New council homes completed on Lindsey Avenue

A development of 14 new council homes is almost complete.

Pack of cards developmentThe apartments have been built on the site of the former Pack of Cards pub on Lindsey Avenue by local contractor Woodhouse Barry.

The purchase of the whole block has been completed by the council’s housing department in the first such arrangement of its kind in the city. The first tenants moved into the apartments on 14 December.

The former public house had been on the market for 18 months but no interest had been expressed in running it as a public house or in purchasing it as a commercial development opportunity.

However it was subsequently purchased by the York-based developer RHW Developments. The planning application was submitted in late March 2014 and the acquisition price paid by the council in stages during construction.

The flats have been built to high energy efficiency levels – Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4 – and to Lifetime Homes’ standards to ensure they can be easily modified as tenants’ needs change.

With easy access to shops, bus routes, medical services and a Post Office, the homes are prioritised for people with good tenancy records and tenants aged over 55 wishing to downsize thereby freeing up larger homes for growing families.

Meanwhile, tenants of eight new homes at Hewley Avenue will be moving into the two-bedroomed apartments in the coming weeks.

Early in the new year, work will start on eight new homes at Chaloners Road providing two houses and six apartments, and construction of eight apartments at Fenwick Street will begin, as well as six houses on Pottery Lane.

For information and advice on your housing options, visit www.york.gov.uk/housingoptions or call 01904 554500.

Student housing under review

City of York Council’s third, five-year Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licensing programme is to be considered at Executive Member for Housing and Safer Neighbourhoods on 16 December.

The programme aims to further improve the sector by ensuring that homes meet expected standards and are well-managed, and the session will also consider streamlining and making the scheme more cost effective.

The first two schemes operated from 2006 and 2011. The new scheme that will run from 2016, is proposed to have a new condition: licence holders must demonstrate that they have the required up-to-date knowledge and skills to operate a HMO. They should be able to show that they have attended, as a minimum, a one-day professional development course provided by the council, or alternative courses which have been recognised by the council as meeting the necessary standards.
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Council tenants in York face more restrictions

Pets to be banned from blocks of flats?

The Council has published a list of changes to the tenancy rules which will apply to tenants. The major change is that success tenancies (when the tenant dies) will only be available for spouses/partners.  Other long term occupants of a property might be offered a tenancy of a size appropriate for their needs.

CatMost controversial proposal may be a suggestion from a tenants group that there be an outright ban, on tenants living in flats, from keeping a pet. It is likely that existing pets would not be affected.

The Councils permission to keep a pet in any of its properties (click here to read proposals) would be required. Bizarrely this appears to include goldfish. No more than  2 pets per home would be allowed (so bad news for mice and rabbits possibly) .

While a ban on keeping potentially noisy – or aggressive – dogs or more exotic animals, in a particular block of flats, might gain some support, it would seem harsh in the extreme to prevent elderly single people from having the companionship provided by (say) a cat.

Some of the other proposed changes may be more welcome. New conditions proposed include:

  • MedievalLawOffice-fullRequirement not to excessively clutter the home so as to cause health and safety problems, access to essential services and damage to the property. Note: There has been a big increase in behaviour which can be described as hoarding. Advice that CYC will remove any items left in communal to keep environment sterile in line with current procedures and relevant legislation.
  • Garden section – “You must keep your garden neat and tidy this includes managing the lawn, removing weeds, pruning hedges, shrubs and trees. If the garden is overgrown and you do not have a good reason for not doing the work yourself, we may do the work and charge you a reasonable cost for doing it. Section on trees has been expanded to: You are responsible for any trees that are within the boundary of the Property but you (or someone on your behalf) cannot cut down trees and hedges within the boundaries of your home without first getting written Council permission. You must not plant very large or fast growing trees or conifer species in the gardens of the property or that may cause damage, nuisance or obstruction. If you think that a tree may be dangerous you must report Annex B this to us. Where we decide that any trees or shrubs are a nuisance or dangerous we will prune, replace or remove”.
  • Tenants cannot “park a variety of vehicles including a motor home or boat within the boundaries of your home, including the front and rear garden, or take them over council owned grass verges without providing a hard standing to a specified standard and a car crossing over the pavement or path. You must not keep a vehicle or vehicles within the boundary of the property that have no road tax or insurance without the express permission of City of York Council Housing Services”.
  • Tenant must not store rubbish, furniture, household appliances or any unsightly objects in their garden, or in any shared garden.
  • Occupying the property – if a tenant is away for more than one month without notifying Housing, they will deem them as no longer living there and seek possession.
  • Communal (shared) Areas – tenants and their visitors cannot smoke in communal areas and congregate, especially at night as this may cause a nuisance to others in the block

Flexible tenancy start dates are proposed along with 52 week rent payments (i.e. no “free” weeks).

The proposals are being discussed at a meeting taking place on 16th December.  A 6 week consultation period with tenants  – starting in mid December – is promised.

270 social housing tenants in York face big rent hike under “Pay to Stay” legislation

‘Pay to stay’ law would force social tenants to declare income

The York Council has revealed that 270 tenants with high earning may be required to pay the market rent for their homes from 2017.

Rent levels in York

Rent levels in York

Announced in the Budget, the ‘pay to stay’ policy means social housing tenants with household incomes over £30,000, or over £40,000 in London, would have to pay a market or near market level of rent. The measure would come into effect in April 2017.

The government had previously said that  it might introduce legislation requiring tenants to declare their incomes in future but said all income raised would be available for investment in affordable housing.

The Budget document said while Housing Associations will keep the extra money to fund development, Councils must hand it to the Treasury.

We think this will be ‘pay to go’: people will decide to exercise their “right to buy”

The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates the policy would affect 10% of social housing tenants.

Councils fear collecting the data would be expensive and difficult, particularly for existing tenants and when tenants’ earnings change.

Legislation will be included on a Housing Bill, which is also set to introduce the extension of the right-to-buy (discounts) to housing association tenants

Doherty Walk parking area gets “go ahead”

Matrix surface protection planned for this grassed area

Matrix surface protection planned for this grassed area

The badly damaged grassed area in Doherty Walk – which is used for car parking – will have matrix protection installed.

The move has been confirmed by the Council following strong representations from the local residents association. The proposal was also backed by Cllr Sheena Jackson and the housing departments local estate manager.

It has taken several months to secure funding for the £16,000 improvement, work on which is expected to start in the spring.

Matrix surface protection has been used extensively elsewhere in the Westfield Ward.. It has proved to be popular in locations such as St Stephens Square and Windsor Garth.

The process involves installing a plastic matrix on an area and allowing grass to grow through. It has the advantage that it continues to look like a natural grassed area, allowing safe recreational use. It continues to be mowed in the same way and water drains naturally reducing the risk of flooding. Vehicles can drive over the matrix surface without damaging the grass.

The Council is under pressure to provide similar improvements at other locations on the west of the City.

While the Doherty Walk changes are manly being funded from the housing account (rent payments), other areas may benefit from the recently revived “Ward Committee” funding pot.

 

Foxwood Residents Association to discuss lockers, parking etc on Wednesday

The Foxwood Residents Association meets on Wednesday (7:00pm, Community Centre) and will discuss the new lockers which are being provided for flats in the area.
The meeting – which is open to all residents living in the Foxwood area – will also hear how plans to provide matrix protection, for the grassed parking area in Doherty Walk, are progressing.
Design of lockers planned for Foxwood flats

Design of lockers planned for Foxwood flats

Matrix surface protection planned for this grassed area

Matrix surface protection planned for this grassed area

Peasholme Centre to tackle more challenging homeless cases

The Council is being asked to agree that in future the Peaseholme centre on Fishergate  accepts more challenging homeless cases.

In future “more chaotic/ high risk customers who are also vulnerable” may be directed to the centre and could remain there for longer period of time.

Details of the changes can be read by clicking here

The Council describes the services that it currently provides at the centre as “a supported accommodation centre for 22 people, staffed 24 hours a day. It is situated at 4 Fishergate and caters for single homeless men and women or couples without children.

The hostel is primarily referral based (from another project of self referrals). All offers of accommodation are subject to a risk assessment.

All residents are from York or have a local connection to York.

Residents are at a stage in their lives where they want to move towards more stable long-term accommodation options.
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Salt mines introduce overtime working as York Council claims it is among the UK’s top social landlords

Appaling neglect on York Council estates

Appaling neglect on York Council estates

The City of York Council has issued a media release saying that it will “shortly publish and share its annual report for 2014/15 revealing that it is among the UK’s top-performing social landlords”.

All tenants and leaseholders will receive a copy.

The report is noticeably silent on complaints about the poor maintenance on garage and communal areas, lack of parking provision and insensitive housing management practices which even Councillors are unable to break through.
Salt pile for use by York Council Housing management

Salt pile for use by York Council Housing management officials

The report, apparently produced by the “Tenant Scrutiny Panel” of six council tenants, looks at how the council has performed in the previous 12 months and shows that York is one of the best-performing local authority landlords in the country in a number of areas*.

The claims include scores “revealing that just under nine out of 10 tenants responding to the Tenant Satisfaction Survey were satisfied with the overall service we provide, and that 81% were satisfied with their repairs and maintenance service. Just over eight out of ten were satisfied with the overall appearance of their neighbourhood”.

“One highlight of the past year has been the work on Le Tour Way, off Beckfield Lane which completed in 2015, and which is the second development of new homes built as part of the council’s house building programme. It is a mixed development of nine apartments for tenants aged 55 and over, a further nine council houses and nine more houses for market sale”.

“Developing ‘Community Hub’ services to tenants have progressed with a new community facility opening at ‘Space 217’ on Lindsey Avenue. It offers sessions for tenants to meet estate managers and open-door events with money and employment advisors”.

“12 council homes had loft conversions built for growing families, 665 families were given advice that prevented them becoming homeless, 40 flats were sound-proofed and we evicted 33 tenants who did not pay their rent”.

The future holds a number of challenges for the service which will be addressed alongside considering how to improve service delivery in the coming year.

The claims contrast with our experience of Council housing management in the City over the last few months.
The department now seems to take little pride in local neighbourhoods and regularly turns a blind eye to issues.
The result is that many estates are deteriorating
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York Road Oakhaven older persons home plans announced

Will be replaced with an “extra care” facility.
Oakhaven site plan - clckc to enlarge

Oakhaven site plan – click to enlarge

Following a public consultation exercise, the Council is being recommended to go ahead with the conversion of the Oakhaven care home site on York Road into an “extra care” facility.

The City is gearing up to meet an expected 50% increase in the number of residents who will be aged over 75 by 2030.

This forms part of the Council’s plan to provide, by the end of 2018, 525 new units of accommodation of which 343 will serve those with high care needs including dementia.  “225 out of date care beds will be replaced”.

Another home – Grove House on Penleys Grove Street – will also be closed. That site will be sold in order to finance the improvements at other facilities for the elderly.

A report, being considered on Thursday, acknowledges that most “extra care” facilities are located on the east of the Ouse. However it fails to recognise the demand for more accommodation for elderly people on the Lowfields school site.

Instead in a separate report the Council is being asked to develop such facilities at the Burnholme school site.

Report fails to recognise the demand to establish more accommodation for elderly people on the Lowfields school site

Report fails to recognise the need for more accommodation for elderly people on the Lowfields school site, which has been left empty and derelict by the Council for over 3 years.

On Lowfields the report says, “The use of the Lowfields site for specialist accommodation with care for older people has been the subject of previous procurement which concluded that such development was unaffordable. However, we continue to examine the use of this site to meet housing, health and care objectives”.

Which means officials have made no progress on marketing the site?

The Oakhaven replacement will provide only 50 of the 525 beds needed to satisfy demand in the City

 The papers reveal that the Council will not run the replacement facility at Oakhaven.

Instead it will seek a “partner” to fund, build and operate the extra care scheme. The Council is also relying on another private sector home being constructed at the Terry’s factory site (which received planning permission last week).

It will also sell off the Windsor House home in Ascot Way.

The consultation exercise concluded, “That 97% of questionnaire respondents agreed that bigger bedrooms, en-suite facilities, wider corridors and more social space should be key features of residential care homes. Bigger bedrooms give more social space for residents to entertain visitors, they can accommodate the resident’s own furniture and bigger rooms give staff more space in which to work and support residents, particularly where bed hoists need to be used”.

Work on the Oakhaven Extra care home is expected to start in early 2017 and may be available for occupation in May 2018.

Given the Council’s shambolic record on project management, we doubt if we will see any improvements much before the end of the decade.