05 Oct Backlog in council housing repairs slashed by over half in three months
The backlog in council housing repairs has been slashed by over 53% in the past three months with Harlow Council on track to ‘clear’ the backlog in housing repairs this year as part of its priority to fix council housing.
Since 1 June, around 10,000 repairs have been completed since the council and its maintenance company, HTS, radically changed the way they were addressing housing repairs in early June. This has meant:
The backlog has been reduced by over 1,355 jobs since 1 June.
Over 97% tenant satisfaction on follow up surveys following repairs.
The removal of the 9-month standard repair time and the introduction of a 60-day timeframe.
The council and HTS have been supported by several local subcontractors to clear outstanding repairs and have focussed on clearing the oldest jobs first.
The turnaround of void properties has also significantly improved meaning void council properties are coming back into use for Harlow families quicker. The turnaround time has reduced on average from a high of 56 days to 26 days. Significant improvements have been made in also reducing the overall number of voids within the system which has reduced from a high of 198 down to 131.
Commenting on the significant improvements, Councillor David Carter, cabinet portfolio holder for housing, said: “Our first priority is to fix council housing this year and that means clearing the unacceptable backlog in housing repairs. We know we have not done a good enough job on carrying out repairs to council homes and that’s why we’ve invested millions more, overhauled the process and reformed the way we work to ensure housing repairs are carried out to a better standard and faster.
“We have made enormous progress in the last 100 days by clearing over half of the backlog and we are on track to clear the backlog in council housing repairs this year. There will be more council housing repair reforms to come as we deliver on our priority to fix council housing.”
