Resident Questions for Housing Area Panel

Department				Housing
Date question raised				28/06/2022
Date of Area Panel				17/08/2022
Area in city				North
Star rating applied by residents				3 star – city wide issue
Deadline for officer response				25/07/2022
Name of officer responding				Grant Ritchie
Officer job title				Operations Manager, Property Maintenance Services & Assets & Investment Manager
Title of Question:		Kitchen replacements and repairs
Issue: Not all Council properties are compliant with the Decent Homes Standard. The Council is not doing enough to ensure properties meet this standard.
Background: Kitchens are meant to be replaced after 30 years, but for at least 30 different properties in Hollingdean, residents have been waiting 38 years to have their kitchens replaced. Residents are living with hazards in their kitchen for a long time before they get repaired.
Action requested by residents: 1) Why are the Council taking so long to repair hazardous kitchens? 2) Why are the Council taking so long to replace kitchens that should have been replaced years ago? 3) What is the Council doing to ensure it does essential work to properties, in line with the Decent Homes Standard and their own policies?
Officer Response: Grant Ritchie
Officer contact details:			grant.ritchie@brighton-hove.gov.uk
Response: We currently have a backlog of repairs and are prioritising repairs according to urgency, those that have a significant impact on residents or are likely to cause further damage to properties will be attended to first. If a kitchen is causing a hazard or a repair has become more urgent for any reason, please contact our repairs helpdesk by calling 0800 052 6140 and we will update the urgency accordingly. We are continuing to work with our Kitchen contractor to increase their capacity to replace more kitchens and are working to catch up on properties which according to our programme are due a new kitchen or bathroom.  Our contractor has faced challenges over both material supply and labour, and we are working closely with them to improve their performance. Properties will not be eligible for a new kitchen if they have received a new bathroom as part of the decent homes programme. This is our policy and follows the decent homes standard.
Specific Action:
Action: No Further Action.
Timeline:
Start date:	N/A
End date:	N/A