Agenda and minutes

Appendix A lists those Tenants’ and Residents’ Associations (TRAs), which have satisfactorily completed the registration process at the date of despatch of this agenda. It gives details of the representatives of those Associations to be co-opted onto the DMC, in accordance with the constitution, together with the names of the substitutes.

Appendix B lists those TRAs whose registrations have lapsed. If a TRA wishes to register it must hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM), open to all members, once a year (with an independent observer in attendance). The minutes must be sent to the Tenant Participation Team together with a membership list and a completed registered form.

The DMC considered the list of registered tenant and resident associations (TRAs) provided by the Tenant Participation Service listed at Appendix A to the agenda and those TRAs whose registration had lapsed, which were listed at Appendix B.

RESOLVED –

THAT the ‘A’ and ‘B’ lists be noted

Apologies for absence were received from Josh Cedar (Holly Lodge TRA), Petra Dando (Camden Association of Street Properties), and June (Dodds Peckwater Estate Tenants Association).

There were none.

There were none.

There were no items of urgent business.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Kentish Town District Management Committee held on 13 September 2022.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the previous meeting.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 13^th September 2022 be approved as a correct record.

The DMC is asked to note the progress of the action points arising from the previous meeting.

Consideration was given to the actions arising from the previous meeting.

Retrofitting of Street Properties

A DMC Member advised that the information on retrofitting of street properties be not yet been sent to the Camden Association of Street Properties and requested that it be sent as a matter of urgency.

ACTION BY: Landlord Services

In response to a question regarding the procurement process of the retrofitting project, officers advised that the process had two stages, during the first stage bids would be considered in terms of quality, secondly the cost would be considered. The bid that offered the highest quality for the lowest price would be successful.

RESOLVED –

THAT the Action Point Update be noted.

Report of the Director of Housing Management and the Director of

Property Services.

The DMC is asked to discuss and comment on the sections of the consolidated report that are of particular interest to members during the meeting.

The December consolidated Housing Services report was compiled following feedback from DMC members at recent meetings and arising from specific requests from DMC chairs during their agenda setting with the Cabinet Member. It includes Housing Management & Property Services performance and other requested reports.

Consideration was given to the consolidated report of the Director of Housing Management and the Director of Property Services.

HRA Budget 2023/2024

Emma Cardoso, Team Leader (HRA & Capital Projects), introduced the report.

The meeting was advised that since the report was published there had been several Government updates. As such, The Team Leader (HRA & Capital Projects) reported that it had been announced as part of the Autumn Statement on 17th November 2022 that the maximum rent increase was set at 7% for 2023/2024. Therefore, Officers would be recommending a 7% increase.

Danny Waite, Head of Repairs and Operations advised that a restructure of the Repairs Service was currently underway and provided an overview of the information provided in the report.

DMC Members requested that the for the February DMC should include an update on the progress of the Repairs Service transformation. The Head of Repairs and Operations advised that the transformation would take a phased approach to ensure a smooth transition over the busy winter months. Therefore, a short update could be provided at the February meeting and a full update could be scheduled for the summer. 

ACTION BY: Head of Repairs and Operations

Responding to questions from DMC Members, officers provided the following information:

• 70% of tenants were in receipt of Housing Benefit and Universal Credit, 59% of these tenants were in receipt of partial Housing Benefit. Around 6000 tenants were in receipt of no benefits.
• The Council was seeking to ensure that it was able to maximise its resources from its commercial property portfolio through a reduction in voids for example, therefore an interim team had been put in place to address voids.
• Furthermore, the Council was also seeking to ensure that garage rents were more in line with the levels charged by other local authorities or similar garages nearby and the proposed approach would seek to maximise income from garage rents.
• In terms of rent arrears, a dedicated team had been set up to undertake work in this area. The Team had been in operation for two months and had found that whilst rent arrears had continued to increase, they had done so at a slower rate, and it was expected that rent arrears would continue to slow down.
• The Bad Debt Provision had been built up over time and money had been set aside against rent arrears, the provision was at about £12million.
• Whilst it was not clear if the rent increase from last year had had an impact on rent arrears and further analysis was needed to identify the increase in arrears, however it was believed that the cost-of-living crisis would have also contributed.
• If a tenant was downsizing as part of a mutual exchange they would qualify for downsizing incentives.
• A range of under occupancy work had taken place, focused mainly on residents over age 65 and incentives were offered for downsizing as well as help with things like moving and connection of utilities. There were around 50 underoccupancy moves per year and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To consider the paper from the DMC Chairs regarding the Complaints Panel.

Due to time constraints this item was not considered.

To receive a verbal update from the Cabinet Member for Better Homes on housing issues in the Borough.

The Cabinet Member for Better Homes provided the meeting with an update on his portfolio. He advised that the restructure of the Housing Service would provide an opportunity to do things differently and would establish a new way of working.

He also advised that a family had recently attended one of his ward surgeries and had informed him that they were a family of nine adults and eight children living in a four-bedroom home. This was not an isolated case and around 150 households in the Borough were experiencing severe overcrowding.

Responding to a question about severe overcrowding, the Cabinet Member for Better Homes explained that a report was due to be heard at a meeting of Cabinet on 14 December 2022 that outlined plans to attempt to eliminate severe overcrowding within four years. The report was currently being finalised and would be made publicly available next week.

The meeting welcomed this report as a resident, who had been experiencing hardship from issues arising from overcrowding, had tragically lost her life to suicide on one of the estates in Kentish Town. Tara Cookson, Neighbourhood Manager, and her team was commended for working tirelessly to support residents during this difficult time.

The Cabinet Member for Better Homes reported that there had been a fire at Camelot House, and again commended the Neighbourhood Manager, and her team who had worked hard to support residents at this estate.

Responding to a question about CCTV, the Cabinet Member for Better Homes advised that the CCTV installation programme would be complete by the end of next year.

RESOLVED –

THAT the update be noted

Report of the Head of Tenancy Services.

In line with the DMC funding guidelines, TRAs will be asked to provide an update to the meeting regarding the progress of agreed bids, including an update on the associated spend. TRAs are invited to circulate any relevant information in advance through the clerk.

TRAs are encouraged to submit bids as soon as possible, so they can be properly assessed and prepared by officers, ready for submission to the DMC. TRAs are reminded that verbal bids cannot be accepted at DMC meetings as, in line with the guidelines, officers need to be able to assess bids before passing them to the DMC.

For more information on DMC bids, please see our webpages: www.camden.gov.uk/dmcbids.

Consideration was given to the report of the Head of Landlord Services.

The Chair took the meeting through the bids received.

RESOLVED –

THAT the following bids requests be approved:

Report of the Head of Landlord Services.

The DMC is asked to note the report and make any relevant comments.

This report provides an update of recent news within the Kentish Town DMC Ward boundary since the last meeting. As previously requested, TRAs are asked to submit items for inclusion in the report that they wish to share.

Due to time constraints this item was not considered.

There was none.