Midlothian Council Today EDITIONEDITION Tenants Today ... · New Council Housing in Midlothian...

Tenants Today SPECIAL

EDITIONSPECIAL EDITION

Midlothian Council Tenants Today Newsletter

Come to one of our Housing Chats in Midlothian!

After reading this newsletter you may have more questions about Midlothian Council’s proposals to change the Housing Allocation Policy. So why not come along to one of our drop in sessions taking place in March and April?

Just drop in at any time for a chat, or to hand back your survey form. We would be delighted to see you!

We are interested in hearing the views of as many of our customers as possible. Please take a few minutes to read through the information and complete the survey form enclosed by Monday 29th April 2019.

If you prefer, you can email or text us general comments about the Housing Allocation Policy by contacting [email protected] or texting 07808 903454 with your comments. This edition includes:

Tenant Garden Competition, now open for nominations until Friday 2nd August with judging taking place in mid-August. This competition is open to all Midlothian Council tenants - you can nominate yourself or another tenant for our fun and informal competition. There will be prizes for the best garden in each category.

Midlothian Tenants’ Day

This fun event is open to all council tenants giving them the opportunity to:

• Meet old friends and make new ones• Bring along the kids for games and a

free pick ‘n’ mix!• Find out about the latest housing

news which affects you as a tenant.• Have a real say on how your housing

service is managed• Win great prizes • Enjoy a buffet lunch• Browse information stalls

Please phone Hazel, our Tenant Participation Officer on 0131 271 3629 for more information on all of our tenant events and opportunities.

Midlothian Tenants Day 2019 and Tenant Garden Competition 2019

Welcome to this special edition newsletter which focuses on an important issue for Midlothian Council tenants and housing applicants: our Housing Allocation Policy.

This fun event is open to all council tenants giving them the opportunity to:• Meet old friends and make new ones• Bring along the kids for games and a free pick ‘n’ mix!• Find out about the latest housing news which a�ects you as a tenant.• Have a real say on how your housing service is managed• Win great prizes • Enjoy a bu�et lunch

FREE‘Old Midlothian’fun and games

(suitable for all ages)

It’s Fun, it’s FREE, it’s for all the family!Friday 30thAugust 2019, 1.00-3.30pmDalkeith Art Centre (inside Dalkeith Library)

• Penicuik Library, Tuesday 26

March, 4-7pm

• Gorebridge Library, Thursday

28 March, 2-4pm

• Dalkeith Art Centre, Thursday

4 April, 4-6pm

Tenant and resident group updates

Tenant events

Information on how we are performing

An update on new housing developments

Advice on multi-fuel burners

Useful contacts

Spring 2019

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How We Allocate Houses

Midlothian Council updated its allocation policy in 2016 in order to give priority to applicants in greatest need. There are some more changes we can make to improve the policy once again and we need your opinion on these. Some of the key features of our current Housing Allocation Policy are:

Midlothian Homes

Midlothian Council operates a Common Housing Register with Melville Housing Association.

This means that applicants only need to fill in one form to be housed by either the council or Melville Housing Association which is the second largest provider of affordable housing in Midlothian.

Qualifying Size Criteria

In 2016 the Housing Allocation Policy amended its qualifying size criteria to enable single people and couples to choose either one bedroom or two bedroom housing to make best use of housing stock.

Waiting Time Points

One point for each two complete months on list (only where you are not adequately housed).

No limit is applied.

Choice of Housing

All applicants have a choice of all house types.

Allocation Groups

There are three allocation groups with different letting targets.

1. Choice - applicants who are not currently council house tenants and have no identified housing need but would like a council tenancy, and also council tenants who are adequately housed but would like another house.

2. General Needs - includes applicants who are overcrowded or are under occupying their present housing, those with medical priorities, those who are living care of but want their own tenancy and applicants for Sheltered and Extra Care Housing.

3. Homeless applicants account for a growing proportion of the waiting list as a result of legislative changes. This group also includes households who have served in the Armed Forces.

How many applicants are waiting for housing?

A total of 4,649 households are on the waiting list. These are separated into the 3 housing needs groups:

• General Needs: 2,897 households• Homeless: 962 households• Choice: 790 households

Where are council homes being let?

Of the 364 lets we made last year, most of them were in Gorebridge with 122 lets, followed by Dalkeith with 72, and Penicuik 55.

What could we change about the current Housing Allocation Policy?

The Housing Allocation Policy is working - we think it is easy to understand, gives applicants more choice, and prioritises housing to those in the greatest need. However, we could make some changes to it to make it more effective and we would welcome your views to help us decide what changes to implement.

1. Remove the Choice Group.

Currently there are 790 applicants on the Choice List. These households have no defined housing or medical need. It may be they are a home owner, or they could be a tenant who wishes to move house but has no housing need such as being overcrowded or medical needs. If the council removes the Choice List all applicants would move onto the General Needs List and would still receive points, for example waiting time points and local resident points.

Housing needs including the homeless, overcrowded and those with medical needs will be housed sooner. If an applicant in this group had a change in circumstances they would, as with any other applicant, receive the appropriate points.

If the Choice group was removed and the 10% target of lets in this group was removed, the council could then increase the letting target for the Homeless Group, the General Needs or both groups.

2. Update the Incentive to Move Scheme

The Incentive to Move Scheme currently supports households to downsize by two bedroom sizes or more (and free up larger properties) by providing a payment of

£0.39

Homeless 45%

General Needs 45%

Choice 10%

45%

45%

10%

Allocation Groups

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£1,500. We are proposing extending the Incentive to Move grant for households moving down by one bedroom size which might encourage more tenants to move to a smaller property.

3. Award more application points to overcrowded and under occupied households

We could do this to ensure these households are given opportunities to transfer from their existing tenancies and could help to reduce the time it takes to rehouse these households.

4. Continue using Local Lettings Initiatives

We currently use these when allocating our new build properties. They give priority to current tenants and residents who live in the areas where new council homes are being built.

5. Consider how best to address homelessness

Currently there are just under 1,000 homeless households in Midlothian and many of them face a long wait in temporary accommodation and sometimes bed and breakfast. Midlothian Council has recently published a Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan which aims to reduce the level of homelessness in Midlothian and the time it takes to rehouse people. Possible changes to support homeless households could include:

• Giving additional priority points to homeless households who have not been permanently housed after spending a very long period of time in temporary accommodation.

• Placing a requirement on homeless applicants to widen their areas of choice and house types to increase their chances of being permanently housed more quickly.

6. Change to a Choice Based Letting system

Instead of using the current group and points allocation policy, we could switch to a choice based letting system. This is the system used by some of the largest landlords in Scotland and is supported by the Scottish Government.

This allows applicants to view a list of properties available to let and bid on properties they are interested in, with an applicant with the highest level of points being successful in bidding for a property.

The policy targets of housing a proportion of general needs and homeless applicants would still remain in place. Choice based letting gives applicants a greater say in choosing where they want to live.

7. Consider the importance of residency points

The vast majority of applicants on Midlothian’s Housing List are resident within Midlothian. However, there are some

applicants who are not resident in the area but choose to join Midlothian’s Housing List. Currently residents are awarded 20 points. This could be increased to give greater priority to applicants resident in the area.

Your Feedback

Can you please take a few minutes of your time to complete the Housing Allocation Policy Survey enclosed to let us know what you think and give us your views about the things you can change. You can also fill in this form online at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/Housingallocation2019

New Council Housing in MidlothianSince 2006 Midlothian Council has completed 1,083 new build council homes, one of the largest council housing development programmes in Scotland. Over the next five years we plan to continue building with 1,000 more council homes planned. The following projects are due to be completed in 2019.

These new build properties will be let using specific Local Lettings Initiatives for each area. If you want to find out more about the affordable housing being built you can read Midlothian’s Strategic Housing Investment Plan 2019/20 – 2023/24 online at www.midlothian.gov.uk

Project Number of properties

Estimated completion date

Newton Church Road, Danderhall

23 March 2019

Woodburn Terrace, Dalkeith

10 June 2019

Castlelaw Terrace, Bilston

8 October 2019

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How we show Midlothian Council’s performance

If we are one of the best performing councils among those that we are comparing ourselves to we will attach a green smiley face to the indicator

If we are one of the second best three performing councils among those that we are comparing ourselves to, we will attach a yellow smiley face to the indicator.

If we are one of the third best three performing councils among those that we are comparing ourselves to, we will attach an orange straight face to the indicator.

If we are one of the poorest performing councils among those that we are comparing ourselves to, we will attach a red unhappy face to the indicator.

If we have improved our performance since the previous year we attach a green arrow pointing upwards to the measure.

If we have performed similarly to the previous year we will indicate this by placing a grey horizontal arrow next to the measure.

If our performance is not as good as last year we will indicate this by placing a red downward facing arrow next to the measure.

Measure Midlothian Peer Group Scottish Average

How do we compare?

Compared to last year

Rent and rent collection

The total number of council homes 6,815 5,234 12,788

Total rent due in the year £24.1 m £18.2m £47.5m

Average rent charge for 1 bedroom property £61.30 £63.20 £70.20 n/a



Average rent charge for 4+ bedroom property £80.0 £82.80 £80.50 n/a

Average rent charge for all properties £69.80 £68.70 £76.10

Annual rent increase 5% 3% 3%

Scottish Social Housing Charter - How Midlothian Council is performing 2017/18Every year Midlothian Council publishes performance information in relation to the Housing Services that we provide. We also compare this to other landlords to help tenants and other service users understand how we are performing. We also tell you about how we feel about our performance and what we are focusing on for improvement.

How we compare our performance to other landlords

To ensure a realistic comparison between councils the Scottish Housing Regulator has developed a ‘peer group’ system which groups councils of similar size together for ease of comparison. This is because comparing larger and smaller councils may be less useful although we do now report the average results for all Scottish councils too. Our peer group councils are: Angus, Clackmannanshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Moray, Orkney Islands, Perth and Kinross, South Ayrshire and Stirling. We also show the average for all council landlords in Scotland.

Money Matters

During the financial year 2017/18 you paid £27.8 million in rent payments for council housing and lock up garages. The pie chart shows that just under half the income is used on managing and maintaining the stock. Spend on loan charges account for £0.43 in every pound collected. These charges are used to fund the development of new council housing and major investment plans such as window replacement programmes.

On average, Midlothian Council tenants have slightly lower rent charges compared to the Scottish average for councils. In 2018 tenants and prospective tenants voted on future rent plans. A total of 1,040 responses were received. Tenants and housing list applicants were given four options for future rent charges, with bigger increases allowing more funding for more new council housing.

The most popular choice was a 3% increase, which will also enable development of a further 1,000 new council houses in Midlothian. As a result, there will be a 3% increase in 2019, 2020 and 2021.This is a lower increase than between 2016 and 2018 which was 5% each year.

General RepairsAdministration and ManagementLoan ChargesOther Expenses

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How do we compare?


Repairs and Maintenance

The percentage of homes that are meeting the Scottish Housing Quality Standard.

96% 97% 96%

The average length of time to complete emergency repairs. 5 hours 4 hours 4 hours

The average length of time to complete non-emergency repairs. 13 days 8 days 7 days

The percentage of repairs appointments kept. 72% 97.4% 98.1%


How do we compare?


Homeless households

The percentage of new tenancies given to homeless households. 45% 45% 41%

The average time that homeless households stay in council managed temporary accommodation.

243 dtays 143 days 118 days


How do we compare?


Customer Satisfaction

The percentage of tenants who feel Midlothian Council is good at keeping

them informed about services and their outcomes.83% 87% 88t%

The percentage of tenants satisfied with the quality of their property. 84% 85% 86%

The percentage of tenants satisfied with a repair that has been carried out in the last 12 months.

80% 88% 92%

The percentage of new tenants satisfied with the quality of their property when moving in.

94% 82% 92%

The percentage of homeless people satisfied with the quality of their temporary accommodation.

72% 85% 88%

The percentage of tenants satisfied that their rent offers value for money. 82% 82% 82%

The percentage of tenants satisfied with overall service of the council. 83% 85% 88%

Key Points• Our customers appreciate the quality of accommodation when they first move in. To ensure a good letting standard this

can mean empty houses take longer to relet due to repair and maintenance work going on in the property.

• In terms of homelessness, more homeless households are being housed in Midlothian but households generally spend a long time in temporary accommodation due to the shortage of affordable accommodation in Midlothian.

• The tenant satisfaction data was drawn from a survey undertaken several years ago. A new survey is being undertaken which will provide more up to date information.

If you want to find out more about our performance, you can get detailed information from the Scottish Housing Regulator’s website: www.scottishhousingregulator.gov.uk. We would also be happy to talk to you if there are specific things you want to know about our performance. We are able to discuss performance information in more detail at tenants groups or you could join out tenant panel if you want to help identify ways we can improve. You could also just contact us for a chat about the report. For more information call us on 0131 271 3611 or email [email protected]


How do we compare?


The length of time it takes to repair and re-let houses that become empty. 47 days 40 days 24 days

The percentage of rent lost through properties being empty in the last year. 0.7% 1% 0.6%

The percentage of rent due collected. 98.9% 99.3% 99.3%

The amount of rent in arrears at the end of the year. 6.9% 7.7% 5%

The percentage of properties abandoned in the year. 0.2% 0.5% 0.6%

The percentage of new tenancies that are still in place a year later. 93.7% 90.1% 89.9%

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Multi Fuel Burners are prohibited in council properties

Over the last few years Midlothian Council have noted a rise in the volume of installations of multi-fuel burners in council properties. The installation of these types of appliances is not permitted due to the high level of risk these appliances pose.

Midlothian Council provide a full heating system which meet all the requirements of our tenants needs and our responsibilities as Landlords. Each year annual service visits are arranged to check that our properties heating systems are safe and comply with current gas regulations. These checks do not cover additional appliances installed by tenants which could possibly pose risk to our tenants’ wellbeing.

Our term contractor has been instructed to look out for these appliances and will report back to the council where one has been detected. The tenant will be requested to remove the appliance and carry out building works to bring the property back to council specification at their own cost. Our second option is for the council to carry out rectification work ourselves and then charge it back to the tenant. Due to the safety concern the time permitted to complete works will be 10 working days from the date the appliance was detected.

For more information or to report that you have a wood burning appliance installed please call the contact centre (0131 663 7211). Permission should be sought for any alteration to council properties through your housing officer.

Update from Midlothian Council’s Tenants and Residents Groups

Current Groups:

Cowan Court Tenants’ Group (residents only)Esk Place Registered Tenant’s Association (residents only)Poltonhall Residents’ Group, meets at Lasswade Rugby Club - all welcomeWoodburn Tenants’ Group, meets at Woodburn Miner’s Club - all welcomeLoanhead Tenants’ Group, meets at Loanhead Leisure Centre - all welcome

There are meetings every few months at the above groups and discussions are held on a variety of topics including council policy, repairs, regeneration plans and environmental issues.

Interested in being part of a Tenants group in your area? Why not contact Hazel Thomson to find out about groups that are currently running. We can talk to you about setting one up in your own area.

If you would like more information on these groups, the Midlothian Tenants Panel or help to set up a group in your area, please phone Hazel on: 0131 271 3629or Email: [email protected] contact us via our Facebook page Midlothian Council Housing Information

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Rent Setting Strategy 2019/20 – 2021/22We had 1,040 responses back to our consultation in 2018. Many thanks to all those who responded. Midlothian Council agreed a rent increase of 3% each year between 2019/20 and 2021/22. This was the most popular option with 56% of respondents choosing this option. An increase of 3% was the lowest rent increase option but it still ensures that the Council will be able to invest in an additional 1,000 new homes.

Rent Increase Options 2019/20 – 2021/22

We also asked tenants their views on new build rents. In 2009 it was proposed that new build rents would remain 25% higher than older council housing after 10 years, then rent increases for new build properties would be 2% lower for new build properties until rents were at a similar level to older properties.

However, this approach would require investment in different housing management software and the length of time for new build rents to become the same as older properties could be more than 20 years. So we asked all tenants and applicants for their views about what we could do instead.

The table below shows that the most popular option was to retain the premium for new build properties for 15 years then reduce rent to the same as for an equivalent older council property. This option is what was agreed by the Council.

Preferred Option for New Build Premium

Option Annual Increase between 2019/20 to 2021/22 Percentage of Respondents Choosing this Option

Option 1 3% 56%

Option 2 3.5% 19%

Option 3 4% 8%

Option 4 5% 17%

Option Action Percentage of Tenants Choosing this Option

Option A Retain New Build Premium for 15 Years then reduce rent to same as older homes

42%

Option B Retain New Build Premium Permanently 22%

Option C Freeze New Build Rents after 10 years until the rent charge for older homes are at a similar level.

36%

Important reminder about changes to your tenancy rights

We wrote to all tenants in 2018, letting you know about changes to conditions of your tenancy that will be introduced in May 2019 as a result of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014.

Some of the key changes include:

• Assignations, Sub-Letting, Joint Tenancies and Succession: this covers who can take on a tenancy, rules for sub-letting and becoming a joint tenant and rules on who can succeed to a tenancy if the tenant dies.

• Recovery of possession of adapted properties: when the person who required the adapted property is no longer part of the household.

• Conversion to a Short Scottish Secure Tenancy for antisocial behaviour: In the event that a tenant or someone living with the tenant has acted in an antisocial way we could convert your tenancy agreement to a Short Scottish Secure tenancy which gives fewer rights and less protection from eviction.

It is particularly important that you notify us immediately if anyone moves in or out of your home. Not informing us could affect future tenancy issues, such as who would be able to succeed to the tenancy following the death of a tenant.

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Tenant Satisfaction Survey 2019

In order to find out what you think about our Housing Service we carry out a Tenant Satisfaction Survey every two years. In February, The Knowledge Partnership started face to face surveys with a random sample of tenants. If you have been selected to take part in the survey you will have received a letter providing you with full details.

These surveys, as well as being a legal requirement, are very important to us as they highlight good performance and areas for improvement. Thank you to all of you who are taking part. The survey results will be announced later this year.

For more information on how the panel works phone: 0131 271 3611 / 3629 or email: [email protected]

Facebook: Midlothian Council Housing Information

• Are you a council tenant who wants more of a say on housing matters?

• Do you want to improve your housing service?• Then why not join the Midlothian Tenants’ Panel?

By joining the Panel you can provide us with important feedback and ideas on a range of housing matters.

Panel members can keep in touch with us by post, phone, email or social media from the comfort of their own homes – no need to attend meetings.

Also it’s completely up to you how little or how much you take part. We need people of all ages and backgrounds.

@

HAVE YOUR SAY ON HOUSING MATTERS

CALLING ALL COUNCIL TENANTS!

housingPanel.indd 1 20/02/2018 13:19

Useful contact numbers

• Housing 0131 270 7500• Housing repairs 0131 663 7211• Council Tax payments 0131 660 1845• Pay for it (payments can be made online)

0131 660 1845• Rent arrears 0131 271 3499• Housing Benefit 0131 271 3201• Council Tax 0131 271 3201• Welfare rights 0131 270 8922 • Scottish Welfare Fund 0131 270 5600• Rubbish and recycling 0131 561 5284• Dog fouling 0131 561 5284 (Dog fouling

can be reported online)• Animal welfare and pest control 0131 561

5284• Environmental health 0131 271 3345• Roads and pavements 0131 270 7500• Adult and Social Care 0131 271 3900• Children and Families 0131 271 3413 /

0800 731 6969 • Homelessness 0131 271 3397 or 0131

663 7211

Other useful contact numbers

• Police Scotland Non - Emergency 101• Emergency 999• Scottish Water Emergencies 0845 600

8855• Scottish Water Enquiries 0845 601 8855 • Gas Emergencies 0800 111 999• Electric (power cut) Landline 0800 092

9290• Mobile 0330 101 0222• Citizens Advice Bureau (Penicuik) 01968

675259• (Dalkeith) 0131 660 1636• Home Energy Advice Scotland 0808 808

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