Hertsmere Borough Council and not-for-profit Housing Association Peabody, have agreed to work closely together to respond to the borough’s housing pressures and ensure as many Peabody homes as possible are retained for local people.
The announcement follows a meeting between Councillor Newmark, Leader of the Council and Cllr Matthews, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Housing Development, and Kirsty Pepper, Managing Director of Peabody’s north counties region, where substantial progress was made in reaching an agreement to limit the number of empty properties being sold in the borough.
In response to the scale of demand for social housing locally, Peabody has agreed to adjust how it decides which empty homes in Hertsmere should be sold when facing high repairs and maintenance costs. This new approach will run as a short trial, during which time both organisations will monitor how the arrangements are working and agree any changes needed.
Both organisations accept that a small number of properties may require such substantial repairs and maintenance that it would not be cost effective to complete. These cases will be discussed individually to make sure the best outcome is achieved. Cllr Alan Matthews, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Housing Development said:
This is a good result for the borough which significantly reduces the number of sales allowing us to help more families in desperate need.”
Cllr Jeremy Newmark, the Leader of the council, added:
This is a positive step that reflects our absolute priority to addressing housing needs in the borough, and we look forward to continuing to work in close partnership with Peabody.”
Kirsty Pepper added:
Our priority is always to repair and re-let homes wherever possible, so they can go to families in need through the council’s nomination process. Sometimes a property needs such major work that it wouldn’t be cost effective to do it, and in those cases a sale might be the only option. We then reinvest the money in other homes and services for residents. But we understand the huge demand, particularly for family-sized homes, in Hertsmere. So, we’ll be working with the council and other affordable housing providers to make sure as much social housing as possible remains available to local people.”