This meeting was scheduled to consider an update on the council's work to improve its housing stock and a presentation on the current state of its homelessness strategy. It was also scheduled to receive a report on the monitoring of its recommendations to the Executive.

Housing Improvement and Transformation

The report pack contains a report on the Housing Improvement and Transformation Programme at Sandwell Council. It was prepared because the Safer Neighbourhoods and Active Communities Scrutiny Board recommended at its meeting on 10 September 2024 that it receive regular updates on issues related to housing in Sandwell¹. The meeting minutes can be found here: 03 - 01 - 10 September 2024 FINAL

The report pack contains information about the council's progress in complying with the Regulator of Social Housing's (RSH) Consumer Standards, the appointment of an external consultant to help the council improve its housing services, and plans to improve three of the software systems used by the Housing department.

Regulator of Social Housing Judgement

The council has been classified as C3 by the RSH. C3 means that there are … serious failings in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and significant improvement are needed… .

The RSH identified several key failings. These included:

• The council was only able to evidence that required asbestos management surveys or re-inspections had been carried out on around 2% of relevant buildings (target 100%) .
• Although electrical safety inspections had been completed for 96% of council homes, we are unable to monitor or report on the completion of remedial actions arising from those inspections .
• The council has more than 14,000 overdue repairs, with over 90% of these yet to be assigned for completion, and further work is required to confirm that this information is accurate .
• The lack of effective stock condition data .

The RSH also advised the council to extend the role of its 'critical friend' consultant Pennington Choices to carry out an objective verification of the council's data.

Housing Improvement and Transformation Plan

The council is working to address the issues identified in the RSH's regulatory judgement by producing a detailed action plan and risk register. The plan will be used to monitor the progress of the Housing Improvement and Transformation Board, which was set up to oversee the Housing Improvement and Transformation Plan.

The council has also commissioned an external consultant to help it identify sector leading best practice and include it in the plan. The council has decided that moving forward progress against the plan will be reported to the Safer Neighbourhoods and Active Communities Scrutiny Board every three months.

Tenant and Resident Engagement

The RSH's Consumer Standards require landlords to:

listen to and have effective communication with tenants. Tenants’ views should be at the heart of landlord’s different levels of decision-making about the delivery of landlord services.

The council is committed to this approach and has developed a Tenant & Leaseholder Scrutiny Group, who will receive updates on the actions the council is taking to comply with the RSH's regulatory judgement, and on the Housing Improvement & Transformation Plan.

Housing Operating Systems

The council is in the process of implementing new software systems for compliance, asset management and housing management. The new systems will help the council improve its management of compliance with the six major building safety attributes². These are: Building safety attributes are the features of a building that contribute to the safety of its occupants in the event of a fire.

• Fire Safety;
• Gas Safety;
• Electrical Safety;
• Water Management;
• Asbestos Management;
• Lift Maintenance.

The implementation of the new compliance system was prompted by the RSH identifying the lack of such a system as a major deficiency. The council aims to have the system in place by April 2025. The new asset management system will help the council improve its analysis and management of its stock condition data. It is projected to be in operation by March 2026. Finally, the new housing management system, which will replace the existing OpenHousing system, is projected to be fully operational by September 2027.

Homelessness and Rough Sleeper Strategy Update

The report pack includes a report on the council's homelessness and rough sleeper strategy. The report is scheduled to update the board on the progress of the strategy, the pressures facing the Housing Solutions service and the council's potential overspend on temporary accommodation.

Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy

The Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy was approved in 2022 and covers the period up to 2027. The report pack includes an update on its progress, and information on the strategy itself.

The strategy is guided by six key themes:

• Preventing homelessness
• Improving communication, education and engagement
• Enhancing housing options
• Improving partnership, collaboration and whole system
• Eliminating rough sleeping
• Making best use of resources

The strategy sets out several aims to help the council:

• prevent and relieve homelessness
• ensuring that a range of suitable, sustainable accommodation options are available for people who are or may become homeless
• understand our customers and the real problems to solve around homelessness
• provide robust holistic support for people who are or may become homeless, or who need support to prevent them becoming homeless again
• ensure that no one in Sandwell has to sleep rough

According to the report pack, the council has made good progress on five of the six themes, having completed 21 of the strategy's scheduled actions, and with a further 15 progressing on schedule. Of the two actions currently off track, both relate to the establishment of a panel of customers with lived experience of homelessness, and their representation on the Sandwell Homelessness Partnership Board. The remaining 13 actions have not yet been started, which is in line with the delivery plan.

Homelessness Demand

The report pack shows that the council is struggling to cope with the significant increase in demand for homelessness services, and the associated increase in spending on temporary accommodation.

Between 2021/22 and 2023/24, the council saw a 69% increase in the number of homelessness presentations, from 4000 to 6750 cases. The report attributes this increase to several factors, including:

• increased evictions after the COVID-19 pandemic eviction freeze
• the unaffordability of private rented sector properties for low income households
• an increase in market rents caused by demand exceeding supply
• a growth in resettlement schemes and asylum decisions

The report pack also contains details of the impact of this increased demand on the council's spending on temporary accommodation (TA). For example, between March 2020 and March 2024 the council's spend on TA increased from £0.432 million to £2.471 million. The council expects its spend on TA to increase further in 2024/25.

Future Pressures and Mitigations

The report pack contains information about the risks to the council of continued increases in demand for homelessness services. In particular, it details the impact of impending national changes to the private rented sector.

The report notes that the planned abolition of Section 21 notices³, also known as 'no fault evictions', could lead to landlords evicting tenants ahead of the change. The report suggests that landlords may be reluctant to rent to lower income households or those in receipt of benefits due to financial concerns of prospective clients . Section 21 notices are a legal document that allows landlords to evict tenants from assured shorthold tenancies without giving a reason. They are commonly known as 'no fault evictions'.

To mitigate these risks, the report pack contains details of three ongoing and future projects. Two of the projects aim to provide more suitable and cost effective TA options for the council:

• The first project is the opening of a third Temporary Accommodation Centre, which has been repurposed from single person emergency accommodation to family accommodation. This will provide 35 additional self-contained units, potentially saving the council £0.750 million per year.
• The second project is a new tender to secure up to 100 private sector properties on a medium term lease. It is hoped that the private sector leased interim accommodation will be more suitable and cost effective than bed and breakfast provision.

The third project is designed to secure more suitable move on accommodation for customers. The report pack includes details of two options that are currently being explored:

• The first option is a feasibility study into the establishment of a Social Lettings Agency (SLA). The SLA would offer affordable rents to customers in receipt of housing benefit or on low incomes, with the aim of reducing the need for the council to rely on more expensive and less suitable long-term accommodation.
• The second option is to extend the council's Secure and Sustain landlord incentive model to include a rent top up for existing tenants at risk of homelessness, or customers in TA. The top up would be provided for 12 months and would be conditional on the household engaging with employment support and welfare rights/debt management services.

Tracking and Monitoring of Scrutiny Recommendations

The report pack is scheduled to provide the board with updates on a number of recommendations it has previously made to the council's Executive. These include:

• The provision of designated BBQ areas in Sandwell's green spaces
• The development of a new Asset Management System
• The provision of stock condition surveys
• The allocation of reserves from the Adaptations budget

The report pack also includes recommendations for the board to determine whether its prior recommendations require further action, and which no longer require monitoring.