Regulator’s judgment of council’s housing service upgraded
Improvements across several aspects relating to North Kesteven District Council’s responsibilities as a landlord has led to an upgrade in a judgement on the service.
Last summer the Social Housing Regulator gave a C3 judgement of North Kesteven District Council’s landlord services, which this week (Weds April 29) has been upgraded to a C2 following a period in which the council has worked to address the highlighted issues.
The regulator’s role is to ensure social housing is well managed, financially sound and delivers quality homes and services to tenants and the council. Coun Ian Carrington, Executive Board Member with oversight of Housing, said the council is grateful for the regulator’s support and guidance in driving improvements.
There are four consumer grades in recognition of how well the landlord is performing against a range of consumer standards, with C2 being the second level where some weaknesses are identified in meeting a couple of requirements in two of the standards.
While the regulator’s initial assessment identified full compliance across the three Tenancy, Neighbourhood & Community and Rent standards, it found a serious failing relating to the Safety and Quality Standard because insufficient data on the condition of home was held in the right form; and also a weakness relating to repairs and management of empty homes and insufficient compliance with the standard for Transparency, Influence and Accountability.
Since then, the council has worked closely with the Regulator to address those issues demonstrating it had improved its understanding of the condition of its homes and compliance with the Decent Homes Standard.:
More than 97 per cent of homes now have the necessary survey in place.
There have been improvements in: letting empty homes; reporting complaints; and opportunities for tenant involvement.
High compliance has always been maintained on matters of health and safety.
A contractor improvement plan is in place to address performance and complaints
Coun Carrington said: “With all of this now in place, we are pleased that the regulator has recognised this by publishing its revised C2 Judgement; an improvement which recognises that the council has addressed the serious failing and made progress on the previous areas of weakness.
“As pleased as we are with the improved position, showing that in most areas we are delivering to the required standards, we do recognise that the C2 judgement does still identify some weaknesses in how we do this and that further improvement is needed in a few areas.”
Coun Carrington said: “We continue to work to address those, mindful that there is still more to do on issues of contractor performance, repairs and in better knowing our tenants in order that services can be tailored for any specific needs.
“We continue to invest in new homes, our current homes and in our service, making our homes easier and more comfortable to live in. In these and many other ways we are committed to improving the services our tenants receive.”
Current tenants of the council's 3,900 homes have received further information relating to the regulator’s assessment in direct correspondence, but for further detail or clarity on what the judgement means they should contact their Housing Officer or the Tenant Participation Team.
More information is available on the regulator: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/regulator-of-social-housing
The regulator’s report can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/north-kesteven-district-council