Agenda and minutes

To issue a welcome to those present, and to confirm if there are any apologies for absence.

No apologies were received.

Members will be asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

The Chair asked members to declare any interests in the proceedings, for which there were none.  

The minutes of the meeting of the Housing Scrutiny Commission held on 22 April 2025 have been circulated, and Members will be asked to confirm them as a correct record.

The Chair highlighted that the minutes from the meeting held on 22 April 2025 were included in the agenda pack and asked Members to confirm whether they were an accurate record. ? 
? 
AGREED:  
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• It was agreed that the minutes for the meeting on 22 April 2025 were a correct record.? 

Members will be asked to note the membership of the Housing Scrutiny Commission for 2025/26:

Councillor Molly O’Neill (Chair)

Councillor Deepak Bajaj (Vice Chair)

Councillor Karen Pickering

Councillor Mohinder Singh Sangha

Councillor Syed Zaman

Councillor Jaiantilal Gopal

Councillor Ravi Mahesh

Councillor Mick Gregg

The Membership of the Commission was confirmed as follows: 

Councillor Molly O’Neill 

Councillor Deepak Bajaj 

Councillor Hanif Aqbany 

Councillor Mohinder Singh Sangha 

Councillor Syed Zaman 

Councillor Jaiantilal Gopal 

Councillor Ravi Mahesh 

Councillor Mick Gregg 

Members are asked to note the commission meeting dates as follows:

·       Thursday 10 July 2025

·       Tuesday 26 August 2025

·       Tuesday 11 November 2025

·       Tuesday 13 January 2026

·       Tuesday 17 March 2026

·       Tuesday 21 April 2026

The dates of the meetings for the Commission were confirmed as follows: 

10 July 2025 

26 August 2025 

11 November 2025 

13 January 2026 

17 March 2026 

21 April 2026 

Members are asked to note the scrutiny terms of reference.

The Commission noted the Scrutiny Terms of Reference. 

The Chair is invited to make any announcements as they see fit.

The Chair reminded members of the role of scrutiny as a critical friend and a place of challenge, emphasising the need to do so respectfully. She further noted that in the future, certain reports for information would be considered as read, excluding the need for officers to present them, thereby allowing discussions to proceed based on the documents.   

Any questions, representations and statements of case submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures will be reported.

It was noted that none had been received. ? 

Any petitions received in accordance with Council procedures will be reported.

It was noted that none had been received. ? 

This report provides an overview of the Housing Division. Members will have the opportunity to ask questions and request any necessary clarifications.

The Chair noted that the presentation had been sent out previously and invited members to ask questions or seek clarification on any aspect of the presentation. 

There were no comments. 

The Director of Housing submits a report to provide an update on the progress of rent arrears within the general housing stock for the financial year April 2024 to March 2025.

The Housing Head of Service provided an annual overview on rent collection within the Council’s general housing stock covering the financial year (FY) April 2024 to March 2025. 

It was noted that: 

• The FY was marked by outstanding performance, with almost 99% of rent collected. When benchmarking with other urban authorities, Leicester had amongst the highest collection rates and lowest eviction levels. 

• By the end of the FY, £1.7m arrears were outstanding, which was 15% lower than the previous FY. Despite increasing pressures, rent rates remained lower than the previous years, and the housing team had managed to keep them steady. 

• Like most social landlords nationally, the Council faced significant challenges with the collection of rents and service charges because of the widespread deprivation and cost-of-living crisis, conditions which significantly affect Council tenants. 

• Notwithstanding the challenges, performance remained strong as only four (4) households were evicted in the past year, none of which were families. The Council continued to support people in sustaining their tenancies, with most evictions related to property abandonment, e.g. the tenant had already left 

• Since April 2024, 59 rental possession claims were instituted in court, which equated to an average of 5 cases per month, compared to pre-COVID averages of 80 cases per month. This reflected a 90% annual reduction, which was a significant accomplishment. 

• The Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) and Household Support Fund (HSF) played a vital role in achieving the foregoing successes. In the past year, nearly £1m was allocated to support approximately 1400 vulnerable tenants. An additional £800k had been allocated this year, and the Housing Division would continue to focus on targeting those who were most in need. 

• A key consideration for providing support was for the tenancies to be sustainable and for tenants to have the mechanism for managing future rent payments - there were payment plans in place to support this. Additionally, over 5,000 tenants had received support with utilities and food. 

• A key challenge was the roll-out of Universal Credit (UC). Currently, around 9300 tenants (constituting about 50% of Council tenants) were claiming UC, 52% of whom were in rent arrears. To manage this, a specialist team of Rent Management Advisors worked closely with the most vulnerable and complex cases. The team’s work was critical to tenancy sustainment, as in the past year, 1,111 referrals were handled (9% higher than last year’s), 77% of which were identified as having vulnerabilities.  

• Pressures from the rise in inflation and the ongoing changes to benefits were likely to intensify in the coming year. However, the Housing team remained confident in its position to navigate these challenges.  

The Deputy City Mayor, Housing, Economy and Neighbourhoods commended the performance for the FY, noting that it demonstrated the Council’s commitment to supporting its residents to remain secure in their tenancies and making effective use of processes and available discretionary funds.  

In response to questions and comments, the following points were made: 

• The effect of added pressures, like reduction in housing support and migration of 50%  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

The Director of Housing submits an update on how the Council manages the condition of its homes,  as a social landlord, with a focus on compliance with the new Social Housing Regulation Act 2024. The report is for information.

The Head of Service presented a report on the condition and management of the Council’s housing stock. It was noted that: 

• All homes were visited on a regular basis and the stock was currently 99.5% compliant with the Decent Homes Standard.  

• A rolling 5-year Home Health Safety Rating System (HHSRS) inspection plan had commenced and all homes had been visited in the previous 5 years by an officer who was able to identify any risks and arrange for them to be remedied. 

• 2 separate IT systems had been simultaneously managed to keep track of the stock condition.  

• The new Assets module was key to demonstrating strong compliance, along with the resources required by technical services that managed this. 

• The report highlighted the key spending areas that were over £40 million, all of which were agreed as part of the HRA budget. There were other smaller-scale items at a property level, and information was held on elements such as expected replacement timeframes. 

• When elements were due for replacement, an inspection took place to ensure work was prioritised appropriately. The largest area for refurbishments was the kitchen and bathrooms. The intention had been to replace all kitchen and bathrooms but due to increasing costs and budget pressures, this was reconsidered to ensure that all kitchens and bathrooms met the decent homes criteria and were replaced as soon as possible.  

• The elements that were changed on a periodic basis were listed in the report.  

• Stock condition was assessed in many ways, including: 

o   When properties were void, their condition was assessed to ensure they met the decent homes standard and disruptive works were checked and carried out.  

o   Safety inspections such as gas safety inspections were carried out annually. The gas engineer also reported any other areas of concern after visiting the property.  

o   Tenants were able to contact the service if they wished to make alterations or improvements in a property and as part of this, an inspection occurred 

o   Inspections occurred during mutual exchanges. The exchange could not occur unless both properties met the decent homes standard.   

o   An established process was in place for damp and mould complaints which allowed a 4-week turnaround period for inspections. Priority repairs were required to be inspected and completed within 4 weeks.  

o   Responsive repairs were ongoing with around 80,000 occurring annually.   

o   There were 30 Neighbourhood Housing Officers who responded to tenancy management enquiries and were also able to refer any repairs through to Technical Services.  

o   The team worked closely with other services such as occupational health, environmental health and social workers so any concerns could be investigated.  

o   Referrals were received through customer service.  

o   Regular risk assessments were carried out of communal spaces containing asbestos.  

o   Periodic Fire Risk Assessments (FRA) were carried out.  

• The Compliance Team was now in place, and it was intended that low-risk blocks could now be checked as well as high-risk ones.  

• IT systems confirmed that all houses had been visited at least once in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

The Director of Housing submits an update on how the Housing Division manages fire safety in its residential buildings. It is for information.

The Housing Head of Service presented a report on the fire safety conditions within the Council’s residential buildings. Members were invited to provide comments and ask questions, and the following were noted:

The outstanding risks in the 12-month category were low-level / priority repairs, and do not have an impact on the fire safety. These issues were usually identified by Building Responsible Officers during routine inspections. More urgent repairs fell under the 10-day category. Importantly, no jobs were cancelled following a fire safety inspection; all repairs had to be completed.

The Housing Team maintained a robust plan for dealing with management actions (e.g. rubbish in communal spaces). Safety remained a priority, and combustibles were not permitted in communal spaces.

Fire inspections were carried out daily based on risks. The high-risk buildings were managed in accordance with the Building Safety Act. Due to ongoing inspections, there were currently no outstanding fire safety inspections. 

AGREED:

The Commission noted the report

Information on the average wait time for the 452 low-level fire risk repairs to be shared with the commission 

The Director of housing submits a report which outlines the implementation of the Renters’ Rights Bill, the Supported Housing Act 2023 (regulations), and the introduction of the Private Rented Sector Strategy.

The Director of Housing and the Head of Regulatory Service presented a report on outlining recent and upcoming developments aimed at the improvement of private rented sector stock within the city. The presentation covered: 

• The Renters’ Rights Bill (RRB) 

• The Supported Housing Act 2023 (regulations) (SHA) and; 

• The introduction of a refreshed Private Rented Sector (PRS) strategy.  

The Renters’ Rights Bill 

The RRB was currently at the report stage in the House of Lords and was anticipated to come into force by summer 2025. There were several facets to this bill which would be introduced in phases, though no definitive timescales had been set for this.  Key changes introduced included: 

• Abolition of Fixed Assured Shorthold Tenancies, which would be replaced by periodic tenancies, giving flexibility to tenants by allowing them to remain in a property until they decide to end the tenancy by giving two months’ notice. 

• Restriction to a limit of one rent increase per year by landlords. 

• Abolition of s.21 (no-fault) eviction. The change in law came with the requirement for landlords to go to court with a justified reason for eviction 

• Ban on rental bidding war, preventing landlords from encouraging tenants to outbid one another for properties. 

• The introduction of a new PRS ombudsman to oversee complaints from individuals and hold landlords accountable.  

• The introduction of a PRS national database, where landlords would be required to register, enabling Local Authorities to identify and track problems in the area, especially in relation to landlords that own multiple properties.  

• The Decent Homes Standards would be extended to PRS properties. 

• Introduction of Awwab’s law in relation to damp and mould, new service standards and timescales for response would apply to social landlords and PRS alike. 

• Prohibition of discrimination against people who were on benefits from renting properties. 

• These changes had wide-reaching implications across the service areas (detailed in the report) - existing powers would be extended, and additional responsibilities placed on the Council. To manage this, a Project Board had been established to coordinate the Council’s response to these changes. 

• New funding was expected to assist the Council in meeting these new obligations, but details of this were not yet available. 

Supported Housing Act (SHA) 

• The Act was already in force and its objective was to address issues around quality of accommodation, care and support not matching the rent levels paid in Supported Exempt Accommodations (SEAs) (i.e. accommodation linked to care leavers, domestic violence survivors, refugees, prison leavers).  

• There was previously no regulation that empowered local authorities to deal with such issues, but the SHA gave new powers to: 

• Set a local strategy for supported housing 

• Have a licensing regime that would enable the Council to influence the quality of stock and investigate the quality of care and support provisions that individuals were entitled to. 

• The Council was proactively mapping all existing SEAs within the city and had established a partnership board that includes Housing, Neighbourhoods and Social Care to ensure collaboration in delivering on the different elements of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

Members of the Commission will be asked to consider the work programme and make suggestions for additional items as it considers necessary.

The Chair invited members to make suggestions on items that they wished to be included in the work programme. 

The Chair informed members of the possibility of conducting some informal scrutiny on Housing Allocation. She noted that the meetings would be held online and welcomed ideas and suggestions from members. 

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 19:28