As of late January 2025 the Council has 231 void properties in Harrogate, Richmondshire and Selby. These properties are live properties with works being undertaken by the Housing Standards Improvements in-house team, the retrofit team and specialist contractors. We currently have six FTE team leaders and 41 direct labour tradespeople consisting of Joiners, Plumbers and maintenance operatives.
North Yorkshire Council is also progressing a retrofit programme, equipping homes with energy efficient measures, an ideal time to do this is when a property is void, reducing disruption to tenants and ensuring high quality properties are allocated.
North Yorkshire council-owned homes to get energy-saving upgrades - BBC News
Void Performance
Average turn around and re-let times: The average void re-let times we have on record are currently much higher than the national average. (December was 142 days vs a median of 43.)
There are two elements to this:
· Firstly, we are carrying out significant works while properties are empty as part of much-needed improvement programmes, which naturally increases the turnaround time. Compared to other landlords, our stock is relatively old, and in some localities historically there has been lower levels of investment than elsewhere. Strategically, investing in significant improvements whilst properties are void allows for a better tenant experience, reducing complaints and avoiding expensive decants.
· The second element is that data collation is currently complicated by legacy/ locality processes and systems and as a result we do not always get the underlying information about how many voids have been re-let in each area. This matters because a very small number of homes that have been empty for a long time skew the average very quickly. Taking September’s figures as an example, seven of the re-lets had an average of 61 days empty, but the remaining home had been empty for 295 days.
At present it is not possible to fully profile our tenant population in terms of their diverse needs and vulnerabilities. Whilst work is underway to increase our data intelligence on our tenants the information we do have available tells us that of those waiting to be allocated housing on North Yorkshire Home Choice:
· 23% of applicants (1226) are aged 60 or above.
· 10% of applicants (590) are aged under 25.
· 49% of main applicants (3040) have identified that they consider themselves to have a disability.
· 65% (4002) of lead applicants are female, and 35% (2164) are male.
· 96.1% are from White ethnic backgrounds.
Lettings Data
Data taken from North Yorkshire Council’s 2024 LAHS return shows that in total 467 void properties were let in 2023/24, this equates to 5.5% of total housing stock. The majority of these properties (453) were let to new tenants to social housing and the majority (245) were in the Harrogate locality.
|
2023/24 |
Harrogate |
Richmondshire |
Selby |
|
Total dwellings let to new tenants to social housing |
235 |
91 |
127 |
|
Total dwellings let through mutual exchanges |
10 |
2 |
2 |
|
Totals |
245 |
93 |
129 |
Tenant Satisfaction Survey
In December 2023, North Yorkshire Council undertook its first survey of tenant satisfaction under the new ‘Tenant Satisfaction Measures’ regulation. The TSM return reported that overall:
· 70% of tenants were satisfied with the service provided by NYC.
· 68% of tenants were satisfied that their home was well maintained.
· 73% of tenants felt that their home was safe.
The full TSM report can be found here: Tenant satisfaction survey 2023 to 2024
Complaints
Between April 1st 2024 and 24th January 2025 NYC Housing Service received 398 complaints:
· 90 (23%) of which were from tenants regarding building fabric concern.
· 79 (20%) of which were from tenants regarding repairs to their property.
· 36 (9%) of which were from tenants regarding damp and mould.
Whilst there is no data available on the number of complaints that have come from new tenants, it is clear that a high percentage of complaints received overall in housing are regarding perceived or actual deficiency in the standard of homes we are responsible for maintaining. Therefore, a review of the lettable standard is an opportunity to increase the standard to which we bring homes prior to let, subsequently reducing dissatisfaction and service requests from tenants.
A desk-based review of practice across the social housing sector has been carried out to establish what tenants in other areas can expect as a minimum standard when their lettings commence.
The review found no consistent standard in the sector, save for compliance with legislation. Providers are taking different approaches, based upon the needs and feedback of their tenants and their organisation’s ability to deliver the agreed standard. Two of the council’s researched (Southwark and Fareham) have reduced their void standard in the face of financial constraints.
Some examples, from a mixture of local authority and housing association providers are linked below.
· Accent - Improving the Standard of our Empty Homes
· Barnsley/ Berneslai Homes - DRAFT MINIMUM VOID STANDARD
· Charnwood BC Void Lettable Standard
· Together Housing What to expect from your home - Together Housing
· Wigan Council - Housing standards for tenants
CIH Guidance - how-to-effectively-manage-void-properties.pdf ????
As well as looking at current practice and standards, it is important to look ahead and consider the way in which the social housing sector is changing and what might be on the horizon in terms of legislation and industry guidance. Decent Homes 2, the review of the Decent Homes Standard is on the horizon and housing providers should be looking ahead to measures likely to be including in it, to prepare for future obligations.
Inside Housing - Sponsored - New future for decent homes
Thermal Comfort
Long term challenges to thermal comfort - To future proof our social homes, climate change must be considered. Current climate projections suggest the UK is likely to experience warmer and wetter climates, social housing stock needs to reflect and be prepared for climate projections for future compliance to the Decent Homes Standards.
Installing humidity monitors could be the first step to provide us with a greater understanding of our tenants’ thermal comfort which will facilitate the necessary action to be taken. In the future, more significance and focus on strong ventilation systems may be required to manage good thermal conditions and further prevent the growth of mould and development of damp.
The complications of ensuring our homes are warm enough during winter months yet cool in the summer months must be considered when future proofing our social homes. Goldsmith Street, a high density social housing project in Norfolk Goldsmith Street | Mikhail Riches has provided an example of how social housing can be designed to account for these challenges by investing in cooling mechanisms such as brise soleil to support solar shading. Considering future climate conditions when investing in new builds may help reduce this potential issue.
Current work on improving ventilation in social housing will help mitigate these potential issues in the future. The Social Decarbonisation Fund (renamed the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund) allocated NYC with £1,772,000 and a further £2,045,107.30 was obtained to facilitate work on our social housings to ensure the social housing stock is energy efficient by improving insulation measures.
By 2030, all our social houses should be rated at a minimum EPC C efficiency standard to support the government’s net zero carbon emission target. The Retrofit team will need to ensure each home is installed with low carbon heating provisions such as heat pumps and our houses should be well insulated to improve energy efficiency. To reduce the incidence of damp reporting, our social houses should be well-ventilated to allow for comfortable thermal conditions throughout the year. Our social houses should be brought to the same standard before reletting.
Fuel poverty is a significant issue in our region, with 14-16% of households in North Yorkshire experiencing fuel poverty, improving the insulation of our social housing reduces heating bills for our tenants but also maintains a comfortable environment which promotes healthy living as the incidence of damp and mould can be reduced. Installation of smart meters as a standard to void properties is also a measure which could assist tenants in energy and finance management.
Floor Coverings
The Decent Homes Standard requires flooring to be provided in kitchens and bathrooms; there is no requirement to provide flooring in other habitable rooms. However, changes to the Welsh Housing Quality Standard in 2023 stipulated “all habitable rooms (bedrooms and living rooms), staircases and landings located within the home should have suitable floor coverings”, it is therefore reasonable to predict an extension of the Decent Homes Standard to include floorings in the future. Under the Welsh standard, it is acceptable to implement a gifting agreement of good quality floor coverings, therefore it is not necessary to replace new flooring upon a change in tenancy.
Currently, it is at the discretion of the surveyor to assess the quality of the existing floor coverings and if it is decided that they are suitable to retain, the property will be advertised as having them, it is then at the new tenants cost to replace them. Where the decision is taken to remove the floor covering, no replacement is given, and it is the tenant’s responsibility to finance.
A report into the experiences of landlords who provide floor covering found one landlord made c.30% less lettings per year due to the reduced turnover of tenants, reducing the void time of our social housing.
Housing Provider ‘Thirteen’ discovered numerous benefits to including flooring within social homes:
· reduction in voids
· fewer repairs as tenants take better care of their property
· fewer rent arrears (reduced from £7 million to £4.8million)
Landlords implementing this higher standard found tenants take better care of their property, were more settled in their community and had greater financially stability. Furthermore, the reduced financial strain associated with turning their house into a home has resulted in happier, healthier tenants. These benefits have mitigated the high upfront costs, with savings being made each year upon implementation. The potential cost of repairs could be mitigated by mandating tenants to sign a waiver indicating their responsibility for repairs or any liability issues.
There is significant movement in this area, by the lobbying of groups such as No Floors No More and partnerships with commercial companies to improve outcomes for tenants. For example, commercial companies Charis and Carpetright have partnered to provide flooring for social housing tenants through their Social Housing Support Initiative. These initiatives have helped supply floor coverings to tenants and reduced the amount of debt incurred by tenants attempting to fund the installation of flooring.
The woman who helped 1,400 people put flooring in their homes - BBC News
Furniture & Floor Coverings - Resident Voice Index
Carpets Fitted in Social Housing Under New Scheme - Housing Industry Leaders
Decoration
Tenants who are new to social housing are often financially vulnerable and may lack the ability to decorate their homes to even the very basic standard. Beyond the financial barriers, many tenants cite disability as a significant barrier to decorating their home. As demonstrated above, 49% of our applicants consider themselves to have a disability, ensuring social houses are decorated to a basic standard eliminates the difficulties tenants face when decorating their
homes.
The ability to decorate their homes is important to tenants, with many tenants believing a decorated property should be the standard. Decorating our social homes to a basic standard may then improve a sense of community as there is a smaller turnover rate of families, promoting a sense of belonging and safety within their community. Offering neutral decoration, with the ability for tenants to redecorate after their introductory period could improve tenant satisfaction as they are able to settle into their home immediately upon the beginning of their tenancy.
Prior to Local Government Review each of the Housing Services in the three former localities of Richmondshire, Harrogate and Selby provided a Decoration Arrangement for their tenants. The former Richmondshire locality had, several years ago, moved to a Paint Pack arrangement which enables new tenants to be provided with a Paint Pack containing water based tinted paint, emulsion, and all accessories required for their specific sized accommodation, i.e. 2-bedroom accommodation, 3-bedroom accommodation, room only with no accessories etc. The Paint Packs are provided via a purchase of goods arrangement with Dulux Decorating Centres (AkzoNovel).
The Housing Management and Reactive Repair service, including void relets, for the former Harrogate locality had also moved to Paint Pack provided via a purchase of goods arrangement with Dulux Decorating Centres.
The arrangement with Dulux Decorating Centres includes the free delivery of the chosen paint pack to the tenant’s home at a time to suit the tenant, removing the need for the tenant to travel and as such removing the associated costs for the tenant.
In 2023 this was extended to the Selby locality, however, different decoration policy/ procedures exist, for example the Selby policy extended decoration support only to ‘hard to let’ properties. This requires consideration and harmonization.
Furniture Support and White Goods
Furniture and white goods can be high-cost investments. Studies have found that many tenants new to social housing may not be able to equip their home to a socially acceptable standard of living, many cannot afford the immediate cost of a fridge-freezer or mattress, going into debt or rent arrears attempting to fund this. A ‘Homes and lived experience’ study found many tenants cannot afford to maintain and decorate their homes. Furniture poverty, therefore, is a considerable concern and can be mitigated through offering furnished or partially furnished housing as part of social housing provision to promote a decent standard of living. For example, North Tyneside offer furnished tenancies. Inside Housing - Comment - The cost benefits of furnished tenancies
‘End Furniture Poverty’ have created a blueprint for the implementation of furniture to void standards. There are two schemes to furnishing that could be implemented; consideration and understanding of tenants’ needs and requirements would enable a greater insight into which model is most appropriate for our tenants. A Furnished Tenancy Agreement provides furniture as part of the tenancy, this improves the standard and consistency of social housing. Alternatively, a Furnished Rental Agreement could allow tenants to rent furniture, providing access to good quality furniture at a reduced cost. Under this model, tenants are given the opportunity to select essential items to be included within their agreement. Tenants in receipt of Universal Credit can apply for additional funding to cover the additional rental costs. Thus, the cost of furnishing homes will be recouped.
Damage to furniture provided through a furniture scheme has been shown to be very low, with less than 3% of items being damaged. Any items found to be damaged can be subject to the standard recharge process, this encourages tenants to look after furniture and promotes pride over their home. Furniture provision is high on many tenants’ agenda, with the Human Cities Institute uncovering 47% of tenants would like their social landlord to provide furniture therefore, including furniture within the social housing offer may improve tenant satisfaction and help create better relationships with tenants.
Asbestos Removal
At present there is no requirement for housing providers to remove all asbestos from our properties, however if asbestos is identified and left in situ there is then an ongoing requirement to manage that risk. Therefore, there are cost and time implications of either decision. The only way to remove the risk is to remove the asbestos. Not all asbestos would need to be removed during void works, some would be removed during other capital works such as roofing and window replacements but, regarding Asbestos Containing Materials (ACMs) which may be present within the home such as under floor tiles, it is worth considering undertaking this work, incorporating it within the lettable standard proactively, in anticipation of future obligations.