How to have your say on Hartlepool's future housing needs

Hartlepool Borough Council chiefs want to hear from people in the town as part of their work creating a new document looking at future plans and priorities for housing.

They are asking residents to give their ideas and thoughts on what the current issues are and where the local authority should prioritise resources.

Council officers have said this will help them decide how they look at the need for new developments with the right properties in the right locations and how they make best use of existing housing.

They add it will also look at how they support residents to live independently.

The public engagement exercise is broken down into two parts in which residents can have their say.

The first is about what is working well in the borough while the second encourages views on priorities for the document and what the local authority should focus on.

Council officers have stressed the responses from residents will play a key part in the development of the new housing strategy for Hartlepool.

The new policy will follow on from the council’s existing document covering the 2019-2024 period.

The vision listed for that plan was: “Developing and maintaining successful communities where people choose to live, by meeting the housing needs of our residents now and in the future.”

The latest meeting of the authority’s audit and governance committee heard work around the new document will also include looking at the issue of empty homes in Hartlepool.

The consultation can be accessed at https://yoursay.hartlepool.gov.uk/housing-strategy and is open until November 17.

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