The Tenant & Leaseholder Panel of Croydon Council met on Tuesday 9 January 2024 to discuss a proposed rent increase for the upcoming financial year and to review updates on various housing services. The meeting's agenda focused on financial matters related to housing and service delivery.

Rent Consultation

A significant portion of the meeting was scheduled to be dedicated to a rent consultation, presented by Orlagh Guanori. The report pack indicated a proposal for a 7.7% increase in tenant rents and service charges from April 2024. This increase was suggested to fund growth in six key areas: responding to a rise in repair requests, addressing damp and mould issues, enhancing capacity to meet the requirements of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and Awaab's Law, clearing long-term voids, tackling legacy legal disrepair cases, and increasing resources for estates caretaking and ground maintenance. The report highlighted that the government had previously capped rents at 7% for 2023/24 and allowed for a potential cap again in 2024/25 if inflation remained high. For September 2023, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 6.7%, leading to the recommended 7.7% increase. The report also detailed the projected impact of this increase on average rents across different bedroom sizes and on tenants' service charges for flats and estate houses.

The report pack also outlined current revenue and capital expenditure pressures, with November forecasting showing an overspend of £12 million in revenue and £5.7 million in capital. These pressures were largely attributed to increased responsive repair costs, higher legal disrepair and associated settlement costs, and increased void costs. An improved responsive repairs service provision was also discussed, noting a significant increase in call volume and repair orders since the new contracts began in August 2023. Key performance indicators for the contact centre, such as average call wait time and call handling time, were presented, alongside the percentage of residents who ended calls before speaking to an advisor and the percentage of responsive repairs completed within target times. A tenant survey from November 2023 indicated that repairs, anti-social behaviour (ASB), and caretaking were the top priorities for tenants. The council also committed to supporting tenants in claiming their entitlements, with welfare officers identifying over 100 residents for additional support and the HRA Hardship Fund making payments to 97 residents.

Minutes of Previous Meeting

The panel was scheduled to review and approve the minutes from the previous meeting held on Tuesday, 10 October 2023. The minutes from that meeting included updates on damp and mould, the customer repairs call centre, rent increases, social value initiatives, and the housing strategy. The damp and mould update detailed specialist visits, reoccurrence checks, and the objectives of the damp and mould team, including isolating structural issues, checking condensation, and ensuring adequate ventilation. The customer repairs call centre update covered the use of blue flags to note property vulnerabilities, text message tracking for repairs, call waiting times, and efforts to understand call patterns for better resourcing. It also mentioned the number of contact centre staff, staffing costs, and the tasking of the digital team to amend appointment request forms. The rent increase discussion from the previous meeting noted that while a social rent policy was in place for 2024/25, there was no government guidance for 2025/26 at that time. The social value update highlighted support for programmes and initiatives, including successful garden clear-ups at Cedar and Beech House in New Addington. The housing strategy update discussed repurposing and modernising existing housing stock, the development of a Regeneration and New Homes Policy, and ongoing assessment of rent affordability. Reports from resident representatives included updates on the ARCH conference, the Stop Social Housing Stigma (SSHS) committee, and the Resident Voice Meeting.