Agenda item

To receive the report of Amena Matin, Head of Regeneration & Growth.

RECEIVED the report of Amena Matin, Head of Regeneration and Growth.

NOTED

1.    The partnership arrangements outlined in the report seek to deliver on the commitment to ensure all residents, regardless of whether they are council tenants or housing association tenants, are provided with good homes, in well-connected neighbourhoods and the creation of management of safe, healthy and confident communities.

2.    There are currently 39 stock owning Registered Providers (RPS) (also known as Housing Associations) in the Borough with a total of 8566 homes. This represents 6.8% of the Boroughs housing stock in 2019.

3.    In 2020, the Council set out an approach to establish a new way of working with Housing Associations (also known as Registered Providers) and a range of Affordable Housing Providers to maximise contributors towards the delivery of the Council’s Good Growth Housing Strategy and contribution to housing supply delivery of 12,460 homes over the Local Plan period.

4.    A range of activities have taken place to build relationships with Housing Associations over the pandemic and the proposed arrangements will continue to be outcome focussed.

5.    To continue to establish a strong collaboration, the Council will seek to establish a ‘Charter for Delivering Better Housing Outcomes’ and creating an ‘Affordable Housing Developer Framework’. Regular engagement meetings will continue and the suggested work plan for these in 2022/23 is attached as Appendix A to the agenda.

6.    Further information was provided on Enabling Development, Skills and Social Mobility and Nominations.

7.    In response to Members’ queries regarding the numbers of social housing stock it was advised that Enfield generally has lower levels compared to other Boroughs with much of that being older stock.

8.    The overall supply of new homes has reduced over the past few years which has reduced overall churn of new lets for people on the housing register.

9.    In response to a question raised about understanding the market issues better, it was advised that the Council has appointed a Housing Enabling Team to engage landowners, Registered Providers and the planning service to establish better intelligence on the local market to inform policy.

10. The key to delivering homes in the borough is the need for affordable housing grant which Registered Providers will need to secure on a programme basis similar to the Council’s own arrangements with the Greater London Authority (GLA). There are currently 11 Registered Providers who have grant allocations and actively progressing schemes under the current Affordable Homes programme (2016-2023) and Enfield Council are working with them to accelerate through the planning system or during construction.

11. The Chair welcomed the report in terms of Housing Associations (HAs) and asked if this sort of report was duplicated in other Local Authorities (LAs) in London. Officers responded by saying that Enfield is at the forefront of LAs in London with regards to engagement with Registered Providers (RPs) and Housing Association Partners and it was not thought that any other Boroughs were as pro-active.

12. Members raised concerns about the ongoing issues they continue to experience when attempting to liaise with Housing Associations over various issues such as repairs, health and safety and crime hotspots on estates and despite regularly raising these complaints with the relevant HA responses are not received.

13. Members also questioned whether meetings still took place between the Council and HAs as in the past regular engagement meetings were held between Council Officers and the HA Chief Executives, and these had proved most useful for discussing and resolving issues.

14. It was advised that regular Housing Operation meetings are held quarterly at which the Leader of the Council addresses problems with the HAs Chief Executives as and when they arise. Joanne Drew, Director of Housing and Regeneration also encouraged Members to forward any concerns to her and she would also raise these accordingly.

15. In conclusion it was noted that the Housing Association market is changing but the Council is committed to working with all residents across the Borough regardless of who their Landlord is, and ensuring that residents are treated fairly, with respect and fee safe and secure in their homes. This can only be achieved if Housing Associations proactively work with the Council to deliver on that shared commitment and common goal.

The Scrutiny Panel agreed to the following recommendations:

(i)            Given the challenges Councillors have with HAs/RPs and lack of responsiveness it was recommended that a Communications Strategy be implemented (best practice and senior level engagement with HAs).

(ii)          Housing Operations meetings – Councillors to be provided with dates of these meetings so that they can feedback their concerns/queries.

(iii)         Officers to advise Councillors on the correct process for escalating complaints.