Housing performance report

Quarter 2 2023/24

This report provides updates on performance indicators covering a wide range of Housing services. There continue to be areas of strong performance, with 8 indicators on target and an improvement in 11 of the indicators. However, some delivery challenges remain. The report covers Quarter 2 (Q2) of the 2023/24 financial year and uses red, amber and green ratings, as well as trend arrows. Commentary has been included for all indicators which are red. The ratings and trends for the quarter are as follows:

	Green – on target (8 indicators)		Improved since last time (11 indicators)
	Amber – near target (11 indicators)		Same as last time (5 indicators)
	Red – off target (8 indicators)		Poorer than last time (11 indicators)

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

		Customer feedback – all Housing services		Target	Q1 2023/24	Q2 2023/24	Status against target	Trend since Q1
9.1			Compliments received from customers	Info	87	92	n/a		n/a
9.2			Stage one complaints responded to within 10 working days	80%	81% (164 of 203)	76% (168 of 220)
9.3	Stage one complaints upheld or partly upheld			Info	46% (93 of 203)	50% (110 of 220)	n/a		n/a
9.4	Stage two complaints upheld or partly upheld			18%	36% (9 of 25)	28% (9 of 32)
Nine stage two complaints were upheld or partly upheld following investigation by the corporate Customer Feedback team, after they were escalated following the stage one response from Housing. These most commonly related to delays in completing repairs (4 of 9) and more information about this area of performance is provided on page 19 of this report.

		Private sector housing	Target		Q1 2023/24	Q2 2023/24	Status against target	Trend since Q1
10.1	Total fully licensed Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)		Info	1,390		1,500	n/a	n/a
10.2	Corporate KPI: HMOs where all special conditions have been met (for licences issued over 12 months ago)		71% for Q2	72.04% (1,680 of 2,332)		74.28% (1,802 of 2,426)
The indicator above measures cases where the council has verified that works required via special conditions have been completed. This still includes HMOs covered by the additional licensing scheme which ended in February 2023, as the Private Sector Housing service are able to check conditions that were set as part of this scheme and will continue to do so to ensure that these properties are well managed and maintained.
10.3	Requests for assistance received (RFAs)		Info	124		187	n/a	n/a
Request for assistance top categories during Q2 were 74 disrepair (40%), 32 dampness (17%), 17 ASB relating to HMOs (9%) and 8 neighbour’s disrepair (4%).
10.4	Property inspections completed		Info	219		273	n/a	n/a
10.5	… of which RFA inspections		Info	50		61	n/a	n/a
10.6	… of which HMO licence inspections		Info	169		212	n/a	n/a
10.7	RFA cases closed		Info	98		85	n/a	n/a
10.8	Properties with Category 1 and 2 hazards resolved through informal action (closed RFAs)		Info	88% (21 of 24)		91% (21 of 23)	n/a	n/a
10.9	Properties with Category 1 and 2 hazards resolved through formal action (closed RFAs)		Info	12% (3 of 24)		9% (2 of 23)	n/a	n/a
These numbers relating to the two indicators above are relatively low for now as recording only began in Q4 2022/23
10.10	Private sector vacant dwellings returned into occupation (empty for more than two years)		9	9		8

		Housing adaptations		Target	Q1 2023/24	Q2 2023/24	Status against target	Trend since Q1
11.1	Private sector housing – average weeks taken to approve Disabled Facilities Grant applications		10		22.0	15.1
11.2	Private sector housing – average weeks taken for contractor to complete works		Info		39.0	34.9	n/a	n/a
11.3	Council housing – average weeks taken to approve applications and commence works		10		12.8	12.8
11.4	Council housing – average weeks taken for contractor to complete works		Info		13.6	17.0	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.

		Housing options and allocations	Target	Q1 2023/24		Q2 2023/24		Status against target		Trend since Q1
12.1	Corporate KPI: Homelessness cases presenting during the prevention duty stage		45%		43.7% (208 of 476)		41.0% (142 of 346)
12.2	Corporate KPI: Homelessness prevention cases closed with a successful prevention outcome		55%		63.2% (122 of 193)		69.9% (137 of 196)
12.3	New households with a full housing duty accepted		Info		135		102		n/a		n/a
12.4	Number of households on the housing register		Info		7,707		7,611		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.

		Temporary accommodation (including emergency accommodation)		Target	Q1 2023/24	Q2 2023/24	Status against target	Trend since Q1
13.1	Corporate KPI: Total households in temporary accommodation		1,595 for Q2		1,712	1,724
The target of 1,595 for the end of Q2 is set as a step towards a target of 1,472 at the end of Q4 2023/24. This is a challenging target which has been set to meet financial savings and requires coordination accross Housing and other council services. Key to this is reducing the number of households going into temporary accommodation through preventing homelessness (please see the indicators on items 12.1 and 12.2 on the previous page) and finding suitable longer term accommodation to move households into from temporary accommodation, such as social and private sector rented housing. However, this performance is in the context of there now being more households in temporary accommodation nationally than there has ever been before, which is largely due to factors outside the control of the local authority (such as the cost of living making the private rented sector less affordable, and also smaller due to many landlords selling their properties due to increasing mortgage costs).
13.2	Rent collected for emergency accommodation		95%		89.57% (£812k of £906k)	91.33% (£1.63m of £1.79m)
13.3	Rent collected for leased properties		95%		97.70% (£1.52m of £1.56m)	94.73% (£3.00m of £3.17m)
13.4	Rent collected for Seaside Homes		95%		94.17% (£1.30m of £1.38m)	93.75% (£2.57m of £2.75m)
The three indicators cover the financial year to date, and their methodology has been revised for 2023/24 due to the development of a new reporting system developed in consultation with Finance and the Corporate Debt Board, to align with other income collection indicators used across the council. This methodology excludes rent loss from empty homes but factors in changes to the amount of rent arrears over time.
13.5	Empty temporary accommodation homes		For info		48	47	n/a		n/a
The indicator above includes 22 block-booked, 14 private sector leased and 11 Seaside Homes dwellings. These are dwellings that were available to let as temporary accommodation.
13.6	Seaside Homes properties with a valid Landlord’s Gas Safety Record		100%		99.5% (421 of 423)	98.8% (418 of 423)
13.7	Leased properties with a valid Landlord’s Gas Safety Record		For info		85.2% (471 of 553)	83.3% (463 of 556)	n/a		n/a

		Council housing – supply		Q1 2023/24	Q2 2023/24
14.1			Additional council homes (new supply)	60	15
14.2	… at Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rents			2% (1 of 60)	33% (5 of 15)
14.3	… at 37.5% Living Wage rents			7% (4 of 60)	53% (8 of 15)
14.4	… at 27.5% Living Wage rents			3% (2 of 60)	7% (1 of 15)
14.5	… at social rents			88% (53 of 60)	7% (1 of 15)
14.6	Other stock increase			16	0
The 16 homes above are counted separately from the new supply because they already had tenants when Charles Kingston Gardens was acquired as a new seniors housing scheme by the council. The 2 empty homes there have been counted towards new supply. All homes at this scheme are at social rents.
14.7	Council homes sold through the Right to Buy			7	6
Of the 6 homes sold during Q2, 3 were leasehold (flats) and 3 were freehold (houses).
14.8	Net change in the number of council homes – all rent levels			+69	+9
14.9	Net change in the number of council homes – social and 27.5% Living Wage rent homes only			+66	-4
14.10			Total council owned homes	11,888	11,897
Total council owned dwelling stock of 11,897 includes 10,825 general needs, 895 seniors housing, 38 council owned emergency accommodation, 72 council owned temporary accommodation and 67 NSAP/RSAP dwellings.

14.13 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	2023/24 to date	Total
Total applications	5	53	88	157	159	96	55	613
Of which, became purchases	2	32	53	91	82	36	6	302
Council declined	1	13	11	16	10	13	0	64
Owner declined offer	1	5	12	15	14	3	1	51
Owner withdrew	1	3	12	34	52	26	0	128
Outcome pending	0	0	0	1	1	18	48	68

Completed buy backs by rent level	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24 to date	Total
Completed purchases	1	13	43	64	90	70	21	302
… general needs social rent	0	0	1	4	0	2	0	7
… general needs 27.5% Living Wage	0	0	5	17	21	11	3	57
… general needs 37.5% Living Wage	1	5	24	14	43	39	12	138
… general needs at LHA rates	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
… temporary housing at LHA rates	0	8	13	29	26	18	4	98

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 (£)
302	7	57	138	100	53 *	£2.371m **	(£0.326m)

* Of the 126 purchases following Housing Committee decision to use rent reserve to keep rents as low as possible

** Applied up to 31 March 2023 – this leaves £0.891m to be carried forward to 2023/24 to be used against the future programme.

		Council housing – tenancy management			Target	Q1 2023/24	Q2 2023/24	Status against target	Trend since Q1
15.1	Corporate KPI: Rent collected from current council tenants				95.36%	93.90% (£61.1m of £65.0m)	93.66% (£61.0m of £65.1m)
The methodology for the indicator above excludes rent loss from empty properties but factors in changes to the amount of rent arrears over time. The Q1 and Q2 collection rates are forecasts for the 2023/24 financial year. Performance has been particularly impacted by staff vacancies in the Income Management team earlier in the year and the impact of Universal Credit on tenants’ incomes remains a challenge (please see commentary for indicator 15.2 below). As part of a recovery plan to improve rent collection, the team launched a recruitment campaign in June 2023 for eight vacancies, which was successful in recruiting to seven positions. One remaining vacancy will be advertised in November 2023. There have also been changes to arrears collection procedures which place greater emphasis on personal contact with tenants and early intervention, for example from Q2 new tenants now see their Housing Income Officer face-to-face so that officers can offer support and intervene (if required) to prevent arrears building up. A revised arrears escalation policy has now been agreed and is currently being set up on the housing management IT system, in preparation to go live. This will help officers categorise and prioritise casework and introduce a clear method for recording repayment plans and arrangements on the system. Tenants also have the offer of the money advice and debt provider (Money Advice Plus) service which is separate to but funded by Housing.
15.2			Current tenants known to claim Universal Credit		Info	1,659	1,727	n/a	n/a
At the end of Q2, around 15% of households (1,727 of 11,569) are known by Housing Income Management to have someone claiming UC, because they have an Alternative Payment Arrangement (APA) in place with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Based on data collected since the introduction of UC it is thought that around 35% of households (3,995 of 11,578) may potentially be claiming UC, but this is likely to include many who self-reported this when they started claiming it but no longer do. Households known to claim UC account for 37% of total arrears (up from 36% at the end of Q1) and those potentially claiming UC account for 67% of total arrears (up from 65%).
15.3	Evictions due to rent arrears				Info	0	0	n/a	n/a
15.4	Evictions due to anti-social behaviour (ASB)				Info	0	0	n/a	n/a
15.5	New reports of ASB from victims and witnesses				Info	154	194	n/a	n/a
Although the number of new reports of ASB has increased by 40 between Q1 and Q2, please note that the Housing service wishes residents to report ASB, so a higher number of cases can indicate higher reporting as well as higher incidents and the service welcomes the former.
15.6	ASB perpetrator cases opened				Info	108	113	n/a	n/a
15.7	ASB perpetrator cases closed				Info	88	125	n/a	n/a
15.8	Average days to close ASB perpetrator cases				Info	189	135	n/a	n/a
15.9	Active ASB perpetrator cases at quarter end				Info	164	152	n/a	n/a
The ASB indicators in this section were developed to reflect the way ASB is recorded on the housing management IT system, which includes reports from victims and witnesses as well as linked cases dealt with in relation to the perpetrators. There can often be multiple victims and witnesses linked to a single perpetrator.
15.10				Calls answered by Housing Customer Services	85%	89% (6,089 of 6,874)	86% (5,722 of 6,660)
15.13	Closed Tenancy Sustainment cases with positive outcome				90%	88% (7 of 8)	100% (5 of 5)

		Council housing – empty homes		Target	Q1 2023/24	Q2 2023/24	Status against target	Trend since Q1
15.14			Average re-let time in calendar days excluding time spent in major works	21	60	57
Performance for this indicator improved with each quarter during the previous 2022/23 financial year (93 days in Q1, 80 days in Q2, 64 in Q3 and 61 in Q4) and has continued to for the first two quarters of the current 2023/24 financial year. Re-let times still remain 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). There has also been the challenge of letting a large number of new homes delivered though two recently completed new build schemes in Portslade (42 at Victoria Road in March and 49 at Quay View in April). This is reflected in the high number of new council homes let for the first time during Q1 2023/24, which was 122 (this figure also includes other new homes such as Home Purchase policy buy backs). It is also expected that 127 new homes at Coldean Lane and 38 at Kubic Apartments (in Whitehawk) will become available for letting during the latter half of 2023/24.
15.15	Average ‘key to key’ re-let time in calendar days including time spent in major works			Info	106	96	n/a	n/a
15.16	Number of previously occupied council homes re-let (general needs and seniors)			Info	113	153	n/a	n/a
15.17	Number of new council homes let for the first time (general needs and seniors)			Info	112	20	n/a	n/a
15.18			Empty general needs and seniors council homes (includes new homes)	Info	175	142	n/a	n/a
15.19	Empty council owned temporary, NSAP and RSAP accommodation homes (includes new homes)			Info	22	13	n/a	n/a
The two indicators above provide a snapshot of empty council owned homes on the last day of the period, whether they were available to let or otherwise (for example, because they were undergoing major works at the time).

		Council housing – Repairs and maintenance			Target		Q1 2023/24		Q2 2023/24	Status against target	Trend since Q1
16.1	Emergency repairs completed within 24 hours			99%		95.1% (3,148 of 3,309)		94.6% (3,092 of 3,268)
16.2	Corporate KPI: Routine repairs completed within 28 calendar days			70%		43.2% (2,307 of 5,337)		49.2% (2,431 of 4,944)
16.3	Average days to complete routine repairs			15		102		91
Repairs completed recently have included jobs from a backlog of older non-urgent jobs, which is in the process of being reduced. This means that these jobs took longer than their target timescales once they were completed. The latest result of 49.2% for routine repairs completed during Q2 (2,431 of 4,944) is impacted by the number of very old non-urgent jobs (888 were originally issued before 1 April 2023). Of the 4,056 newer jobs issued on or after 1 April 2023 and completed during Q2, 59.9% (2,431 of 4,056) were completed within 28 days, which is closer to the 70% target. There were increased pressures at the start of 2023 owing to poor weather and significantly higher levels of reported damp and condensation cases following the tragic Rochdale case. Repairs & Maintenance had registered 697 live damp and condensation cases at the end of September 2023, which is down from 862 at the end of June 2023. All recruitment has now been completed however the service is still looking to engage additional contractors, which is now in progress following committee approval and will be in place for April 2024. The service completed an average of 7,538 repairs per quarter (2,909 of which are emergency and 4,629 of which are routine repairs) during 2022/23. Since then, the quarterly average for 2023/24 to date has increased to 8,430 (of which 3,289 emergency and 5,141 routine). The average number of repairs per quarter between 2015 and 2020 when Mears held the contract for repairs was 8,102 repairs per quarter.
16.4			Calls answered by Repairs Helpdesk	85%		95% (15,108 of 15,925)		94% (14,571 of 15,581)
16.5			Surveyed tenants satisfied with repairs: standard of work	96%		98% (1,754 of 1,787)		98% (1,415 of 1,444)
16.6	Surveyed tenants satisfied with repairs: overall customer service			96%		98% (1,754 of 1,787)		98% (1,412 of 1,444)

Please note the figures for the first three indicators in the table above 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 – investment and asset management			Target	Q1 2023/24	Q2 2023/24	Status against target	Trend since Q1
17.1	Corporate KPI: Council dwellings meeting Decent Homes Standard				100%	95.8% (11,315 of 11,813)	95.9% (11,332 of 11,822)
There were 490 non-decent homes at the end of Q2, down from 498 at the end of Q1. Of these, 61% were because ‘key components’ such as windows and external doors were not up to standard. Another 36% were because ‘non-key’ components such as kitchens and bathrooms were not up to standard, and 3% were because of identified health and safety risks (which are prioritised). Delivery of planned works for all areas is ongoing following delays in establishing contracts and five-year improvement programmes are now in place for these, including kitchens, bathrooms, roofs, doors and external/communal decorations. A difficulty with works such as kitchens and bathrooms is that they are disruptive to tenants, and often have to be carried out while properties are empty. The Housing Investment & Asset Management service are preparing for the government’s upcoming review of the Decent Homes standard, including through appointing two new asset stock surveyors and beginning procurement of external consultants for a stock condition survey of 20% of council homes, which is expected to start in early 2024.
17.2	Corporate KPI: Energy efficiency rating of homes (out of 100)				73.8	74.1	74.1
17.3			Council properties with a valid Landlord's Gas Safety Record		100%	99.95% (10,092 of 10,097)	99.92% (10,069 of 10,077)
17.4				Lifts restored to service within 24 hours	95%	90% (171 of 191)	90% (125 of 139)

		Leaseholder disputes	Q1 2023/24	Q2 2023/24
18.1	Stage one disputes opened		1	11
18.2	Stage one disputes closed		2	2
18.3	Active stage one disputes (end quarter)		27	36
18.4	Stage two disputes opened		2	0
18.5	Stage two disputes closed		1	3
18.6	Active stage two disputes (end quarter)		8	5
18.7	Stage three disputes opened		1	0
18.8	Stage three disputes closed		1	0
18.9	Active stage three disputes (end quarter)		2	2


99.92% Gas safety compliance	93.66% Forecast rent collection rate	57 days Empty home re-let time

95.9% Dwellings meeting Decent Homes standard	86% Customer services calls answered	74.1 Average energy efficiency (rating out of 100)

76% Complaint responses within 10 working days	94% Repairs helpdesk calls answered	91 days Average time to complete routine repairs