Agenda item

Report of the Director of Placemaking and Housing. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Housing Services, Private Renters, and Planning.

This is the annual report that the Housing Ombudsman obliges the Council to produce. It reviews the performance of the Council's Housing service in line with the tenancy standards set out by the Ombudsman and includes tenant satisfaction and financial data.  The Council were given extra time to produce the report for 2022/23 by the Ombudsman because of the service being brought in house.

(Cllr Arkell returned to the room at 6.46pm)

The Cabinet Member for Housing Services, Private Renters and Planning, introduced the Housing Annual report 2022- 23 which the Council were obliged to produce by the Housing Regulator.

The Cabinet Member outlined that the Annual Report for 2022-23 provided a retrospective view of performance since the Council brought housing services back in house, and progress against commitments to improve it. It described progress in respect of compliance with fire and electrical safety standards; the support the Council had provided to tenants through the cost-of-living crisis; and involvement of residents in the key decisions along with the improvement journey.

The Cabinet Member expressed that there were still significant challenges, and it was important that the Council were open and transparent about these. There was more to do to tackle the repairs backlog; damp and mould issues and boost tenant satisfaction and the Council were determined to improve in these areas in the coming year.

In response to questions from Cllr da Costa, the following was noted.

-       The Cabinet Member was aware of the incoming new statutory requirements for emergency repairs in 24 hours, 7 days for other repairs and damp and mould inspections in 14 days and the Council would respond to the government requirements The Assistant Director for Operational Housing and Buildings added that the Council were already working to these timescales and already working to complete emergency repairs within 24 hours . Also within the Housing Improvement Plan there was a particular action to launch a new category to do repairs in five days rather than the seven days as stipulated by the government. With regards to damp and mould, the Cabinet had already agreed a policy which required inspection of reports of damp and mould in properties within 14 days.

-       On addressing tenant dissatisfaction with the repairs service, this was a retrospective report and there were measures to improve tenant satisfaction. There was confidence that this would improve as the new tenant boards and engagement activities continued.

-       Page 11 of the annual report indicated that resident involvement over the last year had generated over £2million in social value and the Assistant Director for Operational Housing would provide Cllr da Costa with a written response on how this had been calculated.

-       The service had implemented a number of changes to improve the culture, with new management within the service, increasing visibility of housing officers, introducing new performance matrix and having a new governance in place as well.

RESOLVED

To note and approve the Housing Annual Report 2022-23 attached as Appendix 1 so that it can be made available to tenants and leaseholders on the Council’s website.

Reasons for decision

It is essential that the Council is transparent about the landlord services it

provides to tenants and leaseholders; explains the work it is doing to improve its services; and how it is spending the money it receives from tenants’ rents.

Alternative options considered

As a social landlord, we are obliged to produce an Annual Report by the

Housing Regulator so an alternative option was not considered