Agenda item

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.

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 aim was to try to increase this number and free up family friendly homes.
• There had been no changes to the communal gas supply rebate system for tenants that use less gas.

A DMC Member suggested that the Housing Service should work with the Tenants and Residents Associations, because they could provide valuable insights into local information that the service may not be aware of. The Head of Housing Transformation welcomed residents’ contributions and encouraged them to inform the service of relevant information.

A DMC Member sought further information on the Leaseholder income maximisation project. The Team Leader (HRA & Capital Projects) advised that more information on this project could be provided in writing.

ACTION BY: Team Leader (HRA & Capital Projects)

A DMC Member queried if the void property list comparing different London Boroughs was still available. Officers advised that the list was previously published by the Greater London Authority, but it had not been made available for several years. However, officers would see if this information would become available again.

ACTION: Housing Services

Danny Waite, Head of Repairs and Operations, gave the meeting an overview of the report.

The meeting was informed that work on the repairs reporting channel shift had continued and there had been a drop in call volumes from the same period last year. Webchat and SMS services had continued to be a popular option for residents and a WhatsApp service was due to be launched in the coming weeks.

Whilst residents were happy with the service provided there was some dissatisfaction around wait times. However, emergency and essential repairs needed to be prioritised, which meant that non-essential repairs had experienced longer wait times.

The Head of Repairs and Operations also reported that service was facing pressure from being understaffed and rising inflation.

Glendine Shepherd, Director of Housing, introduced the report, providing information on the service area review that was currently underway, the interim teams that had been set up and the upcoming tenancy visits.

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

• The tenancy visits would provide a useful opportunity to engage with residents and build relationships and well as identify and address issues such as disrepairs, hoarding, and overcrowding.
• Before visits were undertaken residents would be contacted by mail and random checks would not be carried out, this was due to concern that residents would be worried about bogus callers pretending to be council officers. Whilst this would mean that those illegally subletting would be alerted to the visits it was considered a better option overall for residents to be aware that the visits were taking place.
• If illegal subletting was identified enforcement action would be taken as necessary. Roughly 100 properties are recovered each year from illegal subletting and those who have been subletting, who are often unaware the arrangement is not legitimate, are offered support, as necessary. 
• Depending on the outcome of the tenancy visits, work would be undertaken with colleagues in social care and the repairs service, as necessary. Residents experiencing more complex issues may also be referred to health services or third sector organisations, if required. Partners were aware that the tenancy visits were due to be undertaken.
• Details of the new areas and housing officers supporting those areas would be listed on the Council’s website.

The meeting requested that an update be provided to a future meeting of the DMC reporting on the progress of the tenancy visits.

ACTION: Housing Services

An update was also sought on the Community Fibre project. The Senior Tennant Participation Officer advised that an update would be circulated.

ACTION BY: Tennant Participation

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.