Shropshire outlines five-year housing strategy

Shropshire County Council has given the green light to a five-year housing strategy, which aims to provide ‘the right home in the right place’.

The strategy was approved by the cabinet earlier this week and aims to provide a mix of housing options and prevent homelessness in the county.

Its main objectives include to ensure people whose housing needs are not met through the local open market housing can access housing that meets their needs.

It also aims to minimise the environmental impact of existing housing stock and future housing development in the interest of climate change.

‘The need for a decent home with adequate space has never been more important than at the current time, as many of us are spending more time at home, including continuation of home working for lots of us,’ said cabinet member for housing and strategic planning, Cllr Robert Macey.

‘Having the “right home in the right place” is an aspiration for the majority of us, but this realisation is harder to achieve for some people.

‘The global pandemic has highlighted the importance of having a decent home with sufficient space, together with highlighting the importance of communities. We recognise that that there are a multitude of reasons why this may be the case for some of our residents. Our aim is to address the barriers that prevent these residents from being able to access a suitable home,’ added Cllr Macey.

‘Therefore, temporary accommodation is a key part of the strategy. Everyone has different housing needs throughout their lives, and some people are not blessed with the support networks that others have, so it’s really important we can be here to support people who are facing homelessness and urgent housing needs.’

The chair of the Shropshire Social Housing Forum, and group chief executive at the Wrekin Housing Group, Wayne Gethings added: ‘We welcome the new strategy and the vision it sets to meet housing need across Shropshire.

‘Having the right homes in the right place at affordable rents is critical for communities. Housing associations such as Wrekin, along with our partners in the forum and Shropshire Council, will need to work together to deliver on the new strategy. We also look forward to working in partnership with communities across Shropshire to deliver high quality and sustainable affordable housing.’

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