Agenda and minutes

The Council welcomes engagement from members of the public. To speak at this meeting please register no later than 24 hours prior to the date of the meeting via democracy@southkesteven.gov.uk

There were no public speakers.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Jane Wood, Councillor Paul Wood and Councillor Anna Kelly.  Councillor Anna Kelly was substituted by Councillor Charmaine Morgan.

Members are asked to disclose any interests in matters for consideration at the meeting.

None disclosed.

The minutes of the meeting held on 13 July 2023 were proposed, seconded and AGREED.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning informed the Committee that there had been significant progress towards the Council’s Corporate Priority of Housing that Meets the Needs of all Residents. He paid tribute to the work of the Housing Team which was led by Craig Spence, the Acting Director of Housing and highlighted the following:

-       That the Council was moving towards coming out of housing special measures.

-       That the Choice Based lettings system would be introduced from 23 October 2023 which allowed applicants to actively bid for properties they were interested in.  Housing authorities across the country had been using the system for a number of years and work was currently being undertaken to verify the housing register.  To date 780 applications had been received in the first two weeks to reapply to remain on the housing register.   Residents had up until 3 October 2023 to reapply to remain on the Housing Register.

-       Voids had been highlighted at the last meeting of the Committee and the time taken from a tenant leaving a property to a new tenant taking over the occupancy which was over 100 days on average.  The average sector voids time was half this figure.  As the Committee were aware a Voids workshop was arranged with the Acting Director of Housing and the Housing Team for Members of the Committee and any other Member interested in Voids.  The workshop had enabled Members to have a better understanding of how voids were tackled and the challenges faced due to the lack of investment in the properties over a long period of time.  Progress in the backlog was being made and in the last three months more properties had been let then had been received back.  In the last month over 30 voids had been relet which was the best turnaround since February 2022.   He referred to the Chairman’s plans to hold future workshop/briefings on housing issues and challenges. 

Under the Right to Buy scheme, between 40 and 50 homes were lost from the housing stock a year.  This had diminished the housing stock as they were not been replaced with either new builds or purchases.  At the last Cabinet meeting steps had been taken to make £1 million from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) available, to purchase suitable homes as they became available.  Progress on new build projects was also being made, with building work starting next month on four, one bed apartments in Stamford and also 20 new homes in Swinegate, Grantham.

-       Reference was then made to the closure of the Urban Hotel in Grantham and its use as temporary accommodation for 290 Afghan refugees.  The Housing Team had worked closely with colleagues from Lincolnshire County Council and had successfully secured alternative accommodation for the refugees, outside the district, mainly in the Birmingham area.  Work by the dedicated Officer and the team involved had been recognised by the Home Office.

-       The Local Authority Housing Fund Initiative from the Government had been utilised  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

To update the Committee on actions to ensure regulatory compliance of the Council’s social housing landlord function following the non-compliance notice issued by the Regulator of Social Housing.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning presented the report which gave an update to the Committee on the actions taken by the Council to ensure regulatory compliance of the Council’s social housing landlord function.  Members were aware that the Chief Executive in consultation with the then Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning self-referred the Council to the Regulator of Social Housing in February 2021 following the failure to meet legal requirements regarding checks on fire, gas and electric services were identified.

Monthly meetings had been held with the Chief Executive, the Acting Director of Housing and the National Regulator to cover issues of work in respect of the regulatory framework.  Following the documents that are appended to the report and the work done by the Council, the Regulator recommended that the Council sought the formal removal of the Regulatory Notice. It was confirmed that the letter was sent by the Chief Executive to this effect.  A further meeting with the Regulator was scheduled for the following week and the Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning was confident that the Council would soon be out of special measures.

The Acting Director of Housing referred Members to Appendix 1 of the report which dealt with the current compliance performance for July 2023 and was reported in August to the Regulator.  The format of the report was slightly different as it was a bench marking document.   The Acting Director of Housing highlighted the following:

-       Five 100% compliance areas were reported in July.

-       Gas compliance was at 99.13%

-       Electric compliance was 90.80%, which was a huge increase from when the Council went under Notice.

-       Asbestos compliance was at 100%.

-       The standout item was the completion of fire risk assessments which when the Council went under Notice was below 50% it was now at 100% and this had been sustained since late 2022.

The Acting Director of Housing reiterated what the Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning had stated, that the Regulator had invited the Council to send a letter requesting the removal of the Notice and this was submitted the next day and data for the end of July had been submitted in August 2023.   

The line graphs appended to the report showed the continuous improvement made, which had been reported to the Rural and Communities OSC when its remit included housing since the Council went under special measures.  The work was not yet complete, but the Council should hear within the next six to eight weeks in respect of the removal of the Notice. 

Members agreed with the fantastic progress that had been made and congratulated the Acting Director of Housing and his team and asked how further improvement could be made.  It was stated that continuous improvement would be instilled into the work undertaken with the right tools in place to continue the positive progress. The compliance would form part of the KPI reporting to both the Housing OSC and the Governance and Audit  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

To update the committee on the progress of the HRA Capital Programme, providing an overview of current and projected spend along with delivery updates on all associated programmes.

The Acting Director of Housing introduced the report on the HRA Capital Programme which had been requested at the last meeting of the Committee.  It was stated that the figures contained within the report mirrored those that had been reported to the recent Finance and Economic Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday of that week. 

The Acting Director of Housing referred Members to the sizable variances shown within Table 12, (the table should read Table 2) of the report and the significant underspend.  He then went through each line of the table.

-       Heating and Ventilation – work was to be delivered through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and was due to go live imminently and would increase the spend on this item and carried forward until May 2025.

-       Housing System Enhancements – Savings were due to the reduced scope of the project.

-       Kitchen Refurbishments – There had been a significant spend in respect of kitchen refurbishments, the profile had been changed since the report had been compiled and it was felt that the underspend would not be near the £248,000 shown.

-       Bathroom Refurbishments – same as with kitchen refurbishments and the re profiling of the budgets.

-       Passenger Lifts - It was known that eight lifts needed replacing and that there was between an eight and nine month lead in time. Two were in progress at the present time at Riverside and were near completion. The bulk of the underspend would be committed before the year end or would form a further carry forward.

-       Re-roofing – Unfortunately the current roofing contractor had not been willing to extend the current contract for a further year and therefore procurement of a new contractor was currently being undertaken. Emergency roof repairs could still be undertaken as required.

-       Re-wiring – A lot the work was built into the Earlesfield programme with approximately 110 properties as part of the programme and 160 overall. The programme was being extended due to time constraints and the money would be carried forward to the next year.

-       External Wall Finishes – through work with the SHDF bid which was why the underspends seemed great at the present time.  Profile work was being done under the SHDF bid.

The Capital Programme was approximately £18million for the year with a forecast underspend of £3million however, £15million was a huge investment in the housing stock compared to previous years.

The Chairman asked about the date in respect of the Riverside lift and the Technical Services Manager indicated that she would send the information to the Chairman.

ØAction

Riverside lift completion date to be circulated to the Chairman.

A Member asked if it was possible to know when refurbishment work was to be carried out on properties and she specifically highlighted two areas within her ward to which the Technical Services Manager replied that it was difficult to specify, as there was then an expectation that the work would be carried out at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

To update the committee on the progress of the Earlesfield Project, providing an overview of the project position, completed works and projected timescales.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning introduced the report which updated the Committee on the current position of the Earlesfield project.  Despite some early delays with the project work was progressing. There were 152 properties of a post war non-standard construction on the Earlesfield estate which contained some asbestos material.  The asbestos was being removed as part of the programme with the tenants being decanted to other properties whilst the work was being carried out.  Nineteen had been successfully completed with refurbishments including doors, heating, kitchens and bathrooms.  In a couple of cases, the tenants had realized that the property was too big and had down sized.

Although the report stated that the Cabinet Member had visited the site, this referred to the previous portfolio holder and it was hoped that a visit to the area would be arranged soon for the current Cabinet Member.  The Chairman of the Housing OSC asked if she could also attend when the visit was arranged.  

The Vice-Chairman of the Committee who was also one of the Ward Councillors for the Earlesfield area, commented on the successfulness of the project and he thanked the Housing Team for their work.

To update the committee on the recent voids workshop and the future plans. 

The Chairman referred to the Void workshop that had been held at the end of August.  She felt that the afternoon had gone very well and that Members had received from the Housing team information that enabled them to understand why the void turn around could take an average of 100 days and the importance of getting the properties in the right condition before they were re-let.

Questions had been constructive and a different view had been given to that of the void paperwork generated.  Although the date had been fixed before the funeral of an ex Councillor of the Council had been set and some Members were unable to attend, it was stated that depending upon numbers the Housing team were happy to re-run the event and any Member should speak to the Chairman of the Housing OSC direct.

The Chairman wished to continue to hold either a workshop or a briefing session on individual topics between meetings of the Housing OSC that were relevant to housing.  The next briefing would be in respect of Homelessness and would be held on Thursday 19 October at 2pm.  The briefing would be open to all Members who had an interest in the topic.  She thanked the Housing team for the information and work done in respect of the voids briefing.

The Council is required to publish a policy if it is to charge for the licensing of mobile home and caravan sites. The Council has an existing policy and the fees are reviewed on an annual basis to set the fees for the next financial year.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning presented the report which dealt with the policy in respect of fee charging for the licensing of mobile home and caravan sites.  The Council was required to publish a policy if it was to charge for these sites.  The Council had an existing policy and the fees were reviewed on an annual basis to reflect the true cost of the licensing process that the Council incurs in undertaking the statutory function.

The report contained a table outlining the proposed fee increase which for an annual fee increased from £81.00 to £88.00.

A question was asked in respect of the fee and who paid the fee. It was stated that the operator of the site who held the licence paid the fee.  

Members noted the report and the proposed fee increase.

To inform the Committee of the new HRA Acquisition and Disposal Policy which sets the framework for the way in which we acquire and dispose of land or assets to and from the Housing Revenue Account.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning presented the report which concerned a new HRA Acquisitions and Disposal Policy which established a framework for the way in which the Council acquired and disposed of land or assets to and from the Housing Revenue Account.   The Policy was a standard policy based on best practice and was in line with the Corporate Assets Acquisitions and Disposal Policy and gave a clear framework and transparency around the decisions taken.

The Acting Director of Housing stated that there were some assets within the HRA estate which lent themselves to disposal and the policy gave a framework to undertake this work.  The disposal of assets would help to fund future development or extensive remodelling programmes within the HRA.  He referred to some assets which were “resource hungry” and from a business perspective the Council wouldn’t want to keep due to their cost, but they were important or sought after properties on the open market.  There were some informed decisions to make around some properties as well as small parcels of land within the HRA estate and the report sort the Committees support before the policy went to Cabinet.

Discussion on the policy followed with Members supporting the document and giving examples where the costs of keeping properties in good repair did not out way the benefits in terms of value for money.  Reference was made to the recent news coverage of RAAC (reinforced, autoclaved aerated concrete) did the Council have any properties made from this material.  It was stated that the material was not use widely in the housing sector and proactive work was being undertaken to identity any properties which may fit the criteria. 

One Member made reference to including consultation within the policy with local communities in respect of land that was either a common green space or play areas to protect these areas.  She felt that consultation should be undertaken with the relevant Ward Member and the public.

The Acting Director of Housing stated that these areas did not tend to be within the HRA estate, requests for land were often to enable a garden to be extended.   Further discussion followed with regard to the conflict of protecting the environment and quality of life and building new homes and various examples were given by Members in relation to park areas within the district.   A question was asked about Beeden Park within the Earlesfield Ward and whether it was HRA land.  The Acting Director of Housing stated that if the Member could confirm the exact location, he would come back to the Member outside the meeting.

Further discussion then followed in respect of derelict garage sites.  The Acting Director of Housing indicated that the garage sites were being surveyed to see what opportunities there were for development and referenced the proposed new build at Elizabeth Road, Stamford which was an old garage site.  Not all sites were viable due to their location and a lot of survey work was still to be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

The Chairman listed the items currently on the Work programme for the Housing OSC.

·       Regulatory compliance update - November

·       Choice-base lettings update - November

·       Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy - November

Future items were:

·       The Private Sector Housing Assistance Policy - TBC

·       Housing in Multiple Occupation Policy - TBC

The Chairman asked that the Review of the Properties purchased in Langtoft be added to the November meeting of the Committee.

Following the discussion on garage sites and their suitability for development, it was suggested that this item be added to the January meeting of the Committee.

A further update on the Earlesfield Programme was asked to be added also to the January meeting.

A short discussion on Fabric First followed and it was suggested that this could be an issue that could be discussed at one of the Housing briefings. Although the Member who suggested the item agreed with the proposal, she also wanted it to be an agenda item for January 2024, even if it was only in relation to the reporting of a KPI.

The Acting Director of Housing informed the Committee that he had a raft of policies and procedures to come before the Committee in November and they covered the Total Housing Compliance Policies and also Tenancy, Leaseholder and Estate Management Policies.

An update on the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) would come to the Committee in March 2024.

ØAction

Items to be included on Work Programme:

·       Review of the Properties purchased in Langtoft – November

·       Total Housing Compliance Policies – November

·       Tenancy, Leaseholder and Estate Management Policies - November

·       Garage sites and their suitability for development – January 2024

·       Update on the Earlesfield Programme – January 2024

·       Fabric First – January 2024

·       Update on the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) – March 2024.

None.

The meeting closed at 16:29.