ODPM backs Notting Hill plans for housing ‘MOTs’ and no claim bonuses

The ODPM has backed plans for a home “MOT” whereby tenants undergo annual inspections by housing officers, writes Ben Cook.

The scheme, devised by Notting Hill Housing Trust, would also offer tenants incentives to carry out minor repairs themselves.

Under the programme, tenants who go a year without calling their landlord to request repairs would receive a cash sum, perhaps as much as £300.

Notting Hill has no firm plans to pilot the scheme yet but chief executive Kate Davies said it had the backing of the ODPM and the Chartered Institute of Housing.

Davies said, if a pilot did go ahead, the trust would carry out annual inspections of homes similar to MOTs on cars.

“The trust would go round and look at properties and, if it doesn’t meet our standards, we’d do the work”, she said.

She added: “The aim is to persuade people to look after their homes.” Tenants would receive a cash bonus because they had “saved us a considerable amount of money as a result of taking care of their homes”.

Davies said the MOT scheme would be conducted on a voluntary basis whereby tenants would contact associations to arrange dates for inspections. Associations would send leaflets to tenants detailing the scheme.

Some tenants called landlords 20 times a year to fix small problems such as dripping taps, broken locks and leaking toilets, she added.

“We’re trying to stem the demand,” she said. “Most of these tasks are not highly skilled. Minor repairs could be carried out by tenants.”

Davies rejected suggestions that paying “no-repair” bonuses would lead to homes not being repaired when necessary.

“The annual check would help prevent this – the annual inspection would have to reveal that there were no repairs required before the tenant was paid a bonus.”

A spokeswoman for the ODPM said: “The Notting Hill Housing Trust annual MOT is one we are very interested in and we will be looking into it in further detail.”