Last updated: 2 January 2024

Next review: 19 October 2024

Core strategies

One of the Councils' key priorities is to work to ensure that everyone has a decent roof over their heads. Our Housing Strategy and delivery plan set out how we will work to achieve that goal. The document includes our homelessness strategy.

Our Housing Compact sets out how we will work in partnership with housing associations.

Planning

The Waltham Forest Local Plan provides the planning policy framework for considering planning applications.

Tenancy strategy and policy

All Registered Housing Providers (RPs), including local authorities, must produce a tenancy policy that explains the types and lengths of tenancies they grant.

In addition to this, we publish a tenancy strategy that describes the overall objectives that all RPs with housing in the borough should consider in their own tenancy policies.

Tenancy agreement

Strategic housing market assessment

Affordable rents

We have produced guidance setting out the maximum levels of rent that should be charged on Affordable Rented homes.

The guidance is currently under review and is also subject to national (government) policy on affordable housing. If you are an affordable housing developer, please contact our Strategic Housing Team at an early stage to agree rent levels.

Accommodation allocation policies for homeless households

These policies set out how we allocate accommodation for homeless households.

Social housing allocations

This policy explains how social housing is allocated in Waltham Forest and how to understand the priority that your housing application is given.

Housing for young people

This report sets out the findings of research into young people’s views about their housing needs and prospects. This research was commissioned by Waltham Forest Council from Kaizen Partnership, Social Life and the Waltham Forest Young Advisors and included both face-to-face interviews with young people as well as desk research and interviews with housing campaigners, developers and other stakeholders.

As part of the research and its finding, we are committed to developing a new multi-pronged campaign of advice and information for young people of different ages and at different life stages, aimed at improving young people’s knowledge about housing options and their confidence in dealing with the complexity of the housing market.

Water supply