New Council homes to be built in York over next 12 months

Building work on 22 new City of York Council homes begins this year.

Groundworks have started on six houses on Pottery Lane. The two-bedroomed homes in Heworth are aimed at families and will be built by ESH Property Services.

Work will begin in February at Fenwick Street off Bishopthorpe Road where eight two-bedroomed apartments are being built for tenants looking to downsize to more manageable homes . The aim is to free more, larger council houses for growing families.

Under the last Labour Government Council house building reached a, post second world war, low.

Later this Spring, construction will also start on eight new homes at Chaloners Road, Dringhouses providing two, two-bedroomed houses and six two-bedroomed apartments for people in housing need.

All will be built by ESH Property Services to lifetime homes standards. This allows them to be adapted to meet a tenant’s changing needs, and all will achieve high levels of fuel efficiency through insulation and heating systems.

Meanwhile, the first tenants of Lindsey House, a new development of 14 council apartments in Holgate bought from RHW Developement, moved into their new homes in December last year.

Across the city, eight new apartments built by Transcore are nearing completion at Hewley Avenue, Tang Hall.

York Central – consultation meeting dates

Have your say on York Central proposals
York central land ownership. Yellow -Network Rail, Purple - Railway Museum, Red - York Council taxpayers

York central land ownership. Yellow -Network Rail, Purple – Railway Museum, Red – York Council taxpayers

Residents and businesses are invited to have their say on the future of York’s largest brownfield site from this month.

Plans were unveiled last month by City of York Council, Network Rail and the National Railway Museum (NRM), to consult with residents and businesses on what has been labelled as the King’s Cross of the North.
Consultation will take place between Monday 18 January and Monday 15 February, via:

Drop-in sessions, at:

  • • West Offices: Station Rise, Thursday 21 January 10am – 4pm
  • • National Railway Museum: Saturday 30 January 10am – 4pm
  • • Holgate and Micklegate joint ward committee: Tuesday 19 January St Paul’s Church, Holgate Road, 6-8pm
  • • York Railway Station: Wednesday 3 February 4pm – 7pm
  • •  Public Exhibition: West Offices, Station Rise. Throughout the duration of the consultation period.

Online at: www.york.gov.uk/consultations

Printed copies of the consultation document and questionnaire are also available at West Offices, Hazel Court and all York Libraries and Explore Centres.

Over the past 12-months, the council has been working in collaboration with Network Rail, the NRM and the Homes and Communities Agency towards a high level masterplan of York Central – a 72 hectare site located in the heart of the city.

The city’s new vision could provide up to 120,000 sq m of high-quality office space, creating up to 7,000 new jobs, a new residential community for up to 2,500 new homes, with opportunities to expand and enhance the National Railway Museum, make improvements to the railway station and create a network of vibrant public squares, green spaces and routes linking to surrounding neighbourhoods.
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York to get £4.6 million “New Homes Bonus”

In figures released by the government today, York has been allocated a New Homes Bonus payment of £4.6 million.

DerwentthorpeThe bonus reflects the number of new properties built in the City.

The government says that  646 homes were built in the City between October 2014 and October 2015, . 

That is the largest number of houses built for several years and reflects the City’s climb out of the recession.

Additionally, 67 empty homes were brought into use.

134 “affordable” homes were built which attracted a “premium” on the bonus.

York is receiving a New Homes Bonus of £3.6 million in the current year.

Although intended to encourage house building, the York Council has tended to use the housing bonus payments to underpin its general capital and revenue programmes. (See also NHB 2013)

 

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

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.”

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.