Decent Homes programme 2008-2013
The factors that have shaped the programme
A key factor that has shaped the programme has been the funding available from the government to deliver our Decent Homes work.
Tenants will be aware that the original completion date for achieving the Decent Homes Standard was 2010. However, the government has indicated that they wish to extend this and have asked us to re-submit our original forecast of work, to take this into account. We have still not heard whether our revised proposal, completing the work in April 2013, has been agreed. However, rather than delay any further, the Council and South Tyneside Homes have agreed a 5-year Programme, assuming that this will be agreed by the government.
Extending the completion date means that there is less money available to spend in each year – we are having to “spread the jam more thinly”. This and the capacity in the building industry mean that there is a limit to how much work can be carried out each year. This is why we have listened to tenants and your priorities in putting forward this Programme, which we hope reflects what you told us were the priorities.
- Tackling the worst homes first - this includes homes requiring rewires and structural works and homes with high maintenance costs.
- An early, priority programme of doors
- An even spread of work across the borough each year.
- Internal work to be done as a package to minimise disruption.
The different programmes to be undertaken
The priorities given above have clear implications when developing a programme of work to deliver Decent Homes in the borough:
Customers have indicated that they want the inside of their home to be modernised as a single package and also that they want the minimum levels of disruption possible. However, this is also the most complicated Programme to set-up and run as this has the most impact on our customers in their homes. To make sure that we deliver this Programme we will be starting slowly and expanding once we are sure the service is exactly what a customer needs. This programme includes all the work to make the interior of a home “Decent” and includes work such as kitchen replacements, bathroom replacements, rewiring, and new central heating systems.
There would be an internal programme each year right to the end of the work in 2013.
To allow an even spread of work across the Borough, it is necessary to run a third type of programme. This programme would ensure that the external structure of a home is brought up to a Decent Homes Standard. This would include roofing repairs or replacements, work to guttering and down-pipes, repairs to outside walls etc.
More of this work will be carried out in later years, to reflect the budget constraints that we have to work within.
A Programme of upgrading single-glazing to double-glazing will also run for 5 years
How the programme has been developed
It has been a big task to create a programme to:
- Upgrade over 18,000 homes by 2013.
- Efficiently plan work costing over £250m.
- reflect the priorities of our customers.
Below is a brief explanation of how this has been undertaken:
- The whole programme has been split down on an estate-by-estate basis to begin with.
- These estates have then been looked at in greater detail to assess the various types of properties within them, for example, traditional houses, bungalows, sheltered accommodation units, high-rise blocks and other types of homes built using non-traditional methods, such as pre-fabrication.
- For each or these types of properties we have then been able to look at the types of works that will need to be carried out and to estimate how much this would cost.
- We have then been able to prioritise the need of each area against each other to ensure that we address the worst properties first.
- Once we know the order of priority of these areas and their approximate costs, we have then been able to programme them into specific years based on the budgets we would have available.
However, before we invest any money into a home we need to make sure that we only spend on those properties that we know people want to live in. To ensure this we are assessing every area against a set list of criteria. Areas that fail these criteria can then be looked at more closely to determine if the problems are superficial and will be solved by bringing the properties up to a Decent Standard, or if there are any greater underlying problems which may need much deeper investigations to determine the best solution to make the area livable again.
To allow these areas to be properly investigated and the best solutions determined, we have left these areas to later in the Programme rather than invest in these properties now and then find we have wasted money.
What happens next?
We are making good progress with the programme and will cary out regular reviews to ensure that we are on course and meeting current priorities.
