Strong measures are being taken to transform housing services with almost £5 million being invested to ensure council homes are well-maintained in Haringey and residents’ voices are at the heart of decision making.
Thousands of households will benefit from major improvements to the way the council handles damp and mould, resident engagement, repairs, building safety performance and responses to complaints.
Housing management services will be more visible and responsive to residents’ needs, while improving our cleaning and grounds maintenance standards will create better neighbourhoods.
The measures are set out in a new far reaching Housing Improvement Plan which was agreed by the Cabinet last tonight (18 April).
It follows insourcing of services provided by the ALMO, Homes for Haringey, and two council-commissioned independent reviews unearthed significant challenges.
Cllr Dana Carlin, Cabinet Member for Housing, Private Renters and Planning, said: “A good home is transformative in so many ways. But we have been letting many of our residents down, over many years.
“Following insourcing we actively sought external, independent views on the performance of our housing services, and the results are sobering. We take these findings extremely seriously. This plan is the next major step in our journey to transform housing services to our 20,000 tenants and leaseholders.
“Rest assured the time for talking is over and we want to show all of our residents in Haringey that we are taking action to improve our housing services and provide the best possible homes for our council tenants.”
The council wants residents to be at the heart of everything it does and will strengthen community engagement and involvement in decision-making and service delivery. An engagement strategy is already being developed and co-designed with residents.
Also critical amongst the changes will be a complete overhaul of the repairs service so that tenants do not have to wait long periods for issues to be resolved.
Other major priorities include dealing with damp and mould in properties, with the worst cases already being tackled, and ensuring every council property is safe, with improved performance in respect of building safety compliance.
Overseeing the turnaround is a new cross-party Housing Improvement Board chaired by the Chief Executive.
Cllr Dana Carlin added: “To be an excellent landlord we need to go far beyond the statutory minimum standards, and listen to our residents, learn what is important to them, how they would like us to develop services, and – crucially – act on this. Putting our residents at the heart of what we do is essential and why engagement with them is a major pillar of the plan.
“We have a lot of work to do and have set aside £4.7m to fund the improvements. Good governance and clear reporting to Cabinet is also set out in the report, so that we can clearly see that progress is being made.”
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