Decision details

To agree a Local Lettings Plan to cover first lets and all subsequent lets of all four Affordable Rented Cheltenham Borough Council owned properties within 8-11 Hillfort Close, Cheltenham, GL53 0JS for an initial 15 month period (until 16^th January 2025), to be reviewed by Cheltenham Borough Council and Cheltenham Borough Homes Officers in October 2024.

This decision provides Cheltenham Borough Council with the authority to introduce, monitor and review a Local Lettings Plan covering the four Affordable Rented properties at 8-11 Hillfort Close, Cheltenham, GL53 0JS. This Local Lettings Plan will help to integrate the new residents into the wider neighbourhood, as well as supporting community wellbeing and community cohesion. By seeking approval for this decision, the Council will be meeting a key priority of our adopted 2023-2028 Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy, namely ‘investing in our communities to make them safer, stronger and healthier’. For the sake of clarity, this Local Lettings Plan will not apply to the one 2-bedroom Shared Ownership house on this development

Please note this Local Lettings Plan will be reviewed by key officers from Cheltenham Borough Council and Cheltenham Borough Homes (CBH) in October 2024 following Officer sign-off to determine whether an extension to or amendment of the Local Lettings Plan is appropriate. 

If, for any reason, the Local Lettings Plan is not functioning as intended, the Council will have the ability to review the Local Lettings Plan, in consultation with CBH Officers, within 15 months of the handover date- (prior to 16^th January 2025). This Local Lettings Plan will automatically expire on 16^th January 2025 in the event that CBH do not seek a review of this Local Lettings Plan during October 2024. 

An alternative option considered was not agreeing or implementing a Local Lettings Plan. However, owing to the importance of creating sustainable, resilient and harmonious communities, especially in a location with minimal provision of social housing, as is the case in the surrounding area, this option has been rejected. Additionally, the Council recognises the potential for reputational damage to the Council if tenants (or wider market owners) are unsatisfied with community cohesion (in the event that a Local Lettings Plan was not introduced), and, as such, it was considered appropriate to introduce a Local Lettings Plan in this location.

This draft Local Lettings Plan has been agreed with key officers from CBH, after which feedback was sought from Councillor Victoria Atherstone- Cabinet Member for Housing.

To briefly summarize the consultation feedback received, Cheltenham Borough Homes Housing Options Team suggested amending the Local Lettings Plan to reduce the exclusion period for applicants (or family members) who have been subject to a Possession Order (relating to anti-social behavior) a previous anti-social behavior eviction or an anti-social behavior injunction from 5 years to 3 years. This amendment has been included within the final Hillfort Close Local Lettings Plan. Consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing resulted in a minor formatting amendment (adding a bullet point), and no other changes. Additionally, The Cabinet Member for Housing put on record their agreement with the Local Lettings Plan as proposed.