Residents across South Warwickshire are being asked to help shape the area’s housing future as Warwick District Council and Stratford-on-Avon District Council launch a joint consultation on a new Housing and Homelessness Strategy. The survey went live on 2 July and runs until 11 August 2026, inviting views on everything from the supply of new homes to standards in private renting.
The five priority areas under review include delivering a diverse mix of housing, preventing homelessness and cutting rough sleeping, ensuring homes are safe and meet the decent homes standard, improving energy efficiency, and providing high-quality landlord services across both the private and social sectors. Councillor Jess Melrose, Portfolio Holder for Housing at Warwick District Council, urged people to take part. “We want to hear from people living in the local area and understand the housing issues that matter the most to them,” she said. Paper copies are available at Leamington Town Hall and the Royal Pump Rooms Customer Services Hub.
The consultation follows Stratford-on-Avon District Council’s Cabinet decision in April to formally replace its previous Housing Strategy, which ran from 2021 to 2026 under the banner ‘Sustainable Homes, Sustainable Communities’. That earlier plan had always been described as an interim position, with the expectation a joint South Warwickshire strategy would take its place as the two councils deepened their joint working. The new document will set out a five-year vision through to 2031.
Background figures underscore the pressures the strategy will need to address. A rough sleeper count in Stratford-on-Avon District in November 2025 recorded 14 people bedding down outside on the survey night, up from 10 the previous year and just 2 in 2023. While the councils have not yet published specific policy commitments or spending plans tied to the strategy, the survey questions signal a wide-ranging approach that will scrutinise the role of landlords and the range of homes available across both districts.
Residents have just over five weeks to submit their views online via SmartSurvey before the Tuesday 11 August deadline.
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