Housing is an important determinant of health, wellbeing and stability. Access to affordable, safe and stable homes provides a foundation for a community that enables individuals to thrive, find employment and raise families.
We are already taking action to tackle the rising costs of temporary accommodation and are investing £42million in buying around 150 properties to provide temporary accommodation to reduce reliance on the private rented sector. Other plans being implemented include increasing the number of long-term leased properties on our books and setting up our own letting agency to help prevent the need for people to access temporary accommodation in the first place.
Through our Local Plan we will ensure that we provide the right types of homes in the right places for our growing communities and, in the coming years, will work with developers to ensure we get this right. We have seen some excellent developments across Medway in recent years including Rochester Riverside, St Mary’s Island, Kitchener Barracks and Centenary Gardens, the largest social housing bungalow development in the country at the time it was completed.
As a social landlord to more than 3,000 households we will be focused on improving the satisfaction of our tenants. We have been investing in new social housing property stock such as sites developed in Twydall, Copenhagen Road in Gillingham and Longley Road in Rainham, providing more than 120 new homes for local people in the past eight years, and our plan is to grow our housing stock by one percent each year.
We will also ensure we assist people with specific accommodation needs including older people, people with disabilities, people needing specialist support and those who find themselves homeless.
Sub-priorities
- Increase the supply of good quality, energy efficient and sustainable homes that reflect the needs of the communities in Medway.
- Implement a Local Plan which reflects the needs of the communities in Medway, supporting a transition to a low-carbon future promoting affordable, energy efficient and sustainable homes
- Assist people with specific accommodation needs including older people, people with disabilities, people needing specialist support and those who find themselves homeless
- Engage with communities to identify ways to improve streets, parks and local surroundings which create vibrant places to live and enhance the quality of people’s lives
- Ensure the council’s housing stock is good quality, efficient, free from damp and mould and tenants are at the heart of decision making.
