Annual Housing Performance Benchmarking Report 2022-23 CaH 31 10 23
Renfrewshire Council · 31 October 2023
Back to Communities and Housing Policy Board — 31 October 2023 and its agenda
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___________________________________________________________________ To: Communities and Housing Policy Board On: 31 October 2023 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Director of Environment, Housing & Infrastructure ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Annual Housing Performance Benchmarking Report 2022/23 ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 Each year the Council submits its return to the Scottish Housing Regulator on the Scottish Social Housing Charter. Our return for 2022/23 was reported to Board in August this year. 1.2 Through membership of Scotland’s Housing Network, the Council can compare its performance against other social housing providers each year. This report provides information on the Council’s performance in 2022/23 on the key Social Housing Charter indicators compared to other local authorities and Registered Social Landlords (RSLs). 1.3 The report identifies areas where performance has improved and where the service performs well against other providers, as well as identifying areas for improvement and setting out some key actions to drive service improvements over the course of this year. ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations It is recommended that the Communities and Housing Policy Board: 2.1 Notes the Council’s performance in 2022/23 on key Housing Charter indicators compared to other social landlords. ___________________________________________________________________
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3. Background 3.1 The Scottish Social Housing Charter enables each social housing provider to compare its performance against all social landlords in Scotland. The Annual Charter Return consists of 32 performance indicators and 14 contextual indicators and is submitted to the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) at the end of May each year. A report on Renfrewshire Council’s performance against the Charter in 2022/23 was presented to the Policy Board in August 2023. This report focuses on the 32 performance indicators. 3.2 Renfrewshire Council is a member of Scotland’s Housing Network which collects data from participating landlords and produces benchmarking information. The benchmarking data from Scotland’s Housing Network allows the Council to compare performance with a peer group of 26 local authorities. This report draws on that peer group data to benchmark Renfrewshire Council’s performance in 2022/23. 3.3 In addition, comparison with all landlords from the Scottish Housing Regulator’s Charter data is included (i.e. local authorities with housing stock and all Registered Social Landlords in Scotland, irrespective of size) to allow comparison with a Scotland-wide average. 3.4 Benchmarking is designed to assist with service improvement planning through comparison with other organisations. Key benchmarking results are summarised in section 4 of this report. This shows where Renfrewshire Council performs well compared to other social landlords as well as several areas where there is scope for further improvement. 3.5 A full list of the Charter performance indicators for 2022/23 is provided at paragraph 4.11 of this report where our performance is compared both to all local authorities and to the Scottish average where data has been supplied from the Scottish Housing Regulator. Additionally, there are graphical comparisons for some of the key indicators throughout the report. 4. Benchmarking Analysis 2022/23 4.1 As reported to Board in August, the Charter data for 2022/23 displays improved or stable performance in the majority of indicators, with 18 of the 32 indicators showing improved performance and 7 showing stable performance. The service has seen some improvements in some key indicators, including: Significant reduction in timescales for non-emergency repairs and an increasing proportion of repairs completed Right First Time. Strong performance in tenancy sustainment, including lets to homeless households. Significant improvement in rent collected as a percentage of rent due.
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Bucking the trend in terms of current arrears, although former tenant arrears continue to rise. Continuing improvement in void property relet times, which are now below local authority average. Improved satisfaction with the standard of home when moving in. Good level of satisfaction amongst factored owners. Average days to let, although high is now lower that the national average. Whilst this improvement in performance in welcome, this remains an area of special focus for the service so that a further reduction in re-let times is achieved. Work is currently underway to review the ‘end to end’ process of void property management to identify specific areas for improvement, with officers from all areas of the process contributing to this exercise. 4.2 A total of 7 indicators are identified where performance has declined in 2022/23. Some of these are noted below, along with other areas where performance may already be improving, but which will remain subject to continued attention to drive further improvements. Areas to note include: Although some improvement noted in SHQS compliance, this remains an area for further improvement. Increase in average time to complete emergency repairs and reduction in repairs satisfaction. The ongoing review of all aspects of the housing repairs service will seek to drive improvements in this area. Officers are currently working with Savills consultants to progress this key priority area for improvement. The number of gas safety fails whilst improved from last year, remains higher than pre-pandemic levels and is an area of focus for further improvements this year. About a third of lets to homeless households - fewer applications per head than other LA’s and good RSL contribution. Relatively high level of abandonments as a percentage of stock – but down from last year. Gross rent arrears increased slightly to 8.6% from 7.99% of rent due. This is an area of key priority for improvement and will continue to be closely monitored throughout the coming year. 4.3 The Charter requires landlords to carry out a satisfaction survey at least every three years. Our most recent survey was conducted in 2022 and reported to Board in August 2022. The table below provides how the Service’s performance compares to this year’s local authority and Scottish averages.
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No. Indicator Renfrewshire Council LA Average Scottish Average (LAs and RSLs) 1 Percentage of tenants satisfied with the overall service provided by their landlord. 82% 82% 86.7% 2 Percentage of tenants who feel their landlord is good at keeping them informed about their services and decisions. 91% 85% 89.7% 5 Percentage of tenants satisfied with the opportunities given to them to participate in their landlord’s decision-making processes. 99% 81% 85.9% 7 Percentage of existing tenants satisfied with the quality of their home. 79.9% 81% 84.2% 13 Percentage of tenants satisfied with the landlord’s contribution to the management of the neighbourhood they live in. 87% 82% 84.3% 25 Percentage of tenants who feel that the rent for their property represents good value for money. 83% 81% 81.8% 4.4 Customer and Landlord Relationship In 2022/23, 97.9% of all 1st stage complaints (graph below) were responded to in full, which is better than the local authority average of 92.4% and the Scottish average of 92.5%. 84.6% of all 2nd stage complaints were responded to in full within Renfrewshire which is below both the local Aathority (92.4%.) and Scottish (92.5%) averages. These figures are skewed as there are very few 2nd stage complaints and just one or two over the time limit can cause a significant percentage shift.
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4.5 Housing Quality and Maintenance The percentage of stock meeting the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS) (Indicator 6) increased to 67.9%, from 57% in the previous year. The local authority average for SHQS compliance was 70.9% and the Scottish average was 79%. Generally landlords have seen an increase in the percentage of SHQS failures over the last two years as compliance with 5 yearly EICR checks and the new smoke and heat detector standard are now included within the calculation of this PI. For information, if these elements were removed from our 2022/23 calculation, 81.9% of our stock would comply with SHQS. Renfrewshire Council’s average time to complete emergency repairs increased to 9.8 hours from 7.1 hours in the previous year. This is longer than the local authority average (4.7 hours) and the Scottish average (4.2 hours). Compared to all local authorities, Renfrewshire’s time to complete emergency repairs is the longest. As previously reported to the Board, a new system for raising and managing repairs was introduced in March 2022 which means the majority of emergency repairs being raised and updated in real time. Prior to this, these were updated manually from paper records. Whilst it is expected that the real time updates are generally accurate, there have been some user errors and system issues with the new technology that may have had an impact on the accuracy of some of the data. We will continue to closely monitor this indicator over the coming months to ensure that user errors are minimised, jobs are updated promptly and that any corrections are made to the data if found to be inaccurate as a result of system issues.
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In contrast, at 6.1 days Renfrewshire’s average time to complete non- emergency repairs was one of the best performances compared to other local authorities, better than the local authority average (9.4 days), and the Scottish average (8.7 days). Nationally, performance in this indicator among local authorities continues to worsen. 90% of non-emergency repairs were completed ‘right first time’ which is better than last year (85%) and better than the local authority average (88.1%) and the Scottish average for 2022/23 (87.8%).
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73.3% of tenants who had repairs carried out were satisfied with the repairs service. This is lower than the local authority average (88.5%) and the Scottish average (88%). It is noted that the methodology of collecting satisfaction feedback changed last year from outbound telephone calls to automated text messaging of a digital survey on completion of the repair. This new method of collating feedback only started in January 2023, therefore this figure reflects only three months of surveys and a relatively small sample size. We will continue to closely monitor this indicator over the coming months and analyse feedback from tenants to identify where improvements to the housing repairs service may be required. This information will also support the work with Savills consultants to review the housing repairs service. 4.6 Estate Management, Anti-social Behaviour, Neighbourhood Nuisance, Tenant Disputes The Council’s rate of refusal of tenancy offers was 39.3%. This is broadly similar to the overall local authority average (38.6%), but it is among the authorities with the higher refusal rates and higher than the overall Scottish average (30.9%). 98% of anti-social behaviour cases were resolved. This is better than the local authority average (91.4%) and the Scottish average (94.2%). 4.7 Housing Options and Access to Housing 7.2% of lettable houses became vacant during the year which is a reduction from last year’s figure of 8.3%. Renfrewshire Council’s turnover is slightly below the local authority average (7.4%) and the Scottish average (7.4%).
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It took an average of 60.6 days to re-let properties, which is a continued improvement on last year’s figure of 66 days. Our average days to let is now below the local authority average of 66.9 days and is moving in the right direction when compared with local authority performance generally, which is showing an increase in the average days to let. We remain higher than the Scottish average of 55.6 days. It is noted that most local authority landlords are reporting significant difficulties with this indicator due to a range of issues relating to the construction sector such as materials, supplies and resource which are widespread throughout the sector nationally. There are also ongoing challenges with the utilities sector causing further delays to returning empty houses to the letting pool. Whilst this issue is not unique to Renfrewshire and many landlords are experiencing the same issues, improvements to the void relet process are a high priority for the service and a full review of the end to end process for void property management is currently underway as part of the work with Savills consultants. The average time to complete approved medical adaptations in 2022/23 reduced to 96 days from 142 days, however our average time remains poorer than most local authorities. The local authority average was 46.9 days and the Scottish average was 46.8 days. Adaptations work has been impacted by issues within the construction sector, including material supply chain delays and increased demand on labour resources, however management actions to increase resource for this workstream through the use of additional external contractual arrangements have helped mitigate this issue somewhat.
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The Council’s tenancy sustainment figure continues to improve with the overall sustainment figure (all new tenancies sustained for more than a year) increasing to 95.3% from 92.2%. This is better than both the local authority average of 91.4% and the Scottish average of 91.2%. Compared to other local authorities, Renfrewshire Council is one of the better performers in this indicator. Nationally local authority performance has improved over the past year. The rate of tenancy sustainment for new tenants who were formerly homeless also continues to improve (91.6%) and is better than the Local Authority average of 90.1% and the Scottish average of 90.3%. 4.8 Homelessness 28.2% of homeless households were referred to RSLs under ‘Section 5’ arrangements and through other referral routes which is higher than the local authority average of 26.7% and the SHR average of 26.4%.
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However, the increasing volume of homeless applications means more support is needed from our RSL partners to improve performance on this indicator further and officers have engaged local RSLs in early discussions to encourage further support to address housing need for homeless applicants in Renfrewshire. 4.9 Good Value from Rents & Service Charges The amount of rent collected as a proportion of the total rent due in the reporting year was 100.3% which is higher than the local authority average of 98.8% and the Scottish average of 99%. The gross value of rent arrears as a percentage of rent due dipped slightly in 2022/23 to 8.6% from 8.00%. Performance on gross rent arrears remains better than the local authority group average (9.6%) and Renfrewshire is performing better than most local authorities. However, we remain higher than the Scottish average (6.9%). This is an area of key priority for improvement and will continue to be closely monitored throughout the year. Although we improved on the proportion of rent lost through empty properties (1.86%), this indicator remains higher than the local authority group average of 1.7% and is among the local authorities with the higher percentages. It is also higher than the Scottish average of 1.4%.
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4.10 Priority Areas for Improvement and Actions for 2023/2024 As noted within this report, the service has identified key areas for improvement during the course of the current year and a range of actions will be implemented and monitored by officers throughout the year, as follows: We will receive quarterly reports on customer complaints to identify any trends and issues that need addressing. SHQS, despite an improving figure, around 32% of stock failing or in abeyance for SHQS. We will compare abeyance reasons with other local authorities and review accordingly, whilst continuing to put in place measures to improve EICR and smoke detector compliance in properties where tenants have repeatedly refused to provide access for these important works. Emergency repairs has seen a steep increase in average time to complete, there has also been a reduction in repairs satisfaction. We will analyse the satisfaction survey response from tenants and continue to monitor performance data whilst the new housing repairs system beds in. The number of times a gas certificate was issued after its anniversary date was high. This will be monitored to ensure our robust gas servicing procedures are followed to drive improvements in this indicator. There was a relatively high level of abandonments as a percentage of stock, but down from last year. We will investigate reasons for abandonment/refusals and identify specific links to mitigate abandonments and refusals. Medical adaptations taking some time to complete, with around 51% completed. We will monitor this area to ensure adequate contractor resources are maintained throughout the year. Although better than LA average, re-let time remains high. The service will review our ‘Low Demand’ housing stock analysis and review the end to end voids process with Savills consultants, as part of the overall review of the housing repairs service.
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4.11 Housing Charter Indicators INDICATOR Renfrewshire Council Local Authority Average Scottish Average (LAs and RSLs) 2021/2022 2022/2023 DOT 22/23 22/23 1 % satisfied with the overall service provided 82.4% 82.4% 82% 86.7% 2 % satisfied with keeping tenants informed 91.1% 91.1% 85% 89.7% 3 % of all complaints responded to in full at 1st stage 95.9% 97.9% 92.4% 95.3% % of all complaints responded to in full at 2nd stage 96.2% 84.6% 92.1% 92.5% 4 Average time in working days for a full response at Stage 1 6.6 5.8 5.6 5.7 Average time in working days for a full response at Stage 2 16.6 14.5 19.9 9.3 5 % satisfied with opportunities to participate 99% 99% 80.9% 85.9% 6 % meeting the SHQS % stock 57.1% 67.9% 70.9% 79% 7 % Satisfied with quality of home 79.9% 79.9% 81.1% 84.2% 8 Average length of time taken to complete emergency repairs (hours) 7.1 9.8 4.7 4.2 9 Average length of time taken to complete non-emergency repairs (days) 14.6 6.1 9.4 8.7 10 % of non-emergency repairs completed right first time 85% 90% 88.2% 87.8% 11 How many times in the reporting year did you not meet your statutory obligations to complete a gas safety check within 12 months of a gas appliance being fitted or its last check. 142 58 877 total 1032 total 12 % Satisfaction with repairs service 95% 73.3% 88.5% 88% 13 % of tenants satisfied with the landlord's contribution to the management of the neighbourhood they live in 87% 87% 82.1% 84.3% 14 % of tenancy offers refused 39.6% 39.3% 38.6% 30.9% 15 % of anti-social behaviour cases reported in the last year which were resolved. 99.7% 98% 91.4% 94.2% 16 % of new tenancies sustained – Overall 92.2% 93.5% 91.4% 91.2% Existing Tenants 93.5% 95.2% 94.4% 94.5% Homeless Tenants 89.4% 91.6% 90.1% 90.3% Housing List 94.5% 94.5% 91.2% 90.9% 17 % of Lettable Houses that became vacant in last year 8.3% 7.2% 7.4% 7.4%
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INDICATOR Renfrewshire Council Local Authority Average Scottish Average (LAs and RSLs) 2021/2022 2022/2023 DOT 22/23 22/23 18 % of rent due lost through properties being empty during the last year 2% 1.86% 1.7% 1.4% 19 No of Households currently waiting for adaptations 107 177 3042 total 5065 total 20 Total Cost of adaptations completed in the year by source of funding £608,555 £769,216 £1.9m total £4.3m total 21 Average time to complete approved adaptations (days) 142 96 46.9 46.8 22 % of court actions initiated which resulted in eviction - all reasons 0.8% 5% 13.5% 17.2% 24 Homelessness - % of homeless households referred to RSLs under section 5 and through other referral routes 32% 28.2% 26.7% 26.4% 25 % tenants who feel rent represents value for money 83.4% 83.4% 81.3% 81.8% 26 Rent collected as % of total rent due in the reporting year 98.2% 100.03% 98.8% 99% 27 Gross rent arrears (all tenants) as at 31st March each year as a % of rent due for the reporting year 7.99% 8.6% 9.6% 6.9% 28 Average annual management fee per factored property £57.70 £108 £58.43 £107.59 29 Owners satisfied with factoring service 60.4% 71.2% 51.2% 61.8% 30 Average length of time taken to re-let properties in the last year (days) 66 60.6 66.9 55.6 31 Gypsies/travellers - Average weekly rent per pitch No sites in Renfrewshire 32 % of gypsies/ travellers satisfied with the landlord's management of the site Legend Performance improving Remains same Performance worsening Data only Source: (1) Scottish Housing Network website (LAs) (2) Scottish Housing Regulator Website (LAs & RSLs) ___________________________________________________________________
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Implications of the Report 1. Financial – None 2. HR & Organisational Development – None 3. Community/Council Planning Building strong, safe, and resilient communities – Improving and maintaining neighbourhoods and homes. Working together to improve outcomes - Increasing resident satisfaction with neighbourhoods and communities. 4. Legal – None 5. Property/Assets – None 6. Information Technology – None 7. Equality & Human Rights – The Recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report because it is for noting only. If required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of the assessment will be published on the Council’s website. 8. Health & Safety - None 9. Procurement - None 10. Risks - None 11. Privacy Impact - None 12. COSLA Policy Position - N/A 13. Climate Risk – None __________________________________________________________________ Background Papers Report to the Communities, Housing and Planning Policy Board on 25 October 2022, ‘Annual Housing Performance Benchmarking Report 2021/22’.
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The foregoing background papers will be retained within Communities, Housing and Planning Services for inspection by the public for the prescribed period of four years from the date of the meeting. ___________________________________________________________________ Author: Ray Walkinshaw, Housing Regeneration and Development Manager Email: ray.walkinshaw@renfrewshire.gov.uk