Agenda item

The Committee considered the Carmarthenshire Homes Standard Plus (CHS+) Programme Plan for 2016-2019. Members were advised that the CHS+ programme was grounded in the work of the previous Carmarthenshire Home Standard programme, completed in 2015, in order to maintain and improve on the work already undertaken. Three key aspects of the Plan were to:

·         Support tenants and residents with issues such as Welfare Reform, getting services right, saving tenants money in the home, digital inclusion and active ageing

·         Investing in homes to maintain standards

·         Provide more homes to increase supply of affordable housing

The Committee welcomed the Plan and thanked the Head of Housing & Public Protection and his staff for the excellent work that had already been achieved and the continued support provided by officers to the Council’s tenants.

The following issues were raised in relation to the report:

Reference was made to the programme of housing repairs and reference was made to certain houses in the same estates being repaired or re-rendered whilst others were not. The Head of Housing & Public Protection informed the Committee that the re-rendering programme was undertaken on the basis of need which would suggest why some houses had been completed and not others. He informed the Committee that a review of the rendering / painting programme was being carried out by the Environment Department and that communication with local members on such matters was essential. 

In response to a question on investing in existing housing stock, the Head of Housing & Public Protection reminded the Committee that the Authority had a legal duty to maintain the houses upgraded under the former CHS programme at this level as well as improving the ‘affordability’ of the homes by making them cheaper to run by installing energy efficient light bulbs for instance. Any improvements or replacements identified by officers during the annual ‘home checks’ would be included on an on-going work programme. The Authority was also seeking to change or convert homes that were not suitable for current needs as well as improving the appearance of the estates themselves.  

It was asked how often Carbon Monoxide monitors were checked. The Head of Housing & Public Protection reminded the Committee that Carmarthenshire County Council had been the first Authority to include Carbon Monoxide monitors as standard, which was above the national requirements. He informed the Committee that these monitors along with smoke alarms and appliances such as boilers and fires were checked on an annual basis.

Clarification was sought as to the reason for increasing the provision to write-off bad debts as the report also stated that rent arrears had reduced during the past twelve months. The Head of Housing & Public Protection informed the Committee that this write-off provision was available in order to assist tenants who might be struggling to pay their rent and to stay in their homes. The intention was to prevent potential eviction by working more flexibly with tenants to manage their debts. He reassured the Committee that for those who could pay but refused to, the Authority did undertake approximately 20 evictions per year.

In response to a comment on the decisions of some tenants to turn down improvements to their properties, the Head of Housing & Public Protection acknowledged that there was provision within the programme to accommodate requests from these tenants, should they wish to do so. Properties that had not been upgraded to the CHS were typically upgraded when they became vacant. 

A question was asked as to the involvement of tenants in the new programme. The Head of Housing & Public Protection stated that the success of the initial CHS programme was due to the tenant involvement in the process. However, now that the programme had drawn to a close, officers would be looking at new ways of engaging with tenants, especially as traditional methods such as community meetings were not so well attended. New methods of engagement such as the use of social media would be explored further. 

Further detail of the plan to provide more homes was sought. The Head of Housing & Public Protection informed the Committee that the Authority was seeking opportunities to utilise Housing Revenue Account (HRA) funding to increase the number of tenancies managed by the Authority’s own Social Lettings Agency, bring empty homes back into use, buy back private homes. 

Reference was made to garage sites and it was asked whether these could be better utilised, to provide additional parking for instance. The Head of Housing & Public Protection reminded the Committee that there were approximately 1,500 garages/garage plots across the county and their status (e.g. whether they were rented through separate tenancy agreements or privately owned) also varied greatly from site to site. To date, the service’s approach had been to work on a site-by-site basis rather than implement an authority-wide approach, as it was the local tenants and elected members that knew what was best for each site. He added that whilst there was no maintenance programme in place for garages, there were some funds available to assist local communities to transform garage sites. However, the final decision for what to do with specific sites had to be made by the local communities. The Head of Housing & Public Protection also suggested that officers present a comprehensive report on garage sites to the Committee at a future date.

Reference was made to the appearance of many estates and it was suggested that one option for improvement would be to collect grass cuttings, rather than letting them rot on the newly mowed grass. The Head of Housing & Public Protection informed the Committee that there was currently some work underway in conjunction with the Environment Department to extend the grass cutting programme as the growing season appeared to be increasing due to the variable climatic conditions of recent years. However, he added that the Authority did not collect cuttings as this added approximately £300,000 to the cost of cutting.

Additional suggestions were made regarding the appearance of the Authority’s housing estates including using smaller grassed areas for additional parking as well as planting wild flowers to assist with biodiversity. The Head of Housing & Public Protection acknowledged the suggestions and added that estates had not been built to accommodate 2 or more vehicles per household. If a community approached the Authority with such proposals, officers would consider it as part of an environmental improvement scheme but there would need to be strong community backing and a business case made via the HRA business process. He added that for other improvement projects such as planting flowers, this was again an activity that could be proposed by local tenants and he referred to a recent project through which a home improvement store had donated flowers and bedding plants to a particular estate as part of the time credits programme. In response to a further query on time credits, he advised the Committee that the programme was not fully operational across the county as yet but to date, approximately 10,000 hours of additional voluntary activity had been recorded. He agreed to circulate further details of the programme to the Committee. 

Clarification was sought as to the links with the Swansea Bay City Region. The Head of Housing & Public Protection suggested that the CHS programme had arguably been the largest regeneration project undertaken in the county to date and it was felt that the benefits of the housing improvements realised should be catalogued. Officers were currently preparing a paper in conjunction with other housing practitioners which linked in with previous research work with Cardiff and Swansea Universities which had focussed on the health and well-being of tenants and the link with housing standards. 

In response to a question on the installation of Wi-Fi facilities in sheltered schemes, the Head of Housing & Public Protection stated that this was available in the communal areas only as individual tenants often had their own private telephone lines and internet access in their own rooms. 

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that:

6.1       The report be received.

6.2       It be recommended to the Executive Board that it confirm the vision of CHS+ and the financial and delivery programme over the next three years.

6.3       It be recommended to the Executive Board that it confirm submission of the plan to the Welsh Government.