Decision

To agree a Local Lettings Plan to cover first lets of all Cheltenham Borough Council owned properties, within Plots 9, 10,11,12a Bartlett Close, (The Cherringtons, Kidnappers Lane), Cheltenham, GL53 0NR.

Reasons for the decision

This Local Lettings Plan provides Cheltenham Borough Council with the authority to introduce and review a Local Lettings Plan covering all four Social Rent, Cheltenham Borough Council owned properties within Plots 9, 10,11,12a Bartlett Close Cheltenham GL53 0NR (for avoidance of doubt, covering the Cherringtons on Kidnappers Lane).
This Local Lettings Plan will help to integrate the new residents into the wider neighbourhood, as well as supporting community wellbeing and community cohesion. By seeking approval for this decision, the Council will be meeting a key priority of our adopted 2023-2028 Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy, namely ‘investing in our communities to make them safer, stronger and healthier’. For the sake of clarity, this Local Lettings Plan will not apply to a Shared Ownership property on this development.




Please note Cheltenham Borough Council commits to providing the following monitoring data at the point that all initial lettings are complete:
• The number of bypasses made through the Local Lettings Plan (if any), including a review of the high-level circumstances justifying each bypass.
• Community cohesion or anti-social behaviour issues, supported by factual evidence.
• A review of the impact of this Local Lettings Plan on the ability of CBC’s Housing Options Team to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping considering the Council’s statutory responsibility under the Homelessness Reduction Act and other homelessness legislation.
From a Corporate perspective, creating quality homes and safe and strong communities is a key priority of the Council’s new Corporate Plan (2025-2028). Under this priority, the Council has committed to- “Build positive connections with our communities, make people feel safer and improve our neighbourhoods, public spaces and town centre”. The Corporate Plan also acknowledges that we must meet the requirements outlined within the new consumer standards set out by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH), especially, (in the context of this local lettings plan) concerning the Neighbourhood and Community Standard, which requires that we- “engage with partners including police, the voluntary sector charities to ensure that tenants can live in safe and well maintained neighbourhoods as well as feeling safe in their homes”.
Accordingly, in view of this new development, officers are seeking to introduce this Local Lettings Plan to support the Council’s wider placemaking objectives in creating sustainable, cohesive and resilient communities across the Borough, thereby supporting ongoing multi-agency initiatives to restore community stability and a sense of belonging to this neighbourhood.
In exceptional circumstances where the Local Lettings Plan is not functioning as initially intended, the Council may seek to review the Local Lettings Plan prior to completion of the first lets.
The Local Lettings Plan will automatically expire after the first lets have been completed unless evidence is provided by Cheltenham Borough Council officers to justify the reinstatement of this Local Lettings Plan on community cohesion, ASB, or other relevant grounds

Alternative options considered

An alternative option considered was not agreeing or implementing a Local Lettings Plan. However, owing to the importance of creating sustainable, resilient and harmonious communities, especially in a location with a low current provision of social housing, as is the case in the surrounding area, this option has been rejected. Additionally, the Council recognises the potential for reputational damage to the Council if tenants (or wider market owners) are unsatisfied with community cohesion (in the event that a Local Lettings Plan was not introduced), and, as such, it was considered appropriate to introduce a Local Lettings Plan in this location