Housing strategies
This section contains information about the council's housing strategy and other housing policy documents.
There are five parts to this section:- Interim Tenancy Strategy
- Homelessness Strategy 2011-2016
- Housing Strategy
- Extra Care Strategy for Eastern Surrey
- The Joint Accommodation Strategy for people with care and support needs in Surrey
1. Interim Tenancy Strategy
Local authorities are required under the Localism Act to publish a Tenancy Strategy by January 2013. Our Interim Tenancy Strategy sets out the Council’s initial stance on use of the new flexibilities for Registered Providers of social housing (RPs) introduced by the government. RPs are required to have regard to the local authority’s Tenancy Strategy in formulating their own policies.
Our Interim Tenancy Strategy covers issues such as fixed term tenancies, steps RPs should take when proposing to end a fixed term tenancy and rent levels for Affordable Rented properties.
The consultation on our Draft Interim Tenancy Strategy has now closed. The revised Interim Tenancy Strategy will be available to download here shortly.
2. Homelessness Strategy 2011-2016
We are very pleased to have produced a new Homelessness Strategy for 2011-2016, which sets out what we plan to do in Reigate and Banstead to tackle homelessness.
The strategy has five overarching themes:
- Develop the Housing Options approach
- Strengthen partnership working
- Engage the private rented sector
- Increase the supply of and maximise the use of existing affordable housing
- Deliver efficient customer focused services
Effectively tackling homelessness and minimising its effects on individuals and the wider community continues to be a key objective for us. We are committed to preventing homelessness wherever possible and finding appropriate interventions to achieve this.
We will drive forward future improvements to our services to those people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness, by achieving the actions within this strategy’s Delivery Plan.
Download the Homelessness Strategy 2011-2016
3. Housing Strategy
What is a Housing Strategy?
Every Council is required to have a Housing Strategy. Its purpose is to identify local housing issues, priorities for action and the resources needed to deliver our objectives. The Strategy provides an overall housing strategic framework for the Council and informs the annual work plan for the Housing Service.
Every three-four years we review our Housing Strategy. We consult the public, residents and key stakeholders about the housing issues in the borough and proposed priorities.
Our housing strategy priorities are based on information about local:
housing needs
house prices
affordability
disrepair and
community needs.
National and regional policies also guide our priorities, and at the local level the borough’s Community Plan, Council’s Corporate Plan and Local Development Framework also have an influence.
East Surrey Housing Strategy 2009-13
The council has worked with the neighbouring authorities of Epsom & Ewell BC, Mole Valley DC and Tandridge DC to produce the East Surrey Housing Strategy.
The councils agreed the following priorities:
- Creating Housing Opportunities
- Improving Housing Standards
- Improving Housing and Support for Vulnerable People.
We will work towards delivering these priorities across East Surrey, sharing and pooling resources as appropriate, reducing duplication and streamlining processes.
The East Surrey Housing Strategy and Action Plan can be downloaded here. As one document, the East Surrey Housing Strategy is a very large file, so it is split into sections below to make downloading quicker.
- East Surrey Housing Strategy Executive Summary
- East Surrey Housing Strategy Chapters 1-7
- East Surrey Housing Strategy Chapter 8 - Epsom & Ewell
- East Surrey Housing Strategy Chapter 9 - Mole Valley
- East Surrey Housing Strategy Chapter 10 - Reigate & Banstead
- East Surrey Housing Strategy Chapter 11 - Tandridge
- East Surrey Housing Strategy Action Plan.
The first annual progress update of the Action Plan (completed in September 2010) can be downloaded here:
4. Review of the Housing Needs of Older People and the Extra Care Strategy
In 2005 the Council completed a review of the housing and care needs of older people in the borough. The review has provided the Council and our partners with a valuable source of information about the housing needs of older people in the borough and the supply of housing to meet those needs.
The review identified that the needs and aspirations of older people are changing. The majority of people aged over 74 years old are owner-occupiers, they are living longer and require increasing levels of support to remain independent.
Older people wish to exercise choice about where and how they live and to remain independent for as long as possible. The review recommends that the range of housing options for older people needs to increase.
In October 2005, the Extra Care Housing Strategy for Eastern Surrey was launched. This Strategy draws on the findings of the review of housing and care needs of older people in the borough.
Working in partnership, the Council, together with Tandridge District Council, Surrey County Council and East Surrey Primary Care Trust developed an Extra Care Housing Strategy. The Strategy highlights the importance of homes for life for older people, in which they have access to 24-hour care services, an on-site restaurant, social and learning opportunities.
The Strategy sets out a range of options to improve existing older people’s accommodation and the development of new purpose built accommodation. Work is already underway to identify opportunities to develop Extra Care Housing in the borough.
5. The Joint Accommodation Strategy for people with care and support needs in Surrey 2010-2014
A Joint Accommodation Strategy for people with care and support needs has been prepared by Surrey County Council in partnership with each of the eleven borough and district housing departments in Surrey. Its focus is on housing for people with care and support needs and it is intended to support and supplement other strategy documents that are in place or in preparation, such as the East Surrey Housing Strategy, the Surrey Supporting People Strategy, the Children's Housing Strategy and a range of Adult Social Care accommodation and commissioning strategies.
The intention of this strategy is to map housing, care and support needs for vulnerable adults and young people in each borough and district in Surrey, with a view to agreeing local priorities and local action plans to meet demand.
You can download the separate chapters of the Joint Accommodation Strategy, including a separate chapter for Reigate & Banstead, from the Surrey County Council website (easy read versions).
You can also download the full versions each chapter from the Surrey County Council website (full versions).
Last updated : 29/03/2012
