Tenants asked to grade council services

This week City of York Council is asking tenants to complete its annual Tenant Satisfaction Survey with new questions on internet use.

The survey content has been criticised in the past for not asking about the maintenance of garage and communal areas & for ignoring problems with issues like the lack of parking provision

The survey includes tenants of council housing as well as those at York’s three Gypsy and Traveller sites.

The survey will be sent out to 2,500 randomly-selected tenant households and will ask questions around how satisfied tenants are with their homes, neighbourhoods and a range of landlord services. They will be able send the survey back by post or fill it out onlineTenants survey 2015.

The council-run survey is confidential and is large enough to reflect the views of the majority of council tenants.

The survey covers a number of different service areas including repairs and maintenance, contact with customer services and experience of the council’s complaints procedure, as well as gas servicing and safety checks on properties.

It also asks about satisfaction with local neighbourhoods in areas such as noise, anti-social behaviour, grounds maintenance and community involvement.

This year, the survey has new questions asking tenants about how they use and access the internet, to help inform the development of council services.

Tenants’ feedback will be included in the Tenant and Leaseholder Annual Report and will be examined by the Tenant Scrutiny Panel, set up in 2012 to help champion the interests of local tenants.

Surveys should be returned by Tuesday 1 December and all returned surveys will go into a prize draw to win one of three £50 high street vouchers.

Tenants who have any queries should call 01904 551550 and select option 2 or option 4, or email housing.csa@york.gov.uk

Councillor David Carr, Executive Member for Housing and Safer Neighbourhoods said: “We value what residents tell us and their views  will help us shape the future direction of the service we provide. There are difficult challenges ahead and the feedback we get will help us to decide how to meet them.”

House sales buoyant in West York

Still a properties available for less than £125,000
Moor Lane character property

Moor Lane character property

A wide range of properties have been sold in west York during the last few months. They include a one bed  terraced at  17, Hinton Avenue, YO24 3NW for £125,000,  a two bed terraced at 1, Vincent Way, YO24 3HZ for £165,000, a three bed terraced  at 54, Westfield Place, YO24 3HW for £178,000 and a four bed detached at 105, Foxwood Lane, YO24 3LQ for £284,000.

Properties currently on the market include a 2 bed flat at Silverdale Court at £140,000, a 3 bed semi Tedder Road for £215,000 and a four bedroomed property at Eden Close for £325.000. Move in straight away (no chain) properties include a 2 bed semi at The Wandle, Acomb, York for £149,950, a 3 bed semi  at Kinbrace Drive, York, YO24 for £215,000 and a 4 bed detached on Alexa Court, York, YO24 for £289,950.

Ascot Way flat

Ascot Way flat

Currently the cheapest property listed is for a flat in Ascot Way at £110,000 and a retirement flat in Front Street for the same amount

Building plots for single homes are currently advertised at around £85,000 (Thanet Road).

Cut price bargains include a flat at New Lane for £150,000 and a two bed character property at Old Moor Lane for £250,000

Properties available to rent include a 2 bed terrace at Jervis Road for £795 per month,  a 3 bed terrace in Mildred Grove for £875 pm and a 4 bed semi at Moorgarth Avenue for £1250.

Listings of over 80 properties in the YO24 area  can be found by clicking here

House price graph Oct 2015

Homeless numbers hit record low in York

The number of residents accepted in York as being “homeless” was down to 105 during the last financial year.

Homelessness peaked at 460 in 2003 and has fallen gradually each year since then.

On 31st March, 65 people were living in temporary accommodation – again an all time low.

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

The figures have been published at a time when the Council will on Monday have its first public discussion on a decision made by the last Labour controlled Council to fit armrests on several City centre benches.  Initially the arm rest were welcomed particularly by the elderly and people with disabilities who found that the rests made it easier to get up from the seats.

The modification was agreed without consultation and in a “behind closed doors” decision typical of the way that the last Council did its business. It later emerged that the change was intended to prevent people lying down on the benches and had been targeted at “street drinkers”.

The new Council is right to debate the issue in public.  It is removes the armrests it will face criticism from disability campaigners. If it doesn’t,  it will be accused of targeting vulnerable homeless.

Rather more constructively the same meeting will also discuss refreshing the City’s “Homeless Strategy

NB Council house rent arrears gradually increased under the last Labour Council. The total amount owed went up from £431,231 in 2011/12 to £529,016 by the end of March 2015

Landlords helped to tackle damp, mould and too much cold

mould 6To support landlords improve the quality and living conditions of York’s private tenants, City of York Council is running a course on combating cold, damp and mould.

Excess cold is one of the biggest problems in private rented properties in York, largely because of the high number of older, energy-inefficient houses in York. Each year, over 50 per cent of complaints received by the council from tenants in private rented accommodation in York are about condensation and mould – largely caused by cold and poor ventilation – and the complaints peak during the winter months.

To help landlords and agents avoid these issues arising in the first instance and to help deal effectively with them when they arise, a short course is being run. The session will give:
• Latest research on avoiding these problems in the first instance
• Affordable and effective solutions to cold, damp and mould
• Case studies on causes and remedies for damp and mould
• Advice to share with tenants on avoiding condensation and mould.
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New law means from 1 October private rented homes must have working smoke alarms on each floor

Smoke-AlarmsTo offer greater protection to tenants in the private rented sector, from 1 October, a new law requires that private landlords must fit all of their properties with smoke alarms by this date.

The law (Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015) says that a working fire alarm must be fitted on each storey with a room which is wholly or partly used as living accommodation.

While the law says that it’s the landlord’s responsibility to make sure the alarm is working when a tenancy starts after the 1 October, tenants must regularly check that it is working. If it is not and it is a battery-powered detector they should change the batteries or let their landlord know if it is a mains wired alarm.

The law also says a carbon monoxide alarm must be fitted in any room which has a coal fire, wood burning stove or similar solid fuel burning appliance, and where the room is partly or wholly used as living accommodation.

The landlord or manager of a property failing to meet the new regulations could face a fine of up to £5,000.

Please contact the Council’s Housing Standards and Adaptations Team at housing.standards@york.gov.uk or on 01904 552300 if you have any concerns.

Drugs and housing – mixed messages

Two Councillors were using the media to tell the York Council what it should be doing last week. One was right, the other wrong.

Drugs

One commentator hit the nail of the head. She said that the scale of drug abuse problems in the city should be more generally understood.

She was right to do so.  drug-misuse_blackpool

While local police officers often conduct high profile drugs raids, the level of reports – for what some regard as a victim less crime – almost certainly disguises the real level of abuse.

Crime stats reveal that only 202 drug related crime reports were made in the City during the year ending in July. This was 2.8% of the total crimes reported.

This compares to 3510 reports of “anti social behaviour” during the same period.

Anecdotal evidence paints a different picture.

York’s public toilets are frequently misused by drug users who leave their paraphernalia lying around. This poses a threat to other users and to cleaning staff.

So more candour about drug related issues is needed.

Newbury Avenue

A snide contribution from a Heworth Ward Councillor claimed that the development of flats on the Newbury Avenue garage site should go ahead immediately.

Cars parked on grassed amenity area in Windsor Garth

Cars parked on grassed amenity area in Windsor Garth

She clearly had little knowledge of the scale of problems already evident in the area mainly as a result of the late running development of the Our Lady’s school site.

Acute parking problems and traffic issues have been exacerbated by the development while road surfaces – and in particular the speed tables – have been badly damaged.

Some residents are now resorting to parking on grassed amenity areas (see photo right) while the Council still refuses to release much needed estate improvement funding  to the area “because to doesn’t have a residents association”.

The Council is right to pause any additional building work in the area at least until it sorts out existing issues with public services.

York housing waiting list falls to 1546

The number of residents on the social housing waiting list in York fell from 2311 in 2014 to 1546 in March 2015.

During last year 241 people were rehoused by Housing Associations in the City.

That figure compared to 209 in the previous year.

454 people from the housing waiting list were offered accommodation in Council houses.

That is down from a high of 551 which was seen in 2012.

Garden maintenance scheme failure angers York tenants

Path overgrown

Path overgrown

Council tenants entitled to free garden maintenance have been angered by delays in cutting back overgrown vegetation this summer.

The Councils housing department offers  a free gardening service for elderly or disabled council tenants who have no-one else to help, cutting grass five times and hedges twice between April and October (weather permitting).

The scheme has run for many years but periodically it seems to fall behind schedule causing substantial inconvenience for some of its vulnerable clients.

This summer we have seen one example where an elderly tenant, living in the Foxwood area, complained on five occasions that her garden was becoming overgrown and unsafe.

Following an admission to hospital, upon her return home a few weeks later, she found that the access path was overgrown – a potential hazard for the less nimble – while weeds had started to overgrow the windows.

Window engulfed by weeds

Window engulfed by weeds

Local councillors have pledged to follow up individual complaints but it seems that basic contract supervision arrangements – and complaint handling systems – have badly let down several vulnerable residents this summer

NB. The garden maintenance contract was awarded to Oakdale NE Ltd in June 2014.  The two year contract was estimated to be worth £140,000.

York Council to impose new responsibilities on letting agents – and fines for those who don’t meet them

LandlordNew laws to better regulate the private rented sector will be considered by the Executive Member for Housing and Safer Neighbourhoods on 25 August.

The recommendation is to introduce, for the first time in the sector, fixed penalty notices for letting agents and landlords who are found to be deliberately flouting the law.

The new legislation requires that:

  • all letting and management agents must belong to a redress scheme to ensure any complaints by landlords or tenants are dealt with fairly. Nationally there are three approved and government-backed schemes available for managing or letting agencies to join with joining costs ranging from £170 to £350 per annum.
  • all letting agents must display details of all their fees and charges on their websites and in their offices for clarity and to enable landlords and tenants to shop around and promote transparency within the sector. In line with the Consumer Rights Act, all agents must display all charges as well, as well as the redress scheme they belong to.
  • all landlords must install smoke detectors on every storey of every rented property and fit carbon monoxide alarms in every room where there is a solid fuel-burning appliance. From 1 October 2015, all private sector landlords must ensure that there are working detectors at the start of every new tenancy. (Legislation around this for houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) is already in existence.)

Being the enforcing authority, the council’s Executive Member will also be asked to agree how the new legislation will be implemented and set levels of fines that the council can charge for non-compliance. The recommendation is for a maximum £5,000 penalty for each instance of non-compliance and to delegate the power to the Housing Services Manager who will be given discretion to lower the fine in extenuating circumstances.

The council will be working with landlords to ensure that they understand the implications of the new laws and are invited to contact the Housing Standards and Adaptations Service for further advice by emailing housing.standards@york.gov.uk or by telephoning 01904 552300 or by regularly looking for updates on the council’s website www.york.gov.uk

The Decision Session will take place on Friday 25 August at West Offices from 6.30pm and is open to members of the public or is available to watch live online from: www.york.gov.uk/webcasts

To find out more about the report, or to attend, visit: http://modgov.york.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=875&MId=9040