The Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy sets out the Council’s plans to deliver housing and housing-related services across all tenures in the Stroud District.
In recent years, our district, like many others, has faced significant challenges related to housing affordability, availability, and quality. This overarching Housing and Homelessness Strategy outlines the key objectives, policies, and actions to be implemented over the next five years to address those issues.
It also looks back at the key achievements and lessons learned during the implementation of the previous strategy. For the first time, we have brought together the Housing Strategy, Homelessness Strategy and Rough Sleeper Strategy.
Previously these documents were separately produced but it was decided to combine them as there are strong links throughout; homelessness and rough sleeping are often symptoms of wider housing market failure.
The Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy sets the context for this strategy and provides detail on why the delivery of affordable housing remains a key priority for Stroud District Council. There is currently an assessed need for 365 new affordable homes every year in the district. The local housing market is becoming increasingly polarised between those who were able to buy properties at a time of better wage to house price ratios, and those households who are struggling to access suitable properties. This has been impacted further by the significant increase in private rents and smaller landlords selling properties due to increasing interest rates and rising household costs as a result of inflation.
The Council works with a wide range of Registered Providers (housing associations) as well as rural and community housing groups to maximise the delivery of much needed new affordable homes. This strategy sets out how the Council will contribute towards meeting this need by continuing the delivery of its own house building programme, which to date has delivered 276 new homes.
Tenancy Strategy The Localism Act 2011 gives Registered Providers of affordable housing the ability to offer more flexible/fixed term tenancies than the secure/assured lifetime tenancies that have previously been offered. The Act also allows Registered Providers to build new homes and re-let existing homes at a higher rent than is presently charged for social rented accommodation, under a new ‘affordable rent' tenure.
Our Tenancy Strategy sets out how we would like Registered Providers of affordable housing to respond to these changes which are likely to affect new tenants. Affordable Housing providers operating in the Stroud District are expected to have regard to the principles outlined in the Tenancy Strategy when reviewing or developing Tenancy Policies that detail how they propose to develop and manage their housing stock in response to the changes introduced in the Localism Act 2011.
The Tenancy Strategy also outlines our position around the new powers for Local Authorities to use accommodation in the private rented sector to discharge homelessness duty, and to set their own rules around housing allocations and determining who should quality to join the housing register for affordable housing.
Improving people’s lives is a core theme within the Council Plan 2021 – 2026. This aspiration is mirrored in our Independent Living Strategy which was reviewed and updated in November 2023. Stroud District Council is committed to delivering its vision of “Providing good quality older people’s housing which meets a variety of current and future needs, where people want to live”. Our Independent Living HUBS provide vibrant, inclusive environments serving the local community as well as our tenants.