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.

None.

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

None disclosed.

The minutes of the meeting held on 31 March 2026 were proposed, seconded and agreed.

No announcements were made.

The Cabinet Member for Housing presented the update on the Council’s new build and acquisitions programme.  The delivery of high quality affordable housing remained one of the Council’s key priorities and was an important part of the Council’s Corporate Plan commitments.  The Corporate Plan 2024-2027 clearly sets out the Council’s mission to ensure that all residents could access housing which was safe, good quality, sustainable and suitable for their needs and future generations.

Good progress was being made on sites across the District with construction taking place at Larch Close, Grantham and Wellington Way, Market Deeping.  Preparations for further development at Toller Court, Horbling, Kesteven Road, Stamford and Bourne Road, Colsterworth were continuing.  Alongside developments taking place, the Council continued to pursue a balanced approach through acquisitions which enabled the Council to increase its supply of affordable housing and respond to housing need.

Seven affordable homes were handed over to the Council the previous year at the development in Corby Glen with a further six properties due to be handed over in June 2026 at the same development.

The Council had been successful in securing external funding of £180,000 from Homes England through the Council Housebuilding Support Fund to support its housing delivery and would be used in respect of feasibility work on a number of Council owned sites to bring forward potential housing schemes across the District.

It was noted that there were challenges in delivering new homes which included site conditions, construction costs and planning requirements.  The current housing pipeline was strong and the Cabinet Member for Housing placed on record her thanks to Officers, the Council’s development partners and contractors for the work undertaken in respect of the delivery of affordable homes and she asked Members to note the report update.

The Chairman referenced a visit that he had undertaken to the development at Larch Close, Grantham and the progress being made. 

The Vice-Chairman made reference to the “Social Value Plan” which was contained within the Wellington Way, Market Deeping development and asked for clarification on what this meant.  The Director of Housing and Projects replied that all high value contracts had an element of “Social Value”, this was not always a monetary element as was the case with Wellington Way where the Developers had run a prize draw for vouchers for the local supermarket for those properties affected by the development.  There was always a “social” element attached to high value contracts and could involve works carried out to a community facility or in the form of apprenticeships.

A further question was asked about contract costs and when developments would be completed in respect of sites at Larch Close and Wellington Way and were they within budget.   The New Build Project Officer stated that discussions with the contractors were on going in respect of Wellington Way and that the handover of units at Larch Close, Grantham would be carried out on a phased handover with some units not handed over until 9 January 2027.

The Committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Cabinet Member for Housing presented the regular update report to Committee in respect of Homelessness and Rough Sleeper Services.  The report covered service developments, funding arrangements and the ongoing pressures across the homelessness support provision. The Change4Lincs rough sleeper service had now ended and was being transitioned to South Kesteven District Council’s Housing Options Team with the creation of two new in-house posts.  Recruitment to the posts was underway and existing staff continued to provide support and sign posting to those who were rough sleeping.

The winter Night shelter which was delivered in partnership with the Ark accommodated 22 individuals during the winter of 2025-26 with 14 individuals being supported into more permanent accommodation.  The shelter was estimated to have saved £34,000 in costs for nightly paid accommodation and provision had been made for the shelter to remain open year round at a cost of £35,000.

A new Homelessness Prevention Service had been launched by the Council in partnership with Living Concepts. The service was based on early intervention to allow a tenancy to be sustained.  The Prevention Service would provide the following:

·       Early Intervention – to prevent homelessness and deliver better outcomes and value for both residents and the Council

·       Comprehensive Support Services – tenancy assessment, support with budgeting, landlord mediation and property services and applications

·       Ongoing Engagement – regular check-ins during critical periods and follow-up after housing moves to maintain engagement and stability

·       System Benefits – effective prevention reduced temporary accommodation needs, eased system pressures and prevented family trauma.   The Service would be monitored regularly through monthly meetings with Living Concepts and it was hoped that the Council would see an improvement in the number of successful homelessness prevention cases.

The report was for noting.

One Member asked if there were many homelessness people in Stamford.  It was stated that in comparison to Grantham there were far fewer in Stamford.  Comments were made in respect of those begging in Stamford and it was stated that often those who were begging were not homeless and that enforcement was the responsibility of the Police not the Council.

A further comment was made in respect of the spike shown in Table 1 of the report on Homelessness case figures for April 2026 was there a reason for this.  The Head of Housing stated that figures often fluctuated and this could be in response to weather conditions or the cost of living, she stated that it was very difficult to have “trends” in relation to homelessness, there were often peaks in January and also in the summer months.  Also the new Renters Rights Act could impact homelessness figures and there were many complex reasons why people became homeless.

Other comments were made in respect of the new Service, and it was stated that this did not replace the Change4Lincs Service.  The new Service was aimed at prevention and would be monitored closely going forward with performance being presented to the Committee in due course.   The work carried out by Change4Lincs would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Committee received the Housing Performance data up to the end of April 2026; each area was presented by the relevant Housing Officer.

Repairs Call Handling

The Head of Technical Services stated that call numbers remained steady and were above target.

Reactive Repairs – All Repairs

Work had been undertaken to review all repairs within WIP (Work in Progress) to ensure that repairs were coded correctly as some repairs had been given earlier priority codes than necessary and that the new Repairs Policy was being followed correctly.  It was noted that more jobs, those that were complex and required multi trade repairs could be moved to a 60 day work code which had had a significant impact on the number of overdue jobs. More guidance and training had been given to call handlers to ensure that repair jobs were coded correctly and this was reflected in emergency and non-emergency jobs which showed an improvement in April.

Damp and Mould

Inspections completed within 14 days had dropped from 81% to 76%.  Analysis had been undertaken with 45 inspection due in April 11 were late which accounted for the percentages, assurance was given that these had since been completed.  Although the Head of Technical Services didn’t have a breakdown of reasons why, it was often due to being unable to access properties.  He confirmed that inspection had been carried out on average within the 14 calendar days required by Awaab’s Law and all emergency jobs had been completed on time.

Voids

There continued to be a positive performance in respect of void turnaround times. Targets set for 2025/26 had been met and targets for 2026/27 were being reviewed.  The average target time at the start of 2025/26 was 80 days this had been reduced to 60 days, improvement in turnaround times continued to progress.

Customer Satisfaction

Tenant satisfaction with overall repairs for April was at 90%. When compared with Housing Mark this was above the lower quartile and moving into the medium quartile.  Those tenants who expressed dissatisfaction with repairs carried out were monitored and followed up.

Planned Works

The delivery of Planned Works were managed against allocated budget.  The Head of Technical Services assured the Committee that those properties failing Decent Home Standards were prioritised.

Aids and Adaptations – new reporting 2026/27

Work continued to be undertaken in the background in respect of Aids and Adaptations with reference being made to the Policy item on the agenda.  Work streams were being managed better due to the new Manager in post with average times being monitored closely.  This was a new reporting area for 2026/27.

Asset Management

The target was that at the end of March 2026 all those properties which had failed the Decent Homes Standard would be addressed.  This excluded those properties where tenants had refused works, 79% of Council owned dwellings currently met the Decent Homes Standard.  The percentage of properties meeting the decent homes standard would reduce every April as property components reached end of life. Components would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Governance and Licensing presented the year end Quarter 4 Key Performance Indicators in respect of performance against the Corporate Plan 2024-2027 for the period 2025/26. 

The Committee received regular reports during the year in respect of the KPI’s.  Currently there were nine metrics/targets that the Committee had set in March 2024, seven of the current actions were rated green, one action was amber and none were red. The Committee were reminded that these were the Committee’s targets and if they were no longer appropriate it was for the Committee to change them.  The amber action was for a target that was off by 10% or where milestone achievement had been delayed but a resolution was in place to achieve the target within a reasonable timeframe.  One action was rated as not applicable as work had not commenced to give a meaningful target or data was unavailable, the metric was currently under review.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Governance and Licensing thanked the Policy Officer, Charles James for the work carried out in respect of the report.  Reference was made to the recent Cabinet meeting which had discussed  Local Government Reorganisation and the potential for LGR to impact some services across the Council, some more than others in respect of the Corporate Plan.  

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Governance and Licensing then made reference to investment day which would coincide with the expiration of the Corporate Plan 2024-27.  It was expected that during 2027/28 the Council would be under a Section 24 Directive which would require the Council to seek and gain consent from the Shadow Authority for all financial transactions over a defined threshold.  It was noted that this could significantly impact delivery of the Council’s business and may risk any meaningful delivery of the Corporate Plan during that final year 2027/28.  During previous reorganisations a scheme of general consent had been introduced to effectively balance the need to prevent financial impacts that would unfairly burden the new unitary authority whilst enabling the current authority to deliver their services.  The key test to utilise the general consent was whether the expenditure was to fulfil the approved actions of the Council’s Corporate Plan in delivering the set revenue budget.  If a similar consent was given during the upcoming LGR the Council may well be able to meaningfully deliver on the Corporate Plan in total during 2027/28.  The 24 Direction for the current reorganisation that was currently being undertaken nationally for Surrey would come in to effect in June 2026 and was being closely monitored to see if a scheme of general consent was to be implemented. The Cabinet Member for Corporate Governance and Licensing stated that this was something that the Committee had to be mindful of as it was likely that changes may have to be carried out in respect of the achievements of the Corporate Plan.

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member for highlighting this to the Committee.

A question relating to the KPI  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The Cabinet Member for Housing presented the report which updated the Committee on the Council’s Choice Based Lettings (CBL) System.  The system provided a fair and transparent process for allocating social housing in accordance with the Housing Allocations Policy.  The CBL had been launched in October 2023 and supported a Housing Register with 992 active applications at 22 May 2026.  Demand remained high with 360 applications received per month, those applications awaiting assessment had been reduced significantly over recent months to 171.  Assessment times were currently approximately six weeks with the oldest outstanding application dated 21 April 2026.  Customer feedback on the system had been positive with applicants demonstrating a good understanding of how the bidding process worked.  The Council worked closely with Social Registered Landlords who also advertised properties through the platform and collaborated with the Allocations Team.  Regular engagement took place with Social Registered Landlord partners and developers which supported the delivery of affordable housing opportunities.  Quarterly allocation meetings were being established to strengthen partnership working and improve the effectiveness of the allocation process.

The Chairman stated that it was a positive report and he was pleased to see the reduction in those applications waiting assessment and asked what had been the key to the reduction.  The Head of Housing stated that a new Senior Housing Allocations Officer was now in post and there had been a number of months when the position had been vacant. It was stated that there would always be a number of applications waiting to be assessed simple due to the stringent process that had to be followed.  

The Committee noted the report.

The report before the Committee, presented by the Cabinet Member for Housing gave an overview of empty homes within the district and the work undertaken in the past year in relation to the four priorities listed within the Empty Homes Strategy 2024.  An Empty Homes Officer was employed on a part-time basis.  The number of empty homes fluctuated monthly and were primarily identified via complaints directly from members of the public, or via Council Tax records with a list of empty homes being provided to the Empty Homes Officer every month.  Once an empty home has been selected a staged approach was taken: 

·       Identify the owner.

·       Visit the site to establish the condition and the impact the property had  on the area.

·       A letter was then sent to the owner together with an Empty Homes questionnaire and assistance that available to bring the property back into use.

·       A second and third letter is sent following the first if not response is received.

·       If there is no response and no identifiable action, future visits were scheduled to review the condition and if action could be taken in the future.

·       If a response is received a dialogue is opened to try and work with owners to either get the property back in to use or to understand way the property is empty.

·       The approach is altered depending upon the action required, such as if the property was insecure or in disrepair and was impacting neighbouring properties.  Enforcement processes would be followed if necessary, under the relevant legislations available to the Council such as the service of boarding up notices to properties open to access or the serving of notices requiring the clearing up of land and treatment for vermin.

·       If owners do not comply works in default could be undertaken and costs recovered.

Due to resources and costs prioritising which empty homes to target was essential as it was not feasible to contact every empty homeowner on a changing list.  Empty Homes that were empty for a period of ten years or more were targeted first.  The process was followed and resulted in four responses to 22 properties targeted.  Reasons for the properties being empty were due to refurbishment, demolition and renovation.  Little or no response was received from the remaining 18.  Empty Homes prioritisation was on going and case progression was often due to the impact they were having on residents, the number of complaints received and Council Tax dept.

The Cabinet Member indicated that since the post holder had been in place 92 visits had been undertaken, 88 letters and contact questionnaires completed.  Since the priority had been in place and the KPI of bring 5 properties back into use made, it had been exceedingly hard to quantify and there were limitations that the Council faced when dealing with empty homes.

A discussion on empty homes followed and the Empty Homes Officer referred to the issues faced by the Council.  An Empty Homes Open Day was proposed August 2026 where  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

The Cabinet Member for Housing presented the report which updated that Committee on the draft Voice of the Tenant Strategy.  The Social Housing Regulation Act (2023) introduced new consumer standards effective from 1 April 2024.  One of the consumer standards is the Transparency, Influence and Accountability standard.  The consumer standard was about being open with tenants and treating them with fairness and respect to enable tenants to access services, raise complaints and influence decision making and hold their landlord to account.

To comply with the standard, the Council engages with tenants and invites them to influence the way we shape and deliver our policies and services.  We also provide opportunities for out tenants to monitor and scrutinise the services we provide.

The draft strategy had been reviewed and updated to reflect the current regulatory framework.  The Council had extended the Key Principles of tenant engagement to be more comprehensive and updated the Menu of Opportunities with three tiers of engagement rather than two to make it clearer on the time commitment required for the different levels of involvement.

Tier, one required a high level of commitment and time as participation at this level enabled tenants to make recommendations to inform decision-making on policies and service delivery. This comprised of the Tenant Panel and Task and Finish Groups.

Tier, two required less commitment and time.  This enabled tenants to give feedback on services they received and also provided an opportunity for the Council to inform tenants about what we were doing or how we had responded to tenant feedback.

Tier, three was the most flexible in terms of time and commitment, allowing tenants to be involved as and when they wish to be.  Most activities could be carried out locally or at home without the need to attend meetings.

There would be an eight week consultation period with tenants which would be both in-person and on-line to maximise engagement with as many tenants as possible.  Feedback from the consultation would be considered before the strategy was submitted to Cabinet. 

The Chairman stated that although he liked the document, he felt that it was very corporately worded and he felt that it required rewording and possible the name of the document needed to be changed, also there was no mention within the document of elected Members who he felt had a crucial role in communication with tenants.  The Head of Housing indicated that she would take on board the comments made.  Further discussion followed in respect of how the document was worded and it was felt that there was a need to move away from “Council speak”. More comments on the content of the document and its wording followed.  The Director of Housing and Projects indicated that more consideration would be given to how the information was presented but stated that the draft was a starting point only.  Following more discussion on the content and how it was presented it was proposed that a workshop be held over the summer for Members  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

Members received a report on a new Aids and Adaptations Policy.   The Regulator or Social Housing sets out the requirement in the Safety and Quality Standard that registered providers must clearly communicate to tenants and relevant organisations how they will assist tenants seeking housing adaptations where appropriate. 

The Policy sets out how the Council would deal with requests for aids and adaptations from Council tenants or household members who were named on the tenancy agreement or a member of the immediate family who was a permanent resident in the household.

To receive aids and adaptions a tenant must meet the disability criteria as set out within the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996.

Aids and adaptations were provided to improve access to the home, improve mobility or help with daily living. Aids were provided by Occupational Health Services and were not provided by the Council.

Consultation in respect of the Policy had been undertaken with the Lead Practitioner for Occupational Therapy at Lincolnshire County Council to ensure that it complied with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and Care Act 2014. Consultation was also being carried out with tenants including those tenants who have used the aids and adaptations service within the last two years.

The Policy was due to go to Cabinet in September.

Members made the following comments in respect of the Policy:

·       Reasons why an adaptation would not be carried out if it adversely affected a property with examples being given by the Head of Housing, it was a case of the longevity of an adaptation being balanced with the needs of the tenant.

·       Cases were dealt with on a case by case basis and Officers worked closely with the Occupational Health Therapists.

·       Who was responsible for the maintenance of the adaptation, that depended on what the adaptation was.

·       Maximum costs for an adaptation and the thresholds in place

·       How cases were prioritised – Officers worked with the OT’s

·       Each case was looked at individually and the needs of the tenant was always taken into account and the availability of suitable properties for adaptation

It was proposed and seconded that the new Aids and Adaptations Policy was recommend to Cabinet for approval.  On being put to the vote this was agreed.

Recommendation

That the new Aids and Adaptations Policy be recommended to Cabinet for approval.

The Cabinet Member for Housing updated the Committee on plans to improve performance across the Repairs and Maintenance work streams.  The recommendation in the report was for the Committee to note the actions taken to improve the Repairs and Maintenance service for tenants and preparations for the Regulatory Inspection process which commenced last February.

Over the last two years the Council had been working hard to improve the repairs and maintenance service for tenants to ensure that the Council met the Regulator of Social Housing’s Safety and Quality Standard.  Reference was made to Section 3 of the report which detailed the actions completed across the service area including the development of a suite of KPI’s for the repairs and maintenance service to monitor performance and inform improvement plans. 

Members were referred to paragraph 3.3 of the report which detailed the actions completed to date.  Over the last two years the following documents had been reviewed and updated:

·       Asset Management Strategy

·       Repairs and Maintenance Policy

·       Damp and Mould Policy

·       Voids Policy

A new Aids and Adaptations Policy had also been compiled for consultation with tenants (previous agenda item).

Paragraph 4 of the report showed the performance improvement with a year on year comparison between April 2025 and April 2026 following the implementation of the improvement plans.

Key priorities of the Service were outlined at paragraph 5 and included the maintenance of service improvement across all workstreams, to clear the final backlog of repairs, ensure that the Council stock condition survey database was kept up to date and ensure plans were in place to bring all properties up to EPC C by 2030.

The following comments were made by Members;

·       Congratulations on the work carried out to improve the service

·       When would the decision be known on the latest bid for the Social Decarbonisation Fund – expected end of June 2026

·       Where problematic tenants monitored – yes  

·       Where there any issues financially that may affect improvement – nothing currently known unless new legislation was proposed

·       The Cabinet Member for Housing stated that there was a possibility that there would be a new Decent Homes Standard which could potentially impact the service.

The Committee noted the update.

The Chairman referred to the recent item considered at Full Council in respect of Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO’s) and the report expected at the Council meeting on 24 September 2026.  As the Chairman of Housing OSC and with the support of the Committee, he requested that the Council report come to the next meeting of the Housing OSC on 17 September 2026 for the Committee to consider the report before Council.  The Director of Housing and Projects and reminded the Committee of the timelines, however it was confirmed that the report could come to Housing OSC before Council.

The Vice-Chairman stated that the Voice of Tenant Strategy needed to be added to the Work Programme for September 2026.

There was nothing urgent to report.

The Chairman thanked all Housing Officers and their Teams for the work that they did and closed the meeting at 16:44.