Improving homes for people who live here, is high on the Council's list of priorities and a number of schemes have been introduced for tenants, landlords and managing agents to improve their properties.
The scheme, which aims to make the standard of rented accommodation in the town higher, now has 50 properties on its books.
Known as HALo (Hastings Accredited Letting Scheme), it aims to stamp out substandard rented accommodation in the town by recognising and accrediting landlords who let property of a good standard.
The scheme is voluntary and is free for landlords to join, but their property needs to be up to the mark. HALo will play an important part in the Council's campaign to give tenants a better choice and to wipe out low standards and landlords who do not manage their properties well. It is hoped that this new scheme will benefit both those accredited and their tenants.
Among the benefits that accredited Landlords will enjoy are:
The Council also hopes that the scheme will allow loyal tenants to enjoy desirable accommodation. Councillor John Humphries, Cabinet Member responsible for Housing, said:
"This is a great example of how the Council can team up with the best local landlords to achieve better private rented homes. Although we have already exceeded this year's target for accredited properties, we are still keen to help other landlords apply for the advantages that accreditation brings."
For more information contact Accreditation Officer Brenda Pallant on 01424 781305 or email bpallant@hastings.gov.uk
The Council set up the Secure Accommodation Scheme (SAS) in 2001, to give landlords the opportunity to make their properties safer, giving peace of mind to both tenants and landlords.
Landlords of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) get a full security survey, carried out by Moat Housing Group, which identifies weak areas such as windows, doors and letterboxes. Recommendations will then be made to landlords, who will be able to buy discounted security hardware for a quarter of the normal retail price.
These properties will then become accredited members of the SAS scheme. The Council is currently looking to forge links with managing agents who can encourage landlords to become part of the scheme and so provide high quality and secure accommodation to tenants. So far, 82 landlords and 14 managing agents have joined up to the scheme.
Since April 2002 the Council has:
Councillor John Humphries Cabinet Member responsible for Housing, said:
"The SAS scheme has been set up to tackle the problem of burglary in buildings which are in multiple occupation. There are around 3,500 of these properties in Hastings & St Leonards, and one fifth of all burglaries in the town occur in them.
"SAS focuses on Central St Leonards, Gensing, Castle and Maze Hill wards. It has forged vital links with domestic violence projects, the Youth Accommodation Service and the Seaview Project and we are keen for any other high risk groups to contact us.
"This scheme is a great opportunity for landlords and managing agents to take advantage of security hardware supplied for a quarter of the normal cost and fitted for nothing. I hope we can continue to attract more landlords to the scheme."
For more information contact Secure Accommodation Officer, Emma Jewell on 01424 781444 or email ejewell@hastings.gov.uk
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This page last updated: 04/04/2008