Council publishes annual housing report 

The Housing and Property teams work together to deliver the council’s strategic priorities and a wide range of services for its tenants and leaseholders.

These include managing the council’s housing strategy, homelessness prevention, allocation of council housing, property management, investment in new and existing homes and tenant wellbeing.

The annual review gives an overview of the council’s main areas of housing activity in 2022/23 and its future plans. Together with its housing and direct services companies OX Place and ODS, the council:

• invested more than £48m in managing and improving council homes and delivering more affordable housing
• carried out 30,766 repairs
• answered 114,000 housing-related calls
• allocated 708 council, housing association and OX Place homes
• put tenants at the heart of work to improve the way their homes are managed, in line with new legislation and guidance

Housing and Property services

The council has nearly 7,900 homes and Landlord Services looks after all aspects of day-to-day management of people’s tenancies. There were 650 tenancy sign-ups, including 154 from the housing register, 86 transfers, 28 successions and 28 mutual exchanges.

Property Services recruited extra staff to maintain and improve council homes. The team worked with ODS to improve the repairs service and planned initiatives, including gas servicing and electrical testing.

It also took a proactive approach to dealing with damp and mould - contacting all tenants and encouraging them to report any issues - and started a two-year condition survey of all council homes.

Improving standards 

The council conducts an annual tenant satisfaction (STAR) survey and the results of the 2022 survey were used to inform a transformation programme to deliver more responsive, accessible and joined-up services to tenants and leaseholders.

The STAR survey also helped the council prepare for the introduction of new national tenant satisfaction measures in April 2023.

The government has moved to drive up standards for social housing in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster and the more recent death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak, the result of prolonged exposure to mould at his home in Rochdale.

A new regulatory framework is now in place addressing several key areas. These include tenant and leaseholder engagement, accountability and safety regulations, with stronger powers for the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) in the recently passed Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023.

Work to meet these new standards includes the recruitment of new building safety and customer care and complaints staff. The council is also taking part in an RSH pilot assessment programme ahead of the introduction of statutory four-yearly inspections from April 2024.

Annual report

The annual report was produced by the Tenant Involvement team, which works together with volunteer tenant and leaseholder ambassadors to ensure their voices are central to the way their homes are managed.

The annual report is available online and in a complementary YouTube playlist.

Comment

“We believe in great homes for all and we’re committed to providing high-quality homes and services for our tenants and leaseholders, building strong communities and delivering great customer service.

“There are big changes ahead for social landlords. The annual report not only reflects what we’ve achieved but also charts the course for what we need to do to meet new national standards.

“Our tenants and leaseholders play a crucial role in shaping our services and helping us prepare for the future. I’d like to thank them, as well as our staff and stakeholders, for their dedication to the goal of a more inclusive Oxford where everyone has somewhere they are proud to call home.” 

Councillor Linda Smith, Cabinet Member for Housing

Other service highlights

ODS

• Carried out 30,766 repairs, including 10,211 emergency repairs (33%), 4,677 urgent (72 hour) repairs (15%) and 13,336 routine repairs (43%)
• Replaced 144 kitchens and 90 bathrooms
• Made 735 disabled adaptations
• Rewired 201 homes and upgraded heating in 208 homes
• Replaced 85 fire doors at Foresters Tower
• ICT improvements to deliver a better customer experience of the repairs service, work more efficiently and reduce carbon emissions

Customer Services

• Handled 114,000 housing-related calls – 63% of all calls
• Dealt with 4,190 face-to-face housing enquiries – 85% of all visits
• Processed an average of 115 housing register applications each month

Housing Needs

• Provided downsizing incentive scheme
• Allocated 462 council homes, 226 housing association homes and 20 OX Place homes – over 40% higher than in 2021/22

OX Place

• Completed 90 affordable homes, including 53 homes let at social rent and 32 shared ownership homes
• Completed eight nearly zero-carbon bungalows for people with specific mobility and social needs, with new tenants matched directly from the housing register
• Introduced a one-year-in customer satisfaction survey, with results used to fix problems with people’s homes and make improvements to future developments

Antisocial behaviour

• 38% annual increase in tenant-related antisocial behaviour, rising from 672 to 928 cases
• The Community Safety team trained tenants in managing antisocial behaviour cases, to get feedback and advice on improving services
• The team worked with Thames Valley Police and other partners to develop a successful joint approach to dealing with ‘cuckooing’, which happens when other people take over someone’s home without their consent

Communities

• 1,600 people were supported with a household support grant
• 45 warm spaces were provided
• 83 volunteer community champions trained to help develop practical solutions for people with barriers to accessing services
• Donated more than 300 laptops to the Getting Oxfordshire Online initiative

Complaints

• Updated complaints process to ensure compliance with the Housing Ombudsman’s complaints handling code
• New two-stage process in place
• Between October 2022 and March 2023, received 64 complaints about council and ODS services:
  • 42 upheld (66%)
  • 8 partially upheld (13%)
  • 61 (95%) resolved at first stage
• Lessons learned led to service improvements by the council and ODS, including more training, improving the responsiveness of the repairs service, more regular contact following new tenancies and tenancy changes

Energy advice

• Helped people struggling with energy costs – 582 calls and visits, including 196 extended cases helping people experiencing complex problems
• 1,491 recommendations on energy and money saving
• 113 people helped to apply for the £150 Warm Home Discount, saving £16,950
• 63 people helped to apply or advised on eligibility for a 50% discount through the WaterHelp scheme
• 95 emergency fuel vouchers, totalling £5,366
• 316 consultations on paying for utilities and utility debt – up 36%