Agenda item

The Director of Housing, Maxine Holdsworth was present and outlined the report

During consideration of the report the following main points were made –

·         Noted the performance indicators and that the number of new homes started on site by the Council is behind schedule at this point, as three separate projects encountered delays due to upgraded fire safety works and are now expected to start on site in Q4

·         Number of affordable new homes, social rented or shared ownership completed by developers ahead of target

·         Number of households in temporary accommodation nightly booked is down by 29 this quarter, but is back on line with  position at the start of the year

·         Number of homeless preventions is off target, however the target has increased this year and is partly attributable to the number of cases coming in

·         Number of people sleeping rough is off target, however rough sleepers found have only been sleeping rough for one or two weeks recently. This shows that prevention work is succeeding

·         Percentage of repairs fixed first time is above target, 88.5% compared to a target of 85%, and arrears increasing at Christmas is an established trend

·         Rent arrears are on target but have increased slightly to 4.77%. Partners has also seen the usual Christmas increase in rent arrears

·         Noted that there was an error in H3 – Number of affordable homes and corrected details would be circulated to Members

·         In response to a question it was stated that there was always a need for temporary accommodation but the aim was to accommodate people in long term housing as soon as possible

·         Reference was made to P.I’s H1 and H7 and 8 and that it would be helpful if more details could be provided in future reports

·         In response to a question on rough sleeping it was stated that – OLA TO COMPLETE

·         A Member enquired whether there could be a comparison given in future reports as to the number of repairs undertaken by Partners as compared to those of the Council and it was stated that this could be included in future reports

·         Noted the Council carried out 70000 repairs a year and whilst they attempted to fix a repair first time there would be occasions where an operative had to revisit to complete the job

·         Noted communication on repairs with residents was usually by e mail or telephone call

·         Noted the triage staff were in the office however it was noted that at some periods in the pandemic they had to work at home. Calls to the Triage service were quality checked for consistent standards, and a team of officers followed up and responded to Members enquiries

·         In response to a question on voids it was stated that the turnaround time was is 30 days, however if Members knew of any void properties that had been vacant for a long period these could be reported and followed up

·         It was stated that often the standard of repairs carried out was not satisfactory and that an independent surveyor should be employed to carry out checks. Noted that works were inspected however consideration could be given to this

·         Reference was made to leaseholders and major works on estates and that there is a payment plan in place for leaseholders. It was stated that there should be better communication on this

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted and further details in relation to specific P.I.’s referred to above be included in future reports to the Committee

The Chair thanked Maxine Holdsworth for attending