Agenda item

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 be validated by the Planned Works team and those requiring replacement would be added to the Capital Programme.

 

Stock Condition

 

95% of Council owned dwellings had a stock condition survey and 93% of Council owned dwellings had a survey that had been completed in the last five years which was a head of target.    In the coming year a further 2,000 properties will require surveying.

 

One Member questioned the Head of Technical Services on what was considered “aids and adaptations”, wet rooms, star lifts, level access showers etc and the budget to which the Head of Technical Services stated that aids and adaptations were categorized as either minor or major and these were budgeted for accordingly within budgets.

 

Further questions were asked concerning the numbers of cases in respect of damp and mould were the repairs lower or more efficient and also was it known how much rental income had been received following the void turnaround figures. 

 

The Head of Technical Services referred to the dedicated team in place which focused on damp and mould cases together with service improvement plans and the Business Support Manager focusing on this area and prioritising the work required.

 

In respect of the Voids and rental income the Head of Technical Services stated that he would have to come back to the Member.

ØAction

 

To confirm the amount of rental income received following the reduction in days for void properties.

 

One Member questioned the number of cases where repeat repairs were encountered and the Head of Technical Services indicated that repair complaints were monitored to see if there were any reoccurring trends in respect of call back complaints.  Check processes were in place and any concerns about the quality of works would be followed up with physical inspections and any remedial work undertaken within resources available.  The Director of Housing and Projects indicated that the number of complaints for the year was 90 and this was split 50/50 between housing and technical services with roughly 15 complaints received per month.

 

Another question was asked in respect of the Decent Homes standards and meeting the targets as the presentation slide and report content seemed to contradict themselves.  The Director of Housing and Projects clarified the numbers stating that by the end of March 2026 100% of homes would have met the Decent Home Standard, however from the new financial year this figure would reset and Members were referred to page 35 of the agenda pack which gave more context.

 

A further question was asked about the number of replacement kitchens and budgets to which the Head of Technical Services responded.

 

Allocations and Lettings Call Handling

 

High number of calls were being dealt with and were above target.  Although allocations were on line it was recognised that not everyone had on-line access and a refresh of information was being undertaken. 

 

Housing Options

 

Last years figure had been included for context and indicated that more family temporary accommodation was required in 2025 where as currently this was a more equal split between family and single accommodation.

 

The number of homelessness approaches was similar to the previous year and it was stated that it was difficult to have “trends” within the Homelessness Service.  The number of rough sleepers had fallen slightly and the number of successful homeless outcomes had increased slightly.

 

Allocations

 

Reference was made to the new Senior Allocations Officer who was now in post and the reduction in the number of complete housing register applications waiting for assessment which had halved.  Length of time to assess applications had decreased from two months to six weeks with the oldest outstanding application dated 18 March 2026.  Numbers on the housing register had decreased as more stringent assessments were taking place with clearer training being given in respect of assessments.  Offers made on housing were lower due to less availability of properties both from the Council and Housing Association properties.

 

Tenancy Management

 

There had been a spike in new ASB reports but it was felt that this could be due to school holidays. The ASB Officer, part of the Public Protection Team worked alongside Housing Officers.

 

Tenancy checks were on target, although there had been a slight dip in March 2026.  It was stated that evictions were carried out as a last resort only and Officers worked with tenants to help sustain a tenancy wherever possible. The number of notices issued in April were down slightly from March.

 

A Member made reference to organisations that had a “chatbot” within their website to help people 24/7 and he asked if this had been considered at South Kesteven for those who struggled to obtain information.

 

The Director of Housing and Projects indicated that she would contact the Head of Service whose responsibility included the website to discuss whether this was an option that could be considered.

 

Compliance

 

On behalf of the Head of Service, Health & Safety, Emergency Planning and Housing Compliance the Director of Housing and Projects presented the Compliance data.

 

Performance in respect of Legionella, Asbestos, Fire Risk Assessments and Smoke/CO were all at 100%.Gas stood at 99.54% and the Committee were reminded that three attempts were made to access properties to carry out gas inspections and in instances where access could not be gained the Council applied for warrants to access properties.

 

At April 2026 there were 139 non-complaint electrical inspections outstanding – 97.62% compliant which although below target was the best position that electric inspections had been in for some time, unfortunately there were not the same powers in respect of electrical inspections as there were for gas inspections.  Officers worked with tenants to gain access and unless a requested repair was urgent, repairs would not be carried out until access had been granted for an electrical inspection to take place.

 

Lifts were within target and the only issue was in respect of lighting  within a lift which had lowered figures slightly but was not a health and safety issue.

 

 

 

 

Housing Compliance – Outstanding Remedial Actions

 

The total number of remedial actions at the time the report was published stood at 59, none were danger to life C1, there were 16 where work was on going to access properties for electrical inspections, C2 and there were 40 C3, improvement recommended for gas and 3 for Legionella.

 

Compliance – Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) Remedial Actions

 

The total number of outstanding actions in April 2026 stood at 233 of these none were high, 34 were medium and 199 low.  52 Actions had been closed off in April 2026.  Between April 2025 and March 2026 there had been a total of 1607 actions all of which had been closed off.

 

The Chairman thanked Officers and the relevant Housing Teams for their work within the Housing Service.