The District Management Committee (DMC) received an update from the Cabinet Member for Better Homes, noted the work being done to plan the Resident Action Day, and were informed about the latest performance figures for Camden's Housing and Property department. The committee asked for more information about the future of the Council's planned maintenance programme and heating charges for residents.

Future of Holmes Road Depot

The future of the Holmes Road Depot was raised by Paul Tomlinson, a representative from the Camden Town DMC, and a resident, Tom Young. Mr Tomlinson and Mr Young both made statements calling on the council to protect jobs and apprenticeships at the depot. The Cabinet Member for Better Homes, Councillor Sagal Abdi-Wali, agreed to bring a report on the future of the depot to a future meeting.

Repairs and Voids

The committee raised concerns over the clarity of communication with residents around planned works.

The lack of clarity over the scope of the Better Homes work meant that repairs required because of the capital works were being raised as general repairs.

• Minutes of the Holborn District Management Committee meeting, 10 September 2024¹ There were concerns raised by residents from across Holborn that the poor quality of some repairs done by contractors had led to further damage that was then being categorised by the council as requiring a general repair, rather than being allocated to the contractor to put right. This was particularly the case in blocks that had recently had major works done as part of the Better Homes programme, such as the Tybalds Estate.

Concern was also expressed about the lack of communication from the Voids team to residents in blocks where void properties were being stripped out. Residents of the Tybalds Estate noted that the unnecessary removal of kitchens and bathrooms from void properties appeared to be continuing, despite the Cabinet Member for Better Homes having told residents that this practice had stopped. It was suggested that the Voids team should give local residents more notice when a property was being prepared to be re-let.

Councillor Abdi-Wali agreed to investigate a case raised by a Tybalds Estate resident of a void property on the estate having its kitchen and bathroom unnecessarily removed.

CCTV

Residents of Brunswick Estate raised concerns that they were paying service charges for CCTV that had not been working for years. The committee heard that residents of the Tybalds Estate had only had 4 out of 9 blocks included in the council's recent CCTV upgrade programme and asked that all blocks be considered in future, rather than just those that had previously had CCTV.

DMC Funding

The committee noted the proposed arrangements for managing its budget for 2024/25. There was a total of £140-150,000 to be allocated, with a deadline of 20 working days before each meeting for applications to be considered. The committee agreed that bids of less than £5,000 that met the scheme's criteria should be approved by email outside of formal meetings, in order to speed up the process.

Key Performance Indicators

The committee noted a report on the Housing and Property department's Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and asked officers for a full list of the indicators used to monitor the department's performance.