Housing performance report

Quarter 4 and end of year 2022/23

This report provides updates on performance indicators covering a range of Housing services. There continue to be areas of strong performance, with 7 performance indicators on target for Quarter 4 2022/23 and 9 on target for the financial year. Furthermore, there has been an improvement in 9 of the performance indicators since the previous quarter and 13 since the previous financial year. However, some delivery challenges remain. The report highlights actions being taken to improve services.

Performance areas	Page
Customer Feedback – all Housing Services
Compliments received	5
Stage 1 complaints	5
Stage 2 complaints	5
Private Sector Housing
Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licensing	6
Property inspections completed	6
Requests for assistance (RFAs)	6-7
Private sector empty homes returned to use	7
Housing major adaptations – private sector and council
Time to approve applications	8
Time to complete applications	8
Housing Options and allocations
Homelessness preventions	9
Homelessness acceptances	9
Social housing waiting list	9
Rough sleepers	9
Temporary and emergency accommodation
Households	10
Rent collected	10-11
Empty homes	11
Gas safety compliance (Seaside Homes and leased)	11
Council housing supply
Additional council homes by rent level	12-13
Right to Buy sales	12-13
Other additional affordable homes	14
Council home buy backs	15
Council housing management
Rent collected	15
Universal Credit	16
Tenants evicted	16
Anti-social behaviour (ASB)	16-17
Calls answered (Housing Customer Services)	17
Tenancies sustained	17
Re-let times	18
Empty homes	18
Council housing repairs and maintenance
Repairs completed in time	19
Satisfaction with completed repairs	19
Calls answered (Repairs Helpdesk)	19
Council housing investment and asset management
Decent Homes Standard	20
Energy efficiency rating of council homes	20
Gas safety compliance (council homes)	20
Lift breakdowns	20
Leaseholder disputes	21

This housing performance report covers Quarter 4 (Q4) of the 2022/23 financial year alongside end of year results. It uses red, amber and green ratings, as well as trend arrows. Commentary has been included for indicators which are red. During Quarter 4, the ratings and trends were as follows:

Green – on target

(7 indicators)

Improved since last time

(9 indicators)

Amber – near target

(6 indicators)

Same as last time

(2 indicators)

Red – off target

(13 indicators)

Poorer than last time

(15 indicators)

During 2022/23, the ratings and trends were as follows:

Green – on target

(9 indicators)

Improved since last time

(14 indicators)

Amber – near target

(8 indicators)

Same as last time

(0 indicators)

Red – off target

(9 indicators)

Poorer than last time

(12 indicators)

		Customer feedback – all Housing services		Target	Q3 2022/23	Q4 2022/23	Status against target	Trend since Q3		2021/22	2022/23	Status against target	Trend since 2021/22
9.1			Compliments received from customers	Info	163	90	n/a		n/a	304	486	n/a	n/a
9.2			Stage one complaints responded to within 10 working days	80%	84% (152 of 182)	75% (155 of 207)				84% (429 of 511)	79% (571 of 726)
9.3	Stage one complaints upheld			Info	47% (86 of 182)	43% (88 of 207)	n/a		n/a	49% (250 of 511)	43% (314 of 726)	n/a	n/a
9.4	Stage two complaints upheld			18%	17% (4 of 23)	41% (9 of 22)				49% (25 of 51)	38% (32 of 85)

		Private sector housing	Target		Q3 2022/23	Q4 2022/23	Status against target	Trend since Q3		2021/22		2022/23		Status against target		Trend since 2021/22
10.1	Total fully licensed Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)		Info	3,574		1,335	n/a	n/a	3,460		1,335		n/a		n/a
These numbers have gone down as a result of the Additional Licensing Scheme finishing in February 2023.
10.2	Corporate KPI: HMOs where all special conditions have been met (for licences issued over 12 months ago)		60%	65.00% (1,250 of 1,923)		66.43% (1,490 of 2,243)			56.50% (1,112 of 1,968)		66.43% (1,490 of 2,243)
The indicator above measures cases where the council has verified that conditions have been completed and it is anticipated this figure will continue to rise over the course of the year. This still includes HMOs covered by the additional licensing scheme which ended on 28 February 2023, as the Private Sector Housing team are able to check that conditions have been met up to 6 months past the end of a scheme.
10.3	New Q3: Requests for assistance received (RFAs)		Info	262		237	n/a	n/a	518		775		n/a		n/a
Request for assistance top categories during Q4 were 74 disrepair (32%) and 56 dampness (24%). The number of these requests received during the 2022/23 financial year (775) was a 33% increase upon the previous financial year (518).
10.4	New Q3: Property inspections completed		Info	252		227	n/a	n/a	-		-		n/a		n/a
10.5	… of which RFA inspections		Info	73		93	n/a	n/a	-		-		n/a		n/a
10.6	… of which HMO licence inspections		Info	179		134	n/a	n/a	-		-		n/a		n/a
10.7	New Q4: RFA cases closed		Info	-		180	n/a	n/a	-		-		n/a		n/a
10.8	New Q4: Properties with Category 1 and 2 hazards resolved through informal action (closed RFAs)		Info	-		98% (1 of 48)	n/a	n/a	-		-		n/a		n/a
10.9	New Q4: Properties with Category 1 and 2 hazards resolved through formal action (closed RFAs)		Info	-		2% (47 of 48)	n/a	n/a	-		-		n/a		n/a
These numbers relating to the two indicators above are relatively low for now as recording only began recently.
10.10	Private sector vacant dwellings returned into occupation (empty for more than two years)		9 per quarter (28 for 2022/23)	9		6			45		57
Although this missed the target in Q4, performance was above target for 2022/23. This indicator used to apply to properties empty for longer than six months but was changed for 2022/23 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. The chart below presents historic data on dwellings returned into occupation which had been empty for more than six months.

		Housing adaptations		Target	Q3 2022/23	Q4 2022/23	Status against target	Trend since Q3	2021/22	2022/23	Status against target	Trend since 2021/22
11.1	Private housing – average weeks taken to approve Disabled Facilities Grant applications		10		18.3	15.4			19.08	17.4
11.2	Private housing – average weeks taken for contractor to complete works		Info		34.7	35.1	n/a	n/a	-	37.0	n/a	n/a
11.3	Council housing – average weeks taken to approve applications and commence works		10		11.1	20.3			10.0	14.4
11.4	Council housing – average weeks taken for contractor to complete works		Info		16.6	16.5	n/a	n/a	-	21.1	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. As of 2022/23, we have been able to include two additional indicators measuring the average time taken to complete adaptations works.

		Housing Needs – Housing Options and allocations	Target	Q3 2022/23	Q4 2022/23	Status against target	Trend since Q3	2021/22	2022/23	Status against target	Trend since 2021/22
12.1	Corporate KPI: Households where homelessness was prevented due to casework by the council and partner agencies		424 per quarter (1,695 for 2022/23)	491	372			1,680	1,690
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 with a full housing duty accepted		Info	132	121	n/a	n/a	309	516	n/a	n/a
12.3	Number of households on the housing register		Info	7,582	7,691	n/a	n/a	7,686	7,691	n/a	n/a

The November 2020 figure above 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.

		Housing Needs – temporary accommodation (including emergency accommodation)		Target		Q3 2022/23	Q4 2022/23	Status against target	Trend since Q3		2021/22		2022/23	Status against target	Trend since 2021/22
13.1	Corporate KPI: Total households in temporary accommodation		1,700 or fewer		1,795		1,791					1,890	1,791
13.2	… as above but excluding council NSAP and RSAP households		For info		1,757		1,715	n/a		n/a		1,859	1,715	n/a	n/a
For now the Corporate KPI on row 13.1 includes NSAP and RSAP households but will be revised for the next financial year to just cover households accommodated through homeless duties and service level agreements (SLAs) with Childrens’ Services and Adult Social Care. The indicator on row 13.2 already accounts for this revision.
13.3	Rent collected for emergency accommodation (year to date including loss from empty homes)		89.21%		95.24% (£3.0m of £3.1m)		95.60% (£3.9m of £4.1m)					80.41% (£4.9m of £6.1m)	95.60% (£3.9m of £4.1m)
13.4	… as above but excluding rent loss from empty homes		For info		109.81% (£3.0m of £2.7m)		107.91% (£3.9m of £3.6m)	n/a		n/a		97.19% (£4.9m of £5.0m)	107.91% (£3.9m of £3.6m)	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, including recovery of arrears accrued from before, compared to the amount of rent due within the same period. It is sometimes possible for the former to be larger, thereby producing results over 100%.
13.5	Rent collected for leased properties (year to date including loss from empty homes)		96.96%		86.56% (£4.6m of £5.3m)		87.22% (£6.3m of (£7.2m)					85.59% (£6.7m of £7.8m)	87.22% (£6.3m of (£7.2m)
The service is working to bring the rent collection rate for leased properties in line with the rate for Seaside Homes, building upon recent successes in bringing the latter back on target. Performance excluding rent loss from empty homes was 92.49% which is closer to target.
13.6	… as above but excluding rent loss from empty homes		For info		92.08% (£4.6m of £4.9m)		92.59% (£6.3m of (£6.8m)	n/a		n/a		92.91% (£6.7m of £7.2m)	92.59% (£6.3m of (£6.8m)	n/a	n/a
13.7	Rent collected for Seaside Homes (year to date including loss from empty homes)		91.00%		91.50% (£3.8m of £4.2m)		90.69% (£5.2m of £5.7m)					89.50% (£5.2m of £5.8m)	90.69% (£5.2m of £5.7m)
13.8	… as above but excluding rent loss from empty homes		For info		97.46% (£3.8m of £3.9m)		96.17% (£5.2m of £5.4m)	n/a		n/a		96.22% (£5.2 of £5.4m)	96.17% (£5.2m of £5.4m)	n/a	n/a
13.9	Empty temporary accommodation homes		For info		62		35	n/a		n/a		99	35	n/a	n/a
The indicator above includes 16 block-booked, 8 private sector leased and 11 Seaside Homes dwellings. These are dwellings that were available to let as temporary accommodation. The total including dwellings unavailable to let (such as those with their providers for works or awaiting handback) was 80 at the end of 2022/23, a reduction from 219 the end of the previous financial year.
13.10	Seaside Homes properties with a valid Landlord’s Gas Safety Record		100%		99.8% (421 of 422)		99.3% (420 of 423)					100% (426 of 426)	99.3% (420 of 423)
The target was slightly missed because three checks were overdue on 31 March 2023.
13.11	Leased properties with a valid Landlord’s Gas Safety Record		For info		83.5% (475 of 569)		82.5% (463 of 561)	n/a		n/a		82.9% (505 of 609)	82.5% (463 of 561)	n/a	n/a
The reduction in performance during Q4 was partly due to a transfer of information onto the housing management IT system from an older database and a temporary reduction in staffing. The proportion of successful access is expected to improve significantly in the next quarter now that the systems issues and staffing resource has been resolved.

		Council housing – supply		Q3 2022/23	Q4 2022/23	2021/22	2022/23
14.1			Additional council homes	16	56	108	111
14.2	… at Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rents			50% (8 of 16)	53% (30 of 56)	33% (36 of 108)	41% (46 of 111)
14.3	… at 37.5% Living Wage rents			31% (5 of 16)	38% (21 of 56)	39% (42 of 108)	48% (53 of 111)
14.4	… at 27.5% Living Wage rents			19% (3 of 16)	9% (5 of 56)	19% (21 of 108)	10% (11 of 111)
14.5	… at social rents			0% (0 of 16)	0% (0 of 56)	7% (8 of 108)	1% (1 of 111)
14.6	Council homes sold through the Right to Buy			8	9	48	38
Of the 38 homes sold during 2022/23, 26 were leasehold (flats) and 12 were freehold (houses).
14.7	Net change in the number of council homes – all rent levels			+8	+47	+60	+73
14.8	Net change in the number of council homes – social and 27.5% Living Wage rent homes only			-5	-4	-19	-26
14.9			Total council owned homes	11,772	11,819	11,746	11,819
Total council owned dwelling stock of 11,819 includes 10,769 general needs, 877 seniors housing, 38 council owned emergency accommodation, 70 council owned temporary accommodation and 65 NSAP/RSAP dwellings.

		Council housing – management			Target	Q3 2022/23	Q4 2022/23	Status against target	Trend since Q3	2021/22	2022/23	Status against target	Trend since 2021/22
15.1	Corporate KPI: Rent collected as proportion of rent due (current tenants)				96.65%	94.12% (£55.3m of £58.7m)	94.02% (£55.1m of £58.6m)			95.66% (£52.3m of £54.7m)	94.02% (£55.1m of £58.6m)
The Q3 figure above is a forecast for the 2022/23 financial year and the Q4 figure is the final result for the year. The methodology excludes rent loss from empty properties and includes arrears from the end of the previous financial year. Although there was a decline in the rent collection rate of 1.64 percentage points over the course of the 2022/23 financial year, this was 1.08 during the first half and 0.56 during the latter half, so this decline has been slowing. 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.’
15.2			Tenancies on Universal Credit (UC)		Info	31% (3,572 of 11,457)	32% (3,686 of 11,466)	n/a	n/a	26% (2,933 of 11,340)	32% (3,686 of 11,466)	n/a	n/a
15.3	Tenancies on UC who are in arrears and have an Alternative Payment Arrangement (APA)				Info	42% (1,066 of 2,529)	47% (1,124 of 2,385)	n/a	n/a	51% (838 of 1,646)	47% (1,124 of 2,385)	n/a	n/a
Of the 3,686 tenants on UC there were 2,385 (65%) who also had rent arrears. Of the latter, 1,124 had an APA in place (47%) 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	64% (£2.2m of £3.5m)	67% (£2.3m of £3.5m)	n/a	n/a	61% £1.4m of £2.4m)	67% (£2.3m of £3.5m)	n/a	n/a
15.5	Evictions due to rent arrears				Info	0	0	n/a	n/a	0	0	n/a	n/a
15.6	Evictions due to anti-social behaviour (ASB)				Info	0	0	n/a	n/a	2	1	n/a	n/a
15.7	New reports of ASB from victims and witnesses				Info	110	141	n/a	n/a	-	657	n/a	n/a
15.8	ASB perpetrator cases opened				Info	71	86	n/a	n/a	-	428	n/a	n/a
15.9	ASB perpetrator cases closed				Info	102	67	n/a	n/a	-	449	n/a	n/a
15.10	Average days to close ASB perpetrator cases				Info	130	120	n/a	n/a	-	108	n/a	n/a
15.11	Active ASB perpetrator cases at quarter end				Info	124	136	n/a	n/a	157	136	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 housing management IT system which was newly introduced in July 2021, 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%	89% (5,061 of 5,715)	89% (5,839 of 6,536)			86% (19,240 of 22,456)	87% (22,160 of 25,382)
15.13	Tenancies sustained following difficulties (Tenancy Sustainment Team cases)				90%	95% (19 of 20)	94% (19 of 20)			95% (93 of 98)	94% (75 of 80)

		Council housing – empty homes		Target	Q3 2022/23	Q4 2022/23	Status against target	Trend since Q3	2021/22	2022/23	Status against target	Trend since 2021/22
15.14			Average re-let time in calendar days excluding time spent in major works	21	64	61			96	77
Re-let times have improved but are still 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 2022/23 (560) and 2021/22 (472) were both up on 2020/21 (213) and above pre-pandemic levels seen during 2019/20 (445). Furthermore, the number of empty homes has decreased from 251 to 180 during the 2022/23 financial year. The latter figure includes 35 new dwellings at Victoria Road in Portslade which had not been let by the end of the financial year (out of a total of 42 new dwellings completed at the scheme in March 2023).
15.15	Average ‘key to key’ re-let time in calendar days including time spent in major works			Info	103	88	n/a	n/a	210	125	n/a	n/a
15.16	Number of previously occupied council homes re-let (general needs and seniors)			Info	126	106	n/a	n/a	472	560	n/a	n/a
15.17	Number of new council homes let for the first time (general needs and seniors)			Info	16	22	n/a	n/a	43	79	n/a	n/a
15.18			Empty general needs and seniors council homes (includes new homes)	Info	144	180	n/a	n/a	251	180	n/a	n/a
15.19	Empty council owned temporary, NSAP and RSAP accommodation homes (includes new homes)			Info	30	22	n/a	n/a	21	22	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 yet possible to fully integrate reporting between them, meaning that performance data is currently being extracted and manually combined.

		Council housing – repairs and maintenance		Target	Q3 2022/23	Q4 2022/23	Status against target	Trend since Q3	2021/22	2022/23	Status against target	Trend since 2021/22
16.1			Emergency repairs completed within 24 hours	99%	98.3% (3,431 of 3,490)	96.3% (3,181 of 3,303)			96.0% (10,611 of 11,052)	97.8% (11,377 of 11,635)
16.2	Corporate KPI: Routine repairs completed within 28 calendar days			70%	59.0% (2,959 of 5,014)	50.2% (2,747 of 5,475)			63.5% (9,976 of 15,702)	53.3% (9,863 of 18,518)
16.3	Average time to complete routine repairs (calendar days)			15	83	81			46	74
Routine repairs completed during 2022/23 have included jobs from a backlog built up during the previous two financial years (impacted by Covid-19 in particular during 2020/21) 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, as well as impacting on capacity to carry out repairs more generally. Although recruitment is challenging, additional resources continue to be recruited to Repairs & Maintenance to address the backlog of repairs and sub-contractors have been mobilised to increase capacity. There have been ten agreed additional posts which are currently being recruited to. There have also been increased pressures in this period owing to significantly higher levels of reported damp and condensation cases following the tragic Rochdale case. Repairs & Maintenance had registered 1,394 live damp and condensation cases at the end of 2022/23.
16.4			Calls answered by Repairs Helpdesk	85%	82% (18,303 of 22,242)	78% (18,538 of 23,781)			90% (77,186 of 85,737)	85% (69,333 of 82,030)
16.5			Surveyed tenants satisfied with repairs: standard of work	96%	97% (456 of 470)	97% (486 of 502)			98% (1,195 of 1,218)	97% (2,321 of 2,382)
16.6	Surveyed tenants satisfied with repairs: overall customer service			96%	97% (456 of 470)	98% (491 of 502)			99% (1,211 of 1,218)	98% (2,326 of 2,382)

		Council housing – investment and asset management			Target	Q3 2022/23	Q4 2022/23	Status against target	Trend since Q3	2021/22	2022/23	Status against target	Trend since 2021/22
17.1				Corporate KPI: Dwellings meeting Decent Homes Standard	100%	96.8% (10,218 of 11,772)	95.8% (11,323 of 11,819)			95.6% (11,229 of 11,746)	95.8% (11,323 of 11,819)
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 is expected to improve with the 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	74.0	74.1			68.2	74.1
The increase between 2021/22 and 2022/23 is partly due to the procurement of new energy modelling software, which came into use for reporting this indicator during Q3 2022/23 and involved extensive updates to the underlying data in order to reflect improvements made to the council housing stock, such as boiler replacements and new windows.
17.3			Council properties with a valid Landlord's Gas Safety Record		100%	100% (10,104 of 10,104)	99.98% (10,108 of 10,110)			100% (10,044 of 10,044)	99.98% (10,108 of 10,110)
The target was slightly missed because two checks were overdue on 31 March 2023.
17.4				Lifts restored to service within 24 hours	95%	93% (162 of 174)	92% (147 of 160)			92% (954 of 1,038)	91% (530 of 582)
Difficulties and delays in sourcing spare parts from European supply chains remains a challenge. In response, the council and lift contractor invested £34k last financial year on critical spares and continue to add to this as and when new situations develop. Whilst this does not stop breakdowns through wear and tear we have seen reduced downtime from weeks to hours in a lot of instances.

		Leaseholder disputes	Q3 2021/22	Q4 2022/23	2021/22	2022/23
18.1	Stage one disputes opened		9	3	17	18
18.2	Stage one disputes closed		12	4	15	20
18.3	Active stage one disputes (end quarter)		29	28	24	28
18.4	Stage two disputes opened		2	3	5	9
18.5	Stage two disputes closed		0	4	3	5
18.6	Active stage two disputes (end quarter)		8	7	3	7
18.7	Stage three disputes opened		0	0	0	1
18.8	Stage three disputes closed		0	0	1	0
18.9	Active stage three disputes (end quarter)		2	2	1	2

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 (£)
280*	6	54	126	94	53 **	£2.371m ***	(£0.326m)

Buy backs by application date	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23	Total
Total applications	5	53	88	157	158	92	553
Of which, became purchases	2	32	53	91	81	21	280
Council declined	1	13	11	16	10	8	59
Owner declined offer	1	5	12	15	14	2	49
Owner withdrew	1	3	12	34	51	19	120
Outcome pending	0	0	0	1	2	42	45

Completed buy backs by rent level	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23	Total
Completed purchases	1	13	43	64	90	69	280
… general needs social rent	0	0	1	4	0	1	6
… general needs 27.5% Living Wage	0	0	5	17	21	11	54
… general needs 37.5% Living Wage	1	5	24	14	43	39	126
… temporary housing at LHA rates	0	8	13	29	26	18	94