Diverse Needs Strategy Consultation
Our council tenants have a huge range of backgrounds, languages, disabilities, health conditions and life experiences, but our housing services have been designed as “one-size-fits-all”. Council tenants who have extra needs and challenges may struggle to report a repair, understand letters, or tell us when something is wrong. This can cause problems – from small frustrations to serious risks for health and wellbeing.
Some tenants find it harder to deal with the council, maintain their home and find support because of things like:
- Physical disabilities or mobility issues
- Problems with hearing or sight (like being deaf or blind)
- Conditions such as learning disabilities, autism or dyslexia
- Long-term health problems
- Language barriers
Our new strategy sets out how we will make sure our services are easy to access and respond to our tenants needs.
Phases
Consultation on the draft strategy
We understand that sometimes our council tenants have extra needs and challenges which can affect how they access our services. That’s why we’ve written a new draft Diverse Needs Strategy so we can offer a more helpful and flexible housing service for all. It applies to Council tenants and households living in temporary accommodation in a Council property, but not other types of temporary accommodation or the private rented sector.
The draft strategy sets out how we will:
Recognise needs - spot when a tenant has a need that makes things harder for them or means that they are more vulnerable in certain situations
Record needs - keep accurate information so the right people can see it when it is important
Respond to needs - make reasonable adjustments so tenants get the help they need
Review needs - check if support is working and improve over time
Click on the links below to read:
- A short summary of our draft Diverse Needs Strategy for Housing
- Our full draft Diverse Needs Strategy for Housing
- A Research Summary which sets out the research we used to write the strategy
We want to hear from you – especially if you are a Council tenant who has experience dealing with our housing services! Your voice matters and we want to make sure that we deliver what you need. Tell us what you think by completing the short survey.
If you want to make a complaint about something that has gone wrong for you, you can make a complaint at any time here.