improve our approach to tackling anti-social behaviour and harassment, and we are working to expand the role of Neighbourhood Resolution Panels which deal with neighbour disputes and low-level crime & anti-social behaviour, to give victims a greater say in how their own cases are dealt with. Tackling ASB involving people with mental health issues is a significant challenge, and all the agencies involved need to work more closely together to tackle the problem and ensure that appropriate support is available. We need to continue to develop our links with health and social care commissioners to improve our understanding of the services available, and to promote and support their emerging plans for more integrated services. We will work more closely with Private Registered Providers to help them to deal with ASB and noise on their estates. We will also use the results of our Private Sector House Condition Survey to identify whether there are particular crime or anti-social behaviour hotspots where targeted activity could help to improve conditions and management of private rented housing.

Violent Crime & Domestic Abuse We are continuing to improve how cases of domestic abuse are dealt with, including seeking White Ribbon accreditation to campaign to stop domestic violence.

Neighbourhood Resolution

Neighbourhood Resolution has been introduced to help resolve low-level

crime, antisocial behaviour and neighbour disputes in a positive way.

Trained volunteer organisers listen separately to both the victim’s and the

offender’s concerns, then bring the parties together to try to resolve the

dispute.

80% of Cambridge residents who fed back on their experience were

satisfied with the outcome, saying they would recommend it to others in a

similar situation.



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In tackling violent crime, including domestic abuse, we are starting to target areas of the city which are particularly identified as being at risk, and we need to consider how we can better assist victims to remain in their homes where that would best meet their needs. As well as dealing with cases of domestic abuse when they arise, we need to consider what can be done to prevent cases from arising. We aim to carry out a policy audit amongst local Registered Providers to understand their policies and how we can better work together in this area.

Actions: To meet our aims and priorities we will:

Carry out a fundamental review of services and expenditure relating to council housing through our Housing Revenue Account.

Develop and implement, with partners, a plan to support the introduction of

Universal Credit - to support claimants affected, and to minimise the impact on our HRA business plan.

Repeat the STAR tenant satisfaction survey in 2016/17, and use the results to

improve services, target resources and further improve resident involvement.

Implement the actions in our Fuel and Water Poverty Action Plan.

Actively engage with the county council’s adult social care transformation process, and agree appropriate joint actions to support the programme.

Actively engage with the county council when their care and housing-related

support arrangements come up for renewal, to influence how services in the City might be provided, and to assess whether the council should bid to continue to provide those services.

Complete our Private Sector House Condition Survey, and use the results to

inform future priorities for investment.

Improve and re-launch our Property Accreditation Scheme as the Cambridge Landlord Accreditation & Safety Scheme.

Introduce a programme of improvements for dealing with poor management in the private rented sector.

Investigate the use of discretionary licensing for parts of the private rented sector.



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Review the home improvement grants and loans offered to older and vulnerable people, to target those most in need.

Commission a county-wide Handyperson service, offering home assessments

and small jobs to help older people to live safely at home.

Implement our new Empty Homes scheme, offering loans to owners to bring homes back into use as social housing.


Ch4. Homelessness, Housing Advice & Housing Options

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Chapter 4: Homelessness, Housing Advice and Housing

Options

Introduction

Homelessness nationally is on the rise. In Cambridge, the rising cost of housing,

recent rises in household bills, and cuts in welfare benefits, are all contributing to

increasing numbers of households being put at risk of homelessness. Local Housing

Allowance rates (which determine how much housing benefit private tenants receive)

is a particular issue for Cambridge, with LHA rates insufficient to cover even the

cheapest rents in the City.

The council has a statutory duty to house families with children and vulnerable people who are homeless through no fault of their own. We also provide advice and assistance to those threatened with homelessness, or otherwise living in unsuitable conditions, which we offer through our comprehensive Housing Advice Service. For some people, renting from the council or a housing association will be the best option, and we operate, with the other districts across our housing sub-region, a choice based lettings scheme – Home Link – to enable applicants to apply for social housing for rent. However, with over 2,000 households on the City’s housing register, we need to find other ways of helping people to access housing that meets their needs. Partnership working is key to preventing and tackling homelessness. As well as

providing some services directly ourselves, we work with and support a range of

partners in the provision of services such as hostel accommodation and other

supported housing, debt and employment advice, etc However, cuts in available

funding for statutory and voluntary services mean that those at risk could find it

increasingly difficult to access the services they need, and we need to work in

partnership to ensure that the limited resources available are targeted as effectively

as possible.

This chapter mainly details our Homelessness Strategy – which has been developed following a review of homelessness in Cambridge31. It also outlines our approach to managing the housing register, and to offering wider advice and sign-posting to help people understand the housing options available to them, and enable them to make informed choices.

31

Cambridge City Council Homelessness Review 2015: https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Homelessness%20Review%20FINAL_0.pdf



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Our priorities:

Focus on preventing homelessness – preferably by enabling people to remain

in their existing homes, but where this is not possible, by supporting them to

secure alternative accommodation.

Work with private sector landlords to try to reduce the risk of eviction from the


Increase access to housing – particularly to private rented housing - for all

household sizes, but especially for family and couple sized households.

Work with owners of long-term empty homes to bring them back into use for

those in housing need.

Minimise use of, and length of stay in, bed and breakfast.

Assess whether more domestic abuse victims can be supported to remain at

home, and whether more can be done in responding to perpetrators.

Review the sub-regional social lettings agency (Town Hall Lettings) pilot.

Develop interventions to help prevent youth homelessness and improve

young people’s access to supported housing.

Our strategic aims:

o Prevent homelessness and rough sleeping

o Minimise use of temporary accommodation and maximise access to

longer term housing solutions

o Enable people to make informed choices about their housing

o Promote sustained and settled lifestyles and minimise social

exclusion



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Support Cambridgeshire County Council in improving support to those who

need it, particularly for those with mental health issues.

Continue to seek opportunities to improve access to training and skills, and to

other services which can help promote employability and self-esteem.

Review how the council’s homelessness prevention fund is allocated,

including the criteria for funding to external bodies.

Improve systematic monitoring of homelessness and rough sleeping, and

support partners to effectively monitor trends and activity.

Monitor move-on rates from supported housing, to assess how they can be

improved.



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Key data

No. of households accepted as

homeless and in priority need

2014/15:

146

(56% of decisions made)

Internal data

2014/15

No. of households

prevented from becoming homeless 2014/15:

470

Up from 368 in

2012/13

Internal data

No. of households on Cambridge’s housing register

(Home-Link):

2,308

Home-Link March 2015

No. of social homes for rent let in the three years

to 2014/15

1,815

Home-Link March 2015

No. of households with

children placed in Bed & Breakfast

2014/15

55

Internal data

No. of individuals identified as

sleeping rough 2014/15

135

Internal data, in consultation with Street & Mental Health Outreach

Approx. monthly shortfall between

LHA rate and lower quartile rent

for a one-bed property in Cambridge:

£210

Valuation Office

data

Approx. monthly shortfall between

LHA rate and lower quartile rent for a two-bed property in

Cambridge:

£250

Valuation Office data



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Progress since previous Strategy

Over the past three years we have:

Increased, year on year, the number of households prevented from becoming

homeless – from 368 in 2012/13 to 470 in 2014/15. In 2012/13, 73% of

applicants were accepted as homeless; by 2014/15 this had reduced to 56%.

This is despite a 64% rise in the number of homelessness applications, and a

national rise in homelessness acceptances.

Successfully reduced the use of bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation, so

that over the last year no families with children have had to stay in B&B for

more than six weeks.

Completed the re-modelling of Jimmy’s night-shelter into an assessment

centre for single homeless people.

Set up a new sub-regional single homelessness service to support homeless

people and those who are rough sleeping or at risk of doing so. Between

October 2013 and March 2015, 99 individuals had been placed in private

rented accommodation through the scheme.

Set up a sub-regional social lettings agency, Town Hall Lettings, to support

the single homelessness service. In its first year it delivered 9 flats and

houses comprising of 25 bed spaces, and housed 29 individuals

Improved access to the private rented sector to help prevent homelessness;

during 2014-15, 73 households were placed in the private rented sector

through our Rent Access and Town Hall Lettings schemes

Introduced two new tenancy sustainment posts, to support vulnerable adults

with mental health issues who are at risk of homelessness due to anti-social

behaviour.

Funded an employment advice service, supporting access to work, education,

training and voluntary work.

Reviewed the sub-regional lettings framework to meet national requirements

and ensure that social housing is targeted at those most in need.



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Continued to work with Peterborough prison to help prison-leavers to be re-

habilitated and integrated back into society.

Restructured our Housing Advice Service to provide a more joined up service

and enable people to make more informed housing choices.

Improved performance in relation to homelessness and housing options &

prevention work; an independent ‘health check’ inspection by Shelter in 2014

upped our rating from ‘fair’ to ‘good’ in both service areas.

Key Local Strategies and Policies

Homelessness action plan

Cambridge Sub-Region and Cambridge City lettings policies

Policy on discharge of homelessness duty

Anti-Poverty Strategy

Community Safety Strategy


PREVENTING AND ALLEVIATING HOMELESSNESS Preventing Statutory Homelessness Over recent years, as nationally, there has been a significant increase in the number of households applying to the council as homeless – from 169 in 2012/13, to 262 in 2014/15. Some years ago we made a commitment to invest more in preventing households from becoming homeless. Since then we have shifted resource towards helping those threatened with homelessness to remain where they are or access appropriate alternative housing. As a result, although the number of homelessness applications has been rising, we have been successful in reducing the proportion of homeless applicants actually becoming statutorily homeless. As well as this being so much better for the people involved, it is also more cost-effective, and we need to continue to find new ways of improving our approach in this area. 32

32

Evidenced Review of the Cost of Homelessness – DCLG 2012: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/7596/2200485.pdf



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Enabling people to remain in their homes We support a range of interventions to enable people threatened with homelessness to remain in their homes. Following the recent economic downturn, financial advice and support to resolve rent and/or service charge arrears have proved particularly important; as has our home visiting service, providing conciliation and advocacy to prevent evictions from the homes of family or friends. With private rent levels likely to continue to increase, further welfare cuts on the horizon, and Universal Credit being rolled out nationally, we need to continue to improve our approach to preventing homelessness. As well as activities aimed specifically at preventing homelessness, other initiatives outlined in this Housing Strategy can also play their part, including tackling fuel and utility poverty, maintaining standards in the private rented sector, providing advice and support to help people to keep their tenancies, ensuring support is available to older or vulnerable people coming out of hospital, etc. Homelessness through private rented sector tenancies coming to an end is on the rise. This is likely to be linked to Local Housing Allowance rates, and the unwillingness of some landlords to continue to let to people on housing benefit in such a strong private rented market. However, we need to gain a better understanding of the reasons why this is happening, and work with private landlords to assess whether some of this can be prevented. Domestic abuse – also on the increase - is another common reason for people losing their homes. Our focus has been on moving victims from their homes, and for many this may be the most appropriate solution. However, with the impact this can have on families – eg through moving away from family and friends, children moving schools etc, we need work with partners to assess whether more victims can be enabled to remain safely at home, and whether more can be done in responding to perpetrators. This includes working with Registered Providers to review polices and working practices, and providing better information to victims. Homelessness due to physical disability also appears to be increasing, and although numbers are small, we need to monitor this to understand whether it is an ongoing trend, and if so how can we tackle it going forward.



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Access to alternative accommodation Although it is generally better for people threatened with homelessness to be able to remain at home this is often not possible, so enabling moves to alternative accommodation is also important. With new homes being built in and around the City there has been a significant increase in the last couple of years in the number of new social homes available for rent. Further development is coming forward, although demand still far outstrips supply, and as outlined in Chapter 1, we are concerned about the impact that some emerging government policies may have on future availability. Although we have been successful in increasing access to the private rented sector for single people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness, around three quarters of households becoming homeless contain children and/or pregnant women. We need to find new ways of increasing the supply of private rented homes available for this group. We also need to find ways of supporting the many couple households without children whom we have no statutory duty to house, but who are struggling to afford to rent privately. We will continue to investigate options around harnessing private investment to build new homes at sub-market rents as new initiatives emerge. Although the number of long-term empty homes in Cambridge is relatively small, there is potential to make better use of some of these, and we are developing a

Home Visiting Service

A housing association tenant - a single man - was threatened with eviction

for apparently not occupying the property.

Our home visiting officer wrote and visited several times, and arranged a

meeting, but the customer was reluctant to engage. However, the officer

persevered, and he eventually responded.

He suffered from a severe obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and had

some serious psychological problems. He had not been out of his house

or responded to any correspondence for months.

We informed his GP, who then referred him to the Community Psychiatric

Nurse for support. We were able to reassure the housing association that

he was living there, and the notice to quit from the housing association

was subsequently withdrawn.



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project to support owners to bring empty homes up to standard for use in tackling homelessness. (See Chapter 3). Use of temporary and emergency accommodation We have been working to reduce the use of bed and breakfast accommodation as a temporary housing measure whilst assessing applications or waiting for longer term accommodation to become available. Not only is B&B expensive, it is often not the most suitable solution for the households concerned (although some limited provision will continue to be needed to house people in emergencies or to accommodate households for whom alternatives are less suitable). We have been increasing the number of alternative forms of temporary and emergency accommodation, and aim to have access to 95 units by the end of 2015 (from a government target baseline of 70 in 2010). We aim to continue to keep use of B&B to a minimum going forward, and ensure that there are no more than 5 households in B&B at any one time. We also aim to provide as much of our temporary and emergency accommodation within the City as possible, so that more households can be accommodated locally. The average stay in the council’s own temporary accommodation is currently around five months, and we need to continue to increase the supply of suitable permanent accommodation to enable households to move on to settled accommodation more quickly.



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SINGLE HOMELESSNESS AND ROUGH SLEEPING Preventing single homelessness and rough sleeping With more funding becoming available – particularly through the national No Second Night Out initiative, we have recently made a number of improvements to how we deal with single homeless people and rough sleepers, including conversion of Jimmy’s night-shelter to an assessment centre, and setting up a new Single Homelessness Service. We need to improve our understanding of the profile of this group, so we can further improve prevention and target resources in the most effective way. Together with partners we carried out a one-off homelessness and rough sleeping survey in 2014, and we will continue to develop this survey work to get a better understanding of needs and of trends over time. We will also support partners whom we grant fund to improve their internal monitoring, to help our decision-making going forward.

Increasing our supply of temporary accommodation

Becoming homeless can be an intensely stressful experience. So it is important that any temporary accommodation used is of good quality, and is as local as possible, to help minimise the disruptive impact that

homelessness can have on people’s lives.

In the past, many households have had to be placed outside of the City, away from family and friends, schools, employment etc. But the council has recently leased a large property from a partner housing association

in the City, with the capacity to house 10 families or individuals. We have also agreed with another housing association the use of 3 bed spaces

for vulnerable single people within a supported hostel, to house individuals who need additional support.

When our temporary accommodation is all full we need to use bed and

breakfast accommodation (B&B). Previously we were regularly having to place homeless applicants as far away as Peterborough (45 miles away) because B&B proprietors in Cambridge do not need our business. Whilst

there is still more work to do on this, we now use 9 main bed and breakfast establishments, averaging a distance of 10.6 miles from the

City Centre.



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Supported housing for single homeless people The council, through our grant programme, contributes funding to a number of partners to provide accommodation with support. Many of these services are reporting problems with move-on due to a shortage of suitable settled accommodation. We need to develop formal monitoring of move-on rates, to better understand what is happening and assess what can be done to improve them. The council will be introducing a number of training flats for people accessing the county council’s chronically excluded adults’ service. The flats will be offered along with a programme of training and individually tailored support plans. Access to accommodation for single people with low support needs Analysis carried out in June 2012 found that around 43% of those occupying supported housing in the City had low or no support needs when they entered the accommodation. Our new sub-regional Single Homelessness Service aims to provide accommodation for single homeless people with low or no support needs, who are either rough sleeping or at risk of doing so, whom the council has no statutory duty to house, and

Jimmy’s Cambridge

Jimmy’s Cambridge is an emergency accommodation and assessment

centre for up to 20 men and women who are rough sleeping or at risk of

doing so. Placements are made in line with the council’s reconnections

policy, which ensures that those who have strong ties with Cambridge

are helped to remain in the City, whilst those with no links to the City are

helped to find accommodation elsewhere.

The service works with people to help them to address their issues,

assess their housing options, gain new skills and take control of their

lives.

One of the objectives of the centre is to move customers into longer term

accommodation as quickly as possible. In 2014-15 the average length of

stay for residents was 23 days.

Jimmy’s plays a key role in helping service users to find long-term routes

out of homelessness and to achieve settled lifestyles.



65

for whom provision of accommodation is key to solving their problems. Demand for the service is high, with most of the referrals to the service to date coming from Cambridge City Council. Some customers are placed in a training and employment project, ‘The Springs’, managed by Riverside English Churches Housing Group. We also have a pilot sub-regional social lettings agency, Town Hall Lettings (THL), which offers guaranteed rent payments to landlords in exchange for private rented housing for single people at or below Local Housing Allowance levels. Unfortunately, owing to the strength of the market in Cambridge most of the homes secured to date through THL are located in other Cambridgeshire districts outside of the City. The pilot runs until 2016, when a decision will need to be made whether to continue with it and if so whether it can be developed to help provide housing solutions for other sizes or types of household. Whether or not the service continues in its current form, we need to improve access to all types of accommodation for single people. We have started work with South Cambridgeshire, East Cambridgeshire and Fenland district councils to establish a supported lodgings scheme across the three districts. Existing community volunteers act as hosts, providing short-term relief, ‘room-only’ or supported lodgings accommodation for individuals who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.



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Youth homelessness Whilst the majority of rough sleepers in the City are aged 25 and over, around one in ten people accessing Wintercomfort’s services are aged 16-24, and under-25s make up a third of referrals to our Single Homelessness Service. We need to assess whether more can be done to prevent young people from becoming homeless, to help them to avoid entering a longer term cycle of

Shaun’s experience of the Single Homelessness Service

Shaun has lived in Cambridge for over 30 years, and other than a short period of illness had always worked. Three years ago his landlady died

and he had to move out.

‘I tried to find another place through letting agents but they just weren’t interested. I was out of work and at the bottom of the pile as far as they were concerned. So I spent three years sofa surfing – a week here, a

fortnight there, until eventually my options disappeared.

‘I was so stressed during this time. I have a history of depression and agoraphobia and I could feel myself sinking lower as my housing

situation became less secure.

‘I didn’t even consider getting help from the council – I didn’t think there was any service available that would help me.’

Eventually Wintercomfort signposted him to the council, who found him a bed at Jimmy’s, and then a room at The Springs. Six months later he

moved to a shared house through Town Hall Lettings.

‘And what’s happened is that I’ve taken small steps over these last few months. After I moved to Jimmy’s, I got a job volunteering at a British

Heart Foundation shop. After moving to The Springs, I obtained a part-time cleaning role. As of this week, I’m now working thirty hours a week, having secured a second cleaning job. It’s been a gradual

process but getting a roof over my head has given me a stable base to help me move on with my life.

I still want to keep working my way up and get my own place

eventually. The service I’ve received – from the Council, from Liam, from The Springs – has been wonderful. It fills a really important gap.’



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homelessness and rough sleeping – particularly those who are not in employment education or training (NEET), or who are leaving institutional care. We also need to improve access to hostels and supported housing for young people. Mental health and alcohol/substance misuse Partners have reported a recent significant increase in the number of rough sleepers with mental health problems. The county council funded Mental Health Prevention and Community Services floating support team now has a remit to provide more focused support to homeless people, and we need to work closely with them to monitor the impact of the service. We also need to promote with partners the need for specialist clinical support for homeless people in the City. Many of those with enduring mental health problems also have alcohol or substance misuse issues which need addressing. We will support the development and implementation of the county council’s dual diagnosis strategy to clarify responsibilities in dealing with this client group, and assess whether new specialist services need to be commissioned. Skills and Employment We have, over recent years, moved away from primarily relying on hostel accommodation to provide short-term housing solutions for single homeless people, towards a policy of re-ablement through development of skills and employment services. For example, Jimmy’s Cambridge now provides advice and support around lifestyle issues and skills development; Wintercomfort provides a Learning and Development service; etc We need to continue to look for opportunities to expand services that can support self-esteem, offer training in new skills and address local workforce shortage issues.



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Support and tenancy sustainment Both our partners and our own Housing Advice Service are reporting an increase in the number of customers they are dealing with who need some form of support. It is not clear whether this is because more people actually need support, or whether, at a time of significant reductions in public spending, services are becoming available to fewer people, and/or becoming less easy to access. Following removal of the ring-fence around funding for services previously paid for through the Supporting People programme, we need to work with Cambridgeshire County Council to help to understand, and try to influence, how services are to be prioritised moving forward.

Anyone can become homeless.

At 26 D was a skilled pastry chef, working in Cambridge. Subletting

from a friend he came home from one day work in the pouring rain to

discover he was homeless.

Unable to approach his family and unwilling to burden friends, survival instinct kicked in and D tried to find somewhere dry to sleep. He spent

the night under a market stall in Cambridge’s Market Square. The following day D was fired; company policy was that they couldn’t

employ a homeless person, so still on probation D was unemployed with immediate effect.

“I didn’t know anything about homeless services until I became

homeless myself. I contacted the council, I got my name on the list for Jimmy’s and used Wintercomfort for showers, laundry and support –

the food was a bonus.”

For D Wintercomfort became more than just a place of survival – somewhere to wash and eat. He joined the football team, took on DIY jobs around the building and helped with various fundraising events. He describes the centre as ‘brilliant’. “It’s somewhere to get a coffee,

have a chat and most importantly it gets me out of my room. If I were to just sit in my room it would drive me crazy!”

For some time D undertook Cleaning Services training as part of

Wintercomfort’s latest social enterprise Overstream Clean. In May 2014 D was offered a job as a chef and he has been working full time ever since. He is saving money and has recently moved into a shared

house.



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Continuity of support is another issue highlighted by partners. They report some individuals receiving duplicated services, with others not receiving the support they need. We need to work with the county council and assess how we can support services to become more joined up and person-centred, to enable clients to live more independently. Cambridge has experienced on-going issues with street-based anti-social behaviour, such as street drinking and begging. Many of those involved are not street homeless, but have tenancies. These patterns of behaviour can put tenancies at risk, and we need to continue to improve partnership working in this area. HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION FUND The council administers a homelessness prevention fund which is used to provide direct financial assistance to homeless applicants (eg through our Rent Access scheme) as well as a grant funding programme for a number of other agencies. Whilst the council provides some funding for homelessness related services, the ability to continue to provide and fund appropriate services will inevitably be affected by the availability of government grant, which is currently only committed until 2016. We plan to review how the fund is allocated, including reviewing our homelessness prevention grant programme, to ensure that available funding can achieve the best outcomes going forward. As part of this, we will re-consider the criteria for offering grants to external bodies, and all services funded will be assessed, taking into account their financial situation and how they contribute to our strategic aims and priorities. ACCESS TO SOCIAL HOUSING Housing Register As already highlighted, social housing is accessed through our sub-regional housing register – Home-Link. We have recently carried out a fundamental review of lettings policy and the housing register, in light of new government guidance giving more freedom to decide locally who should be eligible for housing, and welfare reforms affecting those deemed to be ‘under-occupying’ social housing. Demand remains high, and we will continue to monitor implementation of the policy, to ensure that priority is given to the most appropriate groups. Social housing lettings The number of homes available for letting each year has increased by almost 40% since 2012/13. This is mainly as a result of provision of social housing on new developments.



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However, there have been some recent developments in national policy which are, or are likely to have, an impact on our ability to maintain or increase the supply of housing. (See Chapter 1 for more detail). We need to continue to provide and support the supply of social homes for rent, and to lobby government on and minimise any negative impacts of, national policy. OTHER HOUSING OPTIONS We are often approached by people who are not immediately threatened with homelessness or needing access to or eligible for social housing. In such cases we offer more general advice on housing options, and sign-post to other agencies. Our approach to promoting provision of a range of sizes, types and tenures of new housing to meet a range of needs, and to making best use of existing housing, are detailed elsewhere in this Strategy.

Actions To meet our aims and priorities we will: Carry out a detailed trend analysis of private rented sector evictions and use

this to assess how we might better prevent homelessness as a result of eviction.

Work with Registered Providers to improve our joint approach to domestic abuse and – where appropriate – support people to remain at home. To include: improving the information available to victims; a review of domestic abuse policies, procedures and practices with a view to developing a joint framework or charter; and developing procedural guidelines on dealing with perpetrators.

Review the effectiveness of the pilot social lettings agency - Town Hall

Lettings - and assess whether it should continue to be funded longer term.

Assess how we can improve access to homes for homeless families, and for

couples who have no opportunity of being housed through Home-Link. To

include assessing how Town Hall Lettings might be expanded to help these

groups (subject to decisions on long-term funding).

Implement and monitor our emerging scheme to bring long-term empty homes

back into use.



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Improve monitoring of rough sleeping, and continue to roll out the rough

sleepers’ survey. Use the results to inform our approach to preventing

homelessness.

Explore with partners whether we can develop more targeted work with young

people to prevent homelessness – especially those not in employment,

education or training (NEET) or those in Pupil Referral Units.

Carry out a review of our homelessness prevention fund, and the criteria for

awarding funding to projects and organisations, to assess whether better

outcomes can be achieved from it.

Increase the number of training flats available for for people accessing the county council’s chronically excluded adults’ service.

Review with partners whether our joint approach to begging, and busking

linked to a street-based lifestyle, can be improved.

Work with the county council to assess the need for commissioning specialist

dual diagnosis accommodation for those whose primary need is mental health

support and treatment, and investigate ways to improve clinical support

services for those who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.

Consult with partners to assess the extent to which person-centred

approaches are being used to support people to sustain their tenancies, and

identify any barriers.

Investigate, with partners, whether more joined-up support services can be

developed to help customers all the way through a housing pathway towards

independent living. This will also include improving monitoring of move-on

rates from the hostel system, and analysing what more could be done to

improve move-on.

Work with the county council to monitor the impact of the Mental Health

Prevention and Community Services (floating support) team in relation to

homelessness support.

Develop a hospital discharge protocol


Ch5. Resourcing & Implementing the Strategy

72

Chapter 5: Resourcing and Implementing the Strategy

Resourcing the Strategy As highlighted in previous chapters, our Housing Strategy has been reviewed during a time of significant financial uncertainty, and in the context of unprecedented cuts in public expenditure. The Strategy aims to set realistic objectives and priorities which can be delivered within available resources and through strong partnership working. Implementation will be funded mainly through a combination of the following:

Revenue contributions from the Council’s General Fund.

Rental and service charge income into the Housing Revenue Account.

Capital receipts from sales of homes, including: Right to Buy sales; intermediate housing built through our Cambridge Social Rent Programme; and other miscellaneous sales of homes and assets. The extent to which can use these funds going forward will depend partly on national requirements.

Borrowing within the limits imposed through our HRA debt settlement.

National revenue and capital funding streams, including bidding for existing and newly emerging grants and/or loans where appropriate.

Council-owned land suitable for housing development.

Land and assets made available through the Greater Cambridge City Deal.

Developer contributions through planning obligations (section 106 agreements).

Revenue funding from Cambridgeshire County Council and health organisations for support services.

Taking advantage of any other revenue or capital funding opportunities which may arise – eg from recommissioning of health and social care services, from organisations and partnerships promoting housing growth, etc

Improving efficiency through reviewing and transforming services where they can be delivered more efficiently in other ways.

Implementing and monitoring the Strategy An action plan will be published based on the actions identified in our Strategy.


Ch5. Resourcing & Implementing the Strategy

73

Progress against actions will be monitored through our internal Housing Management Team, and published periodically on our website.


Annex 1. Glossary

74

Annex 1 – Glossary

Term Definition

Affordable Housing

/ Social Housing

Affordable Housing (aka social housing) includes social rented, affordable rented and intermediate housing, provided to eligible households whose needs are not met by the market. Affordable housing should:

Meet the needs of eligible households including availability at a cost low enough for them to afford, determined with regard to local incomes and local house prices

Include provision for the home to remain at an affordable price for future eligible households or, if these restrictions are lifted, for the subsidy to be recycled for alternative Affordable Housing provision.

(See National Planning Policy Framework for full definition)

Affordable Rent Rented housing provided by Local Authorities and Private

Registered Providers of social housing to households that are

eligible for Social Rented housing. Affordable Rent is subject

to rent controls that require a rent of no more than 80% of the

local market rent (including service charges, where

applicable).

Most new homes funded by government grant now have to be

offered at Affordable Rents, to generate funding for further

new Affordable Housing. Some existing Social Rent homes

may also be converted to Affordable Rents in agreement with

the Homes and Communities Agency.

Affordable Housing

Supplementary

Planning

Document (SPD)

Part of the Cambridge Local Plan. Its objectives are to

facilitate the delivery of Affordable Housing to meet housing

needs, and to assist the creation of sustainable, inclusive and

mixed communities

Bedroom standard Under the Housing (Overcrowding) Bill 2003, a recommended notional number of bedrooms for each household, based on the size of the household, age, sex, marital status and relationship among members of the household.

Cambridge

Housing Sub-

Region

An alliance of local authorities around the Cambridge area,

working in partnership to address the housing needs of the

area. The local authorities are: Cambridge City, South

Cambridgeshire, East Cambridgeshire, Fenland,

Huntingdonshire, Forest Heath and St Edmundsbury District


Annex 1. Glossary

75

Councils.

Cambridge Social

Rent Programme

(AHDP)

The council’s three-year rolling programme for development

of new homes.

Cambs HIA The Home Improvement Agency (See below) set up as a

shared service, currently covering Cambridge City, South

Cambs and Huntingdonshire district councils.

Child Poverty Defined in the Child Poverty Act 2010 as ‘the proportion of

children (those aged 0-16 or 16-19 who are dependent upon

their families) who are either receiving means-tested benefits

or tax credits, where the family has an income of less than

60% of median income’.

Choice Based

Lettings (CBL)

The scheme under which Council and Housing Association

homes for rent are let. Applicants (including existing tenants

who want a transfer) are able to bid for properties which

become available. Cambridge City Council is part of a sub-

regional CBL scheme – Home Link.

Code for

Sustainable Homes

An environmental impact rating system used for new homes

in England, which sets standards for increasing levels of

sustainability and energy efficiency to limit the environmental

impact of new homes. Due to be abolished, and replaced with

a new national housing standard.

Decent Homes A standard set by government related to the condition of

people’s homes. All Council rented homes were required to

meet the Decent Homes standard by December 2010.

Digital Inclusion Enabling people to develop skills and capability to access the

internet.

Disabled Facilities

Grants (DFGs)

Grants provided by the Council for adaptation works in the

home for disabled people. The government allocates a sum to

each local authority each year, but Councils may choose to

top up the amount payable.

Discretionary

Housing Payments

Payments which may be awarded, in addition to other welfare

benefits, when a local authority considers that a claimant

requires further financial assistance towards housing costs.

Discretionary

licensing of

A local authority can choose to license HMOs which are not

subject to mandatory licensing, where a significant proportion


Annex 1. Glossary

76

Houses in Multiple

Occupation

of HMOs in the area are causing problems for tenants or the

neighbourhood due to poor management. All schemes must

be consulted on and approved by government.

Equality Impact

Assessment

Equality Impact Assessments are carried out on the Council’s

policies and services to assess whether they may have a

different or adverse effect on some communities or groups

compared to others, and whether the policy or service actively

promotes good relations between difrerent groups.

Extra care Specialist accommodation designed to maximise the

independence of older people, in which residents live in their

own home with their own front door, but can benefit from

around the clock social care and housing support.

Some of the services provided in extra care housing can also

be extended to people living in non-specialist accommodation

in the wider community.

Fixed Term

Tenancy

A tenancy which runs for a fixed period of time and is

reviewed, and either renewed or terminated, at the end of the

fixed term. From April 2012, Councils and Housing

Associations are able to offer fixed term tenancies instead of

having to offer long-term security of tenure as previously

required.

Fuel Poverty Fuel Poverty arises when more than 10% of a household’s

income would need to be spent on heating the home to a

comfortable level. (This definition is currently being reviewed

nationally).

General Fund The local authority account which deals with income and

expenditure other than for the council’s own Housing

Greater Cambridge

City Deal

Deal signed with by Cambridge City Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council, Cambridgeshire County Council, The University of Cambridge and the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Enterprise Partnership. To secure additional funding for transport infrastructure to secure economic and housing growth. http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/citydeal/

Handyperson

Service

Aimed mainly at older people. Provides minor works, repairs

and other interventions to help people to live independently at

home, together with a home assessment to pick up any

additional issues and/or signpost people to other services.

Home An agency which provides disabled adaptations and home


Annex 1. Glossary

77

Improvement

Agency

improvements for vulnerable people living in private homes,

and signposts people to other services. CambsHIA is the

agency provided as a joint service across Cambridge City,

South Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire District Councils.

Home Link The choice based lettings scheme through which Council and

Housing Association homes are let across the Cambridge

sub-region.

Homes and

Communities

Agency (HCA)

The national housing and regeneration agency for England. It

provides grant funding for new Affordable Housing and to

improve existing social housing, and provides advice and

support to partners in delivering new housing and new

communities. It is also the regulator for social housing

providers.

Housing

Associations

Independent societies, bodies of trustees or companies

established for the purpose of providing low-cost social

housing for people in housing need on a non-profit-making

basis. Any trading surplus is used to maintain existing homes

and to help finance new ones.

Housing Benefit Welfare payments made to cover housing costs. Due to be

phased out for working age claimants as contributions

towards housing costs become part of Universal credit.

Housing Health

and Safety Rating

System (HHSRS)

A national scheme, introduced by the Housing Act 2004,

which enables local authorities to identify and protect against

health and safety hazards in the home arising from the

condition of the dwelling. Where serious (‘Category 1)

hazards are identified, councils must take any enforcement

action necessary to ensure that the hazards are removed.

Housing Revenue

Account (HRA)

The account which deals with the rent and service charge

money paid by council tenants and leaseholders, and pays for

management, maintenance and improvement of the council’s

homes and surrounding areas.

House in Multiple

Occupation (HMO)

A single building let as separate units, bedsits or similar.

There will be several separate tenancies within one HMO.

Intermediate

Housing

Homes for sale and rent provided at a cost above Social

Rent, but below market levels, and which meet the criteria for

Affordable Housing (above).

These can include shared equity (shared ownership and


Annex 1. Glossary

78

equity loans), other low cost homes for sale and intermediate

rent, but not Affordable Rented housing.

Joint Strategic

Needs Assessment

(JSNA)

Provides an overview of population health and well-being in

an area. There is a JSNA for Cambridgeshire.

Lifetime Homes

Standard

Homes built to the Lifetime Homes standard have certain

design features which make them flexible enough to meet

changing needs, over time, of the households that occupy

them. Due to be abolished and replaced with a new national

standard.

Local Plan

Local Planning Authorities, including District Councils, must

provide a Local Plan which sets planning policies in the local

authority area.

Low Cost Home

Ownership

A form of Intermediate Affordable Housing, providing home

ownership at below market prices.

National Planning

Policy Framework

(NPPF)

The national framework introduced from April 2012 to replace

all the existing Planning Policy Statements. It sets out the

government’s policies around new developments, including

the development of Affordable Housing.

Private Registered

Providers

See ‘Housing Associations’ above. Private Registered

Providers may be non-profit or profit making organisations.

Property

Accreditation

Landlords signing their homes up to the Council’s Property

Accreditation scheme agree that their home/ homes will

adhere to a Code of Standards relating to the management

and condition of those homes.

Registered

Providers

Providers of social housing. Includes Private Registered

Providers (see above) and councils who still have their own

housing stock.

Right to Buy (RTB) Scheme introduced by the Housing Act 1980 which enables

secure Local Authority tenants (and some assured Housing

Association tenants) to buy their rented home at a discount.

The government proposes to extend the Right to Buy to

Housing Association tenants more widely.

Rural exception

sites

Small sites within and adjoining existing small rural

communities, which may be subject to policies of restraint,

such as Green Belt, and which would not otherwise be


Annex 1. Glossary

79

released for housing, but may be in order to provide

affordable housing to meet local needs in perpetuity.

SAP Rating Standard Assessment Procedure Rating. A national standard

rating to assess energy efficiency

Section 106

Agreement

Section 106 of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990 allows

a local planning authority to enter into a legally binding

agreement with a developer. Such agreements can be used

to require developers to provide Affordable Housing and/or

community facilities on a site.

Section 106

Commuted Sum

Money provided by a developer through a section 106

agreement instead of the developer providing housing or

facilities on that site. Commuted sums are usually used for

Affordable Housing on other sites.

Shared Ownership A form of Intermediate Tenure Low Cost Home Ownership

housing. Homes in which the occupier owns a share of the

equity and pays rent on the remaining share.

Social Housing See ‘Affordable Housing’ above.

Social Rented

Housing

Rented housing owned by local authorities and Private

Registered Providers, for which guideline target rents are

determined through the national rent regime. It may also be

owned by other persons and provided under equivalent rental

arrangements to the above, as agreed with the local authority

or with the Homes and Communities Agency.

Social Rent The rent charged for social rented housing. (Differs from

Affordable Rent).

Spare Room

Subsidy policy

Government policy whereby working age social housing

tenants receive reduced benefit where they are deemed to

have more bedrooms than their household requires, as

measured by the ‘bedroom standard’ (see above).

STAR survey Satisfaction survey conducted amongst tenants and

leaseholders, based on a survey previously required

nationally to be carried out by social housing providers.

Strategic Housing

Land Availability

Assessment

(SHLAA)

An assessment of land in an area to identify sites available for

housing development.


Annex 1. Glossary

80

Strategic Housing

Market

Assessment

(SHMA)

A collection of data and survey information about all parts of

the local housing market. The Cambridge SHMA covers the

Cambridge housing sub-region, and helps in planning for

housing and related services in the area.

Supporting People The central government programme set up to fund, monitor,

review and improve housing-related support services.

Supporting People Grant is no longer ring-fenced, enabling

local authorities to decide how that money is spent across

their wider priorities. Cambridgeshire County Council

manages the local programme.

Target rent Guideline social rent level set by government, calculated

through a formula which considers property prices and

average manual earnings, both weighted for the geographical

location of the housing stock.

Tenancy Strategy Localism Act 2011 (Chapter 2) requires each local authority,

in its strategic housing role, to have a Tenancy Strategy

setting out the issues which Registered Providers operating in

the local area must have regard to when deciding: the type of

tenancies to offer; the circumstances in which they will offer a

tenancy of a particular kind; the length of any fixed term

tenancy; and the circumstances in which they will grant a new

tenancy when a fixed term tenancy comes to an end.

Universal Credit A means-tested welfare benefit for working age claimants.

Being phased in nationally as a single payment to replace a

number of existing separate benefits, including housing

benefit.

HOUSING STRATEGY 2016-2019 - Cambridge City … City Council Housing Strategy 2016-2019 (Consultation Draft) Vision, Strategic Aims, Priorities & Cross-Cutting Principles 1 Cambridge

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