Customers give thumbs up to a new housing allocation policy across West Cheshire
Cheshire West and Chester Council, Chester & District Housing Trust (CDHT) and Weaver Vale Housing Trust (WVHT) are working together to deliver a new, unified Choice Based Lettings service, named Trust HomeChoice for all customers to access homes across West Cheshire.
Trust Homechoice means that residents will only need to join one housing register to apply for social housing owned by the Council, Chester & District Housing Trust, Weaver Vale Housing Trust and other participating registered social landlords.
The joint policy and register will use a banding rather than a points based system because it is simpler and more transparent for applicants. Banding systems help applicants understand their priority for housing and identify more clearly why they have been placed in a specific band.
The consultation process to agree the allocation policy for Trust HomeChoice concluded at the end of June and has now been approved by all partner organisations ready for launch. A range of consultation methods were used, including, local events around the area, over 12,000 letters were sent to applicants, 34 briefing events with partner agencies, colleagues and customers took place and comprehensive responses have been obtained through the open website and completed questionnaires. Customers across Cheshire West gave the new proposals overwhelming thumbs up.
Alan Slater, Head of Strategic Housing and Spatial Planning at Cheshire West and Chester Council said:
“Trust HomeChoice will offer increased choice and satisfaction across communities within a wider area. Choice based letting was first introduced in Chester in 2006 and this experience has contributed towards a decrease in evictions, less tenancy failures, increased customer satisfaction and a more positive effect on communities and sustainability.
The consultation process has given the new Trust HomeChoice partnership a clear understanding of local priorities and how, as housing providers we can act to ensure that we can meet those priorities. Customers across Cheshire West have told us that they welcome this new direction in how affordable and social housing is allocated.”
Chris Rowbottom, Director of Housing at Weaver Vale Housing Trust or
Allan Lewis, Head of Service for Ellesmere Port & Neston Housing Management or Dave Shaw, Assistant Director Customer & Housing Access at Chester & District Housing Trust;
“As a result of the consultation, the Trust HomeChoice partnership has now developed its policy aims, and in particular has created a scheme which will maximise choice, accessibility and ease of understanding to over 12,000 applicants.’
In response to customer feedback, specific changes to the policy include:
• Ensuring local priorities are addressed, particularly in rural areas.
• Ensuring that methods of advertising properties meet the needs of all our customers.
• The provision of easy to access local contacts and advice, and
• Ensuring that the partnership works hard to ensure that allocations are sensitive to the needs of local communities now and in the future.
The new scheme will be launched in the autumn across Chester and Vale Royal areas, with the second stage launching across Ellesmere Port & Neston by April 2010. Further details are now available at www.trusthomechoice.org
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A full copy of the findings from the Trust Homechoice survey is available from www.trusthomechoice.org
Research about the benefits of Choice Based Letting schemes is published at: http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/596/231MonitoringtheLongerTermImpactofChoicebasedLettings_id1503596.pdf and
http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/599/MonitoringtheLongerTermImpactofChoicebasedLettings_id1503599.pdf
For more information:
Cheshire West and Chester Council www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
Press contact : Julia Thorley-Morse 01606 867512
julia.thorley@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
Chester & District Housing Trust www.cdht.net
Press Contact: Jane Harrad-Roberts 01244 330000
07785 395705 jane@marketingprojects.co.uk
01244 330000
Weaver Vale Housing Trust www.wvht.co.uk
Press contact: Lucy Goldsmith lucy.goldsmith@wvht.co.uk
01606 813317 or
Lucy Beaumont, Profile Communication
01606 888111
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