Havering council has one of the worst records in London for bringing empty properties back into use, according to an Audit Commission inspection report.
The inspectors gave the east London council’s repairs and maintenance service a no-star rating.

The average time to turn around an empty property was found to be 79 days – more than 30 days higher than the London average. The team also said there were serious delays for less urgent repairs and the major improvement schemes budget was consistently underspent by up to 30%.

The inspectors said the service’s improvement prospects were uncertain. Roy Irwin, the chief housing inspector, said: “Havering has recognised that its repairs and maintenance service is weak and has restructured its service to give it a better focus.

“A new action plan should now give greater priority to those areas affecting people’s day-to-day quality of repairs and maintenance service. However, there is a long way to go.”

Mark Gaynor, Havering’s executive director with responsibility for housing, said he was surprised the report was not more optimistic.

He said: “Perhaps it’s because things are so new – the housing department has only recently been brought under a head of housing.

“We are in the process of re-tendering day-to-day repairs contracts, and are looking to set up a new IT system.”

Gaynor added that the council would like to see “solid performance against the action plan by July”.

Source

Housing Today