Agenda item

Councillor Donald Nannestad, Portfolio Holder for Quality Housing:

 

a)    presented a report to Performance Scrutiny Committee covering the following main points:

 

-       Homelessness

-       Tenancy Services

-       Housing Repairs

-       Voids

-       Housing Investment

-       New Build/Allocations

-       Decarbonisation

-       Private Sector Housing

-       Health

 

b)    invited members’ questions and comments.

 

Question: Members asked how many people were currently in temporary accommodation and how many of these were not within Lincoln.

 

Response: There were currently 66 households in temporary accommodation, and none were outside the city. Other authorities were using properties in Lincoln which reduced the amount available to us.

 

Question:  Members asked what effort was being made to get money back from void properties.

 

Response: If it was possible to recharge then we did but this was not always possible.

 

Question: Members asked whether the target value could be put on the targets, so they knew where we needed to get to.

 

Response: This was being added for Q1.

 

Question: Members asked what the main issue was with Housing nationally.

 

Response: The main issue was down to how many trades people could enter a property at the same time.

 

Question: Members asked if there was a delay in offering houses due to energy efficiency works taking place.

 

Response: There was no delay.

 

Question: Members asked for some buy-back data.

 

Response: We purchased 8 properties and were in the process of buying another 4 which should be completed by the end of March. We were up to date with spending our receipts so no money would be lost.

 

Question: Members asked for the presentation again next year as they found it really useful and wanted to know when the data was gathered.

 

Response: The deprivation data was the most up to date and was from 2019.

 

Question: Members asked for a breakdown by ward for where the buy backs were and what type/size of properties these were.

 

Response: This information would be forwarded onto the committee.

 

Question: Members asked what impact the new fleet provision would have on the reduction of Co2 emissions and what we were hoping from this.

 

Response: We would benefit from a more efficient fleet as the vehicles were newer. Driver styles were looked at and work took place with operatives to see if there was further scope for improvement or any training needed. If scheduled repairs were working efficiently then this could help improve production and reduce journeys around the city which would then reduce carbon emissions.

 

Question: Members asked if anything could be done with empty properties that had been empty for a long time.

 

Response: A lot of the problems were down to executers and wills which made it difficult as we needed to be sensitive given the circumstances. Sometimes owners move out but want to keep their homes.

 

Question: Members asked how many children were in temporary accommodation and how long it took to help those families with children. Also did we measure how many were classed as disabled.

 

Response: Peoples needs were addressed before temporary accommodation was offered as we tried to house them as best we could. The allocation model had changed and there were a number of facilities that we no longer used as we felt they were not suitable. There were 52 children in temporary accommodation (not B&B’s). There were laws that we must follow that specify the amount of time people should be in temporary accommodation for.

 

Question: Members commented that Lincoln had the highest suicide rate in the country and asked how we signpost people that may need help and whether we did anything as an authority.

 

Response: There had been a lot of work carried out to try and find out why Lincoln had a high suicide rate but it hadn’t been possible to found out why. This was part of the councils’ corporate plan and staff have had suicide awareness training along with knowledge of where to signpost people when needed.

 

Question: Members asked whether suicides in the prison counted in our figures.

 

Response: No these were not part of our figures.

 

Question: Members asked how many void garages we had in the city and how much revenue was lost from these (broken down into wards).

 

Response: This information was to be forwarded onto the committee.

 

RESOLVED that:

 

1.    Information regarding locations of buy-back by ward to be forwarded to the committee along with the type/size of the property.

 

2.    Information on how many void garages we had (by ward) to be forwarded to the committee.

 

3.    The report be noted.