Registered Social Landlords (RSL)
Registered Social Landlords (or ‘housing associations’ as they
are commonly known) are independent not-for-profit organisations
that build and manage low-cost housing for people in housing need.
RSLs are regulated by the Tenants Services Authority to ensure that
they provide housing that is well managed and of a high quality.
The Housing Strategy team works closely with a range of RSLs to
provide new affordable housing that meets the needs of local
people.
Homes and Community Agency (HCA)
The Homes and Community Agency is a government body that funds
investment in affordable housing. The Housing Strategy team works
closely with HCA and RSLs to provide new affordable housing
schemes. In addition to providing a financial contribution towards
new schemes, the HCA can also fund infrastructure and provide land
to aid affordable housing development. For more information on the
affordable housing that the HCA funded in Peterborough last year,
visit our Affordable Housing Delivery page.
Private Developers
Private developers assist with providing affordable housing in
Peterborough in two ways; Firstly, some profit-making private
developers now build affordable housing to help meet local housing
need with the help of funding from the HCA. The Housing Strategy
team works closely with such developers to help them acquire
funding, and to ensure that any housing developed this way meets
the needs of the city. Some private developers manage the housing
that they build, whilst others transfer what they build to an RSL
to allow them to manage it.
Secondly, council policy requires all private developers to
provide an element of affordable housing on any site that is
fifteen dwellings or more in order for a housing development to be
awarded planning consent. The Housing Strategy team contributes
towards negotiations between planning
services and private developers to influence how much and
what type of housing is provided on such sites. This helps to
ensure that we can continue to provide affordable housing on
private housing developments, and that we can ensure mixed and
balanced communities.
Orbit HomeBuy Agent
Orbit HomeBuy
Agent can best be described as an estate agent for low cost
home ownership properties. The role of Orbit HomeBuy Agent is to
market the low cost home ownership properties that is developed in
Peterborough.
NHS Peterborough
The Peterborough Housing Needs study conducted on behalf of the
Housing Strategy team found that almost 19 percent of households in
Peterborough have a supported housing need. As a consequence, the
Housing Strategy works closely with NHS Peterborough to ensure that
we develop specialist housing that can meet the needs of specific
groups, including older persons and those with mental health and
learning difficulties. The Housing Strategy team also works to
support various other strategies that seek to improve access to
housing for a range of groups with specific needs.