Memorandum from Birmingham City Council (BDH 39)

 

 

1. What lessons can be learned from Decent Homes programme and equivalents in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

 

The Decent Homes Standard applied as a blanket proposal clearly disadvantaged those authorities with a retained housing stock as opposed to RSL's and ALMO's. In any future scheme there needs to be equality with regards to funding across the sector. The Decent Homes Standard has been less successful in the Private Sector. At best local authorities can only encourage owner occupiers to bring their property up to standard. Therefore a rethink on incentives or enforcement needs to be considered for properties within the Private Sector. Being driven by targets and dates sometimes leads to an inflexible approach and therefore doesn't always produce value for money. This can be a barrier to investing in the stock on items / elements that are not included in the Decent Homes Standard.

 

2. Where targeted housing fails to reach the Decent Homes criteria by 2010, how should this backlog be addressed?

 

Due to the age of our stock means that the asset management plan is in fact a rolling programme. Therefore a funding regime from the financial year 2011/12 is required for those landlords that have hit the Decent Homes Standard. This will ensure that they are not disadvantaged in carrying out work to properties where tenants refused the improvement works to make their homes to the Decent Home Standard, when they become void. Those landlords who did not hit the decency target should look at the future life of its stock that isn't decent by exploring options of retention, demolition and clearance with appropriate funding. Properties within the Private Sector pose a problem with enforcing the standard and identifying which properties do not meet the standard.

 

3. Should minimum acceptable social housing standards be amended to take account of environmental standards, fuel poverty and the estate?

 

Linking in the estate and environmental standards is a good idea but the immediate difficulty to overcome is what to define as the standard, how you would measure such a standard and how would you compare. The secure by design standard could be a standard adopted. Linking fuel poverty is good idea. The other consideration is should there be a minimum standard for DDA, included.

 

4. Do the management organisations - councils, including via ALMO's and housing associations - need to change? Will they have sufficient funds?

 

The simple answer is yes, change is required. There needs to be a level playing field between organisations and therefore changes in how housing is funded would be welcomed. There are insufficient funds to meet increased standards; we barely have enough funding just to keep pace with the current standards, due to all our improvements having to be self financed.

 

5. What are the implications for decent housing standards of the government's proposal, currently out for consultation, to move to a devolved system of council housing finance?

 

The consultation issued on 21 July is certainly a welcome step and offers the opportunity to ensure that the future financial framework for local authority housing finance allows decent housing standards to be delivered and maintained across the entire sector. The principle that council housing finance should be devolved is a sound one, in that it is consistent with the principles of local accountability and allows individual local authorities to be better placed to respond to the varying specific needs of our tenants. However devolution alone is not enough. The basis on which the transition is made and the underlying impacts on future resource availability and flexibility, will ultimately be the key to the success or failure of this proposal. The consultation, its responses and the ultimate outcomes are therefore of critical importance to the future prospects for local authorities as social housing landlords and the ability to maintain properties at an appropriate standard (whether the Decent Homes Standard or any other standard agreed at a local level as being appropriate).

 

6. How should the Decent Homes target for the private sector homes occupied by vulnerable people be taken forward?

 

The importance of understanding the authority's private sector housing stock condition and levels / areas of non decency and vulnerability for targeting of services should not be understated. Authorities should be given greater encouragement to complete regular representative stock condition surveys and publish results with appropriate financial support to undertake and analyse these.

 

The lack of a national target has lessened the importance of this issue. There is however the more complex circumstance whereby it is the home-owners choice if they make their home decent and local authorities can only encourage this through help and advice and providing affordable loan schemes. Funded (i.e. grant) regimes are now very limited and generally only offer opportunities and assistance for home owners to move towards the decent homes standard e.g. thermal efficiency or Category 1 hazards. Equity release loans for larger improvements are a valid option but not the most appropriate solution for all vulnerable households.

 

Future targets could be developed around elimination of category 1 Hazards and assistance to remove Fuel Poverty and create sustainability particularly improving thermal efficiency. Recognition should be given that is overly simplistic to solely focus on Decent Homes for this sector and continued support should be given to Home Improvement Agencies that take an holistic view of household's housing needs. Targets could also be developed around the provision of advice and information e.g. to reach a percentage of vulnerable households per annum on latest stock condition information.

 

7. Are there adequate arrangements in place for the future regulation of minimum acceptable housing standards?

 

The proposals for sector wide regulation through the HCA, Audit Commission and the Tenant Services Authority would seem to present adequate arrangements for the future regulation of the minimum housing standards.

 

8. Are there local examples of innovative best practice with wider post 2010 applicability?

 

There are a number of local examples where innovation and best practice has been gained in the current programme which can transfer into the world post 2010. Birmingham City Council set up the Birmingham Construction Partnership, based upon the 'Egan Principles'. For the last 5 years this partnership has worked with Birmingham City Council Housing Department to successfully deliver over £400 million worth of work to the housing stock to ensure our properties meet the Decent Homes Standard. The partnership has delivered a consistently high standard of work whilst providing an efficient, value for money service utilising local suppliers and employing locally sourced labour.

 

September 2009