The Croydon Council's Scrutiny Homes Sub-Committee met on 19 June 2025 to discuss key performance indicators, the Housing Revenue Account and General Fund, the stabilisation plan, responses to scrutiny recommendations, and the 2025-2026 work programme. The committee reviewed the Housing elements of the Stabilisation Plan and provided feedback. The Sub-Committee also noted the Cabinet's responses to previous recommendations and discussed the draft work programme for the upcoming year.

Housing Finance and Key Performance Indicators

The Sub-Committee reviewed the performance of the Council's Housing Service through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The report provided performance data on the Housing landlord service and homelessness KPIs.

Key discussion points included:

• Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM): The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) requires the council to submit TSM results annually. These measures include tenant perception surveys and data collected by the landlord. The data for 2024/5 was being finalised for submission to the RSH by 30 June 2025 and would be published on the Croydon website.
• Finance: KPIs related to collection rates for rent and leasehold/service charges, as well as void rent loss as a percentage of rent roll, were examined.
• Operations, Customer Experience & Service Targets: The committee looked at average call waiting times for the repairs contact centre and satisfaction levels with how the contact centre deals with repairs and maintenance. There had been multiple council-wide system disruptions, but the recruitment of five call centre operatives and the implementation of a call resolution team were expected to improve waiting times.
• Re-letting Properties: Performance in re-letting properties had improved, with the average turnaround time decreasing from 45.3 days in December 2024 to 33.5 days. The average re-let time for general needs properties was 28 days, the best performance so far in 2024-25.
• Tenant Information: The Sub-Committee considered the percentage increase in data profiling on residents.
• People: Vacant Full Time Equivalents (FTE) percentages and the average number of sick days per employee were discussed. Data for vacant FTEs was subject to change due to ongoing work around establishment and positions in Oracle¹.

Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and General Fund (GF)

The Sub-Committee received an update on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and Housing General Fund (GF) forecast outturn for 2024-25.

• Housing General Fund: The Housing directorate has a General Fund forecast overspend of £20.2m (75%) against the net budget of £26.9m. This overspend was attributed to demand pressures within temporary accommodation, particularly nightly paid accommodation. The number of paid units had increased by an average of 50 per month, and the average cost per night had risen to £71.37 from £56 in the prior year.
  • The report noted that forecasting accuracy had improved with the implementation of the placements income interface from the NEC system² to Oracle³.
  • Other London boroughs were also experiencing similar pressures, with forecast overspends in nightly rate accommodation.
  • The Concorde Sycamore Windsor (CSW) portfolio was maintaining a forecast £1.6m pressure, and the bad debt provision forecast had been increased by an additional £1.5m.
  • These pressures were partially offset by an additional £1.9m Homelessness Prevention Grant (HPG) and a £0.4m forecast underspend on smaller portfolios within temporary accommodation.
• Housing Revenue Account (HRA): The HRA was forecasting a revenue overspend of £8.0m, requiring a drawdown from HRA reserves. A forecast overspend of £6.0m related to repairs, with higher-than-budgeted spending on disrepair and responsive void repairs. Another £2.0m overspend related to corporate overhead recharges following a refresh of the charging model.
  • Significant priority was being given to addressing damp and mould in council properties, with steps taken to raise awareness among tenants.
  • Voids repairs were experiencing significant demand, with approximately 60% of voids being of a major cost nature.
  • The Council was managing a significant number of disrepair claims and had proposed a plan to reduce these claims by 31 March 2025.
  • Communal repairs and estate inspections had identified underinvestment in communal areas, putting pressure on the current budget.
  • Stock condition surveys had been used to model future budgets for major repairs and maintenance, which should reduce responsive repairs over the medium term.
  • New controls had been implemented, including budget management per individual line of activity in the NEC system, a review panel for works over £5,000, and Housing Directorate Management Team approval for works exceeding £40,000. HRA Capital Programme: The HRA capital programme had a forecast breakeven position against the revised budget of £68.3m.

Stabilisation Plan

The Sub-Committee reviewed a draft version of the Stabilisation Plan, which was due to be considered by the Cabinet on 25 June 2025. The plan included several accelerated actions aimed at managing demand, reducing costs, and increasing income. Key actions included:

• Maximising the use of Disabled Facilities Grants.
• Accelerating the Adults Living Independently Programme.
• Opening Angel Lodge Children's Home.
• Creating Croydon Super Foster Carers.
• Improving contract management and procurement.
• Maximising occupancy of Bernard Weatherill House.
• Reshaping Access Croydon.
• Accelerating the Target Operating Model Programme.
• Reducing agency costs and numbers.
• Accelerating the house buying process for homeless families.
• Allocating general needs housing to temporary accommodation.
• Reducing the percentage of placements into temporary accommodation.
• Introducing more out-of-borough private sector placements.
• Improving parking revenue collection.

The plan included specific actions related to housing, with financial impacts detailed for 2025/26:

• Reducing temporary accommodation placements by a further 5% was projected to save £1.2 million.
• Allocating general needs voids to temporary accommodation households was expected to save £2.1 million.
• Accelerating the house buying process for homeless families was projected to save £351,000.
• Introducing more out-of-borough private sector placements was expected to save £292,000.

Cabinet Response to Scrutiny Recommendations

The Sub-Committee was presented with the Cabinet's responses to recommendations made at previous meetings.

• Update on Key Performance Indicators:
  • The Housing service had reminded contractors about displaying ID badges, and tenant reminders would be included in the May Open House magazine.
  • The Sub-Committee's recommendation to benchmark and develop evaluation measures for the 'Your New Home' survey was partially accepted, with a review of the survey questions planned instead.
  • The Sub-Committee's recommendation to develop focus groups to understand why residents feel unsafe or not treated with respect was accepted, with roadshows planned to explore these issues.
  • The Sub-Committee's recommendation to inform councillors about the Anti-Social Behaviour Scrutiny Bootcamp was rejected, as attendees are required to have lived experience of the issue being reviewed.
  • The Sub-Committee's recommendation to promote resident and member involvement in walkabouts was already in progress, with dates on the website, posters for blocks, and action plans provided to attendees and councillors.
• Update on the NEC System:
  • The Sub-Committee's recommendation to test public-facing modules of the NEC system with users was already in progress.
  • The Sub-Committee's recommendation to develop an option to disable automated emails for vulnerable residents was partially accepted, with consideration to be given when there is realistic scope in the business process.
  • The Sub-Committee's recommendation to capture safeguarding and criminal convictions information within the system was partially accepted, with an analysis of data protection restrictions to be conducted.
  • The Sub-Committee's recommendation to explore the use of Artificial Intelligence to help with language barriers was rejected, as AI is not currently being considered as part of the NEC project.
  • The Sub-Committee's recommendation to explore recording mobile phone conversations was rejected, as it would need to be part of a Croydon-wide project and is currently not possible between networks.
• Update on the Housing Revenue Account and Housing General Fund:
  • The Sub-Committee's recommendation to introduce a more systematic approach to capturing issues raised about disrepair in communal areas was rejected, as a systematic approach was already in place.
• Housing Responsive Repair Service Update:
  • The Sub-Committee's recommendation to define how the impact of social value aspects of the contracts would be measured was already in progress, with a review of social value measures and KPIs planned.
  • The Sub-Committee's recommendation to explore whether existing contracts and other resources could be used to assist residents with property clearance was partially accepted, pending investigation of a suitable supply chain.
  • The Sub-Committee's recommendation to make the process for applying for and deciding on property extensions more transparent and accessible was already in progress, with a review of website information planned.
  • The Sub-Committee's recommendation to explore the feasibility of establishing a dedicated housing complaints process or team was already in progress, with a structure agreed to strengthen Stage 1 and HOS/LGO responses.
  • The Sub-Committee welcomed a scheme to support residents with higher electricity costs and recommended reviewing communication to raise awareness, which was accepted with a compensation policy required and currently in draft.

Work Programme 2025-2026

The Sub-Committee considered the draft work programme for 2025-2026 and discussed potential additions, amendments, or changes. The proposed work programme included:

• Stabilisation Plan (19 June 2025)
• Update on Finance and KPIs (July 2025, 14 October 2025, 7 April 2026)
• Deep-dive on Repairs (July 2025)
• Allocation Policy Review (July 2025)
• Review of Registered Social Landlords (14 October 2025)
• Budget Deep Dive (26 January 2026)
• Review of Private Sector Housing (7 April 2026)

The Sub-Committee was invited to suggest additional items for the Work Programme, keeping in mind time limitations and the need for effective scrutiny.