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Housing
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Housing manages around 6,500 council properties in towns and villages throughout the district. Chigwell, Loughton, Waltham Abbey, Epping and Ongar have some larger estates.
We keep a ‘Housing Register' which lists all the people who have applied for council housing or housing association accommodation. Properties are let through the HomeOption choice based lettings scheme. We also give housing advice and information to people who have a housing problem or are at risk of becoming homeless. Temporary housing may be provided at our hostel, or in other temporary accommodation. The Housing Needs Section also deals with Council garage lettings.
We have Services for older people including sheltered housing which is staffed by Council scheme managers who visit the residents regularly according to their needs. The scheme managers also give support to the Councils Day Clubs for older people. Very Sheltered housing offers support for older people who want to live independently but need extra care. People in sheltered housing have access to our Careline emergency alarm system which is also available to older residents in the private sector.
Our council housing service is mainly paid for by the income from rents. We have three offices dealing with the collection of rent arrears and other tenancy matters:
Limes Farm Estate Housing Office
Repairs to council properties are dealt with by the Housing Repairs Section based at the Civic Offices. The Assets Section in Epping deals with property adaptations for tenants with disabilities, as well as gas servicing and long-term improvements of council properties.
Tenants are consulted on all major issues and tenant participation is encouraged through a Tenants and Leaseholders Federation and other residents groups.
Most council tenants have a legal right to buy their home, at a discount, after they have held a tenancy for two years - or five years if the tenancy was signed after 17th January 2005. Houses are bought outright, while flats and maisonettes are leasehold purchases.
We work with housing associations to develop new social housing, often giving grants or free land. These are normally let at affordable rents to people on our waiting list for housing.
We are also required to publish a detailed business plan setting out how we intend to use and develop the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) - the Council's income and expenditure from housing rents. A copy of this business plan can be downloaded here
Contacting Us
Civic Offices
High Street
Epping
Essex CM16 4BZ
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