Douglas Council’s housing committee chair Claire Wells believes that the pandemic presents the authority with an opportunity to ’refocus’ its housing strategy.

She said that ’managing and adapting’ to Covid-19 had prompted this refocusing, explaining: ’We’ve always put tenants’ needs at the forefront of everything we do, but the events of the past 11 months or so have reinforced our abiding belief that delivering a housing service isn’t just about getting the rents in, or about bricks and mortar.

’It’s about people. It’s about communities.

’And it’s about providing a safe and secure home for people in housing need.

’To this end, our great team of housing officers have been building productive relationships with our tenants - including making regular welfare calls to the most vulnerable - and really connecting with them to better understand their needs then provide housing solutions that go far beyond just ticking all the right boxes.

She continued: ’Income from rents will always be vital so we can maintain and upgrade our stock of 2,369 properties. But establishing this model of mutual respect is beneficial in so many ways.

’Not only does it help to secure reliable income streams and bring down arrear levels, but that strength of connection with tenants is also providing us with invaluable customer feedback we can draw on to shape future housing strategy.

’We’ve also been strengthening our links with third-party agencies, such as Housing Matters and Age Concern.’

Councillor Wells went on to say that the council’s relationship with the DOI was ’maturing’, and that there was an ’ambition to establish a shared endeavour approach to delivering better funded and resourced social housing’.

’We must have the support of government. The quality and quantity of our housing offering needs much improvement, as do the financial resources we need to deliver that improvement.’

On the drive to achieve sustainable, low-energy building performance, she said: ’We need to work with government to set uncompromising standards - "Going green" comes at a cost. I firmly believe that when it comes to building energy-efficient homes, sustainability and affordability are not mutually exclusive.’

She described the £12.8 million development of 66 apartments on Peel Road as ’the future of quality energy-efficient social housing’.

In other social housing developments, planning approval has been received for 48 two-bedroom apartments in Willaston, which ’will free up some of our larger properties for families on our housing transfer and waiting list, allowing people who are moving out of their family homes the opportunity to stay in the neighbourhood and community that’s become home to them over the years’.

She added a similar principle will be adopted for the redevelopment of the Spring Valley estate, intended to be a ’family-friendly green environment’.