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 addressed the Committee and provided an update on compliance figures for the end of February 2025:

-           There are two homes with out-of-date gas certificates, an increase from one at the end of January. Legal action is being undertaken to gain access to both. One tenancy has been terminated and gas will be capped or certificated once access is achieved. This means gas certification is 99.95% compliant but we are aiming to return to 100% as soon as possible.

-           Capped gas supplies have remained consistent, with the majority occurring in void properties. Where properties are occupied contact is being maintained with the tenant and support being provided.

-           Overdue fire risk actions are reducing slowly with 94 remaining, 18 of which are high risk. Delivery of the specially manufactured fire doors has begun and testing is taking place to ensure that they are working and can be certified. It is hoped that this will increase actions being closed more quickly.

-           There are 14 properties remaining with electrical certificates over 5 years old. All these properties are within the legislative requirements of 10 years, but work is being progressed to bring it in line with the council’s 5-year policy. Ten of these properties are voids, one property is awaiting repair, and injunctions are in place for two properties to gain access.

-           Damp, mould and condensation has increased to 340 open cases, with no new category 1 cases identified. This is in line with expectations for this time of year and is expected to decrease in the Summer. Data is being used to predict where issues will occur to allow preventative action to be taken.

-           Stock condition surveys will no longer be reported as part of the compliance report now that enough have been completed to carry out analysis for the planned maintenance programme.

The committee’s discussion raised the following points:

-           Where properties’ gas is capped no carbon monoxide alarms are required.

-           An ongoing piece of work is being carried out to ensure all reports are automated and to reduce the need for manual involvement in reports.

-           A ‘The Facts About Asbestos’ leaflet delivered to tenants was praised for providing tenants with clear information. Asbestos is considered safe if not disturbed but it is important that contractors, tenants and leaseholders are aware of the potential risk if work is carried out. Over the next few years full surveys will be carried out and it is recommended that leaseholders do the same. It was suggested that consideration could be given to further highlighting asbestos risk within the corporate risk register.

-           The stratified sample of stock condition surveys has been achieved and is currently awaiting analysis. Once completed there will be a consultation carried out to further review what investments should be progressed. However, whilst some programmes of work have been paused to allow this analysis to be completed a lot of other work is ongoing. Health and safety is still being carried out as a priority, work is also continuing connected to the Warm Homes Programme funding, major voids are being brought back into the stock, and where failing kitchens, bathrooms or components have been identified these are being replaced.

-           The increase in DMC cases does reflect growing awareness of the support available for tenants following promotion exercises and also the time of year. Some issues are likely to reoccur due to families living in properties that are too small but wherever possible issues are resolved. Hopefully increased use of remote monitoring software in the future will allow issues to be more proactively managed as soon as they emerge.

-           A text message has been sent to all residences about the availability of replacement key fobs.

-           There have been issues across the country with key fobs due to networking issues following deterioration of mobile networks. This can mean that when new fobs are programmed, they do not initially work. Currently the council are investigating moving to a different mobile supplier.

-           There are currently 140 voids. Contractors have been onsite for 10 major voids as of the beginning of March and are expected to finish between 4 and 5 properties a week. Another contractor will be going live in the next 6 weeks.

-           A business case to use the workshop more effectively and to provide opportunities to explore apprenticeships is being considered. Considerations will include the initial investment required, ensuring colleagues have the right training and skills, material compliance, and the need for testing and certification. This has the potential to allow us to address actions relating to unusual design needs more quickly.