Housing Committee
Agenda Item 57
Date of meeting: 18 January 2023
Report of: Executive Director Housing, Neighbourhoods & Communities
Contact Officer: Name: Diane Hughes
Email: diane.hughes@brighton-hove.gov.uk
Ward(s) affected: All
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 2 of the 2022/23 financial year and is attached as Appendix
1.
1.2 Some key headline results from the quarter include:
· Customer feedback – 106 customer compliments received and 74% of stage one complaints responded to within 10 working days, an increase on the previous quarter.
· Private sector housing – 62.92% of Houses in Multiple Occupation have met all special conditions (of those licensed for over 12 months), an increase on the previous quarter.
· Housing needs – there were 1,774 households in temporary and emergency accommodation on the last day of the quarter. This is a decrease and a positive step toward our end of year target.
· Housing supply – 24 additional council homes delivered during Q2. This is an increase on Q1.
· Council housing management – 88% of calls answered by Housing Customer Services during Q2 is now above target and an increase from 83% in Q1.
· Council housing – empty homes – The average re-let time for empty council homes continues to improve and the number of empty council homes also reduced from 204 to 153 between Q1 and Q2.
· Council housing repairs and maintenance –98.6% of emergency repairs were completed within 24 hours, an improvement on Q1, and 92% of calls were answered by Repairs Helpdesk, an increase on Q1 with performance remaining above target. Of the 924 tenants surveyed about recently completed repairs, 99% were satisfied with the standard of work and 98% were satisfied with overall customer service. Both these areas of performance are above target and both show an improvement on Q1 figures.
· Council housing investment and asset management –the proportion of ‘Decent Homes’ increased from 95.9% to 96.2% between Q1 and Q2.
2.1 That Housing Committee notes the report.
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.
4.1 This report is for noting so alternative options are not required.
5.1 This report went to Area Panels in December 2022 for residents to comment and enquire upon and discuss.
6.1 There continue to be areas of strong performance, with 24 Housing Committee Work Plan objectives on track for delivery and 8 performance indicators on target. Furthermore, there has been an improvement in 15 of the performance indicators since the previous quarter.
7.1 The financial implications are contained in the body of the report. Two areas of performance with significant financial implications are the HRA property rents collection rate and the length of time that properties are empty. The rent collection figures at 15.1 in Appendix 1 show that for 2022/23 Quarter 2, 94.58% of collectable dwelling rents is forecasted to be collected, a 0.69% decrease on the forecast collection as at Quarter 1 equating to an increase in arrears of £0.400m since July 2022. Over the last two years the percentage of rent collected has fallen in the HRA but the latest Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 figures for 2022/23 shows further decline. The report identifies the actions being taken to improve this going forward. Monitoring of the HRA budget forms part of the usual Targeted Budget Management (TBM) Report to Policy & Resources committee periodically throughout the year.
7.2 Indicator 15.18 shows that the total number of council empty properties decreased from 204 to 153 during Quarter 2. The cost of empty council properties for 2021/22 was £1.479m but the forecast for 2022/23 is showing an improved position of £1.115m due to the significant reduction in the number of empty properties. Recovery efforts to tackle the backlog of empty council homes include using approved procurement routes to increase contractor capacity and largescale recruitment of new permanent staff who can carry out works directly.
Name of finance officer consulted: Monica Brooks Date consulted: 6/12/22
8.1 There are no significant legal implications to draw to Members’ attention arising from this regular progress and performance report.
Name of lawyer consulted: Liz Woodley Date 09/12/2022
9.1 There are no direct equalities implications arising from this report.
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.
11.1 There are no other direct implications arising from this report, which is for noting
Supporting Documentation
1. Housing Committee workplan progress update and Housing performance report - Quarter 2 2022/23