Housing Standards team (HST) delivers a number of statutory functions to address housing conditions across the district. 

The report of the Strategic Director Place (Document “S”) will provide an update for members on housing conditions and the work of the HST taken to address these.

Recommended –

That the Committee note the report and request a further update on the work of the            Housing Standards team in a further 12 months.

(Julie Rhodes – 01274 431163)

UPDATE ON THE WORK OF THE HOUSING STANDARDS TEAM

Housing Standards team (HST) delivers a number of statutory functions to address housing conditions across the district. 

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “S”) provided an update for members on housing conditions and the work of the HST taken to address these.

The Principal Operations Manager was in attendance and gave the following synopsis accompanied with a PowerPoint presentation. The main legislation enforced by the team was the Housing Act 2004.  The legislation came into force in April 2006 and used the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) as the prescribed method of assessing a house’s condition.  Under the HHSRS officers were required to ensure that each property was assessed against 29 separate hazards.  Using the assessment tool hazards were categorised as either Category 1 or Category 2 hazards.

Under the Housing Act 2004 the Council had to keep the housing conditions in their area under review and had a duty to remove Category 1 hazards where they existed.

There had been a total increase of 37% in service requests compared to the number received by this point in 2015/16. In total 180 properties were inspected during the project with hazards found at 133 rented properties resulting in 20 formal Housing Act Notices, including three emergency prohibition orders. In 10 cases a property was found to have a fire risk high enough to justify Emergency Prohibition Orders but either the tenants moved out the same day and works were completed, or the property was owner occupied, so advice, information and smoke detectors were provided.

Since the introduction of these Regulations the service had served a further 19 notices that required agents/managers to prove that they were members of an approved scheme and had issued 3 penalty charges for non-compliance.

A question and answer session ensued:

• What was the reason behind tenants being occasionally rehoused?
  • This was due to poor kitchen standards, electrical hazards, dampness inside the property and including other defects. Occasionally tenants had other agendas and therefore the services worked with other West Yorkshire authorities and to learn new ways  in educating people to help themselves;
• What status was the relationship between the authority and the fire service?
  • A healthy one and worked with one another;
• Did the service work with other organisations?
  • Liaising with environmental services and the fire service for the sake of hygiene purposes and fire safety were important factors;
• Tenants being rehoused were additional expenses. Could these expenses be reclaimed from bad landlords?
  • Unfortunately no but the authority could prosecute or a tenant could progress towards private action;
• Which area in Bradford was known for the worst properties?
  • Significant amount of problems came from older properties and were spread across Bradford;
• How many referrals had the service received?
  • Since the previous year, there had been a total of 1400 referrals which was an increase of 17%;
• How was the increase of referrals coming in being resolved by the service?
  • This was a national issue and as a result legislation was changing for more powers in the future. In the meantime there would be a website for tenants to refer to on matters of guidance for tenants;
• What assistance was provided to tenants?
  • Advice and support. If ultimately enforcement action was to follow then the authority could offer financial assistance in the means of a loan or grant to tenants;
• The results from the recent Stock Modelling report indicated that there were potentially as many as 11,000 Houses in Multiple Occupation (a house in multiple occupation is a property rented out by at least 3 people who are not from 1 'household' and share facilities like the bathroom and kitchen. You must have a licence if you're renting out a large HMO)(HMO) in the Bradford district, of which 1,399 may require a licence. How proactive was the service in this area?
  • Not all HMOs were licensable however high risk properties were continuously monitored and there were on going discussions with landlords and tenants in relation to responsibility; and,
• What was done to reinforce good practice?
  • The service worked closely with the Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) and other services of the authority to enforce good practice however despite the Police also being made aware of ASB, without legislation it was difficult to progress towards reinforcing good practice.

The Committee ended the discussion by praising the team of officers for the immense work that had been undertaken in inspecting a total of 180 properties during the project with hazards found at 133 rented properties resulting in 20 formal Housing Act Notices, including three emergency prohibition orders.

Resolved –

That the report be welcomed and officers be thanked for their work. That an update report be presented to the Regeneration and Economy Overview and Scrutiny Committee in the municipal year 2017-18.

ACTION: Strategic Director of Place