Council
housing performance
Quarter
3 2024/25 (Oct to Dec 2024)
|
 
|
 
|
|
|
100%
Gas
safety compliance
|
93.07%
Rent
collection rate
|
29
days
Empty
home
re-let
time
|
|
|
 
|
|
|
97.9%
Dwellings
meeting Decent Homes standard
|
84%
Customer
services calls answered
|
74.1
Average
energy efficiency (rating
out of 100)
|
|
|
|
|
|
76%
Complaint
responses within 10 working days
|
96%
Repairs
helpdesk calls answered
|
108
days
Average
time to complete routine repairs
|
Quarter
3 2024/25 council housing performance – key trends
Top scores (compared to target)
1.
Average re-let time excluding time spent
in major works (29 days vs 42 day target)
2.
Average weeks taken to approve major
adaptations (8.1 weeks vs 10 week target)
3.
Calls answered by Repairs Helpdesk (96%
vs 85% target)
4.
Surveyed tenants satisfied with repairs:
standard of work (99% vs 96% target)
5.
Surveyed tenants satisfied with repairs:
customer service (99% vs 96% target)
Bottom scores (compared to target)
1.
Average time to complete routine repairs
(108 days vs 15 day target)
2.
Routine repairs completed within 28
calendar days (46% vs 70% target)
3.
Emergency repairs completed within 24
hours (95% vs 98% target)
4.
Energy efficiency rating of council homes
(out of 100: 74.1 vs 77.2 target)
5.
Lifts restored to service within 24 hours
(92% vs 95% target)
Biggest improvements (since previous
quarter)
1.
Average re-let time excluding time spent
in major works (39 to 29 days)
2.
Average weeks taken to approve major
adaptations (8.5 to 8.1 weeks)
3.
Stage two complaints upheld (54% to
50%)
4.
Emergency repairs completed within 24
hours (92% to 95%)
5.
Rent collected from current council
tenants (92.90% to 93.07%)
Biggest drops (since previous
quarter)
1.
Average time to complete routine repairs
(87 to 108 days)
2.
Routine repairs completed within 28
calendar days (48% to 46%)
3.
Calls answered by Housing Customer
Services (87% to 84%)
4.
Stage one complaints responded to within
10 working days (78% to 76%).
|
|
Customer
feedback (all indicators in
this table are year to date)
|
Target
(amber value)
|
Q2
2024/25
|
Q3
2024/25
|
Status against
target
|
Trend since
Q2
|
|
1.1
|
Compliments received
from customers
|
Info
|
132
|
172
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
1.2
|
Stage one complaints responded to within 10 working
days
|
80%
(70%)
|
78%
(253 of 323)
|
76%
(462 of
611)
|
|
|
|
1.3
|
Stage one complaints
upheld
|
Info
|
60%
(193 of 323)
|
52.9% (323 of 611)
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
1.4
|
Stage two complaints
upheld
|
18%
(20%)
|
54%
(36 of
67)
|
50%
(52 of
103)
|
|
|
|
During 2024/25 to
date, 52 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 were most commonly where the complainant felt that
the council failed to deliver a service or were delayed in doing
something, such as completing a repair.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 
|
Private sector housing
|
Target
(amber value)
|
Q2
2024/25
|
Q3
2024/25
|
Status against
target
|
Trend since
Q2
|
|
2.1
|
Total fully licensed
Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)
|
Info
|
1,845
|
1,879
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
2.2
|
Corporate
KPI: HMOs where all special
conditions have been met (for licences issued over 12 months
ago)
|
55%
(50%)
|
45.47%
(271 of
596)
|
48.14%
(310 of
644)
|
|
|
|
The indicator above
measures cases where the council has verified that works required
via special conditions have been completed. This indicator includes
HMOs covered by the national mandatory licensing scheme and the new
local additional and selective licensing schemes introduced during
this financial year. A programme of checks is in place to ensure
all special conditions are met and continues to improve. During Q3
the Private Sector Housing team’s resource has been
supporting the introduction of the new schemes whilst further
recruitment is undertaken and this has affected the amount of
checks that could be made in the quarter. The team is also working
through a backlog of 71 mandatory licences, which has decreased by
25 during Q3. Once completed, further resource can be allocated to
the programme of checks to ensure all special conditions are met,
which drives improvements in this performance indicator.
|
|
2.3
|
Requests for
assistance received (RFAs)
|
Info
|
180
|
168
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
The types of the 168
RFAs received during Q1 included 35 disrepair (21%) and 28 dampness
(17%).
|
|
2.4
|
Property inspections
completed
|
Info
|
145
|
141
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
2.5
|
… of which
RFA inspections
|
Info
|
38
|
51
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
2.6
|
… of which
HMO licence inspections
|
Info
|
107
|
90
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
2.7
|
RFA cases
closed
|
Info
|
111
|
81)
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
2.8
|
Properties with Category 1 and 2 hazards
resolved through informal action (closed RFAs)
|
Info
|
100%
(26 of
26)
|
90%
(9 of
10)
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
2.9
|
Properties with Category 1 and 2 hazards
resolved through formal action (closed RFAs)
|
Info
|
0%
(0 of
26)
|
10%
(1 of
10)
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
2.10
|
Private sector
vacant dwellings (for more than one year) returned into
occupation
|
9
|
18
|
20
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Housing adaptations
|
Target
(amber value)
|
Q2
2024/25
|
Q3
2024/25
|
Status against target
|
Trend since Q2
|
|
3.1
|
Private sector housing – average weeks taken to
approve Disabled Facilities Grant applications
|
10
(26)
|
14.8
|
16.3
|
|
|
|
3.2
|
Private sector housing – average weeks taken
for contractor to complete major adaptations
|
Info
|
29.6
|
38.3
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
3.3
|
Council housing – average weeks taken to
approve applications for major adaptations
|
10
(26)
|
8.5
|
8.1
|
|
|
|
3.4
|
Council housing – average weeks taken for
contractor to complete major adaptations
|
Info
|
12.4
|
12.6
|
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 homelessness
|
Target
(amber value)
|
Q2
2024/25
|
Q3
2024/25
|
Status against
target
|
Trend since
Q2
|
|
4.1
|
Corporate KPI: Homelessness cases presenting during the prevention
duty stage
|
50%
(40%)
|
27.0%
(131 of
486)
|
33.3%
(136 of
408)
|
|
|
|
Although performance
improved during Q3, most households continue to present once
already homeless (a ‘Relief’ duty) rather than when at
risk of homelessness (a ‘Prevention’ duty). During Q3,
the Homelessness & Housing Options service continued to hold
‘awareness raising’ workshops with different voluntary
and statutory agencies to explain the housing pressures in the city
and finalised its stakeholder engagement plan, identifying the
groups of people most at risk of homelessness and the agencies they
are most likely to engage with, with a view to encouraging partners
to refer to the service as early as possible. This work has led to
the development of a new campaign to target agencies that work with
households most 'at risk' of homelessness, based on data held by
the service. The service is also delivering training for its staff
on the legal tests of homelessness and when a
‘Prevention’ or ‘Relief’ duty applies.
Furthermore, the proposed changes to the council’s Housing
Allocations Policy were approved by Cabinet in October 2024: these
are designed to encourage people to contact the council as soon as
they become at risk of homelessness. Work is now underway to
implement the new policy by April 2025. Finally, the Homelessness
Transformation Programme continues with changes to the operating
model due to come into effect from March 2025.
|
|
4.2
|
Corporate KPI: Homelessness prevention cases closed with a
successful prevention outcome
|
55%
(45%)
|
72.4%
(89 of
123)
|
64.5%
(80 of
124)
|
|
|
|
4.3
|
New households with
a full housing duty accepted
|
Info
|
136
|
178
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
4.4
|
Number of households
on the housing register
|
Info
|
7,516
|
7,592
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Temporary accommodation (including emergency
accommodation)
|
Target
(amber value)
|
Q2
2024/25
|
Q3
2024/25
|
Status against
target
|
Trend since
Q2
|
|
5.1
|
Corporate
KPI: Total households in
temporary accommodation
|
1,770
(1,870)
|
1,838
|
1,928
|
|
|
|
The end year target
of 1,770 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 4.1 and 4.2 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 increased
mortgage borrowing costs).The impact of this has been seen in
Brighton & Hove, with temporary accommodation numbers
increasing, although generally at a slower rate than for other
comparable local authorities. While move on options continue to be
limited, especially for larger households, staff are taking
targeted action to assist long-term occupants of temporary
accommodation to apply for social housing through the housing
register. Furthermore, action is underway across multiple council
services to bring in more affordable types of temporary
accommodation, such as dwellings leased from the private sector and
council owned dwellings in Large Panel System (LPS) blocks, to
reduce reliance on more expensive types of emergency
accommodation.
|
|
5.2
|
Rent collected for
emergency accommodation (year to
date including changes in arrears)
|
95%
(90%)
|
91.88%
(£2.13m of
£2.32m)
|
90.84%
(£3.34m of
£3,69m)
|
|
|
|
5.3
|
Rent collected for
leased properties (year to date
including changes in arrears)
|
95%
(90%)
|
101.98%
(£2.93m of
£2.87m)
|
101.99%
(£4.47m of
£4.38m)
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
5.4
|
Rent collected for
Seaside Homes (year to date
including changes in arrears)
|
95%
(90%)
|
79.60%
(£2.81m of
£3.53m)
|
88.54%
(£4.46m of
£5.04m)
|
|
|
|
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 was escalated with the DWP and the situation has been
improving since.
|
|
5.5
|
Void temporary
accommodation dwellings
|
For info
|
89
|
80
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
There were 109 void
emergency and temporary accommodation dwellings at the end of
September 2024, excluding 29 voids that were with the Empty Homes
Team for works.
|
|
5.6
|
Seaside Homes
properties with a valid Landlord’s Gas Safety
Record
|
100%
(99%)
|
100%
(494 of
494)
|
99.80%
(493 of
494)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6.1 New
supply of additional council homes
A total of 726 homes
were completed between April 2019 and March 2024 with a further 90
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: 90 homes (projection) –
buy backs (61 Home Purchase and 4 LAHF), Frederick Street (4) and
St Aubyn’s (21). This projection is currently above the
target of 78 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
229 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.
·
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: 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)
·
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: 229 homes (projection) –
Davigdor Road (5), Home X – Preston Barracks (16), Coombe
Farm phase one (16), Coombe Farm phase two (13), St Aubyn’s
– Rottingdean (16), Lyon Quarter (77), Hove Central (56),
Coombe Farm phase three (30)
|
|
Council housing management
|
Target
(amber value)
|
Q2
2024/25
|
Q3
2024/25
|
Status against
target
|
Trend since
Q2
|
|
|
7.1
|
Corporate
KPI: Rent collected from
current council tenants
|
95.36%
(94.90%)
|
92.90%
(£67.2m of
£72.3m)
|
93.07%
(£67.2m of
£72.2m)
|
|
|
|
|
The methodology for
the indicator above excludes rent loss from voids but factors in
changes to the amount of rent arrears over time. The Q2 and Q3
collection rates are forecasts for the 2024/25 financial year.
Universal Credit (UC) managed migration has resumed and expanded
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 because of this switch: at least 569
tenants are known to have been migrated over since April 2024, 242
of these in Q3. The Department of Work and Pensions plans to move
all benefit claimants to UC by March 2026, thereby completing the
rollout. This is in addition to wider cost of living pressures and
changes affecting tenants' ability to pay rent, including changes
to eligibility for benefits such as Pension Credit and Winter Fuel
Payments which took effect in Q3. The Income Management service is
placing greater emphasis on early intervention and prevention. To
promote and increase the uptake of debt advice, the service is now
a member of the Money Adviser Network which provides instant debt
advice. The service continues to focus on early contact and all new
tenants are being contacted by an income specialist, with 440 new
tenants contacted since April 2024, including 114 during Q3, and a
dedicated officer has been recruited into the service tasked
specifically to provide advice and support to tenants moving to UC.
In support of this, IT project work is ongoing to update the
housing management system, NEC, to help officers manage casework:
during Q3 this included the introduction of an ‘escalations
policy’ in cases where arrears are increasing, in order to
set up arrangements set up with tenants to repay arrears, and
authorisation of preparations to automate verification of UC claims
to support staff to focus more of their time on critical casework.
Furthermore, in Q3 the service worked closely with the
Welfare, Revenue and Benefits Service (WRBS) and the Seniors
Housing service to increase the uptake of Pension Credit as this
will allow residents to be automatically eligible for Winter Fuel
Payments. Tenants who have not yet managed to become eligible will
be supported to access the local Brighton & Hove Fuel Payment
scheme for older people struggling with energy costs.
|
|
7.2
|
Evictions due to
rent arrears
|
Info
|
1
|
3
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
|
7.3
|
Evictions
due to anti-social behaviour
(ASB)
|
Info
|
3
|
1
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
|
7.4
|
ASB cases
opened
|
Info
|
206
|
164
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
|
7.5
|
ASB cases
closed
|
Info
|
186
|
152
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
|
7.6
|
Average days to
close ASB cases
|
Info
|
130
|
97
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
|
7.7
|
Active ASB cases at
quarter end
|
Info
|
312
|
324
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
|
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.
|
|
7.8
|
Calls answered by
Housing Customer Services
|
85%
(80%)
|
87%
(5,760 of
6,616)
|
84%
(4,944 of
5,908)
|
|
|
|
|
7.9
|
Emails received by
Housing Customer Services
|
Info
|
6,341
|
5,191
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
|
7.10
|
Number of council
homes let
|
Info
|
147
|
110
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
|
7.11
|
… of which
new council homes let for the first time
|
Info
|
13
|
28
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
|
7.12
|
… of which
re-lets of previously occupied council homes
|
Info
|
134
|
82
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
|
7.13
|
Average ‘key
to key’ re-let time in calendar days including time spent in
major works
|
Info
|
94
|
60
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
|
7.14
|
Average re-let time
in calendar days excluding time spent in major works
|
42
(49)
|
39
|
29
|
|
|
|
|
7.15
|
Void council homes
(includes new homes)
|
Info
|
116
|
119
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
|
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).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Council housing maintenance
|
Target
(amber value)
|
Q2
2024/25
|
Q3
2024/25
|
Status against
target
|
Trend since
Q2
|
|
8.1
|
Emergency repairs
completed within 24 hours
|
99%
(97%)
|
92.3%
(2,936 of
3,182)
|
94.9%
(3,013 of
3,174)
|
|
|
|
8.2
|
Corporate
KPI: Routine repairs completed
within 28 calendar days
|
70%
(58%)
|
48.4%
(2,991 of
6,175)
|
46.2%
(3,333 of
7,213)
|
|
|
|
8.3
|
Average days to
complete routine repairs
|
15
(17.5)
|
87
|
108
|
|
|
|
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 46.70% (8,943 of 19,150) during 2024/25 to date.
This is impacted by the number of very old non-urgent jobs among
those completed (4,850 were originally issued before April 2024).
Of the 14,300 newer jobs issued during or after April 2024, 61.89%
(8,850 of 14,300) were completed within 28 days, which is closer to
the 70% target. The Repairs & Maintenance service has
experienced a higher volume of repair requests compared to when it
was introduced in April 2020. The current resource of both
contractors and directly employed staff was modelled around the
levels of demand at the time the service was introduced, with the
addition of two specialist contactors to meet a backlog of jobs
following the disruption caused by the pandemic. Therefore, the
increased everyday demand has meant that in effect the additional
resource has been successful in stopping the number of outstanding
repairs from increasing but not in substantially reducing it over
time. The service is carrying out deeper analysis of its
performance data to better understand the resourcing and
performance improvement required to achieve this.
|
|
8.4
|
Calls answered by
Repairs Helpdesk
|
85%
(80%)
|
96%
(16,329 of
17,062)
|
96%
(17,109 of
17,924)
|
|
|
|
8.5
|
Emails received by
Repairs Helpdesk
|
Info
|
5,841
|
6,498
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
8.6
|
Online forms
received by Repairs Helpdesk
|
Info
|
489
|
298
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
8.7
|
Surveyed tenants
satisfied with repairs: standard of work
|
96%
(92%)
|
98.6%
(3,394 of
3,439)
|
98.8%
(2,141 of
2,167)
|
|
|
|
8.8
|
Surveyed tenants
satisfied with repairs: overall customer service
|
96%
(92%)
|
98.8%
(3,398 of
3,439)
|
98.5%
(2,135 of
2,167)
|
|
|
|
8.9
|
Corporate
KPI: Council dwellings meeting
Decent Homes Standard
|
100%
(96.3%)
|
97.9%
(11,880 of
12,131)
|
97.9%
(11,926 of
12,177)
|
|
|
|
8.10
|
Corporate
KPI: Energy efficiency rating
of council homes (out of 100)
|
77.2
(72.8)
|
74.1
|
74.1
|
|
|
|
8.11
|
Council dwellings
with a valid Landlord's Gas Safety Record
|
100%
(99%)
|
100%
(11,274 of
11,274)
|
100%
(11,280 of
11,280)
|
|
|
|
The indicator above
includes council dwellings served by a communal gas boiler (1,252)
as well as those with their own gas supply (10,028).
|
|
8.12
|
Lifts restored to
service within 24 hours
|
95%
(90%)
|
92%
(134 of
146)
|
92%
(137 of
149)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Leaseholder disputes
|
Q2 2024/25
|
Q3 2024/25
|
|
9.1
|
Stage one disputes
opened
|
13
|
68
|
|
9.2
|
Stage one disputes
closed
|
3
|
21
|
|
9.3
|
Active stage one
disputes (end quarter)
|
35
|
82
|
|
9.4
|
Stage two disputes
opened
|
3
|
4
|
|
9.5
|
Stage two disputes
closed
|
3
|
2
|
|
9.6
|
Active stage two
disputes (end quarter)
|
2
|
4
|
|
9.7
|
Stage three disputes
opened
|
3
|
1
|
|
9.8
|
Stage three disputes
closed
|
2
|
1
|
|
9.9
|
Active stage three
disputes (end quarter)
|
5
|
5
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
