FAQs
What is an Asset Management Strategy?
An asset management strategy is a high level document that explains how the Council will manage the long-term investment of our assets.
For this strategy, that means assets owned by the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) which is money the council gets from tenants and leaseholders, like rent.
Are 'assets' just houses?
Although the majority of our assets in Housing are houses rented to tenants (flats, bungalows, maissonetes, and the like) we do have other properties and land.
Firstly, because of Right to Buy, we have houses or flats where the Council owns the land or the freehold of the building, but there is a leaseholder who effectively owns the house.
Then, we own the land the house(s) are on. This includes the garden land, garages, and communal spaces in flats.
We also own some land that we wanted to build houses or flats on, but due to things like flooding, or planning permission, we could not.
Finally, we also own some houses that have been turned into commercial or community buildings.
What is Right to Buy and why does it affect the number of social houses?
Right to Buy is a government scheme that lets eligible council and public sector tenants buy their rented home at a discount.
In most cases, the Council does not want to sell it's stock, especially where that house is in good condition, in an area people want to live. But, we must follow the rules set by Central Government.
Some people may think this is great, while other people may be worried about how this reduces the amount of houses we can offer to new tenants.
The Strategy explains that we are working to balance out the number of stock we are forced to sell and the number of stock we buy. Unfortunately, because we have to sell our stock at a discount, it is more expensive for us to buy stock than what we get back from selling.
This means that in order to retain the same number of stock, we have to think about what priorities we have for the future of our social housing in Sheffield. Which is where good asset management comes in.
Will my responses be confidential?
Some people may be worried that filling out a survey and being honest about what they don't like may get them in trouble -- it won't!
We want your honest opinion.
The survey is anonymous.
Where you give us information that could be used to identify you, such as in the equalities information or written question, it will be anonymised before anyone who may work with you sees it.
Only the Asset Policy Officer will read responses.
Unfortunately, this also means if you request support with an issue through this survey, we cannot figure out who you are in order to get you that help!
If you need help, please contact the Asset Management and Programme Works support team:
I have a question about when work will be completed at my house.
If you need help with something related to work at your property, a survey, or something else, please contact the Asset Management and Programme Works support team:
What does this strategy change?
The strategy is still in development, and we are looking for your feedback.
At present, the biggest change is having an Asset Management Strategy. We are using this to write down and make our choices and strains on our budget transparent for you.
In addition, we are committing to working towards the Housing ambitions:
1. Safe, good-quality and comfortable homes: Safety and legal compliance come first, before other investments. While this is not a change, we have not previously made it clear. We are also working on our repairs and stock condition data in order to conduct better, ongoing analysis of our stock, and move to more proactive planned investments instead of reactive repairs.
3. More homes and housing choice: We are committing to take a more strategic approach to buying homes and reviewing under-used land and buildings. We aim to stabilise council housing numbers by the end of the 5 year period. We are committed to making a new Acquisitions and Disposals policy, which sets out what types of homes we will acquire, and how we go about deciding if we should sell houses or land or garages we are not using.
4. Great, safe neighbourhoods people are happy to call home: We will introduce a more planned, place-based approach to estate investment, with improvements to waste-management, communal areas, access routes, and green spaces. For example, we will deliver a Neighbourhoods Environmental Improvement Programme, jointly prioritised with local teams and stakeholders, targeting communal areas and open spaces on priority estates.
5. Homes and housing services that end homelessness and support healthy, independent lives: We will explore opportunities to extend, remodel, repurpose and improve housing schemes to better support our diverse local needs, including working to improve our specialist housing offers such as OPIL, Supported Housing, and Gypsy and Traveller sites.
For all the projects we are committing to over the five year period, please see the Implementation Plan, which is appended in the draft.