Agenda item

Resolved: to note the report and to request additional information about - the number of residents in Lewisham Homes properties still affected by the bedroom tax; further information about projected rent levels; re-letting times for voids; and a detailed response about managing asbestos.

4.1      Andrew Potter (Chief Executive, Lewisham Homes) introduced the report. The following key points were noted:

• Lewisham Homes (LH) continued to focus on three priority areas, repairs, resident satisfaction, the new build programme.
• Work was taking place to reduce void periods
• Work to improve resident satisfaction was concentrated on tackling anti-social behaviour.
• It had also been identified that, whilst satisfaction with the decent homes programme was good once work had been completed, satisfaction with decent homes work, whilst it was in progress, was low.
• Some of the upcoming challenges for the organisation would be: the transfer of grounds maintenance contract in-house; the delivery of the new customer service centre and the next phase of the new homes programme.

Andrew Potter (Chief Executive, Lewisham Homes) responded to questions from the Committee, the following key points were noted:

• 69% of staff felt that LH was a good place to work, 8% disagreed.
• When figures for people who were forced to leave LH and apprentices who didn’t secure permanent employment were removed, the figure for staff turnover was less than 10%.
• Levels of sickness were particularly high in caretaking and average across the rest of the organisation.
• LH supported the Lewisham Plus Credit Union with a part time desk in Deptford, as well as promoting the credit union to new tenants. The credit collection team also made residents aware of credit union services.
• The Call Credit contract had only been in place for two months, so no comparison could yet be made with previous years. However, early indications were that recovery of fraudulently let homes was slight up on the previous year.
• Information had been provided in the report about the management of asbestos.
• Lewisham Homes had procedures in place to deal with asbestos but he was unable to provide detailed information at the meeting.
• Further information would be provided about the organisation’s approach to informing residents about the presence of asbestos.
• Lewisham had a multi-agency hoarding protocol and officers worked with partners to ensure support was in place for vulnerable residents.
• Lewisham had been commended for its work with the London Fire Brigade to deal with problematic hoarding.
• There was no evidence that hoarding was more prevalent in social housing than in other tenures.
• The management agreement for Lewisham Homes was due for renewal in 2017. This still represented a risk to the future of the organisation.
• The build programme was a risk for the organisation because it was something new for the organisation.
• Further information would be provided about the five year rental income projections.
• Further information would be provided about the re-let times for void properties, including long-term voids.

4.2      Genevieve Macklin (Head of Strategic Housing) provided the following information about the Lewisham Homes management agreement:

• It was recognised good practice to begin negotiation on the agreement a year and half before it was due to end.
• Officers would be working on the new agreement in mid-2015.
• The aim would be to ensure that there was adaptability going forward.
• Officers would return to the committee with further information about the management agreement at the appropriate time.