Agenda item

The Cabinet Member(s) will update the Panel on any relevant issues. Panel members may ask questions.

Councillor Cherry Beath asked if there was any further update on the Gypsy & Traveller Site at Carrswood.

The Head of Housing replied that the transit element of site was due to open any day now and that it was set to be fully occupied.  The permanent element of the site has been fully occupied since March.

Councillor Fiona Darey asked if he was aware that the Office of Fair Trading had begun an investigation into high exit fees associated with retirement homes.

The Head of Housing replied that he was not and that he would look into the matter.

Councillor Cherry Beath asked if he had any comment to make on the Governments proposals relating to Affordable Housing.

The Head of Housing replied that it was rather a complicated Bill that relies on a lot of secondary legislation. He said that this was something that he would look to bring back to the Panel in due course.

Councillor Barry Macrae commented that he thought that the figure of an average of 45 weeks to complete adaptations for disabled facilities was not good enough and he asked that this be reviewed in some way.

The Head of Housing replied that Government good practise states that adaptions should be completed within 33 weeks and he agreed that our figures do look poor. He stressed though that a huge amount of work is involved in the process and that the time of recording commences from the very initial call for a request to be assessed to the works being finally completed.

He said that the process begins with the client contacting the Council; then the OTs would undertake an assessment; this would be referred to Housing Services; the assessment would then be used to form a schedule of works;  quotes for the work are then sourced from at least two companies; a formal application including financial assessments and proof of title would need to be assessed and checked; and finally the grant can be approved and the works undertaken by the chosen contractor and finally signed off.  He stated that he does want the Council to try to do better in this area of work.

Councillor Barry Macrae questioned whether the Council were being over optimistic to start recording the time of the process from the first phone call.

The Head of Housing replied that they try to look at the situation from the point of view of the customer and so choose a performance indicator that reflected the customer’s perspective. 

The Chairman asked if he had anything further to add regarding the Additional Licensing Scheme for HMOs.

The Head of Housing said that a Government consultation was underway to extend the criteria of the scheme by removing the need for the property to be three storeys or more high.

He estimated that this would require around 300 – 350 further properties to be licensed.

The Chairman asked if this would be an easy task to identify the properties.

The Head of Housing replied that it could actually be quite hard and that as previously they would hold a publicity campaign, engage with landlords and letting agencies and check Council Tax records.

Councillor Cherry Beath commented that it was good to see some of our empty properties coming back into use.

The Chairman asked if this was a resource hungry process.

The Head of Housing replied that they were struggling to identify new ones, but do have a current database of properties. He reminded the Panel of the facility to report an empty property through the Council’s website.

Councillor Fiona Darey asked if he could inform the Panel of when Empty Property Week is.

The Head of Housing replied that he was not sure of the exact dates but that it was due to held before the end of the year.

Councillor Colin Blackburn asked if there were any incentives for residents to engage with the Council if they have an empty property.

The Head of Housing replied that they are able to offer a considerable amount of advice to the public on this matter and that early contact will more than likely deliver a better outcome.

The Chairman thanked him on behalf of the Panel for his update.