Agenda item

RESOLVED:

·         That this report and the work taking place in Lewisham to prepare for the introduction of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, be noted.

Fenella Beckman (Director of Housing Strategy), Simone Russell (Interim Director of Housing Resident Engagement and Services), and Gillian Douglas (Executive Director for Housing) introduced the report. This was followed by questions from the Committee members. The following key points were noted:

1.1. The Committee appreciated Ella McCarthy’s (Partnership Strategy and Insight Manager) efforts for submitting the reports for the Committee meeting within a tight deadline near Christmas 2023.

1.2. In October 2023, Committee members received an informal briefing on the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023. Following that informal briefing, the Committee requested a formal report on the issue.

1.3. Lewisham was amongst the many housing providers that informed the central government that additional funding was needed to cover the new responsibilities set out in the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 as that couldn’t be funded solely from the rent and service charge collection. This was also discussed in the partnership meeting with the Social Housing Regulator. The Regulator had made it clear that they won’t be making allowances for the lack of funding as these new standards were absolute especially around tenant safety and the quality of housing. Officers reported that it was challenging to invest in the existing stock, along with meeting all the new standards. It was recognised that these new standards were needed but also that additional funding was needed to enable housing providers to meet these standards.

It was previously reported by Lewisham Homes that an estimated £600m of investment was needed over the period of 5 years with an actual capital programme of £321m to raise the standard of the housing stock.

1.4. The requirement under Awaab’s Law for landlords to investigate and fix reported health hazards within specified timeframes would mean more people having to be decanted if the landlord couldn’t comply with the timescales for any reason. The specific timeframes under Awaab’s Law hadn’t been finalised yet. Based on discussions so far, it seemed like the timescales could be 7 days for inspection and 3 weeks for completion of work. Officers highlighted that one of the risks from the high-profile publication of these new standards would be raised expectations within residents, potentially prompting disrepair lawyers to capitalise on the situation.

1.5. Hazards included under Awaab’s Law would most likely be similar to the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).

1.6. In December 2023, Lewisham self-referred itself to the Social Housing Regulator. Officers mentioned that they were continuing to have partnership meetings with the Registered Providers in the borough and it was clear that many landlords were struggling with similar challenges.

1.7. Appendix 1 of this report mentioned the new professional qualification requirements included in the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023. It was discussed that Lewisham had always had a good focus on learning and development of its staff with a structured focus on objective setting appraisal processes. Work was ongoing to engage with staff and assess existing relevant qualifications. A mapping exercise was underway to identify job roles that needed new qualifications and how those requirements would be met. For example, the current position was that for a Chartered Institute of Housing qualification, you could use transferable skills and attend a structured interview in order to obtain the qualification.

1.8. From April 2024, the Social Housing Regulator would be able to grant unlimited fines for non-compliance of any regulations or legislation. This combined with the fact that a lot of funds were being spent on disrepair claims was a substantive financial risk. Year-to-date, £1m had already been spent on disrepair compensation claims.

1.9. On the 24^th of January 2024, officers were taking a report to the Mayor and Cabinet seeking permission for the procurement of a full stock condition survey. This report would also seek permission to procure more surveying capacity for the disrepair claims. It was noted that the stock condition survey was necessary and would help the Council understand the current state of its housing stock. This would help in understanding what improvement works were needed so that the capital programme could be planned better.

1.10. Like most landlords, Lewisham had a contract with a research company to collect data on the Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM). Some data on the TSMs was collected quarterly and some monthly.

1.11. There was a need for a sophisticated and co-ordinated approach to capital programme as work for bringing homes to a decent standard was different for street properties compared to a block of flats in a high-rise building. The Council had appointed an expert interim on procurement and contracting to ensure that the Council had a robust approach with the incumbent contractors and that any contracts going forward were efficient in terms of quality, performance and cost.

RESOLVED:

·         That this report and the work taking place in Lewisham to prepare for the introduction of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, be noted.