Housing Landlord Services 

Executive Summary

Progress continues to be made both in terms of operational transformation and in the recorded outputs and outcomes associated with the service. In most areas data quality has improved significantly since January and the impact of this is now being evidenced through the recorded performance. In particular in relation to compliance related performance and the management of risk within the housing stock.

Of particular note this quarter the improvement to remedial works identified through fire inspections is a significant highlight and demonstrates the services ability to now address long standing backlogs of work. Performance in relation to reports of damp and mould is also positive although a degree of seasonality will impact this on account of the pleasant spring and early summer heatwaves.

Where issues still exist is in relation to being able to evidence stock quality. This is largely attributable to an inherited lack of data and an inability to process inspections quickly. This work will be paramount to helping frame up the asset management strategy and investment plans, and currently means the authority is only partially sighted on its adherence to the Decent Homes Standard.

Finally legionella testing has taken a significant downturn (from 100% to just 11.70%). This is due to a significant number of certificates expiring in June and a need for an external contractor to undertake the assessments. It is expected all issues will be resolved by the end of August.

Fire Safety

Proportion of homes for which all required fire risk assessments have been carried out

Month	Target	Performance	Outstanding actions
January	100%	80.50%
February	100%	79.83%
March	100%	83.67%
April	100%	100%	High Risk: 347 Medium Risk: 175
May	100%	100%	High Risk: 326 Medium Risk: 170
June	100%	100%	High Risk: 307 Medium Risk: 98

All of the identified sites have now undergone a fire risk assessment. This has not only helped rationalise the number of remedial actions inherited by the authority but also provided greater assurance to residents as to the safety of their homes. Any actions identified are recorded as either High or Medium / Low risk and apportioned time for completion accordingly (over 1 month for emergency and 3 months for medium). Once the action passes this time it is classed as out of date.

There has been a significant focus on reducing the level of overdue remedial fire actions; especially on the back of achieving 100% of testing. Over June 35 high risk actions were closed alongside 127 medium ones. Most work is linked to either signage, fire doors or loft hatches. Two identified actions have been flagged as extreme (lack of a fire door where there should be one and an issue with ducting); both cases are being expedited as a priority. Progress in some areas has been slow on account of supply chain issues however these challenges have been resolved and the aim is for all outstanding actions to be completed in Q2.

Asbestos

Over the last quarter considerable time and effort has been spent in reviewing the approach taken to asbestos management and ensuring appropriate processes and procedure are in place that will help with the reporting and monitoring of ACMs (Asbestos containing materials) and tracking ongoing management plans.

All asbestos surveys have been completed in the L1 category stock (complex sites) and reports issued to the relevant contractor for actioning. Individual asbestos management plans are in development for these sites and all data will be uploaded to the new asset management system (Planon) by the end of July. The contractor will also be undertaking assessments at L2 and L3 sites with an expected completion of work by October 2025.

In single domestic dwellings a total of 6,668 are held and steps are being taken to assess these records to establish future action. The service received notification of 90 properties with asbestos that needed investigation over the month of June and 50% were attended to in the month. This remains a high priority area to improve the quality and accessibility of the data and further updates on progress will be reported through the quarterly report.

Damp and Mould

In light of the improved weather and extremely mild conditions over spring and into early summer its inevitable that the number of damp and mould reports has fallen, with a reduction of over 50% from January; however, performance in relation to completing cleans in target time is showing a degree of variance over time; with results for this quarter ranging from 26.32% (April) to 58.00% (May)

One notable change to the process that should be flagged is that inspectors are now trained to complete the HHSRS Damp and Mould surveys; this means that the first course of action may not be to clean the site but other remedial works that will prevent the growth and tackle the specific root cause of the issue. When looking specifically at the issue of cleaning there have been more instances of ‘no accesses’ meaning the cleaning cannot take place. A robust process is now in place that alerts the Housing Officer in the instance of a third failed attempt to clean who will look to secure access for the works through legal routes if necessary.

Gas Safety

Over recent months work has been undertaken to help inform the profile of gas safety checks and ensure performance can be maintained following a period of stability for the inspections. For the month of June over 1,000 properties were scheduled to have their inspections (approximately 13% of the stock); therefore, some inspections have been brought forward to help smooth this demand. This has led to an increase of 44 non-compliant properties (to a total of 139); it is likely without this intervention this figure of non-compliant properties would be higher. In addition, the service is actively looking to complete overdue inspections in properties where they were unable to access. This has seen a significant reduction from 144 being tackled through the ‘No Access procedure’ to 84 over the period.

Legionella

Testing arrangements for legionella have been significantly hampered by the culmination of a significant number of expired certificates. This has seen compliance plummet by 88.3% over the month of June.

This highlights an issue regarding forward planning for testing which is being addressed through new contractor arrangements with the required testing back to 86% compliance at the end of July, with full compliance expected by the end of August. In a practical sense this means that 385 properties have been affected by the issue.

Resident involvement

The housing service has also taken significant strides in its compliance with the Involvement and Empowerment standard through the relaunch of the Tenant Voice Forum and Tenant Scrutiny Group. Meetings of the Tenant Voice Forum over the quarter saw them agree a new terms of reference; review the landlord performance data and attend presentations from managers leading on energy efficiency and warm homes projects. The scrutiny group have so far completed an investigation into the lettable standard and made their recommendations to the Council and will now be reviewing the standards in relation to grounds maintenance.

TSM Return

Last year the service changed its Tenant Satisfaction Measures survey from an annual one to quarterly one, administered by external consultants Acuity (specialists in housing market research and analysis). This provides not only consistent research into the customer perceptions of the service but also provides valuable feedback concerning area for improvement. Inevitably given the changes to the service over recent years following LGR satisfaction levels have been slightly below the expected levels; however, this quarter a sizeable jump has been achieved that is reflective of ongoing work to improve the customer experience.

In addition, the level of dissatisfaction reported by participants is down by 4 percentage points; with additional comments provided by respondents show casing a number of factors that influence their satisfaction:

Prompt response to urgent issues

Efficiency of staff

Ease of communication

Despite this feedback some customers did highlight areas for improvement:

Lack of follow up on reported issues

Concerns around major repairs / ongoing maintenance (specifically amongst Selby tenants)

Delays in regard to repairs and maintenance (specifically citing damp and broken boilers)

In terms of other significant results, satisfaction with the property being well maintained, safety and communal areas continues to increase substantially, with 14% increases recorded against satisfaction with communal areas and satisfaction with the home being safe compared to the first TSM survey and an 11% increase in satisfaction to the home being well maintained.

This is further supported by satisfaction increases against the repairs service with satisfaction with the service increasing by 12% between Q4 2024/25 and Q1 2025/26 and clear improvements over time of 13% in satisfaction with time taken to complete repairs compared to the first survey in 2023/24. Of particular note the number of dissatisfied customers is also reducing (down 8% to 11% of respondents being either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the service).

As this is often cited as the key driver to overall satisfaction it is highly likely that the ongoing improvements to the delivery of the service is starting to have positive impacts on the overall satisfaction scores. Maintaining these standards over the longer term will be key in helping the authority demonstrate compliance with the regulatory standard but ultimately it in securing a C2, and ultimately C1 ratings with the regulator.