Planning Policy Statement 3 on Housing encourages local authorities to achieve a wide choice of high quality homes, to widen opportunities for home ownership, to improve affordability and to create sustainable communities. The Local Government White Paper places emphasis on the need to focus on place shaping and we are working with a wide variety of partners nationally and in the North East region to achieve this.
Middlesbrough borough council and Redcar and Cleveland borough council are currently completing, with other partners, a costed and prioritised Tees Valley Sub-regional Housing Strategy which will form the basis of the next round of Government funding through the Single Housing Investment Pot (SHIP) of the North East Housing Board. The Tees Valley authorities have banded together to form Tees Valley Living which act as a strategic co-ordinating group for housing and regeneration activities.
Both Middlesbrough BC and Redcar and Cleveland have ‘fit for purpose’ housing strategies in place and both are working to address the key housing priorities which include tackling housing market failure; improving the condition of housing stock by meeting the decent homes standard; providing appropriate supported and specialist housing and ensuring the provision of suitable and sufficient affordable housing in the future.
Social housing stock in Middlesbrough is now managed by Erimus Housing Association and in Redcar and Cleveland by Coast and Country Housing. Both of these RSL’, together with others operating in the area are well on track to meet the 2010 target for achieving Decent Homes status.