This meeting was scheduled to consider the performance of the Council's house building programme, and other social housing providers. It was also scheduled to consider a report on the Housing Ombudsman's investigation into the Council's handling of housing complaints.

Housing Ombudsman Special Investigation

A report was included in the meeting pack that describes the outcomes of the Housing Ombudsman's recent investigation into housing services at Camden Council. The investigation found that:

The London Borough of Camden had 10 findings of severe maladministration between 1 April 2023 and 16 October 2023 in cases involving repairs and/or complaint handling.

The maladministration rate for repairs averaged 91% compared to 73% nationally, and 86% compared to 84% for complaint handling respectively. The report made 13 recommendations for improvement to the service. An action plan ¹ has been produced by the service which details the actions it is taking to implement these recommendations.

The Council is facing a challenging financial situation with a forecast £12.4m overspend on the temporary accommodation budget in 2024/25 and the report states:

Decisions taken by the previous government have resulted in £168m of lost rental income since 2016.

The service is reporting some improvements in the performance of the Repairs service with satisfaction remaining steady, but residents are unhappy with longer waiting times. A Lessons Learned Lead is looking at complaints findings and helping to put in place changes to improve the service.

Community Investment Programme (CIP) Annual Report 2024

A report ² was included in the agenda pack that provided an update on the Community Investment Programme's work during 2024. It celebrates the completion of over 1,700 new homes, of which 70% are genuinely affordable and the construction of a further 332 homes.

The report included a foreword by Councillor Nasrine Djemai, Cabinet Member for New Homes and Community Investment. She highlighted some of the issues that Camden is facing:

Camden’s housing affordability challenge is making families, key workers, those who were born and raised here and those on average London incomes move away from the borough.

The report describes how the programme uses its procurement process to deliver social value, and provides some examples of the achievements made in recent projects. It also describes some of the design choices that were made in the programme, including its focus on energy efficiency and efforts to ensure the programme supports diversity in the built environment.

The report lists each of the sites in the programme, and summarises the programme's financial position.

Housing Associations Annual Performance Report

A report ³ was included in the meeting pack that provided an update on the performance of the four biggest housing associations in Camden. These were listed as: Clarion Housing Group, Notting Hill Genesis, Origin Housing, and Riverside Housing Association. These four associations between them manage nearly two-thirds of all of the housing association stock in the borough.

The report sets out the number of homes sold by each association, the amount invested in the housing stock, and information on how each association is managing its properties. It also describes how many new homes each association is building, and summarises the trends in each of these areas.

Annual Report of the Cabinet Member for Better Homes

A report ⁴ was included in the agenda pack that set out a summary of the work that Councillor Sagal Abdi-Wali has been doing as the Cabinet Member for Better Homes.

The report lists some of the achievements of the year, including the launch of a new tenant visits programme, the completion of consultations on 10 Traffic Management Order schemes, and the completion of carbon monoxide alarm installations.

The report describes Camden's financial position, stating that:

Camden faces substantial financial strain within the HRA, driven by historic funding cuts and insufficient national support, exacerbated by rising costs for maintenance, repair, and safety compliance.

The report also describes how the council is responding to the Housing Ombudsman's report, stating that:

We have taken proactive steps to address this, including allocating additional resources, enhancing our reporting systems, and improving communication to ensure timely responses.

The report describes the work that is being done to improve services to leaseholders, reporting that Councillor James Slater has been appointed to the newly-created role of Deputy Cabinet Member for Better Homes to improve how the council works with leaseholders.

The report describes some of the work that is being done to improve the repairs service, stating that:

The Council completes 125,000 repairs orders each year, including servicing items.

The service has introduced new ways for tenants to report repairs including a new website provided by MadeTech and the use of WhatsApp, and it has started texting residents to provide them with updates about communal repairs.

The report describes the new model of tenant participation that is being implemented. The key goals of this new model are:

Every tenant and leaseholder has the opportunity to be an active citizen;

Residents are close to decision making, service design and scrutiny;

Local networks and active residents are enabled to make positive contributes to neighbourhoods.

A new resident-led panel, the Housing Customer Experience Oversight Panel, has been formed to help ensure that the council's services are meeting tenants' needs. The Council has been working with residents on a number of estates and has produced Estate Action Plans. The report describes how the council is working to improve standards in the private rented sector, and to support refugees and people experiencing homelessness. Finally, the report describes how the council is working with residents and stakeholders on its Estates Mission programme.