Agenda item

The Head of Service for Housing gives a presentation on spending through the Housing Revenue Account and General Fund.

The Director of Housing submitted a presentation for noting on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and General Fund Capital Programme 2020/21.

• It was reported that in Quarter 1, spending had been low as only essential works had been carried out.  A slight recovery had been seen in Quarter 2, but it was unlikely that there would be a full spend in all work areas.  The position was expected to be strengthened in Quarters 3 and 4.
• Work done inside properties would experience under-spend, but external works would be spent as-per budget.
• The largest budget was for Council acquisitions and new builds.
• Delays had been experienced as contractors’ capacity was reduced due to demands from other organisations, staff being furloughed and staff being cautious about returning to work.
• Some tenants had been cautious about having workers in their homes and had asked for work to be delayed.
• Acquisitions were going well despite slowing in March 2020.  There had been some pauses but the spend was forecasted to be as-per budget.
• Regarding the General Fund, below-budget spends were forecasted, but improvement was expected in quarters 3 and 4.
• Regarding communal and public realm works, plans had been put in place for the restyling of Ottawa Road, a landscape architect had been brought in to re-design courtyards and a consultation on the demolition of on-site garages was due to start.
• Disabled facilities grants were moving on at pace.  All cases were being reviewed and pragmatic ways to expediate works were being considered.
• Delays were being experienced in fleet replacement; however, delivery was on course.  New vans and vehicles had been delivered.
• Regarding right-to-by receipts, it was aimed to have fully utilised them.

Councillor Pickering asked as to whether the Council would be able to catch-up on underspends, and if this was not possible, where the money would go.

Head of Service for Housing, Simon Nicholls, responded that the Capital Programme would be re-profiled and as such would be caught up on over the next 12 months to deliver what hadn’t been delivered in this financial year.

Councillor Wilmott asked if there was any scope for reprofiling the spend, so if money was unable to be spent in some areas it could be spent in others, giving the example of repurposing empty homes.

Simon Nicholls responded that there had been some reprofiling on external works such as roofing and as such more of that budget would be spent this year as capacity had been gained by not doing internal works.

Councillor Nangreave raised climate change and energy saving issues and raised queries regarding the life-span of boilers, alternatives to boilers such as hydrogen, retrofitting and whether windows were still being replaced with double-glazing or whether triple-glazing was now being used.

Simon Nicholls responded that boilers were based on a lifecycle of 15 years, but if they were in good condition they were not necessarily replaced after that time, replacement was based on referrals from gas engineers.

Retrofitting of thermal insulation was being explored on some stock and bids to government for the funding of this were being made.  The government were advising a whole-house approach rather than specific items of retrofitting.  The Capital Programme would be informed by decisions taken over the coming months.  A date had not yet been set for when this retrofitting would be carried out.

Any future window replacement programme would be based on triple-glazing; however, this was not being done at this time. 

Since March 2020, 66 acquisitions had been bought and offers had been made on 67 other acquisitions.  The same process was taken as that of vacant property, when these dwellings became part of the stock, they would be subject to any improvement carried out on stock.

Councillor Cutkelvin added that the Council were very cognisant of the fact that the acquisition programme was acquiring a different type of house to the past and as such the challenges of making them carbon-neutral were different to those seen with the existing stock, so the idea of retrofitting was important and was something taken into consideration before purchasing a property.

Another area of work in retrofitting was what was offered to owner-occupied and private rented sector dwellings.  If simple, inexpensive solutions could be found, then the council should help facilitate it.

With regard to tenants being cautious of having internal work done, Councillor Westley asked whether certain tenants were more likely to take this approach or whether an approach was taken on an individual basis.

Simon Nicholls clarified that each case was individual, and it was not until the team went to the house that tenants could say whether or not they wanted the work done.  He added that the team were cautious with risk assessments, but they did not want to make tenants feel uncomfortable.  He added that if repairs were essential, for example if wiring was dangerous, it had to be repaired.

Councillor Westley further asked as to the situation with negotiations on the Jamie Lewis portfolio and UHL properties.

Simon Nicholls reported that the financial side had been agreed on UHL, however, the terms of the contract were still to be agreed, but this was nearing completion.

With regard to the HRA and General Fund forecast, Councillor Westley asked as to how far the original spending was being met given the new restrictions.

Simon Nicholls responded that he was confident that the forecast was realistic, and the team had managed to deliver the programme despite the lockdown.  He added that the first lockdown was a steep learning curve and as a result they had been more prepared for the second lockdown.

AGREED:

1)    That the report be noted.

2)    That Simon Nicholls contact Councillor Willmott about works being done.