Choice Based Letting: Going live next week

There is a big change in how social housing is allocated next week with the launch of Home-Link, the Cambridge Choice Based Letting Scheme (CBL).

This means that from next week instead of going on the waiting list until a house is allocated to you, people on the housing needs register can "bid" for the houses that become available, up to three of their choice each fortnight. The houses will be allocated based on the four priority bands (from A ("urgent") to D) and then based upon how long the bidder has been on the list.

Each fortnight a magazine (available at City Homes North and Arbury Library in our area) will be issued, and the houses will go on the Home-Link website, and a bidding round will take place by web, SMS, phone, post or in person. The first bidding round is next week!

Help with bidding will be available at City Homes North, and from voluntary organisations such as the Citzens Advice Bureau and Cambridge Law Centre.

From the second issue there will be a report: this will allow those on the list to see the need band and the time that the successful bidders had been waiting.

Covering Cambridge City Council houses, and residential social landlords and Council stock in 6 neighbouring local authorities, this is one of the larger CBL schemes in the country, and as far as we know the first to cover a mix of urban and rural districts.

A word of warning: the scheme doesn't create any new homes: we still have around 6000 people on the waiting list in total. Further Cambridge has just under 300 people in band A (Urgent) and just under 300 in band B (High) at any time but only around 600 homes are available each year. That figure includes sheltered housing and bedsits. There is still huge demand for our limited stock.

However the advantages are that now prospective tenants have more choice in the houses they will live in, can see more clearly what is available for tenants, and can see clearly how long people are waiting to get housed.

Northfield Avenue Underpass Swept

At the weekend it was reported to me that the Northfield Avenue underpass was unpleasant and unsafe due to large amounts of leaf litter collecting in it. The matter was reported to the City Services helpdesk by phone.

This morning I was in the area so checked by and I was pleased to see that the footpath has been cleared.

If there is a problem with leaf fall, mud or litter then please let us know and we'll try to get it tidied up.

Public Art Survey

Just a quick link.

The City Council want to know what people think about the provision of public art in Cambridge, and whether people know about what there is.

Go to the survey on the council website and see if you know the works and let us know what you think.

According to the 2006 audit we aren't very well provided for art in the North of the city (KH, Chesterton or Arbury!), so please get involved and let the council know what you'd like to see.

Second reading for "Cambridge Rule" bill

In slightly better news, a private members bill in the Houses of Parliament, which aims to allow local authorities to set higher minimum energy standards for new builds, has got a second reading.


This is nick-named the Cambridge Rule as we were the city council that tried to include such a requirement in our local planning rules but were overruled by a government inspector who felt that it was "unreasonable" to expect higher standards.


The better the build standard the lower the heating bill and the easier to keep the house warm!



The Government's support for this bill (or not) will be an indication of how real their environmental credentials are. We'll keep you posted on how things develop...

£1500 per family penalty for well run housing

The figure for how much money the Labour government are taking from our tenants is now in. This year the Council Tenants of Cambridge will be sending £12.1 million to Gordon Brown.

Thats £12.1 million that we can't spend on improving homes for people in the city, or on providing extra affordable housing in the city to reduce the waiting list, or even on maintenance of the housing stock. It could hit our plans to refurbish sheltered housing.

It works out at £1500 per household.

The argument goes that it is right to take money from rich areas to subsidise poorer, but this isn't what happens. The people being hit for this cash are not the wealthiest in Cambridge, or those most able to pay. This is a tax on being a council tenant, and those include some of the most vulnerable in our society. It includes those in sheltered housing.

I try to avoid posting when angry, but whenever I start to write about the"negative subsidy" I get angry: This is not a fair way to address issues in housing provision, and it damages the services that the city can provide.

The Liberal Democrat run City Council continues to campaign against it, as does David Howarth, our MP. As will your Liberal Democrat ward councillors.