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Building a Sustainable Community at Cambourne
Inter-agency agreement on local letting plan and management arrangements between:
Cambridge City Council -CCC
South Cambridgeshire District Council - SCDC
Circle Anglia Housing Trust
Cambridge Housing Society
Granta Housing Society
1. Background
A consortium, comprising Circle Anglia (lead RSL) together with Cambridge Housing Society and Granta Housing Society, has taken on responsibility for the development of the affordable housing at Cambourne. This agreement aims to set out the responsibilities of each RSL and the Local authorities in terms of achieving a sustainable living environment within this development. All rental properties will be let in accordance with the Choice Based Lettings service approved by South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC) and Cambridge City Council (CCC). This will include 25% of the rented homes being advertised on an on going basis as available to households within the sub-region.
2. Objectives of the development
The vision for Cambourne is for a high quality, vibrant and distinctive village, which will complement and enhance the character of South Cambridgeshire. The overriding objective of Cambourne is to create a sustainable community - a place where people want to live, not just now, but in the future. This means providing good quality homes within an attractive environment, which is accessible to local amenities and services.
One of the key objectives of the signatories to this agreement is to build high levels of social capital on the development. Social capital can be enhanced when residents see their neighbourhood as a destination - a place where they are prepared to invest time and effort in developing neighbourly relations. One way of achieving this is by putting in place a flexible and sensitive lettings policy for the social rented units on the site (i.e. those properties which will be let at Tenant Services Authority target rents) in order to achieve a reasonable balance between the competing pressures for new accommodation. Ensuring that prospective residents have chosen to move to Cambourne will be fundamental to this process. Under this policy housing need would still be the overriding factor governing the selection of nominees, but other factors will also be taken into account. It is the aim of the parties to this agreement that these will include the following. Where targets are given these will be subject to ongoing monitoring and discussion between the signatories to this agreement.
3.
Social housing dwellings
The RSL consortium will subscribe to the Home-Link Choice Based Lettings Scheme and enter into a Service Level Agreement setting out the parties' mutual obligations. All lettings will be advertised through Home Link and will comply with the legal and regulatory requirements for letting social housing, and the agreed Local Lettings Plan described below.
Underletting - 70% of the homes will be let to households who will under-occupy the dwelling by one person or more. For example 2 children in a 3-bed house and 1 child in a 2-bed house Or 1 child in a 3- bed house and 0 children in a 2-bed house.
Children's ages - for households containing children, the local authorities will aim to select households with a range of child ages, from 0 to 18.
Households for the general needs social rented units will be selected with a range of child ages in order to meet the following child density targets across the developments.
Preschool Age 0-5
|
Primary School Ages 5-11 |
Secondary School Ages 12-16 |
Further Education Age 17+ |
Total |
65 |
65 |
65 |
22 |
216 |
30% |
30% |
30% |
10% |
100% |
Social capital and choice - The local authority signatories to this agreement will be subject to Choice Based Letting Scheme (CBL) this will allow nominees to make a positive choice of Cambourne.
Diversity - the new community should broadly reflect the diverse population of Cambridgeshire.
Economic activity - At least 40% of those nominated will have a household member who is economically active.
Transfers - transfers of existing social housing tenants will comprise no more than 50% of nominees.
Specialist Housing - fully wheelchair accessible properties will only be let to households who have a member who will benefit from the accommodation.
4. Intermediate Housing
As well as social rented housing, the Cambourne scheme includes other forms of affordable housing such as shared ownership. All of these new homes are being funded through social housing grant from the Homes and Communities agency and will therefore be subject to the nomination process set out in the Capital Funding Guidance, issued by the Housing Corporation. In marketing, letting and selling these properties the RSL partners and the nominated zone agent will work closely with the local authorities in accordance with the procedures set out in the Capital Funding Guidance.
5. Management arrangements
The housing association signatories to this agreement will use their best endeavours to ensure that their management arrangements for Cambourne are harmonised. This will help to mitigate any resident dissatisfaction over differences in treatment.
All of the RSL partners in this agreement are regulated by the Housing Corporation there may however be differences in the detail and implementation of policy. The RSL partners agree to study the details of each others' policies to ensure that there is no significant difference in approach in the rights and obligations placed on tenants and the benefits offered. Should significant differences become evident, the associations hereby agree to seek a compromise position, specific to Cambourne, which will standardise their approach. The following policies, in particular, will be standardised wherever possible.
Anti Social Behaviour policy
Rent Arrears Policy
Complaints Policy
Customer Care Policy
Equalities and Diversity Policy
Maintenance and Repairs policy
Tenant Participation Policy
Tenant Transfer and Allocations policy
Tenants' Choice policy
Car parking policy
Adaptation policy for people with disabilities
Management of grounds and the open realm
There will be a common community development programme in place and management staff from the RSLs will hold regular meetings to discuss progress and review any disparities.
Signatories to this agreement
Cambridge City Council
) Date
)
South Cambridgeshire District Council - SCDC
) Date
)
Circle Anglia
) Date
)
Granta Housing Society
) Date
)
Cambridge Housing Society
) Date
)
Cambourne - Local Letting Agreement - third draft Dec 2008
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