Voidguard

Jonathan Howarth attended the April meeting to tell us all about Voidguard. He explained to the meeting that a staff project team has spent the last 8 months reviewing how Pennine is currently dealing with empty properties (voids). They have been identifying which staff are involved in preparing a property for re-let, how much money is being spent and how long properties are empty for.

As part of the reviewing process a number of tenants who had recently moved into their property were also consulted to find out their views about how we currently let properties and what are the most important things for tenants. They found that the cleanliness of a property matters most to new tenants and decorations and state of the garden matter the least. They also found that tenants need a lot more information about their new properties and their estate.

The project team has identified:

• That there is a lot of duplication of effort

• Pennine are not using resources as well as they could be

• New tenants are struggling with utilities (gas/electricity)

• There is no consistent view on lettable standards

Pennine is undertaking this review as part of its preparation for the introduction of Choice Based Lettings.

They are anticipating that Choice Based Lettings will lead to a greater demand for properties and Pennine needs to ensure it is able to cope with the demand.

The Voidguard team has identified that by improving efficiency and getting consistency across Calderdale they will be able to reduce the amount of money lost on empty properties. They are proposing to:

• Set up a specialist void team which will deal with all empty properties

• Start to inspect properties prior to tenants moving out in order to know in advance what work will need doing

• Prioritise which properties they put resources into by focussing on properties most in demand

• Reach a stage where tenants move out in the morning and new tenants move in by the afternoon - obviously this will not always happen but in some cases it might be possible to carry out basic works around the new tenant once they have moved in.

• Revise and improve the end of tenancy reward scheme

• Revise and improve the current decorations allowance - Pennine are planning to run some workshops so that they can involve tenants in improving the decoration allowance.

Feedback from the Working Groups

Big Picture Working Group - Ruth Rider

The Big Picture Working Group had recently met with Mark Thompson, Chief Housing Officer, Calderdale MBC to talk about what the Council was doing on housing issues following the launch of the Council's Housing Strategy.

They asked Mark to answer questions on the following themes:

Q. What is the Council doing about affordable housing?

Q. What's being done to improve existing homes

Q. What's being done to bring empty premises into use as housing?

Q. What's the Council's view of homelessness in Calderdale?

Q. Security measures and housing

Q. Is progress being made on affordable warmth?

There's not enough space in the newsletter for Mark's answer but if you want a copy ring 01422 284520 and Beverley or Jo will send you one.

Members of the Big Picture Working Group have also recently attended the Chartered Institute of Housing Regional Conference in Rotherham.

They attended a number of workshops including:

A seminar on service excellence - encouraging better customer care

The Respect Standard for Housing Management - information about how they have reduced the number of ASBO's issued in Sheffield

A talk given by John Bird, Founder of the Big Issue