Agenda item

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

Members received an update report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services on housing matters and the following points were made.

·         The Head of Estates noted that a high level of ASB was being reported across City estates at present, featuring enviro-crime in particular. Whilst each case was swiftly dealt with, Officers were reviewing reporting practices and seeking to identify the underlying causes for the increase.

·         Gas servicing checks had been carried out by Carillion and 98.34% of City estate properties currently held CP12 gas safety certificates. This was below target but an improvement on 2015/16.

·         A Member noted that the time period of the report and of the Estate Management section in particular was October 2016-March 2017, which made the report contents rather dated given it was now July 2017. The Head of Estates noted that monthly figures were available and could be provided to Members.

·         In response to a comment from a Member regarding the length of time it took to re-let a City property, the Assistant Director of Housing and Neighbourhoods replied that the level of checks undertaken prior to the let of social housing was very intensive, which delayed the process. Moreover the City often took the opportunity to renovate vacant properties prior to them being relet,

Marianne Fredericks arrived at this point of the meeting.

·         In response to a comment from a Member, the Assistant Director of Housing and Neighbourhoods agreed to provide a monthly dashboard covering applications to the City’s housing register.

RECEIVED