Agenda item - Housing Management Performance Report Quarter 3 2017/18

Report of the Executive Director for Neighbourhoods, Communities & Housing (copy attached).

(1)      That the report be noted along with the comments of the Committee.

85.1    The Committee considered a housing management performance report of the Executive Director, Neighbourhoods, Communities & Housing which covered Quarter 3 of the financial year 2017/18. The report was presented by the Head of Income, Involvement and Improvement.

85.2    In answer to questions raised by Councillor Moonan it was explained that officers were anticipating a further increase in arrears as a result of Universal Credit. There were steps that people could be advised to take to reduce arrears and there were many ways in which officers were supporting all claimants on Universal Credit, including trying to get people into work and training. The DWP had agreed for Brighton & Hove to be a trusted partner and the council could now apply to them to see if someone’s rent could be paid directly. 92% was an exceptionally good result last year and there were the lowest evictions of any council social landlord. Officers were looking to deal with anti-social behaviour across the council. A workshop on Tenancy Enforcement would be available for councillors in the next two weeks.

85.3    Councillor Bell noted that the Chair’s Communications had reported that Mears Ltd had answered calls in two minutes during the recent extreme weather. He asked why they could not match this record at all times. A written response from Mears would be acceptable. It was explained that performance had been good in terms of an average wait time of 29 seconds. 

85.4    Councillor Atkinson noted that the greatest increase in anti-social behaviour was in North Portslade and was interested to know if housing officers increased levels of support.  It was explained that when there was a restructure in 2016 there were fewer staff members dealing with anti-social behaviour. Improvements had now been made so that there was a single point of contact. As a result the situation was improving.  

85.5    Councillor Mears referred to the table at paragraph 3.6 on page 106, Long Term Empty Dwellings by Ward. She stressed that it was important to know what rent was lost and why properties were empty and requested a fourth column providing that information. It was agreed that officers could provide this information in future. 

85.6    In answer to a question from Councillor Lewry about long term empty dwellings (extension programme) it was explained that officers were trying to extend properties for residents who needed a larger property but did not want to move. Officers had also tried to extend properties that were empty with a particular tenant in mind. Officers would review carrying out more work with residents in situ and review previous cases to achieve an immeasurably better result in future.  It was confirmed that officers had looked at a range of work including side, rear and loft extensions. 

85.7    Councillor Gibson thanked officers for the report. He raised questions relating to the implementation of Universal Credit as follows:

·       Page 100 – 1.8. Currently it said that 2.1% of all tenants were affected. When Universal Credit was fully implemented in the city, what percentage of tenants would be affected?  It was confirmed that officers did not have figures to hand but the projections did not look good. Councillor Gibson requested that the details be circulated to members.

·       Looking at the projections it looked like the arrears were fairly proportionate to the number of tenants affected at this point. This was worrying and distressing for the tenants.

·       In terms of other Local Authorities, at what levels had were they reaching a plateau in terms of a percentage of their total rent?

·       When would Universal Credit be fully implemented in the city?    

85.8    In response it was explained that it was difficult to report about the arrears levels for different authorities because they had had implementation at various stages. It was only now that the government were trying to accelerate Universal Credit across the country.  Officers would provide examples of figures they had come across when it plateaued out. Brighton & Hove would be fully implemented in 2020 if Universal Credit stopped at working age people only.  There had been some talk about Universal Credit being extended to people over pensionable age.

85.9    In response to a question from Councillor Hill relating to cleaning data it was explained that officers were informed from estate inspections. The team of staff took pride in their work and met and talked to many tenants.

85.10  Councillor Wares thanked the Head of Income, Involvement and Improvement and the Head of Tenancy Services for the work carried out to help residents at Stanmer Heights and congratulated officers on achieving trusted partner status. In response to a question about anti-social behaviour it was explained that the 163 figure related to individual cases.

85.11  Councillor Druitt thanked officers for additional information about long term empty dwellings but asked if future reports could add a commentary to explain the reason why the properties had been long term empty, for example if works had been completed. Councillor Druitt referred to the coloured circle on page 98 (Status of Performance Indicators) and noted that the total of 5 in one section was 11% and 12% in another section. It was in fact 11.3% in both cases. He requested that the next report had the previous period’s circle. In relation to the circle it was explained that the system rounded up or down, but it was acknowledged that it would have been better to put 11% on both sections. With regard to those figures in the information on page 98, the report did give the figures for the previous quarter, in the bullet points.  Councillor Druitt stated that the figures did not give the aggregate total for the last quarter compared with this quarter. It was confirmed that officers would provide this information in future.

85.12  Members were informed that in terms of long term voids, officers could provide more information to let the committee know whether they were long term because they required major works which by their nature were long term, or if they were long term empty because (as with some of the Seniors housing) it had taken officers a long time to let them.

85.13  The Head of Income, Involvement and Improvement appreciated the thanks she had received for the report but stated that it would not be produced without the help of her colleague Tom Matthews who was in the Performance and Improvement Team. 

85.14  RESOLVED:-

(1)      That the report be noted along with the comments of the Committee.