Committee workplan progress update and Housing performance report

Quarter 2 2022/23

This report provides updates on the Housing Committee priorities and work plan for 2019 to 2023, as well as a range of performance indicators. Delivery of a complex housing service during the Covid-19 pandemic and recovery phase had been a challenge, and gratitude is expressed to residents for the patience and understanding they have shown.

While 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, some delivery challenges remain. The report highlights actions being taken to improve services where performance has been adversely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and recovery phase, and resource capacity issues. 

Performance areas	Page
Housing Committee priorities and work plan Additional council homes
	4, 6, 19
Other additional affordable homes	5
Council home buy backs	4, 8, 9, 20
Right to Buy sales	6, 19
Sites identified for Community Land Trust development	6
Requests For Assistance received	7
Rough sleepers	8
Housing First placements	8
Energy efficiency rating of council homes	10, 24
Private sector empty homes returned to use	12, 16
Compliments and complaints – all Housing Services	15
Private sector housing
Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licensing	16
Private sector vacant dwellings returned to use	16
Housing major adaptations	17
Private housing – time to approve applications	17
Council housing – time to approve applications	17
Housing Options and allocations
Homelessness preventions	17
Homelessness acceptances	17
Social housing waiting list	17
Temporary and emergency accommodation
Households placed	18
Rent collected	18
Empty homes	18
Gas safety compliance (Seaside Homes and leased)	18
Council housing supply
Additional homes by rent level	19
Council housing management
Rent collected	21
Universal Credit	21
Tenants evicted	21
Anti-social behaviour (ASB)	21
Calls answered (Housing Customer Services)	22
Tenancies sustained	22
Re-let times	22
Empty homes	22
Council housing repairs and maintenance
Repairs completed in time	23
Satisfaction with completed repairs	23
Calls answered (Repairs Helpdesk)	23
Council housing investment and asset management
Decent Homes Standard	24
Gas safety compliance (council homes)	24
Lift breakdowns	24
Leaseholder disputes	25

This housing performance report covers Quarter 2 (Q2) of the 2022/23 financial year. It uses red, amber and green ratings to provide an indication of performance.

Part one provides an update of performance against the Housing Committee work plan objectives for 2019 – 2023:

Part two presents results for a range of performance indicators across Housing and similarly uses red, amber and green ratings, as well as trend arrows. Commentary has been included for indicators which are red. During Quarter 2, the ratings and trends were as follows:

	Green – on target (8 indicators)		Improved since last time (15 indicators)
	Amber – near target (10 indicators)		Same as last time (0 indicators)
	Red – off target (8 indicators)		Poorer than last time (11 indicators)

Part one: Housing Committee priorities and work plan 2019-23

1. Provide additional affordable homes

1.1 Off track: Achieve 800 additional council homes (including develop the existing Hidden Homes strategy)

Regular updates on progress are provided to Housing Supply Member Board.

A total of 493 homes are projected for completion between April 2019 and March 2023, including 368 already completed:

· 2019/20: 77 homes – buy backs (43 Home Purchase), Hidden Homes (6), Kensington Street (12), Tilbury Place (15) and Devon Lodge (1 lease handed back)

· 2020/21: 144 homes – buy backs (40 Home Purchase and 24 NSAP – Next Steps Accommodation Programme), Buckley Close (12), Hartington Road (38) and Hawkridge Court (30)

· 2021/22: 108 homes – buy backs (66 Home Purchase, 6 NSAP and 18 Rough Sleepers Accommodation Programme – RSAP), Hidden Homes (8) and Oxford Street (10)

· 2022/23: 164 homes – buy backs (107 general needs and 12 RSAP), Hidden Homes (3) and Victoria Road (42)

· Although outside of the timescale of the Housing Committee workplan, there are a further 204 homes projected for completion during 2023/24 (including 176 Homes for Brighton & Hove dwellings)

1.2 On track: Achieve 700 other additional homes (registered provider, affordable rented, shared ownership)

A total of 820 homes (253 rent and 567 shared ownership) are projected for completion between April 2019 and March 2023, including 210 already completed:

· 2019/20: 87 homes – Montpelier Place (5), Kingsway (54) and Circus Street (28)

· 2020/21: 48 homes – Freehold Terrace (8), Plumpton Road (2), Nevill Road (4) and Preston Road (34 from two providers)

· 2021/22: 75 homes – Preston Barracks (19), Falmer Avenue (13), Hangleton Way (33) and Lions Gardens (10)

· 2022/23: 610 homes – Edward Street (33), School Road (104), Preston Barracks (226), Graham Avenue (125), Sackville Hotel (7), New Church Road (5), King’s House (92) and Ovingdean Road (18)

1.3 On track: Review the rent policy to maximise the number of council homes replaced at social or living wage rents (especially those at 27.5% Living Wage)

13% of new general needs (GN) council homes delivered during 2022/23 to date are at social or 27.5% Living Wage rents (4 of 31) and the remaining 87% (27 of 31) are at 37.5% Living Wage rents. The 8 new homes at Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are temporary accommodation, RSAP properties.

1.4 On track: Develop a policy for the council to take the role of developer on major sites

· Homes for Brighton & Hove Joint Venture is now a delivery company

1.5 Slightly off track: Bring a report to committee identifying suitable sites to work in partnership with Community Land Trust (CLT) for development

· 7 out of 10 sites so far identified for Community Land Trust development

· Planning applications are regularly reviewed to seek opportunities for self-build plots on large private development sites, but this has not yet yielded suitable plots

2. Improving private rented housing

2.1 On track: Review and resubmit selective licensing scheme proposal to improve the management and standards of private rented sector homes in the city

· Private Sector Housing Update went to Housing Committee in September 2022, which included progress on Selective Licensing, A report on progress is on the agenda at Housing Committee in January 2023

2.2 Off track: Research and review an ethical loan scheme

· This work has been deferred due to Covid-19 recovery priorities and resource capacity issues

· Community Housing Pilot update report to go to Housing Committee in November 2022, with an update on the proposed community led housing ethical loans scheme pilot

2.3 Off track: Develop or commission an information or advice hub for private renters and consider options for a private tenants’ forum

· This work has been deferred due to Covid-19 recovery priorities and resource capacity issues

2.4 On track: Research and develop a social lettings agency

· Report due for Housing Committee by end of 2022/23

· Previous report taken to Housing Committee in September 2021, which agreed to re-brand ‘Direct Lets’ work which places households into the private rented sector

2.5 On track: Develop the enforcement approach to private sector housing to reflect the full range of potential options available to improve management and standards

· Private Sector Housing Update went to Housing Committee in September 2022

· A project for the enforcement of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) has been ongoing since April 2022.  Following a successful grant application to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), £70,765 has been awarded for use up to May 2023

· A new set of Performance Indicators were agreed at Housing Committee in September 2022 and will be reported from Quarter 3 2022/23 onwards (additional indicators are listed on page 18 of this report)

· Request for assistance top categories during Q2: 42 disrepair (27%), 21 HMO noise nuisance (13%), 18 HMO rubbish nuisance (11%) and 14 dampness (9%)

3. Alleviating homeless and rough sleeping

3.1 On track: Develop a rough sleeping strategy (to include partnerships with community homeless and faith projects and delivery of homeless enterprise projects)

· Homeless & Rough Sleeper Strategy approved by Housing Cttee in June 2020

· Homelessness and Rough Sleeping update went to Housing Cttee in March 2022

The November 2020 figure used a blended methodology of an estimate with a spotlight count, due to the national Covid lockdown at the time. Please note that estimates have only been carried out at times when counts have not been.

3.2 On track: Review/consult/adopt the Homeless Bill of Rights

· Values of the Homeless & Rough Sleeper Strategy approved by Housing Committee in June 2020 align to the Homeless Bill of Rights. Strategy states that ’The Homeless Bill of Rights should be viewed as a standard against which the Council and its partners judge our policies and practices’

· The Homeless Bill of Rights was adopted by Full Council in March 2021 and is an aspirational document against which to measure services and progress

3.3 No longer applicable: Provide a 365 day night shelter

· Night shelter was closed in early April 2020 on the advice of what was then the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) and Public Health England due to Covid-19 restrictions, as it had congregate sleep sites

3.4 On track: Expand Housing First

· As of end September 2022, there were 99 homes used for Housing First including Housing-led support

3.5 On track: Develop a strategy for the provision of council run temporary accommodation including Seaside Homes

· Report due for Housing Committee in Quarter 4 2022/23

· Manoj House (Hartington Road) – 38 homes became ready in February 2021

· George Cooper House (Oxford Street) – 10 homes completed in March 2022

· Buy backs – 29 of 226 homes purchased are for temporary accommodation, plus 30 NSAP and 25 RSAP (84 dwellings across all three categories)

3.6 On track: Develop a homeless strategy, ensuring homeless people are involved in the design and development of services which directly affect them

· Homelessness & Rough Sleeper Strategy approved by Housing Committee in June 2020

· Homeless Reduction Board has been meeting since September 2020 and its role includes monitoring progress of the aspirations contained in the Homeless Bill of Rights and making recommendations to Housing Committee

· Homeless Reduction Operational Board has been meeting quarterly since July 2021 and includes people with a lived experience of homelessness. It reports to the Homeless Reduction Board

4. Achieving carbon reductions and sustainability in housing including address fuel poverty

4.1 On track: Develop an action plan to set out how we will work collaboratively to ensure housing contributes to making the city carbon neutral by 2030

· Latest ‘Carbon Reduction in Housing Update’ report went to Housing Committee in September 2022 which details work towards developing an Energy Plan, aligned to a revised Asset Management Strategy, and outlines work to inform a plan towards the 2030 carbon neutral target

· Energy modelling software is currently being used to enable costed retrofit plans to be developed for council homes

· Work progressing with the Retrofit Taskforce, led by Lewes and Eastbourne and University of Brighton to identify regional approach to retrofitting council homes

· Over 40 Air Source Heat Pumps have been installed in properties with inefficient electric heating, with insulation upgrades at the same time where appropriate, and a further 50-60 installs are planned in the remainder of the current financial year

· Options appraisals are currently being carried out to install low carbon heating and hot water services in five high rise blocks and one seniors housing scheme

4.2 Slightly off track: Develop a new PV and energy efficiency strategy for council homes to include standards for new homes

· A New Builds Sustainability Policy has been produced and agreed. The revised HRA Energy Strategy is in progress and will be finalised when the revised HRA Asset Management Strategy has been approved at Housing Committee

· Standards for new council homes are guided by the revised new build specification – minimum Energy Performance Certificate rating of A

· Procurement of domestic solar PV programme on council homes (1,000 households to be delivered over three years) began October 2022 with install programme expected to start in Spring 2023

4.3  On track: Review the energy efficiency and provision on all new developments

· A report providing an ‘Update on Sustainability Measures for New Homes and Housing Supply Sustainability Policy’ went to Housing Committee in January 2021 and the committee endorsed a draft New Build Housing Sustainability Policy

· Victoria Road new build scheme will pilot a low energy ‘microgrid’ heating and electricity solution integrating ground source heat pumps and solar panels to reduce residents’ bills

4.4 On track: Investigate and report the possibility of bulk buying PV panels and other energy saving resources

· Round 1 of the Solar Together Sussex (STS) scheme was launched in Autumn 2020 with over 80 installations completed in this phase

· Round 2 of STS was launched in September 2021: over 7,000 homes registered across Sussex and a local supplier has been appointed to carry out installations, with remaining installations to be completed during Quarter 3 2022/23

· Options for Round 3 of the scheme are currently being considered by the partnership of Sussex local authorities

5. Improving council housing and community involvement

5.1 On track: Work with tenants to develop a ‘decent environment’ standard

· Report due for Housing Committee in Quarter 4 2022/23

· A twelve-week pilot of estate walkabouts was undertaken from May to August 2022: these will help establish a schedule of improvements and budget allocation

· A review of the pilot was completed and reported to area panels in October 2022, and information from it will be used to consider a decent environment standard

· The Estates Walkabout schedule will be published for two years and promoted with ward councillors, lead councillors and residents

5.2 On track: Develop a fire safety programme in conjunction with tenants and residents

· Sprinklers are now fitted as standard in all council new build homes

· The Building Safety Bill is now confirmed as an act and consultants are now in place to provide a road map to support the council’s responsibilities under the new act, which has links to the Social Housing White Paper

· Fire Risk Assessments are up to date and carried out within target dates to all applicable properties

· A full Fire, Health & Safety and Compliance report is currently being undertaken on council housing stock and the requirements on the council. This will detail the current arrangements and the resources needed to meet future arrangements

· Meetings with East Sussex Fire and Rescue (ESFR) take place every four weeks and they are fully engaged with the council processes

5.3 On track: Review and develop a new tenant and community involvement policy/strategy for housing, ensuring we learn from the lived experience of our clients, meet the ‘Involvement and Empowerment’ standard and that co-production is at the heart of our tenant and resident involvement work

· New Tenant and Leaseholder Engagement Strategy was approved at Housing Committee in March 2021

5.4 On track: Extend participatory budgeting

· Report approved at March 2021 Housing Committee including development of a policy for extending participatory budgeting

5.5 On track: Develop the work undertaken with leaseholders to develop a new leasehold involvement policy, setting out how leaseholders can be supported to be more

proactively involved in capital works and other leasehold matters

· New Tenant and Leaseholder Engagement Strategy was approved at Housing Committee in March 2021

· Consultation with leaseholders on planned and major capital works and other improvement projects has concluded and our contracts and framework are now operating

· Leaseholders are being consulted where the council has plans to undertake works under these contracts on a block-by-block basis

· A procedure for engagement with tenants and leaseholders for proposed projects that will be tendered through the major works framework has been established and a more robust resident engagement process adopted

· Our planned works contracts and all other projects will be consulted with residents in the same manner as capital major projects

· Extended leaseholder payment options are approved and available to leaseholders who request this

6. Enabling more affordable home ownership

6.1 On track: Work with Community Land Trust (CLT) to develop self-build opportunities

· CLT focus is on affordable rented homes which are likely to be self-build

· Self-build plots including for community led housing groups have been included as part of planning agreement for Toad’s Hole Valley

6.2 On track: Work with Homes for Brighton & Hove and registered providers in the city to develop 500 shared ownership properties for essential workers who live and work in the city

· 567 shared ownership homes are projected for development between April 2019 and March 2023

· The Living Wage Joint Venture, Homes for Brighton & Hove, has started construction on its first two sites totalling 346 homes

· Homes for Brighton & Hove is becoming a delivery company, with 168 Hyde shared ownership homes and 178 rented homes (176 council and 2 Hyde) expected for completion in 2023/24

7. Make fuller use of shared housing capacity

7.1 Slightly off track: Review our empty homes policy to ensure 650 empty homes are brought back into use

· 440 private sector vacant dwellings (empty for more than six months) were returned into occupation within the first three years of the timescale of the Housing Committee workplan, with one year remaining

7.2 On track: Develop a policy to incentivise households to relinquish council tenancies as an alternative to right to buy

· Report due to Housing Committee in Quarter 3 2023/24

7.3 Off track: Investigate the possibility of supporting a ‘lodger’ scheme and report to Committee

· Committee report due for March 2021 – deferred due to service pressures and Covid-19 recovery priorities

7.4 On track: Undertake an impact assessment of short-term holiday lets and Air BnB in the city and consider options that may inform an approach to alleviate the most detrimental issues arising

· Report on Regulation of Short-Term Holiday Lets was agreed at Tourism, Equalities, Communities & Culture and Housing committees in March 2020. It included using existing powers to deal with complaints, ensuring coordinated approach to enforcement between services and lobbying central government for enhanced enforcement powers and a national registration scheme

· A system is in place for the public to report issues with short term holiday lets, so that relevant council teams can take appropriate enforcement action where possible

· The council responded to the Government’s call for evidence on a Tourist Accommodation Registration Scheme

8. Alleviating poverty

8.1 Slightly off track: Ensure the in house repairs services include measures to: provide opportunities for young people to develop skills for example through apprenticeships; maximise community benefits, including through use of local firms and labour for supply chain as well as planned and major works; and, develop pathways to employment that are inclusive in offering opportunities to all the communities we serve

· The Repairs & Maintenance service currently employs seven electrical apprentices and is planning to expand to 20 apprenticeships in total by the end of 2023

8.2 Slightly off track: Review arrears policy to ensure all action is taken at the earliest stage, support given and eviction is used as a last resort

· Business Process Review of income collection, including arrears policies, has been delayed while resources have been diverted to other service pressures and Covid-19 recovery priorities

8.3 On track: Develop an arrears policy for temporary accommodation, which gives tenants the same level of support and assistance as those in permanent accommodation

· Policy is in place for long term temporary accommodation which matches that in council owned housing

Part two: Performance indicators

The council is responsible for managing 11,764 council owned homes and 2,282 leaseholder homes, as well as providing temporary accommodation for 1,774 households.

		Customer feedback – all Housing services		Target	Q1 2022/23	Q2 2022/23	Status against target	Trend since Q1
9.1			Compliments received from customers	Info	126	106	n/a		n/a
9.2			Stage one complaints responded to within 10 working days	80%	65% (124 of 191)	74% (111 of 150)
9.3	Stage one complaints upheld			Info	40% (76 of 191)	38% (57 of 150)	n/a		n/a
9.4	Stage two complaints upheld			18%	41% (7 of 17)	35% (8 of 23)
Performance has continued to improve compared to the previous quarter but is still off target. Stage one complaints are investigated by Housing service managers and stage two complaints are investigated by the Corporate Customer Feedback team. A key reason some stage two complaints were upheld during Q2 was delays in resolving issues raised at stage one.

		Private sector housing	Target	Q1 2022/23	Q2 2022/23		Status against target		Trend since Q1
10.1	Total licensed Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)		Info	3,503		3,527		n/a		n/a
10.2	Corporate KPI: HMOs where all special conditions have been met (for licences issued over 12 months ago)		58%	59.59% (1,156 of 1,940)		62.92% (1,205 of 1,915)
The target of 58% for the end of Q2 is set as a step towards a target of 60% at the end of Q4. The indicator above measures cases where the council has verified that conditions have been completed and it is anticipated this figure will contiue to rise over the course of the year.
10.3	Corporate KPI: Private sector vacant dwellings returned into occupation (empty for more than two years)		9	19		18
This indicator used to apply to properties empty for longer than six months but has now changed to focus on properties empty for more than two years, which require more intensive casework. Most properties empty for less than two years do not require intensive casework and may often come back in to use without intervention.

NB Additional indicators relating to private sector housing are being developed with the aim of including them in these reports starting with Quarter 3 2022/23. These are as follows:

· Number of requests for action

· Number of property inspections completed

· Number of Category 1 and 2 hazards identified

· Proportion of Category 1 and 2 hazards resolved through informal action

· Proportion of cases escalated following non-compliance of improvement notice.

		Housing adaptations		Target	Q1 2022/23	Q2 2022/23	Status against target	Trend since Q1
11.1	Private housing – average weeks taken to approve Disabled Facilities Grant applications		10		17.2	18.4
The amber threshold for this indicator is set at 26 weeks based on historic guidance timescales, with the target of 10 weeks reflecting revised guidance timescales.
11.2	New: Private housing – average weeks taken for contractor to complete works		Info		41.4	38.4	n/a	n/a
11.3	Council housing – average weeks taken to approve applications and commence works		10		8.0	21.2
11.4	New: Council housing – average weeks taken for contractor to complete works		Info		26.4	23.9	n/a	n/a
The amber threshold for the two targeted indicators above is set at 26 weeks based on historic guidance timescales, with the target of 10 weeks reflecting revised guidance timescales. We are now also able to provide two additional indicators measuring the average time taken to complete adaptations works, as requested at Housing Committee.

		Housing Needs – Housing Options and allocations	Target	Q1 2022/23	Q2 2022/23	Status against target	Trend since Q1
12.1	Corporate KPI: Households where homelessness was prevented due to casework by the council and partner agencies		424	414	403
We are planning to introduce new performance indicators relating to homelessness prevention and relief for 2023/24. The indicator above is not an ideal measure of performance, as lower numbers of preventions could occur because fewer people are being threatened with homelessness, rather than a lower proportion of overall cases resulting in a prevention.
12.2	New households accepted as homeless		Info	109	136	n/a	n/a
12.3	Number of households on the housing register		Info	7,592	7,506	n/a	n/a

		Housing Needs – temporary accommodation (including emergency accommodation)	Target	Q1 2022/23	Q2 2022/23		Status against target	Trend since Q1
13.1	Corporate KPI: Total households in temporary accommodation		1,800 or fewer	1,773		1,774
The target of 1,800 for the end of Q2 is set as a step towards a target of 1,700 at the end of Q4. This indicator has been revised to exclude 35 NSAP and RSAP households.
13.2	Rent collected for emergency accommodation (year to date including loss from empty homes)		89.21%	71.10% (£634k of £892k)		88.97% (£1.9m of £2.2m)
13.3	… as above but excluding rent loss from empty homes		For info	94.88% (£634k of £669k)		105.49% (£1.9m of £1.8m)	n/a		n/a
The indicator above (like the other rent collection indicators in this table) measures the actual amount of rent collected during the year to date compared to the amount due within the same period. It is sometimes possible for the former to be larger, thereby producing results over 100%.
13.4	Rent collected for leased properties (year to date including loss from empty homes)		96.96%	89.82% (£1.5m of £1.7m)		89.00% (£3.1m of £3.5m)
13.5	… as above but excluding rent loss from empty homes		For info	97.01% (£1.5m of £1.54m)		94.99% (£3.1m of £3.3m)	n/a		n/a
13.6	Rent collected for Seaside Homes (year to date including loss from empty homes)		91.00%	89.41% (£1.1m of £1.3m)		89.02% (£2.4m of £2.7m)
13.7	… as above but excluding rent loss from empty homes		For info	95.60% (£1.1m of £1.2m)		94.57% (£2.4m of £2.6m)	n/a		n/a
13.8	Empty temporary accommodation homes		For info	98		79	n/a		n/a
The indicator above includes 45 block-booked, 27 private sector leased and 7 Seaside Homes dwellings. These are dwellings that were available to let as temporary accommodation.
13.9	Seaside Homes properties with a valid Landlord’s Gas Safety Record		100%	99.8% (421 of 422)		99.4% (419 of 422)
13.10	Leased properties with a valid Landlord’s Gas Safety Record		For info	86.4% (514 of 595)		84.6% (498 of 589)	n/a		n/a
The indicator above does not have a target because when it comes to leased properties the council’s role is to monitor progress and remind landlords to arrange gas safety checks, whereas the council’s gas contractor carries out checks in Seaside and council owned temporary accommodation homes.

		Council housing – supply		Q1 2022/23	Q2 2022/23
14.1			Additional council homes	15	24
14.2	… at Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rents			13% (2 of 15)	25% (6 of 25)
All homes at LHA rates delivered during Q2 were for use as temporary housing
14.3	… at 37.5% Living Wage rents			73% (11 of 15)	64% (16 of 25)
14.4	… at 27.5% Living Wage rents			13% (2 of 15)	4% (1 of 25)
14.5	… at social rents			0% (0 of 15)	4% (1 of 25)
14.6	Council homes sold through the Right to Buy			16	5
Of the 5 homes sold during Q2, 4 were leasehold (flats) and 1 was freehold (houses)
14.7	Net change in the number of council homes – all rent levels			-1	+19
14.8	Net change in the number of council homes – social and 27.5% Living Wage rent homes only			-14	-3
14.9			Total council owned homes	11,745	11,764
Total council owned dwelling stock of 11,764 includes 10,724 general needs, 877 seniors housing, 109 temporary accommodation, 30 NSAP and 25 RSAP dwellings (including new dwellings not yet handed over for letting).

14.10 Council housing – buy backs (Home Purchase and Next Steps / Rough Sleepers accommodation)

Buy backs by application date	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23 to date	Total
Total applications	5	53	88	157	159	50	512
Of which, became purchases	2	32	53	91	70	2	250
Council declined	1	13	11	16	10	6	57
Owner declined offer	1	5	12	15	14	1	48
Owner withdrew	1	3	12	33	51	13	113
Outcome pending	0	0	0	2	14	28	44

Completed buy backs by rent level	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23 to date	Total
Completed purchases	1	13	43	64	90	39	250
…  general needs social rent	0	0	1	4	0	1	6
… general needs 27.5% Living Wage	0	0	5	17	21	3	46
… general needs 37.5% Living Wage	1	5	24	14	43	27	114
… temporary housing at LHA rates	0	8	13	29	26	8	84

Summary of all buy backs since start of programmes, September 2017

Total purchases	Social rent	27.5% LWR	37.5% LWR	LHA rate	No. rent reserve applied	Total rent reserve applied	Net modelled subsidy (surplus) over all properties to date (£)
250*	6	46	114	84	46 **	£1.973m ***	£232,000

* Of which 224 are flats (6 studio, 77 one bed, 123 two bed, 20 three beds plus) and 26 are houses (4 two bed, 22 three beds plus)

** Following Housing Committee decision to use rent reserve to keep rents as low as possible

*** Applied during 2021/22 – a further £830k is anticipated to be used during 2022/23

		Council housing – management			Target	Q1 2022/23	Q2 2022/23	Status against target	Trend since Q1
15.1	Corporate KPI: Rent collected as proportion of rent due (current tenants)				96.65%	95.27% (£55.9m of £58.7m)	94.58% (£55.5m of £58.7m)
The Q1 and Q2 figures above are forecasts for the whole of the 2022/23 financial year. The methodology excludes rent loss from empty properties and includes arrears from the end of the previous financial year. Analysis from Housemark has found that rent arrears across the social housing sector have increased steadily since the summer of 2021 (when emergency uplifts to benefits ended and inflation started to rise) and continue to increase with ongoing cost-of-living crisis. Locally, a recovery plan is being implemented to reduce arrears and vacancies in the Income Management team are being recruited to, which should improve collection rates. The team will also be reviewing its approach to income collection, working closely with the council’s corporate debt board to implement a 'training standard' and are also looking at some proactive work with LIFT to identify and support households with multiple debts.
15.2			Tenancies on Universal Credit (UC)		Info	28% (3,229 of 11,337)	29% (3,377 of 11,405)	n/a	n/a
15.3	Tenancies on UC who are in arrears and have an Alternative Payment Arrangement (APA)				Info	52% (972 of 1,881)	43% (1,006 of 2,332)	n/a	n/a
Of the 3,377 tenants on UC there were 2,332 who also had rent arrears. Of the latter, 1,006 had an APA in place, whereby housing costs of UC are paid direct to the council as their landlord.
15.4	Arrears of UC tenancies as a proportion of total arrears				Info	60% (£1.7m of £2.8m)	59% (£1.9m of £3.2m)	n/a	n/a
15.5	Evictions due to rent arrears				Info	0	0	n/a	n/a
15.6	Evictions due to anti-social behaviour (ASB)				Info	0	0	n/a	n/a
15.7	New reports of ASB from victims and witnesses				Info	200	206	n/a	n/a
15.8	ASB perpetrator cases opened				Info	146	147	n/a	n/a
15.9	ASB perpetrator cases closed				Info	136	154	n/a	n/a
15.10	Average days to close ASB perpetrator cases				Info	81	80	n/a	n/a
15.11	Active ASB perpetrator cases at quarter end				Info	171	164	n/a	n/a
The anti-social behaviour (ASB) indicators in this section have been developed to reflect the way ASB is recorded on the new housing management IT system, which includes reports from victims and witnesses as well as linked cases dealt with in relation to the perpetrators. There are often multiple victims and witnesses linked to a single perpetrator.
15.12				Calls answered by Housing Customer Services	85%	83% (5,137 of 6,159)	88% (6,123 of 6,972)
15.13	Tenancies sustained following difficulties (Tenancy Sustainment Team cases)				90%	86% (18 of 21)	100% (20 of 20)

Please note the indicators in the table below and their targets are being reviewed as part of a project across Housing focused on reducing the number of empty council homes.

		Council housing – empty homes		Target	Q1 2022/23	Q2 2022/23	Status against target	Trend since Q1
15.14			Average re-let time in calendar days excluding time spent in major works	21	93	76
Re-let times are high while recovery efforts remain underway to tackle a backlog of empty council homes, which includes many homes which have been empty for long periods of time. However, the number of re-lets during 2021/22 (472) was up on 2020/21 (213) and above pre-pandemic levels seen during 2019/20 (445). Furthermore, the number of re-lets during the first half of 2022/23 (330) is significantly above 2021/22 levels (which averaged 118 per quarter) and the number of empty homes has decreased from 204 to 153 during the quarter.
15.15	Average ‘key to key’ re-let time in calendar days including time spent in major works			Info	163	130	n/a	n/a
15.16	Number of previously occupied council homes re-let (general needs and seniors)			Info	176	154	n/a	n/a
15.17	Number of new council homes let for the first time (general needs and seniors)			Info	22	18	n/a	n/a
15.18			Empty general needs and seniors council homes (includes new homes)	Info	204	153	n/a	n/a
15.19	Empty council owned temporary accommodation homes (includes new homes, NSAP and RSAP)			Info	24	33	n/a	n/a

Please note the figures for the first three indicators in the table below are provisional as there are currently issues with reporting of repairs data arising from the switchover of our main housing management IT system since the start of July 2021. At present two IT systems are being used and it is not possible to integrate reporting between them, meaning that performance data is currently being extracted and manually combined from the two systems, which is likely to be less accurate than automatic system reporting (due to the volume and multiple stages of the jobs managed by the Repairs & Maintenance service). We are in the process of procuring a new works management system. Once we have this new system, we should be able to report on all jobs automatically.

		Council housing – repairs and maintenance		Target	Q1 2022/23	Q2 2022/23	Status against target	Trend since Q1
16.1			Emergency repairs completed within 24 hours	99%	98.1% (2,120 of 2,160)	98.6% (2,645 of 2,682)
16.2	Corporate KPI: Routine repairs completed within 28 calendar days			70%	44.9% (1,773 of 3,952)	58.5% (2,384 of 4,077)
Although performance has improved, recently completed routine repairs have included jobs from a backlog which has built up since the start of the pandemic and due to reduced staffing levels and availability of contractors. This means that these jobs took longer than their target timescales once they were completed. The Repairs & Maintenance service has completed the recruitment of trade staff and has recruited additional staff to help deal with the current backlog. Sub-contractors have also been mobilised to increase capacity.
16.3	Average time to complete routine repairs (calendar days)			15	71	55
As above.
16.4			Calls answered by Repairs Helpdesk	85%	86% (16,497 of 19,092)	92% (15,973 of 17,315)
16.5			Surveyed tenants satisfied with repairs: standard of work	96%	96% (207 of 216)	99% (911 of 924)
16.6	Surveyed tenants satisfied with repairs: overall customer service			96%	95% (206 of 216)	98% (908 of 924)

		Council housing – investment and asset management			Target	Q1 2022/23	Q2 2022/23	Status against target	Trend since Q1
17.1				Corporate KPI: Dwellings meeting Decent Homes Standard	100%	95.9% (11,263 of 11,745)	96.2% (11,317 of 11,764)
There had been a lack of planned installations of new kitchens and bathrooms throughout much of 2020/21 and 2021/22 due to Covid restrictions, shortages of supplies and components. Performance was 92.9% at the same time a year ago and so has improved considerably since then and is expected to improve further with the recent Housing Committee decision to approve the appointment of up to two new contractors for kitchens and bathrooms.
17.2	Corporate KPI: Energy efficiency rating of homes (out of 100)				72.3	68.2	68.3
An ambitious corporate target has been set for 2022/23 in line with a trajectory towards Band A by 2024 (from Band D). Please see the workplan updates for ‘Achieving carbon reductions and sustainability in housing including address fuel poverty’ in this report for more information about these objectives, including improving energy efficiency of council homes.
17.3			Council properties with a valid Landlord's Gas Safety Record		100%	100% (10,012 of 10,012)	99.99% (10,102 of 10,103)
17.4				Lifts restored to service within 24 hours	95%	100% (87 of 87)	83% (134 of 161)

		Leaseholder disputes	Q1 2021/22	Q2 2022/23
18.1	Stage one disputes opened		1	5
18.2	Stage one disputes closed		3	1
18.3	Active stage one disputes (end quarter)		22	26
18.4	Stage two disputes opened		4	0
18.5	Stage two disputes closed		0	1
18.6	Active stage two disputes (end quarter)		7	6
18.7	Stage three disputes opened		0	1
18.8	Stage three disputes closed		0	0
18.9	Active stage three disputes (end quarter)		1	2