63% of Council tenants say lack of car parking provision is a problem in their area

Annual Council tenants satisfaction survey results have been published. Not surprisingly they show little change for the views record last year.

The results are based on the views of 595 tenants who returned the Councils survey form

83% of tenants area satisfied with the overall service provided by the (Council) landlord

Highest level of dissatisfaction relates to poor parking provision in estates. Despite funding having been made available, Council officials seem unable to deliver the additional parking pal-bys in locations that have been identified. It is a problem in parts of the Westfield Ward where 6 schemes, some dating back as far as 2016, have yet to be started. Only one, in Spurr Court, has been completed recently.

There are other areas where tenants say improvements are needed

59% say dog fouling is a problem
59% Are unhappy with the state of roads and footpaths
55% say rubbish and litter is a problem in their area
48% say drug use or dealing is a problem in their area.
44% say disruptive teenagers are a problem in their area
46% say drunk or rowdy behaviour is an issue

The Council was criticised by 1/3 tenants who said the landlord did not listen to their views. This was a marked increase in dissatisfaction since the previous survey was completed.

In 2018 the York Federation of Tenants Associations was wound up, with no independent voice now articulating residents concerns in many of the City’s estates.

£23,620 being written off in York for 4 Council tenant arrears

The York Councils Executive member with responsible for housing is being asked to write off the bad debts of 4 former Council tenants.

The amount involved is nearly £6000 each.

With average Council house rents around £300 a month, it means that these former tenants didn’t pay any rent for around 18 months.

They are unlikely to have been housing benefit cases as the rent payable in those cases is usually minimal.

The tenants apparently absconded between 2 and 5 years ago.

The identities of the tenants involved are not being disclosed. In the past “naming names” has sometimes allowed the Council to trace those who have absconded. It is not clear why the Council has changed its policy and granted anonymity in these cases.

The Council says that if it does trace the individuals concerned they will still be required to pay what they owe.

Backing for York Council housing – stock transfer option to be abandoned

LibDem policy to buy more homes for rent on open market also set to be adopted

A major new report on the York Councils Housing Revenue Account is set to be debated next week.

There are two pieces of good news in it.

First the Council is set to abandon its plans to hive off its Council housing to an “Arm’s Length Management Organisation”. The justification for this always seemed very fragile and recent revelations about the way in which some of these “ALMOs” have operated would have been enough to cause a rethink. The Grenfell Towers Inquiry may reveal even more.

Now claims that the government would continue to force down Council house rents, making the housing account unviable, have proved to be groundless.

Similarly, a government threat, to make Council’s sell off high value Council Houses when they became vacant, has also been struck into the long grass.

The Council said, when it originally announced the review, that it would spend £200,000 on consultants. The report doesn’t reveal how much of that budget has been spent. Hopefully not much

Perhaps even more importantly, a Liberal Democrat policy favouring increasing the number of Council homes available in the City, is about to be adopted.

The Council will use a £20 million fund to purchase empty properties on the open market. Most of this money will come from the accumulated profit currently showing on the housing account. New “right to buy” receipts will also be used.

Some former Council houses will be repurchased while other empty properties may also be brought into use.

This was the policy so bitterly opposed by Labour when they were in office in the City between 2011 and 2015. Prices were lower then, so more might have been achieved if an initiative had been taken more quickly.

How precisely the £20m fund will be managed is unclear. Hopefully it will not be used as an excuse for a risky cavalier foray into housing development.

Full marks though to the Council’s Executive for at least trying to address the housing problems in the City.

So how safe are Council flats in York?

We’ve been out checking today

Clearly a check needs to be made on those blocks which have not recently been redecorated to ensure notices are up to date.

Fire procedure notice

We think that the housing department needs to proactively communicate with tenants to reassure them following this weeks tragic news from London.

Combustible storage notice

York has relatively few high rise blocks but, even at those with 2 or 3 storeys, checks need to be made on alarm systems, lighting, fire doors and electrical safety.

The results of the latest Fire Service safety audit needs to be publicly displayed in each block

We think that tenants should be offered smoke alarms and free electrical equipment safety checks.

We hope that the council will ensure that both primary and secondary safety requirements are highlighted in any planning decisions made on new or modernised flat developments ( including conversions such as the one agreed for the former Nestle factory as recently as Thursday).

Fire exit direction sign

Finally the Council needs to reconsider whether it should be consulting on transferring its stock into the management of an “arms length company”. This weeks events point to the insensitivity of such arrangements with both tenants and Councillors frustrated at a lack of engagement by officials.

Better to refine the tried and tested Council housing model which at least allows tenants to exercise some control through the ballot box.

The present system is far from perfect but appears to be better than the other available options.

York Council housing at risk

The York Council has decided to spend £200,000 surveying views on whether to ditch its Council house management responsibilities.

council-housing-at-risk

Some Councillors want to transfer management of the homes to an independent company as was done in Leeds.

We think that they are wrong.

When polled 15 years ago on a similar proposal tenants voted overwhelmingly to retain the York Council as a landlord.

More recently, when asked whether they were satisfied with the Council as a landlord 89% said that they were.

The housing account currently shows a surplus although government policies could change this in the medium term. Central government sets rent levels (which they are reducing as a way of controlling benefit claims).

They also plan to sell off some Council houses, when they become vacant, to the highest bidder as a way of balancing their books. The Liberal Democrats have started a petition opposing this “sell off”. Click here

They also intend to charge “commercial rents” to tenants that they regard as “wealthy”. This plan, at least, wasn’t taken into account in a gloomy and selective officer report which prompted the outsourcing plot.

The plan was opposed by Andrew Waller and a Green Party Councillor when debated by the Council’s Executive but slipped through anyway.

The resulting turmoil and indecision will be exacerbated by the resignation of the Head of Housing Services. His post will be filled on a temporary basis via an internal appointment.

All in all, we think that the Council has more pressing issues to address.

They should abandon this plan which is a waste of time and money

£200,000 for consultant’s report on a York Council housing stock transfer is “premature”

With the York Council showing little inclination or ability to bring several major change projects to a conclusion (Guildhall, York Central, Community Stadium, ring road improvements etc.), you would think that the last thing they would want to do is add another project to a growing list.

It seems not, as the “Executive” is set on reopening the debate about whether to hive off its Council Housing activities. It is little more than a decade since tenants rejected the idea of having their tenancies transferred to either a Housing Association or quasi-independent “arm’s length company”.

It’s not as though the Council’s decision to outsource activities like econ
omic development/tourism/markets has been an outstanding success. The bodies are largely self-serving and unaccountable (while still sucking in large amounts of public money).

It seems that Tories in the city want to rid themselves of Council housing responsibilities in the wake of the central government decision to reduce rent levels by 1% a year until 2019 (an attempt to reduce the cost of rent rebates). This could eat into the £3 million+ a year surplus that the York housing account currently makes.

Facts 1 Confusion also surrounds the government’s plan to force Council’s to sell vacant “higher value” Council houses on the open market, to help to subsidise the sale of housing association properties to their tenants.

The effects of both these policies are far from clear. It is at least possible that social housing sales to sitting tenants will be very low even with the substantial discounts.

Council house management in York is far from perfect. We have often criticised the maintenance regime on communal areas and garage blocks. But that requires a change in management attitudes. It does not suggest a change in ownership and with it a loss of democratic accountability.

Spending £200,000 on employing consultants to engineer change is both profligate and premature. It won’t produce a single extra affordable rent property in the City.

The effects of government policy will be clearer in a couple of years’ time. The Council should concentrate its limited resources on other more pressing issues in the meantime.

Report extarct

Threat to York Council housing

It looks like Tory Councillors are following up their threat to demolish many Council house in York.

Council house building The idea was first raised in February in a report that was rushed through the Council with little debate and no consultation.

Now an item has been placed in the Council’s forward plan which lists upcoming decisions.

It includes another opaque statement which is bound to cause concern amongst tenants. A report will recommend that the Council undertakes “a full housing stock options appraisal and at the same time develop tenant and staff panels and establish an ad-hoc cross party member scrutiny panel to consider the long term sustainability of the service and assess the different organisational governance models to support the final decision making process”.

So 15 years after tenants in York decisively rejected a move, which would have seen their homes transferred to a housing association, it looks like the idea is being revived.

For a while the neo privatisation of Council housing was a key Labour party policy. It saw several authorities in the 1990’s transfer their housing stock to housing associations. Some were relatively successful but they were outnumbered by many which completely lost contact with their tenants. Lack of accountability became -and still is – a major issue in some Cities. So called “Arms Length Management Organisations” have fared little better.

In York tenants decisively voted to remain with the Council.

While we have not been impressed with several aspects of the management of Council housing in the City over the last 5 years, we believe that a shake up in the people involved will lead to improvements.

Some communal areas are neglected by housing managers in York

Problems can be traced to a lack of attention to detail particularly in communal area maintenance and estate improvements.

Housing standards are generally good. Even the system built homes – the target of Tory criticism in February – continue to provide accommodation which is regarded as satisfactory by most occupants.

The housing account has built up a £20 million surplus although it continues to carry a £120 million historic debt burden. Council house sale levels – even after recent increases to discount rates – remain modest.

However, the Council may have to contribute towards the costs involved in the present governments scheme to discount the sale of resident’s association properties.

Successive councils have failed to use funding streams such as the new homes bonus to pay for additional Council homes. They have failed to supplement stocks by buying on the open market when prices are favourable.

The Council has in recent years also failed to support local Residents Associations and is now even consulting on reducing their influence on the use of the annual estate improvement budget.

Weaker tenant representation will make it easier for politicians to impose drastic change without proper discussion.

A meeting to discuss the – currently secret – plans will take place on 13^th October.

The distribution of Council houses in York by ward is:

Ward	No Council houses
Acomb	398
Bishopthorpe	66
Clifton	891
Copmanthorpe	41
Dringhouses	414
Fishergate	143
Fulford	120
Guildhall	723
Heworth	1258
Holgate	447
Hull Rd	698
Micklegate	568
Osbaldwick	78
Rawcliffe	19
Rural West	95
Westfield	1717
Wheldrake	44
TOTAL	7720

We also understand that a meeting on 29^th September is likely to look again at the discredited plan to develop the garage site to the rear of Newbury Avenue.

Council house account makes huge £4.3 million surplus in York

The Housing Revenue Account was budgeted to make a surplus of £2,624k in 2015/16.

A report to a meeting taking place today says the estimates were badly wrong

“There has been an overspend of £639k on repairs and maintenance, mainly due to the use of sub-contractors for high value repairs to resolve damp issues at a number of properties.

Mixed views from tenants on housing services in York

This was offset by a number of underspends in

general maintenance (£72k),
the painting programme (£150k)
decoration allowances (£49k) plus
£178k on utilities,
£436k from delays in capital schemes that are funded from revenue,
£248k lower than budgeted cost of capital,
£107k of additional interest income and
£257k from lower than budgeted levels of arrears and bad debts.

This resulted in an overall surplus of £4,344k and therefore an underspend of £1,720k”.

Tenants area likely to be unhappy.

There have been complaints about poor maintenance standards on some amenity and garage areas while requests for improved car parking provision on many estates are taking an excessive time to process.

The Council needs to tackle these issues quickly now that it has the funds available

Garage areas are neglected in many estates

Now York Housing department axes garden competition

Latest Streets Ahead newsletter gives little prominence to Council plans

Hard on the heels of Saturdays revelation, that housing officials in York are scrapping a garden help scheme for disabled tenants, we are now told that the annual garden competition – labeled as “Homegrown” – is also being axed.

Both decisions have been made without any consultation with tenants.

Nor have the moves been discussed publicly by York Councillors at any of their meetings.

They both appear to reflect a new trend in housing policy with the appearance of publicly visible areas having a very low priority.

The department has been under constant pressure for failing to maintain garage areas and suspending – in many estates – the provision of additional car parking facilities. The result has been badly damaged grass verges.

In some areas like Foxwood the local residents association run garden competitions aimed at all residents. These will continue.but without any support from the York Council.

York Tory housing chief set to end disabled garden help scheme

Letters are being sent out by the Council saying that disabled and elderly tenants who get help in maintaining the gardens at their properties will have to pay in future.

Overgrown garage area

Apparently a secret decision has been taken by the Conservative Councillor, who heads the housing department, that the free scheme must end next year.

It is the latest in a series of decisions targeting Council tenants in York. Two months ago the same Councillor endorsed a strategy which could see hundreds of Council houses demolished.

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