Leader's blog - 9 December 2024

“At Stroud District Council we are keen that to ensure that our tenants’ views inform all that we do and that we help our tenants to remain safe and healthy.  At the November Housing Committee meeting we considered several items that will help us to make that happen.

The committee unanimously approved a Tenant Engagement and Communications 12-month plan.  This will increase our engagement with our tenants and ensure that their views play a full role in the decisions we make as a committee.

Keeping our tenants safe and well is a core function of our role as a landlord.  I am pleased that we were able to approve a Housing Services Fire Policy and a Housing Services Radon Policy.  We also considered a new Gaining Access Policy which sets out the procedures that we will follow to obtain access to maintain and repair our properties and what we will do if we do need access to a property in an emergency.

Finally, I am delighted to report on the progress we have made in retrofitting our properties.  In 2021 we set a target to achieve an average EPC C rating across our housing stock by 2030.  It is testament to the hard work of our housing teams that we will achieve this by April 2025.  We will not stop there, however, as we know that energy efficient homes have significant benefits to our tenants and to society.  We have applied for a £7m grant to retrofit another 661 homes on our way to ensuring all our homes meet EPC C by 2030.”

Cllr Gary Luff, Chair of Housing Committee