Enabling Role

All local councils with housing responsibilities are required to understand their local housing market. Our aim is to balance this by encouraging an appropriate mix of property and tenure types on all new housing developments.

With this in mind our Affordable Housing Team has responsibility to:-

• Understand the housing needs of the district by undertaking Strategic Housing Market Assessments and Housing Need Surveys, monitoring the Councils Common Housing Register, encouraging local needs housing surveys and monitoring other housing needs data.
  
• Develop a Housing Strategy for the Babergh District designed to tackle local affordable housing need issues, and to contribute to the Greater Haven Gateway Sub-regional and East of England Regional Strategies.
  
• Provide a seamless service to Parish Councils, Developers, Housing Associations and other partners by bringing together the council’s housing, planning, private sector housing and legal functions on affordable housing issues.
  
• Promote and encourage the provision of a range of affordable housing types and tenures to meet identified needs, and to balance the local housing market.
  
• Seek out best practice on affordable housing issues
  
• Represent the Babergh District within the county of Suffolk, the Greater Haven Gateway Sub-Region and on regional affordable housing issues.