We need to make sure that the city has the right type of housing to meet the needs of current and future residents, whether it be owner occupation, private renting, or social rented housing. To do this, our Housing Strategy 2015 priority to Improve Housing Supply focusses on 4 strategic themes:
Increasing the supply of New Affordable Housing
253 new affordable homes are estimated to be completed between 2015 and 2018 across the city with 66 of these expected to compete in 2015/16. These 66 homes are being built to Lifetime Homes Standard and 9 will be new wheelchair adapted homes. In addition there are a further 11 sites that will deliver an additional 212 new affordable homes in the future.
With limited housing development opportunities within the city, we are continuing to work with adjacent local authorities in the Greater Brighton and Coastal West Sussex to not only address unmet housing needs across a sub-regional area but to identify economic opportunities to increase more jobs and businesses
Increasing the supply of Family Housing
We recognise the need to develop more family housing and in 2014/15 we delivered 29 new 3-bed affordable homes and in 2015/16 we expect 10 new 3-bed homes will be delivered. We are working to ensure the City Plan supports the need for more family homes and have a target for the mix of new affordable homes in terms of size recognised in the draft City Plan of 30% one beds, 45% two beds and 25% three beds.
Supporting the Community Housing Sector to develop new affordable housing
We have a longstanding working relationship with the Community Housing Sector, supporting their successful bid for Government funding. We are committed to promote the concept of community housing and to this end we will be exploring the viability for development options on available sites with a focus on maximising the social value of new developments and sharing information with the Community Housing Network
Improving Student Housing options to benefit students, communities and take pressure of the existing housing stock
Over 2,000 units of new purpose built student housing have been approved in the city for development over the next few years and we will continue to support the development of further student accommodation in accordance with the City Plan polices. To ensure that the right balance of student accommodation is developed, the council’s Planning team has commissioned a report to establish the demand for student housing for the next few years.