Agenda item

Report of Cabinet Member for Housing and Customer Services, Councillor Flo Clucas

In introducing this item, the Cabinet Member for Housing and Customer Services said the reports are updates of earlier work, have been to Cabinet Housing Committee,  and have incorporated tenants’ comments and suggestions.  All present the position statement as of now, with the exception of the Voids Policy.  She invited the Head of Housing Services to provide a verbal update, and he summarised the situation as follows:

-       the voids procedure used to be internal, but is now public for complete transparency;

-       CBC inherited the challenge of a substantive build-up of empty properties,  always a moving feast but where 30-40 voids a month are to be expected, the number is currently three times that at 120, with 179 termination tenancies at the end of November;

-       this is being dealt with by splitting voids  into major (kitchens, bathrooms, plastering, heating systems) and minor, which still often require a lot of work.  Following procurement challenges in the past, the team now has three contractors in place to deal with major voids, so that the in-house team can focus on  turning round minor voids.  Of these, one is working particularly well, and of the 77 major voids at the end of November, 65 are with contractors and due back by the end of January – although more major voids are added and passed on to contractors each week;

-       we had 179 additional properties this year, 28 of which were transfers of existing council tenants to another council property, thus creating another void. Numbers are always changing, but things are going well, particularly with one contractor which has freed up additional resource so been able to reduce the number of major voids we’ve got with them;

-       this creates a slight challenge with lettings as we can only let so many properties each month – they need to be advertised on Homeseeker, followed by shortlisting, viewings, verification and frauds checks. It is a  complicated process, in addition to the challenge of approximately 70 new builds in Regency Village, 30 of which are available to be let, so we are currently looking at resource in the letting area, to avoid the situation where we have a lot of voids back but it is taking too long to secure tenants.

He concluded that he is confident that numbers will come down early next year, but that a huge amount of work is needed to deal with the backlog.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Customer Services said she and officers work closely to get the best results – decent homes for tenants, ensuring they have a voice, tackling voids, reorganising how work is done, and making sure contractors are up to do the job.  She thanked officers for all they do.

Members welcomed the update and were pleased to note that the voids situation is improving and new properties are coming through to relieve housing pressures.   They made the following observations:

-       with a high turnover of one-bedroomed flats in St Mark’s, could anything be done to encourage people to stay in the area when they move on from this type of accommodation?

-       the clearly-written tenant versions of all the policies are excellent, helping people to clearly see their responsibilities;

-       Cheltenham has one of the highest levels of social housing in Gloucestershire, and although CBH did a good job, bringing housing back in house is one of best decisions the council has ever made, providing the chance to look at whole thing - refresh, rewrite, and work with tenants;

-       voids have been the biggest single issue, as empty properties bring no rent and become more dilapidated while housing lists grow, so prioritising voids and finding trustworthy contractors is challenging but vital, and the team is wished every success.

In response to a Member’s question, the Head of Housing Services said there was an average of 24 terminations a month,  with some tenants moving on to non-council properties and others needing larger council homes.  Reasons for terminations are tracked, and generally seem to be down to nothing more than the cycle of life.  Voids are adjusted every week, and working closely with Housing Options means that an emergency case or homeless family can be prioritised if needed.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Customer Services said that not all councils are in a position to offer accommodation to homeless people, but that tenants are at the heart of everything we do.  In addition, listening to tenants is helping, and if they tell us that work Is not being done properly by contractors, this can be addressed, all helping with the vital work of getting properties back into use rather than sitting empty.

She wished everyone in the housing services team a very happy Christmas.

RESOLVED THAT:

1.    the Rent Setting Policy (Appendix 2) is approved;

2.    the Recharge Policy (Appendix 5) is approved;

3.    the Empty Homes (Voids) Policy (Appendix 8) is approved;

4.    the Repairs and Maintenance for Tenanted Properties Policy (Appendix 11) is approved.