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Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee - Monday 21 July 2025 7.00 pm
July 21, 2025 View on council website Watch video of meeting Read transcript (Professional subscription required)Summary
The Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee met to discuss the condition of housing stock and repair strategy, proposals for a new call centre model, and the homelessness strategy. The committee agreed to request a gap time chart relating to the Capita transition, and to return to the new model for the call centre in six months. The committee also suggested that the chair, Councillor Joe Dharampal-Hornby, add a discussion of the homelessness strategy to the work programme going forward.
Condition of the Housing Stock and Repair Strategy
The committee discussed the condition of the council's housing stock and its repair strategy. The report summarised the findings of a recent stock condition survey and outlined the strategic approach to ongoing investment through a new Asset Management Framework (AMF).
Deputy Leader of Housing, Investment and New Homes, Councillor Danial Adilypour, said that the council had invested over £700 million in its housing stock in the past decade, including roof replacements, window renewals, and electrical and mechanical works. He noted that fire safety remains the council's key area of investment, with the council replacing dangerous external cladding.
The stock condition survey assessed 85% of all eligible stock, equating to 16,757 homes and 2,721 blocks. The survey identified that £2.6 billion is needed over the next 30 years to maintain the properties to the relevant regulatory standards and meet net zero ambitions.
Councillor Nicole Griffiths asked how the figures for the amount of work to be done were reached. An officer explained that each survey identifies a requirement in an individual property, looks at all the components, their age, and condition, and calculates the cost for each survey.
Councillor Timothy Windle sought clarification around paragraph 2.6 of the HSSC Stock Condition and Repairs Strategy FINAL, which discussed the life expectancy of components needing replacement. He wondered if capital investment was effectively treading water
by replacing kitchens and bathrooms to a standard, rather than doing more fundamental building fabric improvements. An officer clarified that components have a lifespan after which they technically become non-decent and likely require replacement.
Councillor Jodie asked if there was any recourse to reclaim monies for fire safety remediation against any contractors or engineers. An officer responded that the only income the council gets from the government covers leaseholder costs, as leaseholders cannot be charged for building remediation.
Councillor Griffiths asked about fire safety on housing stock owned by Southern Housing and private developers, and what responsibility Lambeth Council has for those. An officer responded that the enforcement team deals with blocks in the borough that have the same type of cladding as Greenfield House.
Councillor Griffiths asked about paragraph 2.13 of the HSSC Stock Condition and Repairs Strategy FINAL, where it says there's a very small number of cases where there's very serious disrepair caused by structural defects, and asked if encouraging people to apply to housing associations could be a route to pursue more. An officer responded that there is a route when decanting is a result of very simple disrepair, and the council would support that.
Councillor Griffiths asked if the council was just talking about blocks and estates regarding fire safety, or individual houses, and how the council knows whether or not it's putting the adequate fire safety in place in premises like that. An officer responded that any building with two or more apartments requires a fire risk assessment, but the council does not do fire risk assessments on individual houses or stand-alone dwellings.
Councillor Griffiths asked about disposals, and for those assets that are disposed of or sold, do all of those capital receipts get reinvested back into the capital programme, or does some of that go insert HRA bottom line or is used for revenue purposes. An officer responded that all of that is capital receipts, and if the council disposes of a property and sells of a property, it's capital receipt and it can only be in the HRA if it's an HRA property.
Councillor Windle asked about the decent home standards and the 22% of homes that were found that didn't meet it, and what kind of issues lead to non-compliance of decent home standards in those. An officer responded that non-decency could be anything from failing windows, failing heating, a failing kitchen, bathroom, or electrics.
Councillor Griffiths asked how the information that the council has connects with housing, so when a tenant calls in needing a repair, does it all go into the same place. An officer responded that there is one system, which is NEC, that has layers and layers and layers, and some staff will only look at one particular section depending on their role.
Councillor Griffiths noted that residents should necessarily be able to get straight through to weights1, and they seem to rely on councillors and the call centre in order to get in touch with weights, which sometimes needs a bit of prodding. Councillor Griffiths asked if there was anything that members should be aware of regarding weaknesses in the system, and if recommendations might be required. An officer responded that the principal area where there's a small delay is where there's subcontractors working.
The committee made the following recommendations:
- The housing association route should be more clearly defined.
- There should be a breakdown of figures.
- There should be non-decent homes criteria, data showing with other boroughs, and the rating of the regulator.
- Appropriate disposals of assets should be encouraged.
- There should be transparency with tenants about what actually can and can't be afforded as time.
New Model for the Call Centre
The committee reviewed new proposals for the new model for the call centre. Councillor Fred Cowell, Cabinet Member for Digital, Data and Resident Experience, said that the Labour 2022 Council manifesto made a commitment to considering being sorted in housing as the first option for all finances. He noted that the current contract with Capita is due to come to an end in 2026, and the council is aiming to bring all centres currently approved by Capita in house with some specific services reprocured from another service provider.
Councillor Dominic Armstrong asked about the mitigations for the six key risks outlined in section 6.2 of the HSSC - Capita Transition update 002. An officer responded that the biggest piece of work is around potential redundancy costs, and it will very much depend on the final model that is agreed in terms of whether the call centre is delivered partly from the on premise, partly from home, or having a fully operational call centre in Brixton in Civic, which is probably the costliest option.
Councillor Armstrong asked if Capita is working well with the council in terms of those mitigation processes. An officer responded that they are playing ball and being cooperative, and it helps that the council has had an early enough engagement with them so they could prepare themselves for either losing a lot of staff and having to have their own project team.
Councillor Griffiths asked how the council tracks these risks, and if something doesn't track, how the committee would know. Councillor Cowell responded that the capital contract covers the entire central operations, so this isn't just to do housing, and he is happy to reply to this committee and for overview and scrutiny more generally.
Councillor Windle said he was excited by the ambitious program, and wondered if any consideration has been given to the career opportunities within the call centre, and the opportunity for them to pursue careers as housing officers. Councillor Cowell responded that there is an opportunity to have more specialist resources who can deal with residents' issues right there and then rather than just raising something or creating generating a reference number and handing them off somewhere else.
Councillor Griffiths said that a specialist team, especially in the council and also in complaints, would be worthwhile to the council to look at quite seriously. An officer responded that the complaints have been centralised, and they've already seen an improvement in complaints in the last six months.
Councillor Griffiths asked what the number of workforce that the council is thinking about bringing and transferring over. An officer responded that the housing call centre is somewhere in the region of 50 people, but the council is not suggesting being that size going forward.
Councillor Griffiths asked how success will be measured in the first year, and what key KPIs will define whether it's been success or not. An officer responded that the true measure of success will be an organic and natural reduction in calls because the council would have resolved more issues on the first call.
The committee made the following recommendations:
- The gap time chart between when the committee talked about risk will come back to the Housing Committee for information.
- Career progression opportunities for those in call centres should be brought back to the Housing Committee.
- KPIs should also be brought back to the Housing Committee within six months.
- The Housing Committee should continue to monitor what the workforce structure looks like and keep an eye on bearing in mind the financial constraints at the moment.
Homelessness Strategy
The committee considered the homelessness strategy. Councillor Danial Adilypour introduced the Lambeth HSSC x Homelessness Rough Sleeping Strategy July 2025 FINAL, which sets out the council's plans to prevent homelessness and reduce rough sleeping in Lambeth as much as possible. He noted that the strategy is focused on four key priorities: having enough suitable accommodation for the homeless, ensuring rough sleeping is brief, rare and non-reguring, preventing homelessness for collaboration with partners, and improving the quality of data around homelessness.
Chris Draper and Bethan Evans from Thames Reach, a provider of support services, said they were pleased to see the council committed to addressing rustleaping in Lambeth through providing well-resourced innovative services, and a vision for the next five years.
Ed Tytherley from Centre Point, a charity working with homeless young people, said that the routes to independence youth homeless bathways is without doubt the most progressive youth homelessness bathway in the country.
Councillor Dominic Armstrong asked how Lambeth is working with neighbouring boroughs to ensure that people aren't slipping through the gaps, and how the council works to capture those who are staying with friends or moving around. An officer responded that there is a lot of work with neighbouring boroughs in terms of rough sleeping, and there is sub regional coordination and collaboration that goes on across boroughs.
Councillor Griffiths said that she still feels there's some disconnect with the information available and grassroots groups, and she doesn't know quite how to overcome that. She said that she walks into church halls and people have often started off in very amateur ways, and they don't quite know how to join up the dots.
Councillor Armstrong asked what the council does to support single parent families that may be in temporary accommodation or going through the homelessness system, and what work the council is doing to try and identify those women who are being hidden in the system as the number is likely higher. An officer responded that the issue around single parent households in temporary accommodation is a big one, and the council has a tenancy sustainment and support offer for households in temporary accommodation.
Councillor Windle asked if the council expects the reducing number of households in temporary TA and reducing proportion of households in TA to continue, and how successful the negotiating with nightly paid providers has been. An officer responded that they are seeing quite a lot of success in terms of diverting people at the front door, and they are getting some good success in terms of finding property in the PRS.
Councillor Griffiths said that she was very concerned about mums with one, two, three children in one room in shared accommodation hostels and shared facilities, and asked what's being put in place to avoid those sorts of situations. An officer responded that there will be situations where you've got an arising need that you didn't have any notice of, and you may have to use something like a hotel for a short period of time for someone.
Councillor Griffiths asked why, when a family is moved into temporary accommodation, it is not a settled home for them, and why they are still considered to be in temporary accommodation. An officer responded that if somebody comes to the council and is in urgent need of temporary managed accommodation, it doesn't necessarily mean their band name would go straight to the top of the housing allocation list.
The committee made the following recommendation:
- Information dissemination in terms of services available to grassroots groups should be made as widely as possible.
Work Programme
The committee agreed to note that the call centre item is coming back for further discussion in January, and they may have to move some items in the January meeting on to further as they go into the new term.
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Weights is a responsive repairs contractor. ↩
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