Agenda item

Objective: To provide the Committee with an understanding of our property compliance status and the planned improvements needed to address areas of non-compliance.

The Interim Housing Transformation Director introduced the report as published and provided the committee with the following updates:

·         Overdue fire risk actions had reduced from 111 at the end of November to 107 at the end of December. Outstanding actions include 20 that are high-risk – 14 fire doors that need to be manufactured and 6 relating to compartmentalisation issues. Mitigation measures are in place for all high-risk actions whilst a permanent solution is delivered and tenants are being kept informed.

·         A new rolling process of fire risk assessments (FRAs) is beginning, this will ensure that the service is not overwhelmed again by all FRAs being carried out at the same time. This smoothing process will involve some FRAs being carried out ahead of schedule. Actions emerging from FRAs will also now be recorded on the housing management system rather than being managed through separate spreadsheets. This will provide a transparent and easily accessible snapshot of what actions are outstanding and use the power of that system to warn us when actions are in danger of being overdue.

·         A special consultancy report is due this week on 3 blocks that are 11m high. This height of building is now coming under scrutiny due to changes in regulations (previously these were not included as the fire brigade’s equipment can access this height of building). These inspections have included an external review of the blocks which has identified issues with old render which could be a fire risk. As we were informed of these issues before the publication of the report we have been able to inform tenants, put mitigation measures in place, including the installation of a new fire alarm system, and begin repairs to the render.

·         Cases of damp, mould and condensation (DMC) have increased to 275 from 249. This is in line with expectations due to the time of the year. One category 1 case has been identified and the tenants were decanted on the same day to minimise the risk to residents. This is not required in the majority of cases where treatment can be carried out with the tenants in residence.

·         Six category 1 safety issues have been identified during stock condition surveys, two of which related to DMC. Some of these have since been downgraded to category 2 following further investigation.

·         An issue has been identified where historically repairs that were referred to the Technical & Investment team were closed on the responsive repairs system. This process has now been changed and these repairs will remain open. This has meant some historical data has been inaccurate but this has only impacted around 0.5% of overall repairs.

The committee’s discussion raised the following points:

·         The three blocks with render issues are on Orchard Way, Grevil Road and Arle Road. The relevant Ward Councillors have been informed of the issue and actions taken.

·         It has been confirmed that up-to-date FRAs were in place at a St. Marks property that experienced a fire. The tenant was accommodated until a new FRA was completed and they were able to return to the property on the 19 December.

·         Based on the current inspections there could be potentially 86 category 1 issues across council owned properties. Whilst all category 1 issues are a matter for concern this is not considered an exceptional number. This demonstrates the importance of carrying out regular stock condition surveys and continuing to report issues whenever they are identified.

·         There are still 38 properties where access has not been obtained for electrical investigation which are being processed through the legal route. These properties are still compliant as the current standard requires inspections to take place every 10 years. In line with best practice the council are moving to a 5-year cycle.

·         A new Decent Homes Standard is due to be published which will no longer require bathroom and kitchen replacements to take place every 20 years to allow organisations to focus on health and safety compliance. This will provide the opportunity to re-prioritise funds based on data from the stock condition surveys with health, safety and risk prominent in decisions. A new programme of work will be created which will be brought to residents and to the committee for consultation.

·         Tenancy audits are on target and are expected to be completed by the end of March.

·         Security of doors is also an issue that needs to be responded to. Replacement fire safety doors will also be secure. Interim temporary fire doors are in place whilst these are manufactured.

·         All tenants with capped gas have been contacted to discuss their individual circumstances. Funding to support tenants has been identified and the team are working to develop criteria to ensure we make best use of that funding and get the best outcome for tenants.

·         Work is ongoing on sharing the asbestos register. Information on whether the survey is complete and a risk exists will be held on the QL system to allow this information to be accessible and flagged to colleagues. The more detailed records will be stored on a separate documentation system which colleagues will then be able to request access to. The council are commissioning new contractors who will manage surveys and remedial action respectively. An additional contractor may be appointed to fulfil the need to have a qualified responsible person and to carry out audits.

·         Conversations are ongoing to determine when the stratified sample of stock condition surveys will be completed.

·         It is possible to predict where DMC may occur by looking at the characteristics of buildings where DMC has been reported and use this information to interact early with tenants. This is an area where the use of AI could be a great opportunity across the industry.

·         Stock conditions will consider external factors, such as guttering and solar panels, depending on the building. Both individual homes and whole blocks will be inspected.