New housing strategy for Chichester District is approved

The five-year Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy was agreed at a Full Council meeting on Tuesday 8 April.

It sets out how the council will continue to work with partners to prevent people from becoming homeless; create and retain affordable housing for young people and families; address the housing needs of older people; and improve housing standards for all residents in the district.

"Supporting people facing homelessness and ensuring that residents of all ages have access to high quality, affordable homes is a top priority for our council," says Councillor Oona Hickson, Cabinet Member for Housing, Revenues and Benefits at Chichester District Council.

"It was really positive to see so many residents, businesses and organisations sharing their views on the draft strategy as part of a public consultation earlier this year, and I'm pleased that the vast majority agreed with the strategy's aims and actions.

"Between 20 January and 3 March, more than 700 people visited our consultation, with 573 of these completing the survey to share their views — this response was four times the number of our previous housing strategy consultation in 2019. All the feedback was carefully analysed and taken on board, and it's now great to see the finalised strategy formally adopted.

"Our housing teams do a tremendous amount of work to support people across the district, and as a council we have a proactive approach to tackling the various issues in this important area.

"Our council has already agreed to set aside £1m to support the strategy's aims, and I am confident that the actions and projects that have been identified will make a huge difference to residents and their quality of life."

Some actions include reviewing how the council can prevent homelessness as much as is possible, and how it can best support those who are experiencing homelessness. This will include offering support, such as financial advice and budgeting, to help people prepare themselves for their move into new accommodation.

The council will continue its work to reduce the number of households in nightly paid accommodation by providing high-quality temporary accommodation and affordable new homes. The council will also work with its partner, West Sussex County Council, to deliver specialist supported housing schemes for those aged over 18.

Other work includes continuing to support community-led housing initiatives that benefit people with a local connection; maximising the number of smaller homes that are delivered on new developments to meet local need; helping young people and families to stay in the district; and increasing opportunities for custom and self-build housing.

The council will work with local housing associations to regenerate underused garage sites, improve green spaces, and improve parking provision where possible. It will also be encouraging housing associations to review their older assets and bring them forward for improvement, as well as evaluating district council-owned assets and, where appropriate, releasing these to provide affordable housing.

Work around energy efficiency and climate change will include ensuring new homes achieve a minimum B energy rating and helping people to improve the Energy Performance Rating of their homes. Another key action in this area is to secure more external funding, where possible, to help with improvement works on homes to improve energy efficiency, making them easier to heat, able to retain heat for longer, and replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy.

The new Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2025-2030 will soon be available to view on the 'housing strategies and studies' page on the council website.

Date of release: 9 April 2025

Reference: 4461