Agenda item

Councillor D Nannestad, Portfolio Holder for Quality Housing:

a)    presented his report regarding activity and achievements within his portfolio, which included a revised schedule of Landlord Service Performance 2022/23 in number format as well as in percentage terms

b)    added that his report was similar to that presented to Performance Scrutiny Committee previously, without the information on health and private sector housing which was not within this Committee’s remit

c)    highlighted two issues facing the Housing Service:

·         New fire safety regulations which came into force later this month following on from Phase 1 of the Grenfell Tower Enquiry, which applied to all buildings containing two or more sets of domestic premises with common areas to evacuate in the event of an emergency. Buildings which were seven storeys or more were in a higher category i.e. Shuttleworth House, Jarvis House and Trent View. We had dedicated a small team to this issue, which had enabled us to respond to the changes to date. If resources allowed, we would look to make this team permanent in the new financial year.

·         The issue of mould and damp. The Rochdale inquest held in November into the death of two year old Awaab Ishak and the Coroner’s findings had highlighted the dangers presented by mould and damp. We had since received a significant increase in complaints about mould and damp both in our Council stock and in the private sector. During the current Council year, we received an average of 8 inquiries a week up to the date of the inquest findings being published. In the two weeks after the Rochdale inquest was reported we received 95 inquiries. On many occasions more than one visit was needed and more than one repair was raised. In just one week in December 121 repairs were raised. We currently had a team of four operatives specifically dealing with mould and damp and if the current volume of repairs related to mould and damp continued, we would seek to make this team permanent in the new financial year.

d)    advised that his report covered the following main areas:

·         Homelessness

·         Tenancy Services

·         Housing Repairs

·         Voids

·         Housing Investment

·         New Build

·         Decarbonisation

e)    highlighted that we had invested significantly in our housing stock and were planning to spend £66.7m on improvements over the next five years

f)     reported also on progress with a housing development on Rookery Lane to add 42 new homes to the Council’s housing stock due to be handed over to us at the end of March 2023, together with work anticipated to start later this calendar year to remodel existing properties at Hermit Street to provide additional flats for 2/3 people and a number of new-build homes

g)    further reported on De Wint Court now open, our first extra care home adding 70 additional homes to our stock

h)    praised housing staff for their tremendous support and the Lincoln Tenants Panel for their valuable work which continued to help improve the satisfaction of tenants

i)     invited questions from Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee on the content of his report.

Members discussed the content of the report in further detail. The following comments/questions emerged:

·         Question: Would the properties at Rookery Lane be allocated to existing tenants?.

·         Response: Officers had looked at the priority waiting list in terms of need and demands. There were a mix of council tenants on the transfer list requiring larger properties, together with our statutory duty to certain people in temporary private housing and in need of re housing. The properties would be allocated in batches from April 2023.

·         Question: Why had 50% of available housing been allocated to homelessness cases when we were told only 25% applied?

·         Response: The reason for this was an increase in domestic violence, marriage breakdowns and general homeless cases. The authority had a statutory duty to house homeless people.

·         Response by Councillor Nannestad, Portfolio Holder for Quality Housing: Some private landlords may decide to increase rental charges by up to £100 a month or decide to sell for a variety of reasons. Private rental for families was practically unavailable.

·         Question: With 1,000 properties currently graded at EPC Rating D or below, how would the Council achieve the standard for net zero carbon emissions by Year 2030?

·         Response: The policy did not quote that all properties would achieve this standard by 2030. The target was C. Each improvement was an advancement. Some Victorian terraced houses would be difficult to reach C rating due to the age of the properties,

·         Question:  Did the figure of £66.7m spent on housing include expenditure on estate regeneration and communal areas?

·         Response: These areas would be dealt with as part of the HRA Business review. The figures were included in the Medium Term Financial Strategy, which ran for 5 years.

·         Question: Who was responsible for repairing the grass verges ruined by contractors at St Peter’s Avenue?

·         Response: Officers would make checks and report back to members of Housing Scrutiny Committee.

·         Comment: It was pleasing to see the new properties on Rookery Lane were B Rated.

·         Question: Was there a team of operatives dealing solely with mould and damp issues?

·         Response: Yes operatives had been moved across from other jobs. There may be a need to increase the 4 operatives currently assigned in the future.

RESOLVED that:

1.    Officers to respond to members of Housing Scrutiny Sub Committee as to who was responsible for repairing the grass verges ruined by contractors at St Peter’s Avenue.

2.    The contents of the report be received and noted with thanks.