Agenda item

Michelle Hoyles, Housing Strategy Manager:

a)    presented Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee with a report on performance indicators for the Directorate of Housing and Investment (DHI) for Quarter 2 of 2024/25 (July – September) which covered those measures related to the Council’s responsibility as a landlord

b)    reported that Lincoln Tenant’s Panel had been consulted about this report and had confirmed they had no comments

c)    added that regular monitoring of the Council’s performance was a key component of the Local Performance Management Framework and supported its ongoing commitment to continuous improvement of Council services

d)    confirmed that there were a total of thirty-three performance indicators monitored by DHI; an overview of performance for the second quarter of 2024/25, against such indicators was attached at Appendix A to the report

e)    explained that the template for Appendix A included performance ‘direction of travel’ information to aid interpretation of how performance fluctuated between quarterly reporting periods; benchmarking comparisons would be provided annually at each fourth quarter

f)     reported that during the second quarter of 2024/25, 15 performance measures had met or exceeded their agreed target, four had performed close to target and six had performed below target, the remaining measures were volumetric

g)    highlighted that of the 6 measures performing below target, one was a corporate measure related to call handling in the customer contact centre; this measure ‘CS3’ related to all calls received by the contact centre, and therefore included data not linked to Housing services, and was also reported to Performance Scrutiny Committee

h)    confirmed that further, detailed information on the areas highlighted was provided within the report

i)      invited comments and questions from Members of the Committee.

Members discussed the content of the report, commented, asked questions and received relevant responses from officers as follows:

Question: Why were measures for voids still showing as red, although there was now a designated team concentrating on rent collections?

Response: This was down to a loss of rent due to the properties being void for a longer period than expected, rather than a duty of the rent collection team.

Question: The average re-let time in calendar days for all dwellings including major works performed at 48.79 days in quarter 1 and 50.28 days in quarter 2. It was quoted that there were several factors that could influence void re-let times, often influenced by external factors outside of the Council’s control. Which internal teams worked to re-let voids as quickly as possible?

Response: The Housing Solutions, Voids Support , Housing Repair Service Support teams, followed by tenancy support were responsible for this area. External factors outside of the Council’s control, for example, could be the scene of a crime cordoned off by the police, or high levels of asbestos on site preventing access to the property in a timely manner.

Comment: Instances of voids taking longer to re-let affected rent loss. Reports to Performance Scrutiny Committee summarised reasons for changes in performance figures.

Question: Average re-let time of voids in calendar days for all dwellings excluding major works was not meeting targets set and deteriorating. Did the target need lowering to make it achievable?

Response by Chair: As members we did not set the targets, they were set by officers in consultation with Lincoln Tenant’s Panel. However, we wanted them to remain at the same level but improve and it was hoped this would happen.

Officer Response: Delays getting access to void properties could be caused by utility companies having work to carry out first, or tenants having passed on with access delays related to probate/legal reasons. We were trying to maximise the number of properties made available for tenants to move into balanced against housing needs. Transfers were increasing, which resulted in further voids, however, we were moving people into suitable housing for their needs which was good. Sometimes, two to three transfers were achieved out of one void property. There had been an unusually large number of tenancies ended this quarter with 40 sets of keys being handed back in one week. A financial balancing act was required between properties remaining void longer which incurred rental loss, against employment of experienced sub-contractors at extra cost to achieve quicker results.

Question: Why were so many tenancies being ended?

Response: More properties were being brought into stock and there had been an increase in transfers to deal with overcrowding/adaptation needs. We were still in the upper quartile for re-let of housing properties compared with elsewhere in the country and therefore still performing well. These were positive reasons why tenancies had ended. Less than 1% out of our 7,800 housing stock was void at the current time.

Question: When would the Authority know how many Right to Buy transactions would be processed and how was the loss of these properties going to be recouped?

Response: There had been 90 applications received in the last four weeks. The Housing Revenue Account 30-year business plan proposed to increase its housing stock by 50 additional properties each year. There would hopefully be less losses due to voids moving forward over the next ten years as the short- term deficit ironed out.

Question: What was the maximum amount of discount permitted for Right to Buy transactions?

Response: This sum was £24,000. A consultation period was currently ongoing as to whether new properties should be excluded from the scheme.

Question: What type of properties were popular for Right to Buy applications?

Response: There was a variety of preference across the board.

Question Mick Barber, Chair of Lincoln Tenant’s Panel: Was it possible to receive a breakdown on the types of property that were purchased through Right to Buy?

Response: Yes, officers would circulate this information separately to members of Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee.

Comment by Officers: The following link informed members of the summary wording by the Government in relation to Right to Buy: Right to Buy: summary booklet - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

RESOLVED that:

1.    Further information be provided to members as requested above.

2.    The current performance outcomes during Quarter 2 of the financial year 2024/25 to date, be noted.