Housing strategy

Housing Strategy 2019 to 2024

 The council has developed a new Housing Strategy. This accounts for major changes in the housing sector, wider demographic and economic changes. This includes rising housing costs, a shift from owner occupation to private renting, the impact of the Grenfell Tower disaster and legal changes.

There have also been changes to national and regional policy. This includes the:

This creates a number of challenges and opportunities addressed in the themes of the council’s new Housing Strategy. Themes include:

  • Raising standards in the private rented sector
  • Delivering more homes people can afford to buy or rent
  • Safe and secure homes
  • Promoting independence
  • Tackling homelessness and rough sleeping

Housing strategy

Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2019 to 2024

 The impact of homelessness is broad and far reaching. The right home is an important factor in a person’s health and wellbeing. Good housing helps a person manage their health, sustain a job, care for their family and contribute to their community. National policy has also changed, most significantly through the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017.

As a result, Barnet has produced a Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy to take account of major changes in the housing sector and legislative changes, including the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, with the following themes of:

  • preventing homelessness
  • reducing the use of temporary accommodation and securing accommodation for people who are homeless
  • establishing effective partnerships, working arrangements and support to those who are or used to be homeless, to improve their resilience and reduce the risk of them from becoming homeless again
  • supporting rough sleepers to address their housing and other needs
Homelessness strategy

Barnet 2024 – Corporate Plan

The Housing and Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategies contributes to the council’s Corporate Plan priority of ‘ensuring decent quality housing that buyers and renters can afford, prioritising Barnet residents’ by:

  • increasing supply to ensure greater housing choice for residents
  • delivering new affordable housing, including new homes on council owned land
  • prioritising people with a local connection and who give back to the community through the Housing Allocations Scheme
  • ensuring that good landlords continue to provide accommodation and that poor-quality housing is improved