Cabinet asked to approve key decisions on future direction of Council housing in Cheshire West and Chester
Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Cabinet will be asked to give the go ahead for a consultation to begin on how Council housing is managed in the borough and to approve a new Council Housing Asset Management Strategy at a Cabinet meeting on 11 September.
The Council owns 5,500 homes in the borough, predominantly in the areas of Ellesmere Port, Neston and Winsford. These homes are currently managed and maintained by the Council’s strategic housing partner, ForHousing. Due to ForHousing’s current strategic direction, both organisations anticipate that the contract will not be extended beyond the end date of June 2027.
Tenants will be asked for their views on their preferred option for how their homes are managed in the future. Cabinet is asked to give the go ahead for a 12-week consultation to run from Monday 23 September until Sunday 15 December 2024 to ask tenants to provide their opinions on two options. Responses to the consultation will help to inform the recommended option which will be put before Cabinet in March 2025.
The first option is for the Council’s homes to be owned and managed by the Council, with repairs and maintenance delivered by an external specialist contractor. The second option would be for homes to be owned by the Council and managed by a registered provider, similar to the current arrangement.
The option selected following the consultation will determine whether the existing housing management staff team at ForHousing will transfer to the Council, or to a new registered provider in 2027.
Cabinet is also asked to approve the new Council Housing Asset Management Strategy for 2024-2029 and a 30-Year Business Plan. The Strategy has been developed following consultation with tenants last year. It sets out how Council housing in the borough will be maintained and improved. It commits the Council to continuing to provide safe and secure homes that are fit for purpose, meeting building, gas, electrical and fire safety requirements.
The Strategy also proposes a programme of refurbishment works, measures to tackle climate change and an overview of the plan to continue to build new housing to help meet the housing needs of residents. The new 30-year Business Plan will provide for £210 million of works to be undertaken on Council homes funded by the ringfenced Housing Revenue Account over the 30-year period for refurbishment and to meet the Council’s target of achieving net zero by 2045.
The Strategy contains six objectives for the Council’s work over the next five years:
- Ensure homes are fit for purpose.
- Ensure homes are safe to live in.
- Ensure homes help meet housing needs.
- Help contribute to social and environmental wellbeing.
- Reduce carbon emissions and environmental impact.
- Ensure there is effective financial control overseeing our work.
These decisions are key for the future direction of Council housing in the borough. I’d like to thank ForHousing and their team for their hard work in managing our Council housing since 2017. We will continue to work together to provide good quality services to our residents. It is now important that tenants get to have their say in how their homes are managed beyond July 2027. Following a consultation last year, the Council Housing Asset Management Strategy is now complete and ready for publication. It includes actions to improve the wellbeing of Council tenants, and ensure homes are fit for purpose, safe to live in, meet the needs of residents, and reduce carbon emissions. We want to make sure that the Council provides affordable homes of the right type and quality. It is about more than just homes though, this Strategy will help to make sure our communities remain pleasant places to live and deliver thriving and sustainable neighbourhoods.
The Strategy is part of the Council’s commitment to creating a long-term plan to retrofit housing to help tackle the climate emergency and reduce fuel poverty. This is one of the 12 action points identified as part of Cheshire West and Chester Council’s vision for an Inclusive Economy. The Inclusive Economy aims to make Cheshire West and Chester a greener, fairer and stronger place to live, work and play.