Agenda item

Report of the Cabinet Member for Better Homes.

To consider the annual report of the Cabinet Member for Better Homes. This year’s report includes key timely updates from relevant teams in the portfolio who serve our residents and Camden communities, along with any other information useful to the Committee for the portfolio area.

Consideration was given to the report of the Cabinet Member Better Homes, which was presented by Councillor Meric Apak, Cabinet Member Better Homes, and he along with Gavin Haynes, Director of Property Management and Danny Waite, Head of Repairs & Operations, gave the following key responses to questions:

·       The Council was aware of the concerns regarding the misuse of blue badges on the Maiden Lane Estate from people not living on the estate and officers would be publicising the effective enforcement that was being undertaken. Local tenants and residents who concerns about who was parking on the estate should contact the respective team who would investigate any suspicious activity.

·       There had need a small number of cases where the misdiagnosing of a water leak had occurred, and officers had put in place further processes to ensure that such occurrences were kept to a minimum.

·       The Council was aware of the impact that a leak could have on a tenant and resident on their home, along with if it was left undealt with to the structure of the building, and the approach being undertaken to deal with damp and mould would also include how leaks should be addressed.

·       The Repairs Service had recently gone through a restructure that would now lead to the setting up of team that would seek to tackle all types of leaks. The Council would be seeking to revise its approach to dealing with what it the past was considered a containable leak. This would mean that the timeframe for dealing with them was reprioritised. This would lead to urgent priority (genuine emergency e.g. causing damage to electrical or immediate structural issues) being dealt with quickly and anything else would then be identified to the new leak hub, which would mean that they would be dealt with within 3-4 days.

·       The Council had taken a very proactive approach to seeking to address damp and mould issues for all tenants and residents. In December, all tenants and residents were advised to contact the Council regarding whether these issues were impacting them. The Council had achieved 84% response rate to all cases within 10 working days, and the information arising from the reported cases were that 82% of them were deemed as low risk mild cases. Also, this information provided the Council with a very good picture of where damp and mould was across all its homes, which meant that a plan could be put in place to seek to tackle this over before the autumn/winter seasons start along with, medium to longer term solutions if necessary. Initially the plan would focus on properties with highest risk and levels of mould. On very limited occasions, a tenant may need to be moved out of their home to enable the work to be done.

·       The Council now had all the damp and mould repair issues being serviced by an in-house team of operatives, though on occasion’s specialist surveyors contractors have had to be used. The resources over the last year used to support the team had been increased in recognition of the prioritisation the Council had given to seek to tackle this issue. Arising from the spike in reported cases, the Council has had to adjust its systems and working patterns to meet this demand. In future the Council would be seeking to advise all tenants and residents on how damp and mould build ups in homes along with how this could be prevented, and taking a proactive approach on homes that required more intervention. When a high-risk case had been reported, operatives would aim to be with the tenant within 24hrs. If it was not highlighted as part of the original triage process as being high-risk, then a 10 working days timetable would apply. If then as part of the inspection it was deemed a high-risk case then it would be re-prioritised. If this meant that the tenant had to be temporarily moved then officers would put in for a repairs move, though due to the limited availability of Council homes this may not always be available as a temporary solution. Within the 24 hours engagement, operatives would immediately undertake mitigation works (e.g. mould marshal undertaking a mould removal wash) which would seek to address the most hazardous concerns.   

·       The Council had to shift the way that tenants and residents reported repairs request to enable resources to be reprioritised to the provision of services, rather than just call handling. This shift had led to an increase in repairs being reported electronically, better access to the call handling service for vulnerable tenants and residents, and call handling targets being met throughout the Council’s busiest period.

·       Officers were producing a note that would be sent to all tenants and residents regarding how they would be able to identify who their neighbourhood officers, service manager and caretaker were.

·       The Council did not offer a 24/7 caretaking service and where urgent issues needed to be dealt with over the weekend then tenants and residents should report them through the call centre, who would pass them through to the mobile team for them to pick up. Consideration would be given as to whether further work in publicising this out-of- hours service needed to be undertaken.

ACTION BY: Director of Housing

·       Consideration would be given as to how more black and ethnic minority communities could be more actively involved in TRAs, and a response would be provided to the scrutiny committee on how this could be taken forward.

ACTION BY: Director of Housing

·       Officers agreed to provide a summary of the issues arising from the meeting with housing association representatives.

ACTION BY: Director of Property Management

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted