Broadland Housing Group

Homes, community & support since 1963

tenants

Housing conference focuses on the importance of listening to tenants

Housing conference focuses on the importance of listening to tenants

The first Independent East conference was held near Norwich in November 2022. More than 100 tenants, board members and staff attended from five housing associations based in Norfolk and Suffolk. The conference focused on what lies in store for social housing in 2023 and the important role of tenants.

Independent East Conference November 2022, delegates discussing in group around a table
Independent East Conference November 2022,3 delegates chatting at table
Independent East Conference November 2022, speaker Kate Dodsworth from Regulator of Social Housing
Independent East Conference, November 2022

There were keynote speeches from housing experts Hilary Burkitt, Director of Housing at IFF Research; Kathryn Eyre, Quality, Engagement & Development Director of the Housing Ombudsman; and Kate Dodsworth, Director of Consumer Regulation for the Regulator of Social Housing. The programme also included table discussions and opportunities for questions.

Creative collaboration

In their discussions, the participants focused on creative collaboration as a key solution to the challenges faced by housing associations. They discussed how these challenges might be alleviated by really listening to tenants and putting them at the heart of decisions in the difficult year(s) ahead.

I found the keynote speeches informative, positive and thought-provoking. The whole conference was uplifting and well attended by tenants. It shows a growing interest in how attitudes to social housing and engaging with our landlords are changing.

Jane, a Broadland tenant who participated

It’s important for the sector to come together and think deeply about the challenges they are facing at the moment in such unprecedented times. The takeaway from today is a real sense that everyone is up for the challenge that we’re facing. Despite the great difficulties for housing associations, for tenants, everyone is up for thinking about how they are going to address these challenges and to make sure we are doing our very best for all of our tenants.

Hilary Burkitt, Director of Housing IFF Research

The event was organised by Independent East, an informal alliance of five community‐focused housing associations in the East of England – Broadland Housing, Freebridge Community Housing, Havebury Housing Partnership, Saffron Housing Trust, and Orwell Housing Association.

Independent East will continue to work collaboratively together and with tenants to address common issues, sharing ideas and best practice to continually improve services and better the lives of their customers.

CEOs of Independent East housing associations, November 2022
The CEOs of the five Independent East housing associations: from left to right: James Francis (Saffron); Michael Newey (Broadland); Anita Jones (Freebridge); Andrew Smith (Havebury); Wendy Evans-Hendrick (Orwell)

Martham – housing needs survey

Broadland Housing homes at Trunch

Martham – housing needs survey

Broadland Housing Association agreed with Martham Parish Council to carry out a survey about housing need in the parish.

If the survey identifies there is sufficient need for affordable homes, Broadland Housing Association will work in partnership with the Parish Council and local landowners to deliver either a 100% affordable housing scheme or a mixed-tenure housing exception scheme in the village, dependent on need and funding.

Background

Exception housing schemes are provided on land in the countryside that would otherwise not be permitted for development. The homes on an exception housing scheme are allocated using the Local Allocations Agreement. This ensures that homes are prioritised for households with a local connection to the parish where the scheme is located and the adjoining civil parishes. In this case the scheme forms part of a larger allocated development at the entrance to the village, off Repps Road.

Housing need

Housing need in rural areas can often be hidden and not necessarily visible to the wider community or statutory authorities. An individual or household is considered to be in housing need when:

  • they require separate or alternative accommodation AND
  • they are unable to rent or buy housing generally available on the open market.

Affordable homes

Two tenures of affordable homes are typically provided on exception housing schemes:

  • Affordable rent properties are let at rents discounted at 80% of market and generally capped at the Local Housing Allowance.
  • Shared ownership allows a household to buy an equity share of their home and pay rent on the portion retained by the housing association. Broadland Housing Association will retain the freehold. Shared owners are able to purchase equity shares up to an 80% cap of property value.

A small number of market sale homes may also be required to generate cross-subsidy and make the affordable homes more financially viable.

Whether you consider yourself to be in housing need or not, the information you provide is important as it will help give a wider understanding of the local housing market. Information you provide will be treated as strictly private and confidential and only used for the purposes of this survey.

All households are asked to complete Part 1 of the survey. Those who consider they have a housing need for affordable rent, shared ownership or market sale are asked to also complete Part 2 of the survey.

If there is more than one person or group of people living within your current household potentially needing separate accommodation, then they should complete separate survey forms. Previous residents of the Parish who have moved away and wish to return may also complete the survey.

Martham - housing needs survey

  • Part 1: You and your household

    Your connection to Marsham Parish.
  • By household we mean a single person/group of people who have the address as their only/main residence and who either share one meal a day or share the living/sitting room.
    ***If YES and you want to remain living in Martham, please complete Part 2 of this survey so we can collect information about your housing needs***

  • Part 2: About you and your housing needs

    Only complete this section if you need to move into alternative accommodation but want to remain living in Martham.

  • Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire. Your answers are important and will help us identify housing need in the village

If you have any queries, please contact Adam Ballard.

Brisley, Norfolk

Broadland Housing Association development at Trunch, Norfolk

Brisley – housing needs survey

Broadland Housing Association agreed with Brisley Parish Council to carry out a survey about housing need in the parish. This survey closed in July 2022.

If the survey identifies there is sufficient need for affordable homes, Broadland Housing Association will work in partnership with the Parish Council and local landowners to deliver either a 100% affordable housing scheme or a mixed-tenure housing exception scheme in the village, dependent on need and funding. Broadland Housing Association will then invite local landowners to put forward potential sites for consideration.

Background

Exception housing schemes are provided on land in the countryside that would otherwise not be permitted for development. The homes on an exception housing scheme are allocated using the Local Allocations Agreement, which ensures the homes are prioritised for households with a local connection to the parish in which the scheme is located and the adjoining civil parishes.

Housing need in rural areas can often be hidden and not necessarily visible to the wider community or statutory authorities. An individual or household is considered to be in housing need when:

  • they require separate or alternative accommodation AND
  • they are unable to rent or buy housing generally available on the open market.

Affordable homes

Two tenures of affordable homes are typically provided on exception housing schemes:

  • Affordable rent properties are let at rents discounted at 80% of market and generally capped at the Local Housing Allowance.
  • Shared ownership allows a household to buy an equity share of their home and pay rent on the portion retained by the housing association. Broadland Housing Association will retain the freehold. Shared owners are able to purchase equity shares up to an 80% cap of property value.

A small number of market sale homes may also be required to generate cross-subsidy and make the affordable homes more financially viable.

If you have any queries, please contact Adam Ballard.


Roughton

Back Lane, Roughton, proposed development

Roughton

We have submitted a planning application for 30 new homes on Back Lane in Roughton, Norfolk.

This proposed scheme will gift land to the local community of Roughton for new community facilities and an informal sports pitch and wetland area.

The scheme will have similar house designs to those we have already built at Trunch, Binham, Bodham and Great Ryburgh. We have worked hard to ensure that our designs blend into the local community and the scheme will have open green spaces throughout.

Broadland Housing Association acquired the site with outline planning consent for 30 homes for open market sale. Once the planning application for the revised design has been approved, Broadland intends to bid for public funding to convert a percentage to affordable rent and shared ownership homes, to create a mixed tenure community.

Back Lane, Roughton, proposed developemtn

If you have any queries, please contact Adam Ballard.

Northrepps

Broadgate Close Northrepps proposed site plan

Northrepps

We invited local residents to join us on Tuesday 23 June 2020 at a virtual consultation event.

The consultation has closed now. The community got the chance to view our proposed scheme layout for Broadgate Close, Northrepps, including the type and size of the new homes, and to ask us questions via live chat.

You can view the virtual plans here for our proposed 19 new homes or scan the code below.

QR code link to Broadgate Close, Northrepps, planning proposals

Read more about Broadland’s first net zero operational carbon homes here.

Take a virtual tour through the proposed new homes

The scheme comprises of

  • 9 open market properties
  • 2 shared ownership properties
  • 8 affordable rented properties
Broadgate close, Northrepps proposed site plan

If you have any queries, please contact Adam Ballard.

Accessibility by WAH