New houses in Newtyle

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A new 12 unit council housing development in the village of Newtyle was completed last month, as part of the council’s  new build council housing programme.

Rural communities are an essential part of the Angus way of life and these new council houses will go some way to meet the need for affordable homes in these thriving rural areas.

Most of the houses will accommodate families with children including 4 homes for particular needs.  The air-tight, energy efficient homes take full advantage of solar power, helping to minimize fuel costs for tenants. In addition, fibre broadband was installed straight to the premises, to ensure good quality internet, which is essential for home working and studying in the modern home.

The development is next to Newtyle Primary School on a piece of land that formally hosted part of the old school. By converting an unused piece of brownfield land that is situated on one of the main entrance ways to the village, as well as the school, we are ensuring key improvements to the look and feel of the village.

We have tried to ensure that the Newtyle Primary School children have gained, and continue to gain, some real life learning from the construction of these houses. Community benefits are a key part of the contractor selection process and Bancon Construction delivered site safety talks, and organised poster competitions site visits, as well as providing some unused materials to aid their learning.

Our Parks colleagues have also egnaged with the school when it comes to some planting so that the children not only have input into what’s planted but also gain crucial knowledge of biodiversity issues.

Community engagement has been key throughout with regular engagement about the proposed development, with the community ultimately voting on the new name for the street.

The new properties, which are funded by both the Scottish Government and us are managed by Forfar Community Housing Team.

The Newtyle project has been shortlisted in the Housing and Regeneration Category of the Surf Awards. The award winners will be announced closer to Christmas.

To see the new houses watch our video

 

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Mediation and Conflict Resolution Service

 

Not getting on with your parents, partner, or family members? Then, our family Mediation and Conflict Resolution service may be able to help.

Our partnership with Relationships Scotland can support people to stop them becoming homeless because of a relationship breakdown. Even if leaving the family home isn’t preventable, the service can help support a planned move to other accommodation. The service can also work with people to help to rebuild relationships with family members, which may help them to return home.

We will work with you and your family, to make practical, workable arrangements for the future, which everyone can agree. We will treat you with respect, go at your pace, and keep things confidential. We’ll take into account the views, needs, and feelings of everyone involved; including you.

The service can support anyone in Angus, regardless of whether you live in our tenancy, or not.

Whether it’s you or someone you care about who’s struggling with conflict in their family, please get in touch.

For more information or to self-refer visit our Mediation and Conflict Resolution website.

More one-bedroom homes for Arbroath

Building is underway at our new housing development in Mayfield Terrace, Arbroath,which will have 14 one-bedroom flats for affordable rent.

The new flats will help to meet rising demand for one bedroom properties in Arbroath and Angus and forms the missing piece of the jigsaw in Arbroath’s Cliffburn area which has undergone comprehensive regeneration in recent years.

Seven brand new ground floor properties will provide specialist housing for older or disabled residents. This will help to deliver on our Local Housing Strategy commitment of 20% of new-build affordable housing for households with particular needs.

Our Convener of Communities, Cllr Mark Salmond said: “I am delighted that we are building these much-needed flats in Arbroath. They represent the culmination of widescale improvements delivered by the Council to revitalise the Cliffburn area.

“I’m especially pleased that half of these sought after flats will be suitable for people with particular needs. The demand for one-bedroom affordable homes continues to grow, so it is important that we make suitable provision for people who not only need smaller properties, but who may also have mobility challenges.”

The £2m development is funded by our Housing Revenue Account with a contribution from the Scottish Government through their Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

CHAP Construction is building our new flats, with anticipated completion by the end of 2021.

Projected Aerial views:

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Angus HomeFinder – See available properties on Fridays

From Friday 27 November you will be able to see available properties on our new Angus Homefinder website and bid for the home you want.

This is the last stage of our move to Choice Based Lettings.

By ‘bid’ we don’t mean any exchange of money – it simply means you can apply for a property by making an ‘expression of interest’. Both ours and housing association properties will go online each week.

The bidding cycle starts on a Friday morning and ends a week later – at midnight the following Friday. It doesn’t matter when you place your bid in that week-long period, as all bids will be ranked according to priority and date of application.

Not all properties will be advertised. For example, if you have a need for particular housing with adaptations or specialist housing support, you will not be expected to bid. We will contact you as normal when a suitable property becomes available. If you are in this category you will have a household type of Match.

How to bid

You can view and bid for properties on the Angus HomeFinder website.

Once you have logged in, you will only see properties that you can bid for. You can also check your bid position and change your bids at any time during the bidding cycle.

There may be some weeks when there are no properties for you to bid on and this could be because:

• there are no properties with the right number of bedrooms for your household.
  
• your application is suspended as you have been shortlisted for another property.
  
• your application has been cancelled as you no longer qualify.
  

We recommend logging into the site regularly to check the status of your bids and the availability of properties. Your bid position will show under the “previous bids” heading. If your bid is successful, we will contact you with a permanent offer of housing.

Please do not contact us to ask about the outcome of your bids.

Placing your bid

We ask that you familiarise yourself with any property before you bid, as bidding means you are willing to accept the property if it is offered to you. We aim to show photographs of all properties, inside and outside, wherever possible, and give you as much information about the property as we can.

Being flexible can help you to get housed. Our choice-based letting system is designed to make the process as straightforward as possible and to house as many people as we can. This won’t work if successful bidders refuse properties.

An application may be suspended from the housing register where two reasonable offers of housing are refused and the applicant will be unable to make any further bids for six months. If you have a priority banding because you are homeless and you refuse one reasonable offer of housing, your priority banding will be removed.

The chance of your bid succeeding

The chance of a successful bid depends on several factors. It is possible you may wait a significant length of time for a bid to be successful or you may be successful the first time you bid.

When you bid for a property:

• the system will tell you your bid position for that property.
  
• your position may change as other people bid for the same property after you.
  
• you will have the option to withdraw a bid before the bid cycle closes.
  

What if you can’t bid?

If you are not able to bid, we can support you, but first please see whether family members or friends might be able to help. You can even nominate someone to bid on your behalf.

We know some applicants may not be able to get on the internet or may have other challenges that prevent them from bidding. In such instances, we may be able to place bids on your behalf or look at automatic bidding alternatives. These would enable Homefinder to bid for properties based on the preferences you chose when you joined the Housing Register.

Please bear in mind, if you refuse reasonable offers, your application could be suspended.

You can get more information and advice at the Angus HomeFinder website.

 

More affordable homes for Monifieth

In the latest part of our determination to make the local housing market as accessible as possible for home seekers, 22 affordable homes will be built at Victoria Grange in Monifieth.

Taylor Wimpey East Scotland is building 12 two-bedroomed homes and 10 three-bedroomed homes in partnership with us as part of our new supply shared equity scheme. Work is expected to complete in summer 2021.

The 22 homes form the final tranche of affordable housing on the development, which includes a range of two-bedroomed mid-terrace and semi-detached houses, as well as three-bedroomed terraced and semi-detached homes across four locations, including three Angus Housing Association sites. This exciting development will form an integral part of the new neighbourhood at Victoria Grange in Monifieth.

Taylor Wimpey has designed and created an affordable housing range that has allowed its team to work closely with us and our Housing Association partners to create affordable homes with a mix of tenures. On completion, this project will have delivered 84 affordable homes for Angus residents.

Our Communities Convener, Cllr Mark Salmond said: “We are delighted to be delivering new properties in partnership with Taylor Wimpey that will be made available through Angus Council’s new supply shared equity scheme in the summer of 2021.

“Low Cost Home Ownership is a crucial component in our commitment to increase the supply of affordable housing in Angus and will supplement the social housing already delivered on this site. We will help to sustain our local communities by providing a range of routes into home ownership for those people on more modest incomes.”

Pauline Mills, Land and Planning Director for Taylor Wimpey East Scotland, said: “Reaching the conclusion of this agreement for Victoria Grange marks another milestone on the journey towards completing the new community that’s growing at this established development in Monifieth.

“We’ll continue to work closely with Angus Council in order to complete the final 22 affordable homes by summer next year, in turn allowing the local community to reap the benefits of our long-term investment in the area.”

Applications for this scheme are not being accepted yet but should be in early 2021, with the properties due for completion by around August 2021 (subject to delay).

Further information, including how to apply, will follow in due course. Please go to the Monifieth, The Grange dedicated pages on our website for more information and qualifying criteria or email grange@angus.gov.uk.

Private Landlord Survey – Please Help!

We want to hear from private landlords in Angus…

The national homelessness charity Crisis* is working with us to improve housing options and support in the private rented sector. This month, Crisis is conducting a survey of our landlords on our behalf.

Please help by completing the survey by 31 August.

Why are we getting in touch during COVID-19?

We recognise many landlords are seriously concerned about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on tenancies and the rental market, and may be looking for advice or options which offer support and longer term reassurances. Now more than ever, we want to ensure existing tenants get the right help and support to avoid tenancies failing.

At the same time, because of the pandemic, we have a large number of households in urgent housing need, some of whom are in temporary accommodation. All of these households are seeking long-term homes. 

What do we mean by “urgent housing need”?

This does not simply mean sleeping on the streets. It means not having a safe home. Whilst sleeping on the streets is the worst form of homelessness, this is very rare in Angus. Most people registered with us as being in urgent housing need have experienced a family or relationship breakdown.  They’re likely to be sleeping on sofas, living in unsafe or overcrowded conditions, or staying in our temporary accommodation.

Why can’t everyone get social housing?

There’s simply not enough social housing to meet demand. We have especially high demand for one bedroom homes across Angus, particularly in the Forfar and Arbroath areas. This means people who are in urgent housing need can still wait a very long time for a home. We know the private sector can help to fill this gap, as private landlords often have good quality homes in the areas people want to stay.

What’s in it for private landlords?

Through Crisis’ work with Councils and private landlords in Scotland, we know there are many successful initiatives bringing landlords and local people in housing need together.

We want to give better support and incentives to landlords to help people in housing need move into private tenancies. We also want to improve the sustainability of private tenancies, by ensuring the right services are in place for tenants and landlords, preventing unnecessary homelessness, especially as we move out of the pandemic.

We’d like you to tell us what we could do to encourage and incentivise more landlords to work with us, to provide more homes for people who desperately need them and work together to reduce tenancy problems like arrears and neighbour nuisance.

Why should landlords do the survey?

1.      it’s anonymous. You don’t need to provide your name or contact details unless you want to

2.      it’s quick. It will only take 5-10 minutes of your time – the questions are mainly multiple choice

3.      it doesn’t commit you to anything!

4.     it’s a chance for landlords to have their voices heard, and tell us what they’d like from us in future

5.    whatever your opinions, by completing this survey you’ll be helping us to help people in Angus. All landlord feedback gives us a better understanding of what they want and what we could do next

So – please help.  Thank you in advance

* Your responses will be collated and analysed by Crisis. No landlord data has been passed to Crisis.  The survey will close on 31 August. 

Please note Crisis is also working with Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Council on this subject. If you rent out properties in those areas too, you’ll be contacted by those organisations too – but you only need to complete the survey once. If you have any questions or comments on this survey or this work, please contact Lucie at Crisis: lucie.dunn@crisis.org.uk  

Help for Private Renters with Our New Rent Deposit Scheme

Our new Rent Deposit Scheme is to help people on low incomes in housing need get accommodation in the private rented sector. If you urgently need housing, but don’t have the money for a deposit for a private rental property, we can help.

If you meet our conditions, we can pay the deposit to the landlord on your behalf. You agree to a savings plan to repay the money to us.

Anyone in work or receiving benefits can apply. To make sure you are able to repay us, we will carry out checks, including the affordability of the property, and check on your tenancy history including any rent arrears.

Landlords must be registered with us and transfer the deposit to one of the National Deposit Schemes. Do not sign a tenancy agreement or move into the property before we confirm you can take part in the scheme.

For further information about the scheme, check out our website.

Urgent: Calling Private Landlords in Arbroath

We are currently having difficulty finding accommodation for people with urgent housing needs in Arbroath.

If you have any accommodation that you could let now, please contact houarbroathcht@angus.gov.uk

Any accommodation will be considered, although 1 bedroomed accommodation is most in need.

Benefits for landlords:

• Avoid property sitting empty / rent loss
• We will assess the suitability of potential tenants, including financial assessment
• We can support the tenant to access a rent deposit
• Information and advice available about landlord’s rights and responsibilities and other aspects of private sector tenancy legislation
• Support, advice and assistance to resolve any disputes that may arise
• Support for tenants by helping them to sustain their tenancies including, budgeting, paying bills and connections to utilities

We wanted to thank all the private landlords who have contacted us over the last week to help us support people with urgent housing need into private rented tenancies.

Urgent: Calling Private Landlords in Carnoustie

We are currently having difficulty finding accommodation for a family that needs 4-bedroomed accommodation. If you have any accommodation that you could let to this family, please contact houarbroathcht@angus.gov.uk

Temporary Restriction of New Social Tenancies – Private Landlords, Can You Help?

As a result of significant resource restrictions and the suspension of some repairs services, cleaning and furnishing services, we and our Housing Association partners have had to restrict letting of new social rented tenancies, including temporary homeless accommodation, during the coronavirus shutdown.

Due to these unprecedented and difficult circumstances, we have temporarily suspended all housing allocations with the exception of the following groups:

• Discharge from hospital where rehousing is required.  This is a top priority to  support the NHS. 
• People who are roofless or at risk of rough sleeping
• People where there is a serious risk identified whether that be a risk of violence/abuse, including all forms of domestic abuse, or other protection measures are required

We continue to focus our efforts on trying to prevent people from becoming homeless and needing accommodation and are advising people who have been sofa-surfing or staying with friends and family that they follow the government guidance and remain living where they have been, where it is safe to do so. We are also working across our housing teams and partner housing providers to identify and furnish suitable accommodation.

We are looking for help from private landlords to provide private rented tenancies to individuals in the priority groups we have identified, and to work in partnership with us to identify suitable tenants from the priority groups for any properties that are available to let.

Where furnishings are required, and this is needed urgently and cannot be met any other way, we may be able to provide furniture and goods. Our housing staff will also be able to support the household to apply for financial help (if needed) to meet the rent and housing costs.

If you have a property or properties that are available to let and are able to support us to provide housing to these priority groups, please contact the following: 

In Arbroath, Carnoustie or Monifieth – please email HouArbroathCHT@angus.gov.uk

In Brechin or Montrose – please email BrechinMontroseCHT@angus.gov.uk

In Forfar or Kirriemuir – please email ForfarCHT@angus.gov.uk

 

Your support and assistance is appreciated.