Council housing performance
Quarter 1 2024/25 (Apr to Jun 2024)
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99.99% Gas safety compliance |
92.34% Rent collection rate |
39 days Empty home re-let time |
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97.9% Dwellings meeting Decent Homes standard |
89% Customer services calls answered |
74.1 Average energy efficiency (rating out of 100) |
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76% Complaint responses within 10 working days |
95% Repairs helpdesk calls answered |
86 days Average time to complete routine repairs |
Quarter 1 2024/25 council housing performance – key trends
Top scores (compared to target)
1. Calls answered by Repairs Helpdesk (95% vs 85% target)
2. Calls answered by Housing Customer Services (89% vs 85% target)
3. Average re-let time excluding time spent in major works (39 days vs 42 day target)
4. Surveyed tenants satisfied with repairs: customer service (99% vs 96% target)
5. Surveyed tenants satisfied with repairs: standard of work (99% vs 96% target)
Bottom scores (compared to target)
1. Average time to complete routine repairs (86 days vs 15 day target)
2. Stage two complaints upheld (47% vs 18% target)
3. Average weeks taken to approve major adaptations (16.3 weeks vs 10 week target)
4. Routine repairs completed within 28 calendar days (46.3% vs 70% target)
5. Stage one complaints responded to within 10 working days (76% vs 80% target)
Biggest improvements (since previous quarter)
1. Average re-let time excluding time spent in major works (59 to 39 days)
2. Routine repairs completed within 28 calendar days (41.3% to 46.3%)
3. Average time to complete routine repairs (92 to 86 days)
4. Calls answered by Repairs Helpdesk (91% to 95%)
5. Surveyed tenants satisfied with repairs: standard of work (98% to 99%)
Biggest drops (since previous quarter)
1. Average weeks to approve major adaptations (9.1 to 16.3 weeks)
2. Stage two complaints upheld (38% to 47%)
3. Stage one complaints responded to within 10 working days (81% to 76%)
4. Rent collected from current council tenants (93.46% to 92.34%)
5. Calls answered by Housing Customer Services (90% to 89%)
Housing performance report
Quarter 1 2024/25
The ratings and trends for the quarter are as follows:
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Green – on target (8 indicators) |
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Improved since last time (12 indicators) |
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Amber – near target (10 indicators) |
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Same as last time (3 indicator) |
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Red – off target (8 indicators) |
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Poorer than last time (11 indicators) |
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Contents – performance areas
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Page |
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Customer Feedback |
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Compliments received |
6 |
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Stage 1 complaints |
6 |
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Stage 2 complaints |
6 |
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Private Sector Housing |
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Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licensing |
7 |
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Property inspections completed |
7 |
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Requests for assistance (RFAs) |
7-8 |
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Private sector vacant dwellings returned to use |
8 |
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Housing adaptations – private sector and council |
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Time to approve applications |
9 |
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Time to complete works |
9 |
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Housing options and homelessness |
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Homelessness preventions |
10 |
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Homelessness acceptances |
10 |
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Social housing waiting list |
10 |
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Rough sleepers |
10 |
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Temporary and emergency accommodation |
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Households |
11 |
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Rent collected |
11 |
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Voids (empty homes) |
11 |
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Gas safety compliance (Seaside Homes) |
11 |
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Housing supply |
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Additional council homes |
12-13 |
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Right to Buy sales |
13 |
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Other additional affordable homes |
14 |
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Council housing management |
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Rent collected |
15 |
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Universal Credit |
15 |
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Tenants evicted |
15 |
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Anti-social behaviour (ASB) |
15 |
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Calls answered (Housing Customer Services) |
16 |
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Re-let times |
16 |
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Voids (empty homes) |
16 |
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Council housing maintenance |
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Repairs completed in time |
17 |
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Calls answered (Repairs Helpdesk) |
17 |
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Satisfaction with completed repairs |
18 |
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Decent Homes Standard |
18 |
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Energy efficiency rating of council homes |
18 |
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Gas safety compliance (council homes) |
18 |
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Lift breakdowns |
18 |
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Leaseholder disputes |
19 |
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Customer feedback |
Target (amber value) |
Q4 2023/24 |
Q1 2024/25 |
Status against target |
Trend since Q4 |
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1.1 |
Compliments received from customers |
Info |
69 |
44 |
n/a |
n/a |
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1.2 |
Stage one complaints responded to within 10 working days |
80% (70%) |
81% (195 of 240) |
76% (150 of 197) |
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1.3 |
Stage one complaints upheld |
Info |
60% (145 of 240) |
52% (102 of 197) |
n/a |
n/a |
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1.4 |
Stage two complaints upheld |
18% (20%) |
38% (10 of 26) |
47% (20 of 43) |
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During Q1, 20 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 complaints were most commonly about delays in the council doing something, such as completing repairs. |
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Private sector housing |
Target (amber value) |
Q4 2023/24 |
Q1 2024/25 |
Status against target |
Trend since Q4 |
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2.1 |
Total fully licensed Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) |
Info |
1,733 |
1,814 |
n/a |
n/a |
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2.2 |
Corporate KPI: HMOs where all special conditions have been met (for licences issued over 12 months ago) |
55% (50%) |
73.31% (1,936 of 2,641) |
44.90% (251 of 559) |
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The indicator above measures cases where the council has verified that works required via special conditions have been completed. This latest result only includes HMOs covered by the national mandatory licensing scheme and no longer includes those previously covered by the former additional licensing scheme which expired on 28 February 2023 and which continued to be monitored through this indicator up to the end of 2023/24. The primary focus in Q1 has been on clearing the backlog of mandatory HMO licensing applications. Once this is completed resources can be assigned to checking compliance against the conditions. |
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2.3 |
Requests for assistance received (RFAs) |
Info |
143 |
114 |
n/a |
n/a |
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Request for assistance top categories during Q1 were 55 (38%) dampness and 40 (28%) disrepair. |
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2.4 |
Property inspections completed |
Info |
187 |
233 |
n/a |
n/a |
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2.5 |
… of which RFA inspections |
Info |
50 |
51 |
n/a |
n/a |
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2.6 |
… of which HMO licence inspections |
Info |
137 |
182 |
n/a |
n/a |
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2.7 |
RFA cases closed |
Info |
94 |
86 |
n/a |
n/a |
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2.8 |
Properties with Category 1 and 2 hazards resolved through informal action (closed RFAs) |
Info |
88% (23 of 26) |
94% (15 of 16) |
n/a |
n/a |
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2.9 |
Properties with Category 1 and 2 hazards resolved through formal action (closed RFAs) |
Info |
12% (3 of 26) |
6% (1 of 16) |
n/a |
n/a |
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2.10 |
Private sector vacant dwellings (for more than one year) returned into occupation |
9 |
1 |
20 |
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Housing adaptations |
Target (amber value) |
Q4 2023/24 |
Q1 2024/25 |
Status against target |
Trend since Q4 |
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3.1 |
Private sector housing – average weeks taken to approve Disabled Facilities Grant applications |
10 (26) |
15.4 |
19.0 |
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3.2 |
Private sector housing – average weeks taken for contractor to complete major adaptations |
Info |
33.9 |
25.6 |
n/a |
n/a |
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3.3 |
Council housing – average weeks taken to approve applications for major adaptations |
10 (26) |
9.1 |
16.3 |
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3.4 |
Council housing – average weeks taken for contractor to complete major adaptations |
Info |
14.9 |
15.3 |
n/a |
n/a |
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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. The time taken to approve grants and applications has risen in this quarter. This is due to a number of outlier cases where we are waiting for further input from applicants and this has increased the overall average. We will continue to work with those applicants to resolve issues in order to move forward with the works required. |
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Housing options and homelessness |
Target (amber value) |
Q4 2023/24 |
Q1 2024/25 |
Status against target |
Trend since Q4 |
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4.1 |
Corporate KPI: Homelessness cases presenting during the prevention duty stage |
50% (40%) |
29.64% (99 of 334) |
32.44% (121 of 373) |
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Although performance has improved since the last quarter, more households tend to be presenting once already homeless, rather than when at risk of homelessness, following a national trend. In April 2024, officers held a conference with voluntary and statutory agencies to explain the housing pressures in the city and urge early referrals for those at risk of homelessness and will be holding more of these ‘awareness raising’ workshops this financial year. During Q1, the consultation on proposed changes to the council’s Housing Allocations Policy ended: these are designed to encourage people to contact the council as soon as they become at risk of homelessness and will be taken to Cabinet for approval in September 2024. The Homelessness Transformation Programme is also progressing with changes to the operating model coming into effect from March 2025. |
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4.2 |
Corporate KPI: Homelessness prevention cases closed with a successful prevention outcome |
55% (45%) |
63.45% (92 of 145) |
64.29% (90 of 140) |
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4.3 |
New households with a full housing duty accepted |
Info |
101 |
177 |
n/a |
n/a |
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4.4 |
Number of households on the housing register |
Info |
7,585 |
7,476 |
n/a |
n/a |
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Temporary accommodation (including emergency accommodation) |
Target (amber value) |
Q4 2023/24 |
Q1 2024/25 |
Status against target |
Trend since Q4 |
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5.1 |
Corporate KPI: Total households in temporary accommodation |
1,770 (1,870) |
1,770 |
1,788 |
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5.2 |
Rent collected for emergency accommodation (year to date including changes in arrears) |
95% (90%) |
90.43% (£3.35m of £3.71m) |
93.84% (£547k of £583k) |
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5.3 |
Rent collected for leased properties (year to date including changes in arrears) |
95% (90%) |
98.55% (£5.98m of £6.07m) |
107.16% (£1.49m £1.39m) |
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The latest result is over 100% because successful efforts to reduce rent arrears have meant that more rent was collected during the period than was charged during it. |
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5.4 |
Rent collected for Seaside Homes (year to date including changes in arrears) |
95% (90%) |
97.97% (£5.29m of £5.40m) |
74.23% (£1.34m of £1.80m) |
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The Seaside Homes collection rate has fallen due to delays in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) updating many of these households’ Universal Credit (UC) Housing Element after the rent and Local Housing Allowance (LHA) increase in April, meaning a lower proportion of their rent is being covered by LHA than should be the case. This has been escalated to senior management within the DWP. |
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5.5 |
Void temporary accommodation dwellings |
For info |
63 |
68 |
n/a |
n/a |
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Three were 68 void emergency and temporary accommodation dwellings at the end of March 2024, excluding 26 voids that were with the Empty Homes Team for works. |
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5.6 |
Seaside Homes properties with a valid Landlord’s Gas Safety Record |
100% (99%) |
100% (494 of 494) |
99.4% (491 of 494) |
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6.1 New supply of additional council homes
A total of 726 homes were completed between April 2019 and March 2024 with a further 78 projected for completion during the 2024/25 financial year. The total for 2023/24 (286) exceeded all previous years, and this programme has been delivered during a period of unprecedented complexity due to the Covid-19 pandemic and recovery phase.
· 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: 111 homes – buy backs (52 Home Purchase and 17 RSAP) and Victoria Road (42)
· 2023/24: 286 homes – buy backs (42 Home Purchase, 5 RSAP and 15 Local Authority Housing Fund – LAHF), Homes for Brighton & Hove rented units (49 at Quay View and 127 at Coldean Lane), Hidden Homes (4), Kubic Apartments (38), Charles Kingston Gardens (2) and Grand Parade (4)
· 2024/25: 78 homes (projection) – buy backs (70 Home Purchase and 4 LAHF) and Frederick Street (4). This projection of 78 is also the Corporate target for the 2024/25 financial year.
6.5 New supply of other affordable homes
A total of 877 homes (385 rent and 492 shared ownership) were completed between April 2019 and March 2024 with a further 327 projected for completion during the 2024/25 financial year. This programme has been delivered during a period of unprecedented complexity due to the Covid-19 pandemic and recovery phase.
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2019/20: 87 homes – Montpelier
Place (5), Kingsway (54) and Circus Street (28)
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2020/21: 48 homes – Freehold
Terrace (8), Plumpton Road (2), Nevill Road (4) and Preston Road
(34 from two providers)
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2021/22: 75 homes – Preston
Barracks (19), Falmer Avenue (13), Hangleton Way (33) and Lions
Gardens (10)
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2022/23: 441 homes – Edward Street (33), School Road
(104), Preston Barracks (67), Graham Avenue (125), Sackville Hotel
(7), New Church Road (5) and King’s House (100)
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2023/24: 226 homes – Homes for
Brighton & Hove shared ownership units (55 at Quay View and 115
at Coldean Lane), York and Elder (22), Hove Gardens –
Ellen Street (16) and Allingham Place
– Ovingdean Road (18)
· 2024/25: 327 homes (projection) – Davigdor Road (5), Home X – Preston Barracks (16), Coombe Farm phase one (16), Coombe Farm phase two (13), St Aubyn’s – Rottingdean (37), Lyon Quarter (154), One Preston Park (30) and Hove Central (56)
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Council housing management |
Target (amber value) |
Q4 2023/24 |
Q1 2024/25 |
Status against target |
Trend since Q4 |
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7.1 |
Corporate KPI: Rent collected from current council tenants |
95.36% (94.90%) |
93.46% (£60.1m of £65.1m) |
92.34% (£66.4m of £71.9m) |
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The methodology for the indicator above excludes rent loss from voids but factors in changes to the amount of rent arrears over time. The Q1 collection rate is a forecast for the 2024/25 financial year. During Q1, the service was busy with the annual Universal Credit (UC) rent uplift exercise, which involved officers manually verifying the details of 4,361 UC claimants and reduced the resources for day-to-day casework. UC managed migration resumed and expanded in Q4 which means hundreds more tenants are moving from Housing Benefit (HB) to UC which increases the caseload for staff to recover the arrears which tend to increase as a result of this switch. This is in addition to wider cost of living pressures affecting tenants' ability to pay rent. The service is placing greater emphasis on early intervention and prevention. Procedures have been updated to expand on early contact and all new tenants will be seen face-to-face by an income specialist as part of their sign-up process. In support of this, IT project work is ongoing to update the housing management system, NEC, to help officers manage casework including implementation of an ‘escalations policy’ in cases where arrears are increasing, improved tracking of arrangements set up with tenants to repay arrears and potential automation of verification of UC claims. |
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7.2 |
Evictions due to rent arrears |
Info |
0 |
1 |
n/a |
n/a |
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7.3 |
Evictions due to anti-social behaviour (ASB) |
Info |
2 |
0 |
n/a |
n/a |
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7.4 |
ASB cases opened |
Info |
146 |
184 |
n/a |
n/a |
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7.5 |
ASB cases closed |
Info |
127 |
147 |
n/a |
n/a |
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7.6 |
Average days to close ASB cases |
Info |
137 |
132 |
n/a |
n/a |
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7.7 |
Active ASB cases at quarter end |
Info |
264 |
301 |
n/a |
n/a |
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The Housing service wishes for residents to report ASB, so the number of cases can be driven by reporting as well as incidents and the service welcomes the former. |
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7.8 |
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Calls answered by Housing Customer Services |
85% (80%) |
90% (5,902 of 6,529) |
89% (5,929 of 6,654) |
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7.9 |
Emails received by Housing Customer Services |
Info |
6,799 |
6,400 |
n/a |
n/a |
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7.10 |
Number of council homes let |
Info |
209 |
126 |
n/a |
n/a |
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7.11 |
… of which new council homes let for the first time |
Info |
114 |
16 |
n/a |
n/a |
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7.12 |
… of which re-lets of previously occupied council homes |
Info |
95 |
110 |
n/a |
n/a |
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7.13 |
Average ‘key to key’ re-let time in calendar days including time spent in major works |
Info |
163 |
87 |
n/a |
n/a |
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7.14 |
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Average re-let time in calendar days excluding time spent in major works |
42 (49) |
59 |
39 |
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7.15 |
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Void council homes (includes new homes) |
Info |
137 |
149 |
n/a |
n/a |
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The indicator above provides a snapshot of empty council owned homes on the last day of the period, whether they were available to let or not (e.g. because they were undergoing major works at the time). |
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Council housing maintenance |
Target (amber value) |
Q4 2023/24 |
Q1 2024/25 |
Status against target |
Trend since Q4 |
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8.1 |
Emergency repairs completed within 24 hours |
99% (97%) |
95.3% (3,159 of 3,316) |
96.9% (2,839 of 2,931) |
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8.2 |
Corporate KPI: Routine repairs completed within 28 calendar days |
70% (58%) |
41.3% (2,180 of 5,277) |
46.8% (2,535 of 5,421) |
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8.3 |
Average days to complete routine repairs |
15 (17.5) |
92 |
86 |
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Repairs completed recently have included jobs from a backlog of older non-urgent jobs, which is in the process of being reduced, with two additional contactors now mobilised to focus on these. Nonetheless, this means that jobs which had been part of this backlog exceeded their target timescales once completed. The proportion of routine council housing repairs completed within 28 calendar days was 46.8% (2,535 of 5,421) during Q1. This is impacted by the number of very old non-urgent jobs among those completed (2,396 were originally issued before 1st April 2024). Of the 2,829 newer jobs issued on or after 1st April 2024, 77.0% (2,330 of 3,025) were completed within 28 days, which is above the 70% target. |
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8.4 |
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Calls answered by Repairs Helpdesk |
85% (80%) |
91% (17,991 of 19,681) |
95% (15,070 of 15,880) |
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8.5 |
Emails received by Repairs Helpdesk |
Info |
6,440 |
5,070 |
n/a |
n/a |
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8.6 |
Online forms received by Repairs Helpdesk |
Info |
820 |
390 |
n/a |
n/a |
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8.7 |
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Surveyed tenants satisfied with repairs: standard of work |
96% (92%) |
98% (778 of 793) |
99% (1,806 of 1,829) |
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8.8 |
Surveyed tenants satisfied with repairs: overall customer service |
96% (92%) |
99% (783 of 793) |
99% (1,802 of 1,829) |
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8.9 |
Corporate KPI: Council dwellings meeting Decent Homes Standard |
100% (96.3%) |
97.2% (11,711 of 12,046) |
97.9% (11,876 of 12,129) |
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8.10 |
Corporate KPI: Energy efficiency rating of council homes (out of 100) |
77.2 (72.8) |
74.1 |
74.1 |
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8.11 |
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Council dwellings with a valid Landlord's Gas Safety Record |
100% (99%) |
99.99% (11,358 of 11,359 |
99.99% (11,374 of 11,375) |
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The indicator above includes council dwellings served by a communal gas boiler (1,252) as well as those with their own gas supply (10,108). |
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8.12 |
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Lifts restored to service within 24 hours |
95% (90%) |
94% (197 of 210) |
91% (145 of 159) |
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Leaseholder disputes |
Q4 2023/24 |
Q1 2024/25 |
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9.1 |
Stage one disputes opened |
1 |
6 |
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9.2 |
Stage one disputes closed |
10 |
7 |
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9.3 |
Active stage one disputes (end quarter) |
27 |
26 |
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9.4 |
Stage two disputes opened |
2 |
3 |
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9.5 |
Stage two disputes closed |
3 |
8 |
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9.6 |
Active stage two disputes (end quarter) |
7 |
2 |
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9.7 |
Stage three disputes opened |
2 |
3 |
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9.8 |
Stage three disputes closed |
1 |
2 |
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9.9 |
Active stage three disputes (end quarter) |
3 |
4 |
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