Agenda item

(a)       That the Committee note the significant increases in housing needs across the county and the growing pressures in regard to social housing which was not in line with the supply of available homes locally; and

(b)       That the Committee note the customer feedback following survey work and the progress in relation to opportunities for service improvement and in particular digital transformation.

The Housing & Prevention Service Manager introduced a report on the Single Access Route to Housing (SARTH) which was a partnership between all the major providers of social housing in North Wales, covering the local authority areas of Conwy County Borough Council, Denbighshire and Flintshire.

The Council managed the housing register on behalf of Flintshire’s Social Housing Partners (Flintshire County Council, Clwyd Alyn Housing, Wales and West Housing, Grwp Cynefin and Adra Housing Association) and a single Common Housing Register provided the list of all eligible applicants for social housing. 

The Housing & Prevention Service Manager explained that the number of applicants accepted onto the Common Housing Register had grown significantly over the past three years.  This was putting increasing pressure on the administrative burden and management of the register and was also leading to increased wait times for the limited amount of social hosing that was available each year.  The report outlined the increases in housing needs and the disparity with the availability of social housing which was not increasing at the same rate as the levels of housing needs that were prevalent within the community.

Councillor Rosetta Dolphin expressed concern around the lack of available social housing and commented on a recent report presented to the Committee on the current level of void properties.  She asked if the number of void properties in Flintshire were comparable with neighbouring counties.  The Service Manager Housing Assets advised that neighbouring counties had similar levels of void properties and in response to further questions advised that there were currently 259 void properties in Flintshire.

Councillor Bernie Attridge commented on previous concerns around the reduction in opening hours at Connects centres and raised concerns that this decision had been made without considering the impact on residents who need to speak to officers on housing issues, especially those who were unable to access information electronically.  He also raised concern on the previous decision to not provide Members with the names of tenants when they move into Council properties in their ward and asked that this be re-considered.

Councillor Dale Selvester said that Members were provided with the names of residents on the electoral register and said that whilst this might be provided under different legislation, he agreed with the concerns raised by Councillor Attridge that tenants’ details were not being provided to local Members.  He commented on the very poor/poor satisfaction levels outlined within the report and said this was worrying and said further information on the reason for this needed to be provided.  He welcomed the opportunity for applicants to update their application area and commented on a previous matrix which assisted applicants in reviewing their application area.  He also commented on the waiting list calculator and raised concern that it was not possible to provide applicants with information on how long they would be waiting and he did not want to give applicants false hope.

The Housing & Prevention Service Manager explained that feedback from the dissatisfaction levels had shown that applicants/tenants did not like the Council managing their housing expectations and offer solutions during their first contact with the Council.  The number of complaints where it was felt that the officer had not spoken to them appropriately were minimal.  There was currently an interactive map available on the Council’s website which assisted applicants when making a decision on an area.  In relation to the waiting list calculator it was explained that the calculator could give an indication of waiting times based on the information provided by the applicant i.e. area, registration date, number of bedrooms, property types.   

In response to the concerns raised around tenants details no longer being shared with Members, the Chief Officer (Housing & Communities) explained that there was specific legislation in relation to the electoral register and elector information being shared with Members.  In relation to tenant’s details, advice had been sought from information and governance colleagues who advised that in line with GDPR there was no lawful basis to provide this information to Members.

It was agreed that the Chief Officer review the legal advice with colleagues following the meeting and provide a response to the Committee.  

In response to a question from Councillor Linda Thew around payments to smaller contractors, the Service Manager Housing Assets advised that the Council had a Policy in place which ensured that no contractor would fall into financial hardship while awaiting payment.

The recommendations, as outlined within the report, were moved by Councillor David Evans and seconded by Councillor Kevin Rush.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Committee note the significant increases in housing needs across the county and the growing pressures in regard to social housing which was not in line with the supply of available homes locally; and

(b)       That the Committee note the customer feedback following survey work and the progress in relation to opportunities for service improvement and in particular digital transformation.