Minutes:
Councillor Ian Wingfield, cabinet member for housing management presented this item.
A summary of the presentation is given below:
Southwark is the largest social landlord in London which consists mainly of council tenants, leaseholders and tenant management co operations.
• New national Housing Strategy
• Welfare reforms: Cuts to housing benefits, Southwark to look at less affordable means of housing people possibly outside the borough.
• New affordable rent regime: Housing associations would take on new build where 80% should be affordable market rent. In Southwark around 20,000 people are waiting to be housed and the list is growing.
• Need to increase council housing rents by law and invest more in larger properties to meet the needs of families that are in overcrowded living arrangements.
• Key facts and figures about council housing in Southwark:
43.4% of households in Southwark living in social rented housing, 39,043 are Southwark Council tenanted properties, 12,632 are Southwark Council homeowners, 16 Tenant Management Organisations (TMOs) providing services to 3,571 tenanted and homeowner properties.
• Customer contact centre – in negotiations with Vagrant.
• Area management – housing officers to be based within the local housing estate areas. Many complaints related to housing tenants and leaseholders.
• Service charges – introduce a raft of charges – e.g. leaseholders would receive an itemised bill from the council.
• Southwark building services now under the council – brought back in house.
• Creation of a new Housing Department lead by a new Strategic Director, Gerri Scott who has a wealth of experience in housing.
• 326M programme to make all Council homes warm, dry and safe within 5 years.
• £9m of savings delivered for the HRA this year and mobile working introduced.
• Housing Scrutiny Improvement plan for the Repairs Service implemented.
• Services for homeowners improved and 3 new TMOs currently under development.
The chair thanked Councillor Wingfield for his presentation and responding to questions.