People can now comment on a five-year strategy for improving accommodation and tackling homelessness in north Oxfordshire.
Published: Monday, 7th October 2024
Cherwell District Council wants residents to have their say on the Housing Strategy 2025 - 2030. It is going out for an eight-week consultation from today, Monday, 7 October.
The strategy’s priorities are delivering affordable homes; improvements to existing housing; and promoting health and wellbeing through housing and tackling homelessness.
Over the term of the 2019 - 2024 Housing Strategy, the council worked with housing providers to deliver 1,344 new social homes. It awarded over 100 grants to improve local properties, and more than 900 homes were adapted to make them more suitable for people living with disabilities.
The period also saw Cherwell launch its Tenants Charter and a drop-in advice service for renters. It issued more than 800 improvement notices to landlords.
Councillor Nick Cotter, Portfolio Holder for Housing, said: “Everyone deserves a safe and comfortable roof over their head, so we work to improve standards for people who rent their homes and to combat homelessness and rough sleeping.
“The Housing Strategy underpins how we approach these tasks, so it’s vital that we update it to prepare us for future challenges and ask the public to have their say.
“People’s feedback will help us continue to provide high-quality services to some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.”
The council updates its Housing Strategy every five years, and the latest version is informed by a review of local and national issues affecting housing. These include the supply of affordable and social housing, increasing homelessness rates, and the cost of living crisis.
When the final strategy is adopted, an action plan will be developed and progress in delivering it will be reported every year to the overview and scrutiny committee.
People should visit the council’s Citizen Space engagement platform from 7 October to have their say on the Housing Strategy. The consultation closes on Thursday, 28 November.