Tenancy
These are the performance indicators for the regulator’s ‘Tenancy’ standards.
| Performance Measure | 2021-2022 | 2022-2023 | 2022-2023 Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current tenant rent arrears, as a percentage of the annual rent debit | 3.01 | 3.61 | <=2.71 |
| Number of evictions for rent arrears | 6 | 2 | N/A |
| Average calendar days to re-let a vacant home (standard works) | 43.9 | 56.24 | <=28 |
| Number of vacant and available to let homes (excluding Lancaster West refurbishment) |
63 | 77 | N/A |
How are we doing?
Arrears, welfare and benefits
With the onset of the war in Ukraine, the resulting rising energy costs and the challenges posed by the cost of living crisis, arrears increased steadily throughout 2022 to 2023, eventually reaching 3.61% at year end.
The Income Team proactively support residents to maximise income while maintaining their tenancies. Our focus is on providing help and advice through early interventions, rather than taking enforcement action. Consequently, litigation has remained at low level - only 24 cases resulted in a court order and only 2 rent evictions took place – one in the south and one in the north of the borough.
Our Welfare Advisers helped 182 tenants recover £192,500 in unclaimed and backdated benefits and pensions. This was more than double the figure achieved in 2021 to 2022. As a result of the Pension Credit campaign we ran in July 2022, we supported 48 tenants to successfully apply for the benefit they were not aware they were entitled to. On average, these applicants received backdated payments of £1,800 and ongoing weekly payments of £51.
We recruited a temporary additional Welfare Adviser to address the increased need for assistance in claiming benefits. They have been supporting tenants with the Department for Work and Pensions’ migration of legacy benefits to Universal Credit.
Many of our tenants have found themselves struggling with multiple debts for the first time in their lives and needing support to navigate the benefits system. We assisted residents through the introduction of financial health checks to identify areas of financial pressure and seeking suitable remedies; these included making affordable repayment plans for rent arrears, securing non-repayable grants and helping to negotiate with debtors such as utilities suppliers, including requests for debt write-offs.
We supported residents with a variety of financial inclusion initiatives, such as taking elderly residents in the south on a monthly ‘Savvy Shopper’ bus trip to a cheaper supermarket out of borough or arranging an additional day at the Ixworth Food Pantry, which offers fresh produce boxes at a fraction of the cost.
We delivered two Winter Wellbeing Market events, one at Chelsea Theatre and the other at Henry Dickens Court. These events featured partner organisations including Green Doctors, Citizens Advice, Campden Charities and a Free Cycle Taxi Service. Both were a resounding success with tenants and provided a blueprint for the Money Cafés rolled out in 2023 to 2024.
Visiting residents
Our home visit service operated well last year, with 1,432 successful home visits undertaken in 2022 to 2023. These visits allow us to meet residents, talk with them about their home and identify any additional help or support they may require.
These visits also provide an opportunity to ensure we have up-to-date information and contact details, so we can plan, tailor, and deliver our services to meet the needs of our residents. Additionally, it allows us to carry out a visual inspection of the property, identify and report any issues.
Last year during home visits, Visiting Officers in Resident Services:
- raised 78 damp and mould cases for investigation
- identified 180 smoke alarms that were not working and of the need for 159 alarms to be installed
- identified 31 residents unable to self-evaluate in an emergency and referred them to our Health and Safety team for person-centred fire risk assessments
- identified 121 properties with no carbon monoxide detector
- identified 72 faulty door closers
- made referrals for 60 occupational therapy assessments
- completed 988 equality monitoring forms, helping us to understand the different backgrounds and needs of our residents
- identified 12 cases of hoarding.
Issues identified by the visiting officers are passed over to the appropriate team to follow up and complete.
Voids and lettings
We work hard to reduce the number of homes that are currently empty and minimise the overall re-let times for vacant properties. The average re-let times were directly impacted this year by challenges experienced with contractors and new workforce challenges, which the team has worked hard to overcome. We ended 2022 to 2023 with 20% fewer terminated tenancies compared to the previous year, which had a direct impact on the number of properties we were able to let to new tenants this year.
We recognise that the average number of calendar days taken to re-let a vacant home was not as low as it should have been, and we have been working on improving this figure. To help tackle this, we merged our Lettings and Reservicing teams, which has simplified the point of contact for new residents and has resulted in increased customer satisfaction with repairs in the first 12 weeks of new tenancies.
Great starts in our homes
Currently, wherever needed, we have been renewing kitchens and bathrooms in empty properties, to bring the properties up to a better standard. By carrying out these works, the quality of accommodation offered to our residents in their home is improved.
We continue to support local care leavers by providing enhanced housing. We also worked closely with Family Services to arrange workshops for young people to develop skills for life and supporting their next steps towards independent living.
Working smarter
During 2022 to 2023 our IT team greatly improved our systems to help colleagues serve residents better. They also launched the first phase of the customer ‘self-serve’ portal in November 2022. This allows residents to better manage their rent accounts online. More self-serve functions will be delivered during 2023 to 2024.
In November 2022, corporate IT services that were previously provided jointly by Westminster Council and RBKC reverted to their former state, with each authority now having control of its own respective IT systems. This means Housing Management is now much better supported in the wider IT service, with greater focus on digital self-serve for residents, and better data and options to interact online.