Agenda item

To consider a report by the Lead Officer – Community Housing (copy attached) seeking members’ views on the performance outcome for the re-letting of Council homes and their support for the approach adopted by the Council and associated revised performance target.

9.40 a.m. – 10.10 a.m.

Councillor Barbara Smith, Lead Member for Modernisation and Housing introduced the report (previously circulated) on the Council’s performance in re-letting Council homes and the approach taken with respect to delivering better outcomes for tenants rather than meeting the designated performance indicator.  The report was being presented in response to a request from an elected member who had concerns that the Council was not meeting the target for re-letting properties as set out in the Corporate Plan.

The Head of Facilities, Housing and Assets and the Lead Officer – Community Housing explained that whilst the Council had met the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) the work to meet that standard had centred around specific aspects of social housing, i.e. kitchens, bathrooms, windows, heating systems, etc.  Following the conclusion of that work a review had been undertaken on the standards of homes re-let by the Council to tenants.  That review had concluded that whilst WHQSs had been met, to meet the performance indicator for re-letting council housing the authority was in a many cases re-letting houses in a poor state of maintenance both internally and externally.  This was unfair on the new tenants, who more often than not did not have sufficient disposable income to improve them to a reasonable standard of decoration, etc.  Powerpoint slides were shown to the committee to illustrate the condition of some of the houses re-let to tenants in the past and those re-let now that the council had adopted the approach of ensuring that its properties were re-let in appropriate standards.  The rationale behind the approach was that re-letting properties in a good state of repair and decoration both inside and outside, including neat and tidy gardens, would encourage the tenants to take pride in their homes and also reduce anti-social behaviour in some areas.  The cost to the Council of refurbishing these properties averaged circa £1k per property, money to undertake the work was available in the Housing Revenue Account (HRA).  Officers explained the process for decanting council properties and co-ordinating the required maintenance and decorating work to bring them up to the required standard prior to re-letting them.  At present this was taking 43 days, however in future it was anticipated that this would reduce to circa 35 days which was still higher than the 26 day target set in the Corporate Plan.  With a view to seeking assurances that a new target of 35 days was feasible and that the new approach taken with respect of re-letting Council properties was as lean as it could be in order to deliver better outcomes for tenants, the Housing Service had commissioned Internal Audit to review the processes involved.

In response to members’ questions the Lead Member and officers advised that –

·         a strict monitoring process was now in place to ensure that tenants were taking pride in their properties and maintaining them accordingly

·         the Council let in the region of 200 properties per year

·         it was anticipated in time that the time taken to re-let properties would reduce as it was hoped that tenants who had entered into tenancy agreements on properties which were of a high quality standard would take pride in them and vacate them in due course in a reasonable condition

·         the Service had taken a conscious decision to use higher specification materials when refurbishing council properties as it felt that superior quality products would pay dividends in future and realise value for money in the long run

·         the Head of Service regularly visited council properties with a member of the Housing Team

·         the minimum performance indicator for re-letting social housing was 20 days, however landlords who met this target often disrupted the tenants’ lives later by undertaking the maintenance work when they were in situ.  This was not an ideal situation for either the tenant or landlord

·         advertisements were due to be published in the near future for four Community Development Officers to work as part of the Housing team.  These officers would be working directly with tenants and Tenant Associations dealing with any concerns they had and liaising with the Council on their behalf if required.  They would also come to know the tenants in their areas understanding their needs and concerns and be the Housing Service’s ‘eyes’ and ‘ears’ in the communities.  It was anticipated that by having officers based in the communities a sense of respect, pride and ownership of their neighbourhood and environment would be instilled in the community and that this would also help reduce incidents of anti-social behaviour.  The existence of Community Development Officers would also provide a more equitable service across the county, as they would serve both urban and rural areas.  In future the new community development workers may wish to re-introduce the local member visits to estates in their ward

·         with a view to ensuring that tenants did maintain their properties to a reasonable standard Property Service operatives who entered the properties would leave ‘satisfaction’ cards for the tenants to feedback their comments on the work undertaken.  The operatives would also undertake a survey of the property’s condition.  In future it was hoped that a similar ‘condition’ survey could be completed by any member of Council staff who visited a Council property as it was felt that this was an effective method of ensuring that expected standards were met

·         it was hoped that if Council owned properties on estates were maintained to a reasonable standard both internally and externally, owners of former council properties on the same estate would feel obliged to improve the condition of their properties and gardens to at least a comparable standard

·         the Housing Service was currently working with Cartrefi Conwy with a view to determining whether it could learn and consequently improve re-letting timescales and standards from adopting any of its practices, and vice versa

·         the Service was looking at improving its IT system in order to improve service delivery

·         in the long-term it was the Council’s ambition to improve on the 35 days re-letting target.  Work was currently underway on neighbourhood housing strategies in order to understand future housing needs, acquiring more housing stock and land to build social housing and to reclassify some existing properties to make them easier to let to individuals for families who need them

·         environmental works in the Tan yr Eglwys area of Rhuddlan was included in the current business plan and would be undertaken once all the preliminary feasibility work had been completed

·         the Housing strategy team worked closely with Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) in the area and if the Council was of the view that an RSL was not maintaining its properties or environmental areas up to the expected standards it would inform it that part of its funding from the local authority (social housing grant) may be withheld until the required maintenance work was completed

·         they would be re-visiting the ‘Arbed’ Scheme currently underway on a number of council properties to examine the benefits of including property boundaries within the Scheme in future

·         they were confident that work would commence on Council instigated social housing projects in the county before the end of the year as land had already been acquired and monies had been allocated within the HRA business Plan for the work.  Discussions were currently underway with the Planning Department with respect to developing a planning brief for Denbigh, and route to market for the North county land acquisitions.

At the conclusion of the discussion the committee agreed with officers and Lead Members that an approach to provide residents and communities with what was deemed necessary to meet their needs and what was conducive with a better quality of life was far more appropriate than ‘chasing’ targets.  It was –

RESOLVED that, subject to the above observations, to support the approach adopted by the Council with respect of the re-letting of Council homes and the associated revised performance target.

At this juncture (10.30 a.m.) the committee adjourned for a refreshment break.