Stoke-on-Trent City Council is set to approve its new Housing Revenue Account (HRA) 30 Year Business Plan and Asset Management Strategy 2022-27 at a cabinet meeting on 26 April 2022.
The 30 Year Business Plan identifies how the city council will use its HRA resources to invest in existing homes to ensure they are well managed, kept to a decent standard and modernised, along with fulfilling the ambition to build new homes that offer a range of good quality, affordable social housing for residents living in the city.
Meeting the demand for social housing is a priority of this plan, particularly for older people, single people and those requiring supported accommodation. This plan sets out the council’s aspirations to build new council housing of the types required, delivering quality rather than quantity.
The plan looks to:
- Provide safe, well maintained and well managed council homes
- Improve the quality of our homes to meet modern standards and increase energy efficiency
- Help to make it possible for people to access and enjoy living independently in their homes
- Develop high quality new homes to meet the needs of our residents in all of our communities across the city
- Improve the quality of the environment to make our communities better places to live
The Asset Management Strategy 2022-27 provides a framework within which the council makes strategic decisions in relation to its asset base of over 17,000 homes and associated assets – all within the context of ageing assets, more exacting customer expectations, technological advances, climate change, financial constraints, and legislative and regulatory change.
It sets out nine initial asset management priorities, which critically respond to the national agenda around reducing the carbon footprint of the asset portfolio, building safety, developing new standards, and better use of technology, as well determining future investment requirements around stock that has been identified as potentially unsustainable into the longer term.
The plans are presented for approval following a formal consultation over the winter of 2021/22 which listened to residents’ views about the priorities in the plan. The success and delivery of this ambitious new Business Plan will require tenants, leaseholders and residents to be actively involved, with opportunities for engagement provided through our new Housing Customer Engagement Strategy.
Councillor Carl Edwards, Cabinet Member for Housing and Environment, said: “There is a housing revolution underway in Stoke-on-Trent. Prior to the pandemic, the city was undergoing the most significant economic transformation for more than 30 years. Our focus as a council is to ensure our economy rebounds and housing will play an important role in this recovery.
“These are ambitious plans that will deliver a range of benefits to tenants, residents and communities as a whole, continuing to ensure that our properties meet the most current quality standards, as well as responding to housing stock that may no longer be suitable to meet modern day housing needs.
“We intend to build on our recent successes by having the necessary framework in place to improve our housing offer, provide high quality places to live and attract further investment in the city.”
Residents can view the full Housing Revenue Account (HRA) 30 Year Business Plan and Asset Management Strategy 2022-27 at: https://moderngov.stoke.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=564&MId=11345&Ver=4
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