Agenda item

The report provides an overview of the national and local policies that guide the Council’s operations as a social landlord, current performance in compliance with these policies, and plans to improve the conditions of our housing stock.

Troy Francis (Corporate Director of Operations, Southern Housing) briefed members on the Council’s partnership with Southern Housing which was a new housing association formed in December 2022 by a merge between Optivo and Southern Housing Group.  He then outlined its vision, mission, and strategic objectives for 2023-26.  With a turnover of £592m, Southern Housing currently owned or managed 77,000 homes in England, among them 30,000 were in London.  It put residents at the heart of its services, as exemplified by the Resident Governance structure and its support to vulnerable residents.  Troy Francis highlighted the patchless and patch models specifically designated for H&F with the former offering more flexible one-stop service while the latter allowed more integration. He went through the profile of its 1,147 homes in H&F and its local priorities.

NOTE: Southern Housing’s presentation is attached as Appendix 2

Councillor Adronie Alford asked about the outcome of their work on damp and mould.  Troy Francis advised that damp and mould was one of the challenges they faced in terms of both services and contractors and said they needed to grip the issue and deliver results.  In response to Councillor Alford’s question about the scheme of independent living for old residents, Troy Francis said that the scheme had not attracted the expected number of applicants. He considered that it was necessary for the Council to strike the right balance and commission different forms of housing to respond to local need. Replying to Councillor Alford’s further enquiry, Troy Francis said that the scheme managers would conduct on-site visits about 3 to 4 times a week.

The Chair asked about the subletting situation among Southern Housing leaseholders.  Troy Francis noted that they had received information through various channels about leaseholders subletting properties without notifying Southern Housing.  Hardeep Majhail (Head of Region (London), Southern Housing) added that they were monitoring the situation and made visits to the properties concerned. 

Private Housing – Licensing and Enforcement

Richard Shwe (Director of Housing) explained that Ed Shaylor (Assistant Director of Housing Standards) reported directly to the Strategic Director of Environment and acted as a critical friend to the Director of Housing to ensure that proper checks and balances were in place to monitor the work of the Council as a landlord.

Ed Shaylor noted that deficiencies in low quality housing could be dealt with by the Council using property licensing and statutory enforcement powers. He discussed the new licensing schemes approved for implementation from June 2022, which included additional licensing for houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) outside the scope of mandatory HMO licensing, and selective licensing for rented dwellings in 24 specified streets.  He also outlined the enforcement actions taken by the Council against those committing housing offences.

Addressing the Chair’s question, Ed Shaylor noted that H&F had approximately 5,000 residential leasehold properties of which over 2,000 were rented out to tenants and that leaseholders were required to notify the landlord for subletting the property.  Sometimes tenants would approach the Council for assistance because of landlords’ inaction. The Council would mediate between the parties and allow the landlords an opportunity to fix the problem. Those landlords who breached the regulations could face enforcement action by the Council.

On the Chair’s further enquiry about rogue landlords, Ed Shaylor referred to the difficulties of dealing some landlord business models and it was not an easy task to track down who the landlord or property owner was.

NOTE: Additional information on rogue landlords is attached as Appendix 3

Councillor Alford referred to properties being subdivided and having unsafe staircases and cramped conditions - with cookers sitting next to beds, for example. She raised concerns that prosecutions and enforcement action did not seem to be taking place against the owners.

Ed Shaylor said that the Council had taken 20 successful prosecutions in the last 9 years and now imposed financial penalties for managing an HMO without a licence or breaching HMO regulations up to £30,000 which was often higher than the fines set in the Magistrate Court. 

The Chair was concerned about maintaining housing standards across the borough as she had observed a number of unfit premises. Ed Shaylor said all new built properties should be developed according to national housing standards.  However, converted properties presented problems. Officers assessed the condition of a range of rented properties and follow-up action would be taken if any of them had space or overcrowding issues.

Councillor Sally Taylor asked how residents could report overcrowding issues anonymously.  Ed Shaylor said whistleblowers could contact officers through the Council’s website or email the housing teams responsible for managing Council housing blocks. Richard Shwe added that the website would soon be revamped to incorporate more joined-up initiatives with the Environment Department.

Councillor Frances Umeh said the Council was committed to raising housing standards for residents in the borough and to hold landlords to account. She appreciated the work of the housing team and the Committee in highlighting the issue of good housing standards for residents.

Councillor Paul Alexander noted that some Council or Housing Association tenants had seen major repair issues take many months to resolve.  He was keen to see a partnership approach going forward to identify the causes and fix issues far quicker. Richard Shwe assured members that the team had put new processes and procedures in place to raise standards and resolve issues faster.

Question from the floor

Adam Bulewski (St Mungo’s United Rep) said being a member of the Renters’ Union, he had witnessed many changes for property renting in the last 15 years and believed the situation would get even worse in the next 10 years. Richard Shwe pointed out that housing had been a national crisis for decades.  Local authorities had sought to improve the situation locally, for example, by turning around voids faster, putting residents first, improving repairs, and improving the relationship between the Council and its contractors.

Councillor Umeh said she agreed that housing was a challenge and a national crisis.  She said social housing was a vital springboard to social and economic prosperity, and the Council had committed to building 3,000 homes in the next 4 years.

Concluding the discussion, the Chair requested the housing team to provide further information in respect of licensing.

ACTION: Ed Shaylor

RESOLVED

That the Committee noted the report.