New scheme to ensure Ashfield residents are living somewhere warm and safe

The strategy, which covers affordable housing development, homelessness and rough sleeping prevention, private sector housing and Ashfield District Council’s 30-year housing investment programme will see a number of priorities delivered between now and 2023.

The strategy’s key priorities include preventing homelessness and rough sleeping, developing 100 new council homes, improving standards in the private rented sector, maintaining and improving council homes, including their energy efficiency, providing excellent customer service to residents and using technology to deliver services more efficiently.

Coun Tom Hollis, cabinet member for council and social housing, said: “The housing strategy sets out what we will deliver in the next two years.

"The council is ambitious with its housing priorities and work has already started on many of these projects.

“New affordable housing developments are already underway across the district, adding 45 new homes to our housing stock this year.

"Works to improve energy efficiency in council homes continues as does our work with private sector landlords.”

The 2018-2020 housing strategy saw the council meet a large number of its key priorities, including securing nearly £2 million worth of Government grants in 2021 alone to provide greater thermal efficiency in both privately-owned and its own housing stock, making an offer of accommodation to all street homeless households during the pandemic, working in partnership to secure more than £1 million in external funding each year for rough sleeping services across Nottinghamshire and helping secure external funding to continue the Serenity Refuge Scheme for women fleeing domestic abuse.

Coun Hollis continued: “We achieved so much as part of the last housing strategy, we have been working hard to tackle rogue landlords across the district issuing more than £75,000 in fines, had our first ever enforced sale bringing a dilapidated property back into use and secured more than £1 million of funding we’re using to deliver services and support to rough sleeps.

“The new strategy sets out even more ambitious priorities that will help us in our continued commitment to ensuring Ashfield residents are living in, or can access, homes that are affordable, warm and within a safe community that promotes the health and wellbeing of residents.”