Kennett
Community Strategy
Philippa Fidell
AREA HOUSING MANAGER
JUNE 2010
Contents
1. Community Profile
2. Resident Profile
3. Service Profile
4. Estate Management Services
5. Asset Management
6. Resident Involvement
7. Action Plan
1.0
Community profile
1.1
Background
The village of Kennett is situated in Cambridgeshire within the local authority
of East Cambridgeshire. It is six miles from Newmarket and thirteen miles
from Bury St Edmunds. It lies a short distance from both the A11 and the A14.
The village has its own train station with frequent trains to Cambridge, Ipswich
and Peterborough. The population is approximately 320. Local amenities
within the village include;
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Primary school
Ancient church
Public house
Playing field
Post office
Pavillion and village hall
The last three facilities are shared with the adjoining village of Kentford.
1.2
Details of accommodation
The scheme was completed in August 2009 and is known as St Nicholas
Close. The development consists of ten properties, two of which are three
bedroom houses, four are one bedroom flats and four are two bedroom
houses.
Below is a plan of the site:
2.0
Resident Profile
2.1
Ethnicity
100% of Hastoe residents are White British. The 2001 Census profile shows
that this is reflective to the parish of Kennett (100% defined as white).
2.2
Household composition
The following graph shows the household compositions within the properties
at the time of letting
Household Compostion
Adult Couple
20%
Adult Single
with Children
50%
Adult Single
30%
In order to see if this is reflective of the parish as a whole I have taken data
from the 2001 Census to produce the following graph:
Household compostion of the
Parish of Kennett Adult single
with children
9%
Adult couple
with children
34%
Adult single
29%
Adult couple
no children
28%
When comparing the two sets of data it is apparent that our tenants are not
reflective of the parish as a whole. When looking at the parish, the smallest
percentage type is ‘adult single with children’ (9%) whereas within St Nicholas
Close 50% of residents are ‘adult single with children’. The other compositions
are fairly similar.
The data used for our residents is that of the household composition at the
start of each tenancy and cannot be guaranteed to be factual at present. I
know that one of the families consists of an adult single with non dependant
children. This is suggestive that the cost of properties within the parish is high
meaning that non dependants cannot necessarily afford to move out of the
family home once they start earning.
When visiting the prospective tenants in the homes, before allocation has
taken place, they can be advised of any benefits that they may be eligible to
or pointed in the right direction for further advice.
2.3
Tenure
One of each property type is available for people to purchase on a shared
equity basis under the HomeBuy scheme offering them the chance to own
between 30% and 80% of the freehold at an affordable cost. The residents in
the other seven properties hold an assured tenancy.
3.0
Service Profile
3.1
Allocations
East Cambridgeshire District Council transferred its housing stock and the
housing register to Hereward Housing in 1993. All allocations are sought via
their Choice Based Lettings systems; ‘Home-Link’.
Kennett is subject to a section 106 stipulating the local connection any
prospective resident will need to have to be eligible to occupy the properties.
Sanctuary Hereward are aware of such connections and will verify the
connection for us before passing through the names of those most eligible.
3.2
Turnover / Void performance
All but one of the rented properties were let with zero void days. The
remaining house was let with a twenty day void period. The shared ownership
properties have all sold with sales completing within eight months. At present
there are two households looking to carry out mutual exchanges. One
resident wants to leave to be nearer to family and the other needs to now
move from a house due to medical reasons.
3.3
Income Management details
Payment Methods
Housing Benefit
Direct Debit
10%
Swipe Card
40%
50%
At the end of June there were no residents with rent arrears over £400.00 and
no Notices of Seeking Possession have been served at St Nicholas Close.
If any residents want independent advice, the nearest Citizens Advice Bureau
is just under five miles away in Newmarket.
As residents’ incomes could alter at any time, I have committed to circulate
information to all residents about their local Citizens Advice Bureau and Credit
Unions within the Action Plan.
3. 3
Anti Social behaviour incidents
No incidents of anti social behaviour have been reported since residents
moved in to St Nicholas Close.
All residents that completed the questionnaire I sent feel very safe during the
day in the neighbourhood. Nobody stated that they felt unsafe within the
neighbourhood after dark
3.4
Complaints
No formal complaints have been recorded since residents moved in to St
Nicholas Close.
4.0
Estate Management Services
4.1
Gardening
The grounds maintenance of the site is currently being tendered. Until this
point I believe that the contractors have been undertaking grounds
maintenance work. However, in order to provide the best service to our
residents I will look to get an ongoing contractor in place. They will be
responsible for grass cutting, tree and hedge maintenance as well as
sweeping hard surfaces.
4.2
Car parking
There are two parking spaces for each property within the scheme. No issues
with parking have been raised.
4.3
The Environment
A questionnaire was sent to all residents in order to find out how satisfied
residents are with the upkeep of the estate as well as their interest in the
environment.
All returned questionnaires rated the general upkeep of the estate as being
good (good being the highest rating) and were satisfied with the weekly refuse
collection as well as the service provided by the local council for bulk waste.
Only one resident was not satisfied with the recycling facilities/composting
services available.
All properties were provided with a water butt to help the environment and
save on residents’ water bills.
5.0
Asset Management
5.1
The estate is managed from the East Region office with a Maintenance
Officer and Regional Surveyor. Trevor Bentons are the partnering contractor
and will carry out all day to day repairs at the scheme. At present the site is
still within the first twelve month defect period.
6.0
Resident Involvement
6.1
There are no residents in Kennett who are currently involved in formal
resident involvement e.g. Hastoe 100 Club, Resident’s Association.
This community strategy and action plan was developed in consultation with
residents through:
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Community survey
Face to face discussions
Information collected from estate visits/walkabouts
6.2
All residents will be invited to join the Area Housing Manager on the estate
walkabout once a year; I will be consulting with residents to find out the most
convenient day/time to carry out the visit to ensure that as many residents as
possible can get involved.
7.0
Action Plan
7.1
In order to produce an action plan as part of this Community Strategy I have
used information held on file as well as hand delivering questionnaires to all
residents asking for their views and input. 40% of the questionnaires were
completed.
Priority
Area
How it will be tackled Action/project/initiative
Local Offer –
Grounds
maintenance
Local Offers –
Estate Walkabouts
Financial Inclusion
Resource implication
Stakeholders/
lead person
Timescale
Outcomes/Impact (on
community and Hastoe)
Obtain quotes from
Cost will be covered by
grounds maintenance
residents’ service
contractors.
charge
Consult with residents at
each scheme to see if
there are services they
would like offered
differently.
AHM
October
2010
The site will be
constantly
maintained to a high
standard.
Develop Local Offers
in line with TSA’s
regulatory framework
as well as providing
residents with
service they want
Consult with residents
as to the best time for
an estate walkabout –
considering out of office
hours visits if this would
be beneficial
Circulate information to
residents letting them
know about the local
CAB office and credit
union
None
AHM
October
2010
AHM to circulate
AHM
September
2010
Nearest CAB is:
Foley Gate
Wellington Street
Newmarket
Suffolk
CB8 0HY
Telephone:01638 665999
Email:
adviser@newmarketcab.
cabnet.org.uk