1. Purpose of the report and policy context

1.1 This report illustrates progress against Housing Committee work plan 2019-23 priorities and targets, as well as other Housing service targets. The report covers Quarter 4 of the 2021/22 financial year, alongside year end results, and is attached as Appendix 1.

1.2 This report also includes a summary briefing of the results from the 2021 Survey of Tenants and Residents (STAR), attached as Appendix 2. We are very grateful to the 1,000 tenants who gave their time to respond to this telephone survey, share their opinions and give the council feedback to guide our improvement work.

1.3 Information highlights from the quarter include:

· Customer feedback – 112 customer compliments received, and 86% of stage one complaints responded to within 10 working days

· Private sector housing – 56% of Houses in Multiple Occupation have met all special conditions (of those licensed for over 12 months)

· Major adaptations – waiting times for applications were 14.9 weeks for private sector homes, down from 15.7 weeks previously

· Housing needs – 1,890 households placed in temporary accommodation, down from 1,965 at the end of the last quarter

· Housing supply – 36 additional council homes delivered

· Council housing management – 95.66% of rent collected from tenants, and 148 council homes were let (including new homes)

· Council housing repairs and maintenance –the proportion of ‘Decent Homes’ slightly decreased from 96.9% to 95.6%

2. Recommendations

2.1 That Housing Committee notes the report.

3. Context and background information

3.1 The report uses red, amber and green traffic light symbols to provide an indication of performance, and also trend arrows to provide an indication of movement from the previous quarter.

4. Analysis and consideration of alternative options

4.1 This report is for noting so alternative options are not required.

5. Community engagement and consultation

5.1 This report has been to Area Panels in May 2022 for residents to comment and enquire upon and discuss.

6. Conclusion

6.1 Members are invited to comment and enquire upon this regular quarterly report.

7. Financial implications

7.1 The financial implications are contained in the report. An area of performance with significant financial effect is the ability to collect rents from tenants as well as the impact of the length of time that properties are empty. Over the last two years the percentage of rent collected has fallen in the HRA, and although the performance still compares favourably when benchmarked against other stock holding councils around the country, this is of concern and a review is underway to identify actions that will help to improve this. The collection of rents at 15.1 in Appendix 1 show that in the year 2021/22, 95.66% of collectable dwelling rents have been collected, a 0.74% decrease on the collection of rents during 2020/21. This equates to an increase in arrears of £0.500m.

7.2 Indicators 15.18 and 15.19 show that the total number of council properties empty over the year 2021/22 was 272 compared to 295 during 2020/21. The cost of empty council properties for 2021/22 was £1.479m compared to £0.375m in 2018/19, pre-pandemic. The service is working on the backlog of empty properties and extra staff have been recruited to assist in lettings. Recovery efforts to tackle the backlog of empty council homes include using approved procurement routes to increase contractor capacity and large-scale recruitment of new permanent staff who can carry out works directly.

Name of finance officer consulted: Monica Brooks Date consulted: 30/5/22

8. Legal implications

8.1 There are no significant legal implications arising from this regular performance report.

Name of lawyer consulted: Liz Woodley Date consulted: 17/05/2022

9. Equalities implications

9.1 There are no direct equalities implications arising from this report.

10. Sustainability implications

10.1 Although this report is for noting, the workplan updates within it include progress on objectives relating to sustainability, as well as monitoring of the average energy efficiency rating of council homes, which stands at 68.2 (out of a maximum of 100).

11. Other Implications

11.1 There are no other direct implications arising from this report, which is for noting.

Supporting Documentation

1. Appendices

1. Housing Committee workplan progress update and Housing performance report - Quarter 4 and end of year 2021/22.

2. Survey of Tenants and Residents (STAR) 2021 results.