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The Housing Advisers Programme was designed to support councils by helping them meet their local housing need. It aimed to be simple, flexible, and locally-led. Twenty-seven successful projects received money from the programme to promote, facilitate and enhance their role and capacity to meet their local housing need.
Project summaries
Focused on the private rented sector, develop financial models which allow for the provision and fitting of solar onto domestic properties which delivers a return for investor and resident.
Undertake a feasibility study to determine whether mineral water energy could be used to heat new build proposals and retrofit existing properties, creating a positive story around the district’s coal mining legacy.
Exploration of innovative design solutions for affordable housing on difficult sites, running a competition for architects to work with community groups.
Review the local private rented sector to develop a strategy to understand and engage with the sector, to improve quality of accommodation, develop good management practices, and reduce the levels of homelessness.
Homelessness: Review existing temporary and emergency accommodation provision and develop a business case for alternative approaches.
Assessing pathways and preventative measures for care leavers from becoming homeless.
Housing delivery: Explore and improve the delivery and provision of affordable 1-bedroom properties, by establishing ways to overcome barriers for private landlords and developers.
Homelessness: Investigate the options available to local authorities to work together to better meet the needs of families to deliver the right type of temporary accommodation.
Identify and support households looking to 'RightSize' to homes that better meet their needs, to address under occupation and overcrowding.
Homelessness: Develop an integrated approach between Housing Options team and Children's Social Work Services to identifying young people 'upstream' at risk of homelessness and deliver a joint approach and assessment process in preventing and responding.
Social housing management: Support implementation of the social housing white paper and achieve high quality landlord services by developing best practice principles and assurance framework proposals.
Housing delivery: Enabling, encouraging, and supporting Community Land Trusts, to address barriers to securing high quality affordable housing for local people.
A solution focused study, providing partners with an understanding of the challenges in MMC delivery within the Greater Lincolnshire context and highlighting where public sector interventions can overcome challenges to significantly increase MMC capacity.
Identifying the options available for renewable technologies in council new build properties, with an emphasis on running costs to offer affordable energy options for tenants.
Building on last years No Homelessness in Norfolk project, support will develop co-design and co-production as an ongoing approach in ensuring everybody has a say in homelessness service development and delivery.
Assess the suitability of a portfolio of approximately 50 small council-owned sites for housing development and make recommendations on the most appropriate delivery model to maximise their use.
Support delivery of a new supported housing facility to provide temporary accommodation for homeless families.
Housing delivery: Developing a sustainable model for older people's housing in the city to address wider housing need.
Support the creation of a 15–20-year development and regeneration plan to review opportunities for intensification, estate improvements and provide clear guidance on sustainable, energy efficient development of affordable housing.
Explore how to use smart devices to incentivise positive behaviour change and support residents to reduce their energy consumption.
Housing delivery: Development of a business case and business plan for new council housing delivery to help meet housing need by supporting and directly contributing to the delivery of social and affordable housing.
Review the council’s new-build standards to deliver more sustainable zero-carbon homes and improving the all-round environmental consciousness of homes.
Housing delivery: Exploring models for direct delivery and targeted intervention in the local housing market with a focus on strategic interventions for non-stockholding authority.
Building on the councils' investigation into the feasibility of becoming a direct housing provider, the project will explore how to reach a position to deliver new affordable housing through a partnership arrangement.
Homelessness: Improve access to private rented sector accommodation, increasing the availability of properties for those in housing need and to ensure measures are in place to prevent homelessness and to reduce repeat homelessness.
Review current temporary accommodation arrangements, assess need for temporary accommodation and explore solutions, to understand the challenges and provide a better service to vulnerable residents.
Consider the housing needs and requirements of vulnerable adults within Adult Social Care (ASC) and those transitioning into ASC, to strategically plan for current and future provision more effectively.
Highlighted pages
Housing Advisers Programme case studies
Participating local authorities have put together case studies on their experiences in undertaking the project and its impact for the benefit of sharing the learning across the sector.
Frequently asked questions
A list of frequently asked questions about the Housing Advisers Programme.