A member would be keen to speak to other stock holding local authorities regarding positive practice of letting of newly built council homes, particularly where arrangements are in place to ensure properties are occupied quickly following completion.

They have an ongoing programme of new general needs housing and are keen to learn from authorities that have developed effective processes and strong working relationships between Development and Lettings services.

• How your Development and Lettings/Allocations teams work together throughout the development and handover process
• Which team takes the lead responsibility for ensuring new homes are let promptly
• At what stage Lettings colleagues become involved in the development programme
• How key milestones, handover dates and changes are communicated between services
• Whether you have a formal Service Level Agreement (SLA), protocol or operating procedure that clearly defines roles, responsibilities and expected timescales
• How and when applicants are identified and matched to new homes
• Whether properties are advertised and allocated before practical completion
• Any performance indicators or targets you use to monitor the speed of first lets
• Any lessons learned, challenges overcome or process improvements that have helped reduce the time between completion and tenancy start dates.

They would be grateful if you could share any relevant SLAs, process maps, procedures, checklists or governance arrangements that support effective partnership working between Development and Lettings teams.

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