Tenants Choice housing modernisation - more being done under the Lib Dems

Liberal Democrats Councillors will come out fighting at Tuesday's council meeting when debating a Labour motion on housing modernisation performance.

Steve Galloway will reveal figures that show that more tenant's choice modernisation work is being undertaken under the Liberal Democrats than was achieved during Labour's last year in office.

"In 2002/3, 393 properties were modernised.

During the Lib Dems first year in office this increased to 401 and it is set to increase again this year to 474.

Cllr Potter has spent a lot of time over the last few months making unsubstantiated claims. She has made a big mistake though in putting down a motion for debate at Council as it gives us the opportunity to put the record straight.

We're doing more tenants choice work, we're getting fewer complaints than Labour did about quality and we've also been able to improve standards under the York Pride programme

We are also delighted that the waiting list for new homes has nearly halved since Lib Dems LibDems took control of the Council.

So on all housing fronts the new Council is performing better than Labour.

Labour have scored an own goal in front of a packed stadium with their motion"

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The improved York Pride modernisation standards include additional work such as:

· Communal area re-flooring

· Decoration of internal communal areas

· Door entry systems

· Improved communal & security lighting

· Demolition of sheds and garages

· Resurfacing of drying areas

· Resurfacing paths in communal areas

· Provision of gates and fences to communal areas

· Replacement external doors to communal blocks

· Re-rendering communal blocks

Speech by Steve Galloway proposing amendment

"I believe that Cllr Potter is making implications in her motion which are simply not true. There has been no reduction in Tenants Choice standards. We have increased the numbers being completed and tenants are highly satisfied.

The number of properties receiving T.C. will vary each year. This will be influenced by a number of factors but the keys ones will be the availability of capital resources and the capacity in the building industry to complete the required work programmes.

This year the York Council is attempting its largest ever housing modernisation programme. The approved Housing modernisation programme in £11.852 out turns. The outturns reported to the Housing EMAP in January revealed that there was a possible overspend on this allocation and some £1.1 million of works has been slipped into 05/06. out turn resulting expected outturn of £10.5 million is still by some distance the largest capital investment programme in modernizing housing in the City

There have been some variances within the programmes on the amount allocated to TC and the other parts of the modernisation programme. In some cases the uptake of tenant's choice (which has always been an option that tenants could turn down and many pensioners chose to) has been below 100%.

I will publish today a table which shows the planned and actual TC completions for the last year of the old administration & the 1st year for new administration plus a projected figure for this financial year.

Tenants Choice Completions

Year Completions

2002/Lib Dem (Labour control) Lib Dem

2003/4 (LibDem control) 401

2004/5 (LibDem control) 479 (projection to 31/3/05)

The business plan which will be taken to the March Housing EMAP identifies a need to carry out 2220 Tenants Choice completions, to meet Decent Homes standards, by 2010.

This equates to 370 each year.

As far as quality is concerned we have not seen any increase in complaints about the TC process generally and the only area we have had complaints, which members have been involved in, is St Georges / Newington where a couple of tenants have been complaining about the level of tiling that we have carried out (they wanted more than the 8.5m2 that we do in the bathroom (and they had to pay for it). There has been no change to the tiling specification since May 2003.

On this scheme we have also had a complaint saying that we are not spending the same as in other schemes.

This is not the case - the average spend per property is £7,657. What has happened is that where a pantry has previously been removed, the tenants expected us to redirect that amount of money to THEIR house and the Council never has done that.

There is a general issue about replacing walk in showers with baths and visa versa and the length of time people may have to wait for bathing adaptations. The reason for the delay is that in 2002 the Council took the decision to reduce the Adaptations budget and put that money to decent homes.

There has been no reduction is the level of choice tenants have in relation to the actual work carried out or the quality of fittings used or the choice of fittings. The only element of choice that has been removed which was agreed at EMAP last financial year was the choice of contractor.

The recently released BVPI results show satisfaction levels with York's housing services to be in the top quartile of all authorities nationwide.

The motion is ill considered and should be amended to reflect the considerable improvement in numbers, and the modernisation standards, of council properties that have already been achieved by this administration, and the popularity of our initiatives with those that matter most - our tenants"

Original Motion submitted by Cllr R Potter

"Council calls on the Executive Member to maintain the Tenants Choice Housing Modernisation programme at least its May 2003 level in terms of the number of homes receiving Tenants Choice each year, the quality of the materials used and the range of choices available in all aspects of the work Lib Dem."

Will be amended by the LibDem, group to read

"Council calls on the Executive Member to maintain the Tenants Choice Housing Modernisation programme at a level which ensures that central government "decent homes" targets are met and which also sustains the higher "York Pride" modernisation standards which were successfully implemented by the Executive Member for Housing last year."