Forward

Cheshire West and Chester’s new Housing Strategy sets out our vision and priorities for housing in the borough over the next ten years.

I would like to thank partners from all sectors that have contributed and supported the development of this strategy.

The Housing Strategy is a high-level document which forms one of the cornerstones for delivering the Borough Plan. It sets out the priorities we will focus on over the next ten years as we work to improve the housing landscape across our borough. As a council we want to build strong communities with the right mix of homes, green spaces and neighbourhoods that are thriving, vibrant places to live.

The Housing Strategy is about creating the right home in the right place by ensuring there is a range of good quality, affordable housing and support that meets the needs of residents in Cheshire West and Chester.

As a council we acknowledge that there are challenging times ahead, there is increasing pressures on budgets, a national housing crisis, housing is less affordable, and many people have support needs making it even more difficult to access and sustain accommodation. Rough sleeping and homelessness being the most visible result of the housing issues that many residents face. However, I am confident that if we work in partnership to tackle these issues, we can have a positive impact on residents across Cheshire West and Chester.

I look forward to working with other public services, local community groups, charities, businesses, and residents to deliver this strategy over the coming years.

Cllr Christine Warner,

Cabinet Member for Homes, Planning and Safer Communities

Introduction

The Housing Strategy is a partnership document providing a shared vision and clear focus and direction. Housing data has been used to inform the development process which has included a series of workshops with local partners and public engagement.

The strategy provides an overview of the key housing data, the vision for housing in Cheshire West and the strategic priorities.

The strategy seeks to set out a collaborative approach to ensuring there is a range of good quality, affordable housing and support that meets the needs of residents in Cheshire West and Chester over the next ten years.

There are three priorities:

1. Support that enables residents to access the right home and live well
2. Homes that are fit for now and ready for the future
3. Affordable homes of all tenures across the borough

Key performance indicators will be monitored and published yearly to show what is working and to consider what changes are needed over the lifetime of this strategy.

Housing achievements over the last four years

Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council and partners have made great progress over the last four years. Some of the achievements have been:

• 1,012 empty homes were brought back into use. This exceeded the target of 780 empty homes to be brought back into use.
• Between April 2018 and March 2023, 8,306 new properties have been built in the borough, of which 2,419 (30%) have been affordable homes.
• Between April 2020 and March 2024, 583 homes were built on council owned land, of which 403 were affordable homes, including 125 council homes.
• Between April 2020 and March 2024, 122 units of accommodation have been delivered through stock acquisition and conversions, in the main for supported housing.
• 487 households were supported to remain in their current homes and live safely and independently through the Disabled Facilities Grant Fund, Home Safety Grants and Decent Home Loans.
• The percentage of private rented properties with serious damp and mould issues improved within six months due to council involvement was 88% exceeding the target of 80%.
• 78% of private rented properties with serious disrepair were improved due to council involvement.

The Borough Plan 2024-2028

The Borough Plan sets out the shared vision and goals for the borough for 2024-28. The plan emphasises the importance of preventing homelessness and ensuring we have housing that meets the needs of local people which is affordable and sustainable.

Preventing and addressing homelessness: People become homeless for different reasons. Availability of affordable homes in the borough, unemployment, and poverty are all causes of local homelessness. In some cases, people are forced into homelessness through life events such as leaving prison or care, fleeing a violent or abusive relationship, or because they can no longer afford the rent.

We will improve homelessness prevention initiatives to keep residents in their homes by providing advice, information, and assistance. This will include developing our personalised housing plans and our offers of landlord negotiation, mediation with family and friends, debt advice and financial assistance when necessary. When somebody does find themselves homeless, we will support them to secure alternative accommodation in supported housing, social housing, or the private rented sector.

Ensuring we have housing that local people need and can afford: A good home is the bedrock of a good quality of life. Unfortunately, there is a national housing crisis, with real pressure on the cost and availability of housing. Average house prices in the borough are seven times the local average wage and rents are higher than the national average.

We will refresh and implement our local planning policies to deliver a good supply of high quality, affordable and low carbon homes to buy or to rent across the borough with the right infrastructure to support communities. We will continue to support neighbourhood plans where requested to ensure that development is appropriate to the needs of the local community.

It is important throughout our plans that we have more of the right type of housing available whether that be for younger or older people, rural communities, and different income groups. We will work with developers and partners to deliver more homes to meet these needs along with the infrastructure to support these communities and take due regard to aligning to modern methods of housing construction. We have an active direct delivery programme to build more affordable, secure, high-quality, and energy-efficient housing across the borough.

Supporting residents to make their homes more sustainable: We will seek investment for major housing retrofit programmes, increasing the energy efficiency of homes, and also creating local employment opportunities. Despite the financial pressures facing the housing revenue account (HRA), we will lead by example with our own housing stock actively pursuing funding opportunities that address fuel poverty through the delivery of retrofit measures. WE will also make the case for more investment in significant energy efficiency measures to support private rented and owner-occupied housing. We will also explore and support group buying schemes such as solar together to help residents access competitive pricing for solar and battery. We will promote community energy schemes, supporting communities when they are proposed. We will continue to raise awareness of our Green Doctor scheme, which will include home visits to residents to advise on small measures they can take to reduce energy consumption and to educate people on the impact on air quality for fuels burned in the home. Our local plan will provide us with the opportunity to enhance the sustainability and location of future housing development. A review will also take place into the feasibility of ensuring that all new builds meet high standards of energy efficiency (council and private developments) include renewable energy and EV charging points, and access to a high standard of broadband and transport infrastructure. Finally, we will promote the reuse of brownfield and reuse of existing buildings rather than demolition and new development.