What your council does: Housing

The front of two one-storey houses. Each house has one door and two windows.

Overview

In January 2024 the council took over responsibility for managing and maintaining 7700 council homes across the borough from Six Town Housing.

Good quality affordable housing where successful tenancies can be sustained is a key priority for the council.

Key services provided

Bury Council Housing provides a number of core services such as managing council homes, and repairs, to supporting those who are homeless or at risk, managing housing schemes for those who need support and connecting residents with financial help.

Our work includes:

Managing council homes and repairs
Managing independent living and extra care housing schemes for older people who need support with their care
Supporting those who are homeless or who are at risk of losing their homes
Housing support for veterans
Letting council homes
Advice about damp and mould
Grounds maintenance on our housing estates
Improving properties, estates, and communal areas
Tenancy management support
Tackling anti-social behaviour
Helping to solve neighbour disputes
Providing community grants to support groups in local areas
Managing rent payments and providing support to manage finances
Improving energy efficiency
Adapting homes for those who need it
Advice about leaseholder issues
Connecting residents with financial help
Estate action days tackling waste and other issues
Community programmes including events at Christmas
Free training courses for our residents and community volunteers
Working with other providers such as housing associations and landlords to provide affordable homes

Eligibility/criteria

The majority of our properties are let on lifetime tenancies at social rents, around 40% of market rent.

If you would like to rent a council property, you'll need to apply to join our Housing Register. As part of the online application you'll be given information to check your eligibility to make sure you qualify.

Homelessness

Becoming homeless, or the fear that this could potentially occur, is one of the most damaging experiences that can happen to individuals and families. It can pervade many aspects of life and leave long lasting damage to prospects, potential, wellbeing and health.

We manage a number of properties across the borough that can provide temporary accommodation to those at risk of becoming homeless.

The council has duties in law to support anyone who might be at risk of being homeless which includes extra support for:

Victims of domestic abuse
Veterans or serving members of the armed forces and their families
Young people who are leaving council care as they become independent at the point of adulthood
Co-ordination and commissioning of services for refugees and asylum seekers through Serco

Veterans

Veterans or members of the armed forces and their families who are at risk of becoming homeless are given preference on the housing register. This includes:

Former members of the armed forces
Bereaved spouses and civil partners of members of the armed forces leaving services family accommodation following the death of their spouse or partner
Serving or former members of the reserve forces who need to move because of a serious injury, medical condition or disability sustained as a result of their service

Support for people to live independently

Our independent living schemes enable residents over 60 to continue to live independent lives, while our extra care schemes provide that extra support for the over-55s who have are needs.

Victims of domestic abuse

Domestic abuse can affect anyone, regardless of age or gender. If you cannot remain in your home because you're at risk of domestic abuse, you can submit a homeless referral to us. We'll help you find a temporary safe place to stay until a permanent place for you to live can be arranged.

Service impact

£9.5 million invested in improving homes
£9.3 million spent on repairs and maintenance
£7.4 million spent on major repairs
18,823 repairs completed
5452 caretaking jobs completed
1057 windows, doors, kitchen, bathrooms, heating, roofs and solar panels refurbished
£21,000 invested into community projects
270 community events held
37 tonnes of waste collected during 10 Estate Action Days. That’s the equivalent of 6 elephants or 25 average sized cars
44 neighbourhood walkabouts held where councillors and officers met around 4000 residents

Partnerships/teamwork

As well as working with other council departments such as finance to provide benefits and waste management we work with registered providers operating in the borough to offer a range of tenancies including secure, assured, flexible and fixed term tenancies.

We work Persona to provide care and support for our more vulnerable residents and with Carelink to provide the technology to help them improve their lives

We support tenants and residents associations to make positive changes in their area, create community spirit and improve resident's quality of life.

We work with community groups and organisations to provide support in local areas including providing grants through our community fund.

Through the Tenants Voice Forum residents work alongside staff to scrutinise housing services to help identify areas for improvement and make recommendations based on the findings.

The Housing Advisory Board is made up of tenant volunteers, councillors and independent members who are dedicated to improve the lives and communities of those living across Bury. They monitor and review housing performance and work hard to provide the best service for tenants.

Older Peoples Voice provides a way for our older tenants to improve community safety and quality of life, in both sheltered or extra care schemes and within communities.

We welcome established youth groups, schools and young people in our communities to have their say to help develop activities, projects and neighbourhood improvements to help make a positive difference. We also encourage intergenerational projects to bring different age groups together.