Issue - meetings

1. That the following four Housing Repairs and Maintenance policies be approved and adopted:

a)    Disabled Adaptations Policy

b)    Housing Repairs and Maintenance Policy

c)    Housing Repairs Recharge Policy

d)    Managing Damp and Mould Policy

2. That authority be delegated to the Corporate Head of Housing, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Good Homes, to make any minor amendments to the damp and mould policy so it is compliant with legislation from October 2025.

Councillor Reach introduced the report.  The second recommendation was to make minor amendments to the Damp and Mould Policy to ensure compliance with forthcoming legislation, commonly known as Awaab’s Law.

Corporate Head of Housing, provided a further introduction which included the following points:

a)    The policies were important to support the re-procurement of maintenance and compliance activities and as a business need to provide clear guidance for officers and a clear understanding of responsibilities between landlord and tenants.

b)    It was essential that tenants were involved in the development of all policies and procedures.

c)    The policies were designed to be compliant with laws and regulations, provide consistency and fairness, mitigate risk, and improve customer communication and satisfaction levels.

d)    The policies would be reviewed every two years to ensure they remained effective and that tenants were central to the work being carried out.

Councillor Reach added further points reflecting feedback from the TACT Board, which included:

a)  A need to ensure a “human touch” was applied to the policies, particularly the recharge policy, to avoid punishing vulnerable tenants who may struggle with maintenance for various reasons.

b)  Consideration should be given to how the policies could differentiate to reflect individual tenant circumstances and whether the council could refer tenants to other services for assistance.

c)  An emphasis was needed to ensure contractors and surveyors did not just follow a tick-box exercise but took into account the individual circumstances of the property and its residents.

Councillor Reach, the Strategic Director, Corporate Head of Housing and the Housing Project and Policy Manager then responded to questions and comments raised by councillors as summarised below:

a)    Whether the impact of the new policies would be reviewed by members after the first year and how this impact would be measured.

b)    A suggestion was put forward to involve tenants more in policy development through a standing group, similar to the previously successful 'Readers' Panel'.

c)    A question was asked about the Disabled Adaptations Policy and its application to tenants who were under-occupying their property, and what solutions were available for them.

d)    A query was raised about the success criteria for the policies, particularly concerning contractor competence, missed appointments, and the impact on tenants who had to take time off work.

e)    A suggestion was made to regularly publish performance data to reassure the public that the service was performing well and to demonstrate improvements.

f)      How did the adaptations policy address the needs of individuals with progressively deteriorating conditions and where future needs could be anticipated.

g)    Whether more could be done to develop and share both positive and negative case studies for learning and communication purposes.

h)    A question was asked regarding the availability of Occupational Therapists (OTs) through Hampshire County Council and the number of in-house OTs employed by the council.

i)      Clarification was sought on the definitions of ‘responsive repairs’ and ‘programmed repairs’.

j)      Confirmation was requested that the Disabled Adaptations Policy was comprehensive and covered a wide  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9