Housing Policies and Strategies

The council has a duty to consider the housing needs of all the residents of the district and to produce and deliver strategic housing plans that set out the plans for tackling these needs.

Housing Strategy 2022-2027

The East Herts Housing Strategy for the period 2022-27 sets out four strategic priorities: deliver more affordable housing, enable a wider range of accommodation and support for the most vulnerable residents, provide high quality housing options for older people which are better suited to their needs, and improve the sustainability and quality of homes. 

The Homelessness and Homeless Prevention Strategy 2019 - 2024

The following Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Review and Strategy 2019-2024 takes a broad view of the full range of housing issues in East Herts, including homelessness and the partnerships the Council has with other agencies in the district to alleviate homelessness.

Tenancy Strategy

The Localism Act 2011 introduced a number of changes in social housing including placing a new duty on every local authority to publish a tenancy strategy. The strategy is to guide Registered Providers of social housing in the relevant area in formulating policies relating to:

(a) the kinds of tenancies they grant,

(b) the circumstances in which they will grant a tenancy of a particular kind,

(c) where they grant tenancies for a term, the lengths of the terms, and

(d) the circumstances in which they will grant a further tenancy on the coming to an end of an existing tenancy.

Registered Providers are obliged to have regard to the strategy when developing their own tenancy policies.

Housing Register and Allocations Policy

The Housing Register and Allocations Policy sets out how to apply for housing, how preference is awarded and how homes are allocated and can be found on our Apply for housing page.

Local Lettings Policies

Occasionally planning obligations set out criteria on the allocation of affordable housing that are different from those of the Housing Register and Allocations Policy. Typically, a restriction will apply in rural areas to affordable housing that has been built beyond a parish boundary specifically to meet the need of local households. For more information please see our Local Lettings Policy page.

Shared Ownership:Local Priorities Cascade

For more information on how the council prioritises households for shared ownership homes, please see our Shared Ownership: Local Priorities Cascade page.

Quarterly Housing Monitor

Statistics on the Housing Register, Allocations, Homelessness and New Build Homes.