The Shareholder Cabinet Sub-Committee of West Northamptonshire Council met on Wednesday 1 October 2025 to review the Q1 performance of landlord services and approve a suite of updated landlord compliance policies. The committee noted the Q1 performance report and approved the revised policies covering fire safety, electrical safety, gas and heating, water hygiene, asbestos, and lift safety.

Landlord Services Q1 Performance Report 2025/26

The committee received an update on the performance of West Northamptonshire Council's (WNC) housing landlord services, primarily delivered by its Arm's Length Management Organisation (ALMO), Northamptonshire Partnership Homes (NPH). The report, presented by Jane Carr, Director of Communities & Opportunities, and Jodie Archer, Assistant Director of Housing and Communities, detailed that of the 28 corporate measures reported, 14 had improved, three remained consistently high, two were new, and 10 had declined. Half of the measures met their targets.

Key successes highlighted included improvements in tenant satisfaction across 10 out of 12 perception measures, including complaint handling and home maintenance. Rent collection remained strong at 100.58%, with arrears at 3.85%, both ahead of targets. Reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB) continued to reduce, and emergency repairs were completed on time, with 100% compliance for fire risk and legionella assessments.

However, areas requiring focus included a drop in satisfaction with the ASB service to 51% and a fall in tenants feeling listened to, down to 54%. The number of properties not meeting the Decent Homes standard remained at 18.17%, with a commitment to bring all non-decent properties up to standard by September 2026. Average void re-let times were at 59.57 days against a 30-day target, and Stage 2 complaint escalations remained high. Compliance issues were noted with 30 properties overdue for gas safety checks, and asbestos re-inspections and lift safety checks were also behind target.

The report also covered the performance of services delivered directly by WNC, such as the housing allocations service, which was managing a backlog of applications following the implementation of a single housing allocations scheme.

Significant progress was reported on the Business Improvement Action Plan following a C3 regulatory grading issued by the Regulator of Social Housing in late 2024. Key actions completed included the adoption of a new Housing Asset Management Strategy and revised governance arrangements. However, the full implementation of the Compliance 365 IT system had been delayed until December 2025.

The committee noted the content of this report as recommended.

Landlord Compliance Policy Suite

The committee reviewed and approved a suite of revised property compliance policies developed by NPH. These policies address critical health and safety obligations in six key areas: fire safety, electrical safety, gas and heating, water hygiene, asbestos, and lift safety. The revisions were prompted by the C3 regulatory grading from the Regulator of Social Housing in 2024, which identified failings in NPH's compliance systems.

Councillor Keith Holland-Delamere queried the date at point 6.3, suggesting it should read '2025' instead of '2024'. He also proposed extending the policy's prohibition on storing mobility scooters in common areas to include other electric scooters. Councillor Charlie Hastie further inquired if other electric mobility vehicles should be considered. It was agreed that point 6.3 would be amended to state that the policies were approved by the NPH Board in July 2025, and that other forms of electric transport would be reviewed.

The committee approved the policies detailed in Appendices A-F of the report, as recommended. These appendices cover the Fire Safety Policy, Electrical Safety Policy, Gas and Heating Policy, Water Hygiene Policy, Asbestos Policy, and Lift Safety Policy. Each policy outlines the organisation's commitment to managing risks associated with these areas, detailing roles and responsibilities, legislative requirements, and operational programmes. The policies aim to ensure compliance with statutory and regulatory standards, including the Social Housing Regulation Act 2023 and the Building Safety Act.