St Albans City and District Council is drawing attention to the importance of fire protection in Homes in Multiple Occupation (HMO). These houses are defined as being occupied by more than two unrelated people. Such houses are more at risk of fire and should have in place, amongst other fire protection measures, mains wired smoke detectors to warn residents in the event of a fire.

Councillor Poor, Portfolio Holder for Housing Services said: “It is important that residents who live in HMOs are protected from the dangers of fire and I would urge residents to let the Council know if they are living in a house in multiple occupation, so that it can be inspected to make sure it has the proper fire protection in place”.

An inspection can be requested by visiting the Council’s website: www.stalbans.gov.uk/housing/multiple-occupancy-homes, by email at: environmental@stalbans.gov.uk, or by calling 01727 819406. An inspection of this kind is completely free and part of the service offered by the Council to residents.

The ‘Fire Precautions Guide for Houses in Multiple Occupation’ is also on the website and landlords in particular are urged to read this to make sure they meet the required standards. Landlords can also seek assistance by contacting the Council on 01727 819406, or by email at environmental@stalbans.gov.uk.

A number of incentives for council tenants were reviewed at Cabinet on 4 November. The aim of the changes is to ensure that housing resources are aimed at those tenants with the greatest needs.

Recent consultation with tenant representatives on the housing strategy identified the under occupation of council properties, as being of significant concern to them.

The proposals went to Overview and Scrutiny (Public Services)* who recommended:-

· The objective of giving incentives should be to reduce under occupancy.

· Incentives should be given only to those who need the service and to those living in appropriately sized housing.

· Incentives should be phased out where appropriate, rather than stopped.

· Consideration should also be given to using funds saved from phasing out incentives, to improve the green spaces on the estates.

Therefore it has been decided to make the following changes:-

The 50th anniversary payment rewarded anyone who had been a council tenant continuously for fifty years, with a payment of 4 weeks rent. This meant that tenants occupying larger homes with higher rents received larger payments. This payment is now seen to be unfair as an increasing number of people housed by the Council do not become council tenants but are referred to Housing Associations or Registered Social Landlords. It also unfairly rewards people who live in larger accommodation where rents are inevitably higher.

The savings used from withdrawal of this benefit will be used to increase the grant for tenants who voluntarily move from larger accommodation to one bedroom properties thereby enabling families on the waiting list to be housed in the more suitable, family sized properties.

The decoration scheme for tenants over 60 years old who live alone and / or have a disability, enabled them to have one room in their house decorated free of charge every two years. The current budget for this is £50,000.

There are currently 160 tenants on the waiting list for this service.

This service will be withdrawn when committed expenditure to cover those on the waiting list has been utilised. The funds will in future be used to decorate vacant retirement housing and elderly designated properties to make them more attractive for people wishing to move to smaller properties. In addition, once the existing waiting list has been cleared some of the savings will be used to provide a handyman service to assist tenants on the day they move into a property, if they’re moving from a larger property into retirement housing or properties designated for the elderly.

The gardening scheme for tenants over 60 years old, who live alone, and / or have a disability, currently pays for a free basic gardening service. However the cost of providing this service for 2008/9 was £129,842 and it encourages people who can no longer maintain their property to remain there rather than consider moving to an alternative, more suitable property. It also means that people waiting for a property with it’s own garden, who can maintain it have longer to wait.

It is proposed to introduce a charge for those receiving this service.

The service charge will be introduced in April 2010, existing service users will pay 50% of the cost in 2010/2011 and 100% of the cost from 2011/2012. New applicants to the scheme will pay 100% of the cost from the outset.

Cllr Joyce Lusby commented: “The above changes will result in the Council being able to direct £158K to other parts of the service where it’s most needed.”

Residents who have bought their homes from St Albans City and District Council under a leasehold agreement are to be sent quarterly repair statements and provided with a dedicated officer to handle their queries as part of an initiative to improve the service that they receive.

On 6th October, Cabinet approved an action plan to bring the leasehold management service provided to these residents into line with best practice.

Following feedback gathered through focus groups with Council leaseholders, a number of steps are being taken to improve the management service. These include:
the appointment of a Leasehold and Charges Officer to manage leaseholder relations;
the adoption of clearer communication with leaseholders, for example, through a revised leasehold handbook, an annual leasehold report and better information on the Council’s website;
the provision of quarterly repair summary statements for leaseholders;
the creation of an opportunity for customer feedback, for example, through a survey to assess leaseholders’ satisfaction levels.

The improved service will apply to all those residents who have bought their flats under a lease with the Council either through the government’s right to buy scheme or from other leaseholders who have previously acquired their property from the Council. The Council, as freeholder, is responsible for maintaining the structure of these leasehold flats, of which there are approximately 1,012 in the District, and recouping the cost of repairs from these leaseholders.

Cllr Joyce Lusby, Portfolio Holder for Housing Services at St Albans City and District Council, said: “We have listened to the Council’s leaseholders and taken on board their concerns about the management of their homes. We will continue to improve our communications and procedures so that they are informed about potential repairs and associated costs as early as possible. We hope that these steps will lead to a better relationship between the Council and its leaseholders.”

Statement from St Albans District Council

Applicants registered on St Albans’ housing waiting list will soon have
more choice in deciding where to live.

From 1st May 2009 St Albans District Council will be introducing Choice
Based Lettings (CBL), a new way of allocating council and housing
association properties in the district.

CBL represents a massive shift in the traditional points-based system
where applicants waited until they were top of the list and were then
allocated the next suitable available property. This may have been a
property that they did not want, in a location they did not like. Now
applicants will be able to see what properties are available in a
fortnightly magazine and on the internet and they can choose to express
an interest in homes they are eligible for. These will then be allocated
according to applicants’ housing need and the length of time spent on
the waiting list.

Cllr Joyce Lusby, portfolio said “The council officers have worked
extremely hard to put the new system in place, they and I are excited
about Choice Based Lettings because it gives the applicants choice about
their new homes and should result in greater contentment. Well done to
the St Albans’ Housing department.”