Issue - meetings

Tenant and Leaseholder Services KPI Q4

Meeting: 28/07/2022 - Cabinet (Item 837)

837 Tenant and Leaseholder Services KPI Q4 pdf icon PDF 94 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members considered the housing performance report for the fourth quarter of 2021/22. During the Q4 period, the council came off the regulatory notice, which was placed on the council in 2019. This reflected the considerable improvements that had been made for landlord compliance. In December 2022 the team put in place an action plan that would ensure they were at an acceptable level by March 2022. They were successful in achieving what they set out to do. This included increasing domestic electrical compliance figures from 74% to 90% and reducing our FRA actions from 488 to 219.

 

Cabinet was advised that the team's operational performance continued to show improvements, although there were still some areas that required attention to achieve the set targets. The void turnaround time had improved due to recent measures put in place, but there was still some way to go to achieve set  targets and the team continues to work with Mears and on internal processes to achieve this.

 

The final arrears figures for 2021/22 were the lowest since transition and reflect the positive changes made. The team were disappointed that they did not achieve their target of reducing arrears by 1%; but this year had presented a particularly difficult operating environment and where other housing providers may be experiencing an increase in arrears, the team continued to reduce the level of debt. 

 

 Cabinet further noted that it was pleasing to see that the performance of the capital programme had improved significantly in comparison to last year.  The team spent 78% of the allocated budget, compared to 37% in the previous year, ensuring that the Council’s property assets were protected from dilapidation and provided decent homes for residents.

 

The most significant success from last years programme included the following:

 

  • Completion of all cyclical programmes - for example kitchen and bathroom replacements and window replacements;
  • The refurbishment of 7 passenger lifts; 
  • And the external decorations that have been carried out on the Newington Estate.

 

There were two planned works projects that were delayed and these included the following:

 

  • Major structural works at  Royal Crescent, in Ramsgate; 
  • Major works and improvements at Churchfields, in Margate.

 

Councillor Jill Bayford proposed, Councillor Bob Bayford seconded and Members agreed to note the report.


Meeting: 21/07/2022 - Overview & Scrutiny Panel (Item 395)

395 Tenant and Leaseholder Services KPI Q4 pdf icon PDF 94 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Sally O’Sullivan, Tenant and Leaseholder Services Manager introduced the report and made the following comments:

 

  • Significant improvements had been made and the Regulatory Notice had been removed;
  • The Improvement Plan that was set to March 2022 had been accomplished;
  • The team continued to work with MEARS in order to meet the performance targets;
  • Arrears had fallen. However more work still needed to be done to reduce the level of debt;
  • The capital work programme performance had improved significantly.

 

Members made comments as follows:

 

  • Why have ‘Voids’ increased?
  • Why have customer satisfaction levels gone down?
  • Members were impressed by the effort being made by the Housing team;
  • The tenants newsletter was now more accessible to residents;
  • With the ongoing energy crisis, did officers think that the non payments of rents would increase in the future?
  • Where residents referred to training services to enable them to manage their finances better?
  • Southern Water demonstrated how to serve on water costs. Would officers be sharing such information with residents?
  • Was there a risk to the council if and when the sponsorship arrangements for Ukrainian refugees broke down?
  • There were some families who would like to get involved in hosting the refugee families. How could they go about it?
  • Were there any long standing complaints from residents that had not been responded to?

 

Sally O’Sullivan, Bob Porter and Chris Blundell, Acting Deputy CEx & S151 Officer responded as follows:

 

  • Although the ‘Voids’ were still high, they had decreased from the previous quarter’s performance report;
  • There were major ‘Voids’ from East Kent Housing which had been outstanding for a long time;
  • There had been an increased response rate to the survey on customer satisfaction due in part to the changes to the questionnaire which had been simplified to make the questions easier to understand. This had contributed to more honest responses;
  • The Housing team support residents to maximise their income and take up benefits they are entitled to and sign post residents to support services;
  • The corporate risk report that was going to the Governance and Audit team also focused on identifying areas of support for residents;
  • The Home Energy Officer was working on approaches for energy efficiency for homes;
  • Officers were working on a net zero strategy for the council’s housing stock in order to improve the energy efficiency for residents;
  • This strategy would be in line with the government strategy. A report would be going to the Housing Cabinet Advisory Group, Climate Change Cabinet Advisory Group, OSP and Cabinet in the coming months;
  • The break down in sponsorship arrangements for Ukrainian refugee families has been flagged as a risk with the Homelessness service;
  • The Private Sector Housing team was currently supporting the Homes for Ukraine Programme. The council visits the homes of any sponsors to check for suitability before any rematching the refugee families with new sponsor family, in the event that the original sponsorship breaks down;