This meeting was scheduled to discuss several topics relating to tenants and leaseholders in Camden, including resident participation and ways of working, and the financial position of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA). The meeting was also scheduled to hear bids made to the Gospel Oak DMC budget. This summary is based only on the meeting agenda and reports pack provided beforehand. It does not include any information on what was actually discussed or decided at the meeting.

Housing and Repairs Participation Redesign

The meeting was scheduled to consider a report on the Council's tenant participation work.

This report proposed changing how the Council worked with Tenants and Residents Associations (TRAs) and District Management Committees (DMCs) in Camden. The proposed changes included:

• Bringing the Tenant Participation team and the Consultation and Engagement team together.
• Organising the new team by Neighbourhood, rather than by service or topic.
• Holding 10 'Neighbourhood Action Days' each year, as well as regular Estate Walkabouts.
• Establishing a new online forum for 100 tenants and leaseholders called 'We Make Camden Tenants and Leaseholders Group'.
• Running 5 'Community Champion' projects across the borough, in partnership with local voluntary and community organisations.

The report argued that these changes would help to achieve the Council's participation ambitions, which are:

• For every tenant and leaseholder to have the opportunity to be an 'active citizen'.
• For residents to be closely involved in decision making, service design and scrutiny of housing services.
• For local networks and active residents to be empowered to make positive contributions to their neighbourhoods.

This proposal was made in response to new regulatory requirements set out in the Social Housing White Paper ¹ that mean that landlords must:

give tenants a wide range of meaningful opportunities to influence and scrutinise their landlord’s strategies, policies and services. This includes in relation to the neighbourhood where applicable.

Service Standards

A report setting out Camden's service standards for its housing services was also scheduled to be considered. The standards cover 6 key areas:

• Finding a place to call home.
• Safer and connected neighbourhoods.
• Getting involved.
• Resolving repairs.
• Paying your rent.
• When things go wrong.

The standards seek to ensure that residents understand what they can expect from Camden as their landlord and what their own responsibilities are as tenants. The standards cover areas such as how to report a repair, how to make a complaint, how Camden deals with antisocial behaviour, and what happens when a tenancy ends. The report makes clear that

Our Housing and Repairs services always work to meet our service standards, but there may be circumstances that prevent us from doing so. At Camden, we always encourage residents to get in touch when something goes wrong so we can fix it and learn from our mistakes.

It also explains how Camden measures its performance against the standards.

Gospel Oak DMC Budget

This report set out the Gospel Oak DMC's budget for the 2024/2025 financial year, how much had been spent so far and what was available for future bids.

The report explained that TRAs must make a bid to the DMC to secure funding, how much they can bid for and what they can use the money for. It also reminded TRAs that all bids must be assessed by officers before they can be presented to the DMC.

The report included a table setting out all of the bids that had already been approved for the 2024/2025 financial year. It included details of the money approved, when the bid was submitted and whether the money had been spent.

The meeting was scheduled to consider two new bids, both for improvements to communal grounds:

• Forge, Mutton & Castle Road TRA submitted a bid for £1,382.11 to pay for ground and garden maintenance improvements. The bid explained that the works would make the estate more attractive and create a more welcoming space for residents and visitors. The money would also be used to fund activities to help residents meet one another and improve their wellbeing.
• Maitland Park Estate TRA requested £502.26 to purchase and install two dog waste bins.

Cabinet Member for Better Homes Annual Report

The meeting was scheduled to receive the annual report from the Cabinet Member for Better Homes, Councillor Sagal Abdi-Wali.

Financial Pressures

The report explained that Camden, like many other London boroughs, faced significant financial challenges in managing the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), which is the Council's main budget for providing housing services. The report explained that the HRA is legally required to be self-funding. This means that the rent and service charges that residents pay for their homes must cover the cost of providing all of Camden's housing services, including building new homes, repairing existing homes and supporting homeless households.

The report explained that London Councils are lobbying the Government for increased investment in Council housing. It explained that Camden is one of a number of local authority landlords that are working with Southwark Council to make the case for more funding.

The report also explained that Camden had to make savings of £7.51m by 2025/2026 to balance its HRA budget. This was to be achieved through a combination of:

• Increasing rents by 2.7%. This is the maximum permitted by the Government.
• Increasing service charges.
• Implementing savings measures identified in the Council's Medium Term Financial Strategy.
• Selling empty or unsuitable homes.

Housing Repairs

The report celebrated improvements made to the online repairs reporting system, particularly the introduction of reporting via WhatsApp. It explained that this had led to a significant reduction in the number of phone calls that residents had to make.

The report also provided an update on the backlog in non-emergency repairs. It explained that while emergency repairs and those relating to safety were being dealt with promptly, residents were facing longer waits for less urgent repairs to be dealt with. The report explained that this was because resources had been diverted to:

• Fire safety works.
• A dedicated damp and mould management team.
• Responding to legal claims for disrepair.

The report made clear that the Council was fully focussed on:

improving the operation of the repairs service and that the fundamentals are improved – such as keeping appointments and tracking follow up appointments so that repairs are completed in full.

Damp and Mould

The report set out the Council's approach to damp and mould. It explained that Camden had made significant progress in tackling these issues, including:

• Visiting over 3,000 homes to assess damp and mould.
• Completing 1,744 mould washes.
• Reducing the number of emergency cases by 80%.
• Training 400 frontline staff to identify and support residents with damp and mould concerns.

Private Rented Sector

The report explained that Camden is working to improve standards in the private rented sector. It explained that 94% of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) ² that are inspected require works to bring them up to the Council's standards. It also explained that 80% of licensed landlords had either started or completed the required works. The Council is proposing to renew its borough-wide additional HMO licensing scheme for a further 5 years from December 2025.

Estates Mission

The report explained that Camden's Estates Mission is focussed on:

reducing health inequalities between those that live on our estates and others residents in Camden.

The Mission is aiming to improve the lives of people who live on estates by:

• Helping them to feel a sense of belonging and connection to their neighbourhood.
• Making sure that estates are healthy environments.
• Empowering residents to shape their local environment.

The report cited three examples of projects that are underway as part of the Estates Mission:

• Community-led budgeting on Hilgrove Estate. This has enabled residents to decide how to spend part of the estate's budget for the following two years.
• The Community Champions programme, which has placed community organisers in three areas to work with residents to identify and address local priorities. One of the projects on the Regent's Park Estate has recruited 70 Champions.
• The Vacant Spaces programme, which is transforming Camden's underused spaces on estates to create spaces with public value. A pilot project is underway on the Hilgrove Estate.

The report explained that the Mission will be expanded into five areas across Camden in 2025.

Camden – Heat Metering Programme

The final report for discussion considered the Council's progress in installing heat meters. The report explained that the law requires all homes on a shared heating network ³ to have a heat meter, where it is cost-effective and technically possible to do so.

It explained that Camden has been installing heat meters since 2009 and now has over 5,000 installed. The report also explained how Camden uses a Government cost effectiveness tool to decide which homes to meter.

The report concluded by saying that Camden aims to:

meter as many other homes on our heat network as possible, including those we are not legally required to meter under the Capital M&E heating programme.

It noted, however, that this would be dependent on legislation, funding, staffing, access to supplies and resident access.

Election of DMC Officers

The final item in the meeting pack provided information to DMC members on how to nominate themselves or other members for the roles of Chair and Vice-Chair. It also explained how to nominate DMC members to represent the Committee on other groups and organisations. The document set out the eligibility criteria and election procedures, as well as the duties of the Chair and Vice-Chair.