All politicians want to make a difference; I'm delighted to say that in Housing we have made one very tangible change. Before the SNP took over in Dundee, the Council let houses which were dirty and in poor condition. That's what the Scottish Housing Regulator said, and many of us knew this to be true.
Now we let houses which are clean, in good decorative order, safe and with everything working. The difference is tremendous. Where necessary, we redecorate with lining paper and magnolia paint. It means new tenants have a blank canvas which they can change to suit their own taste. To make this happen we have had to re-engineer the way we repair and relet houses; doing this simple thing proved more complex than many of us imagined.
The next goal is to reduce the time we take to relet houses. Currently this takes months when it should take weeks. We're working on it and I expect to report more progress soon.
Currently the Council is consulting tenants about the proposed rent increase for next year. The options are 4.5%, 4.75% or 5%. The difference between the options is the time we take to do external maintenance like painting front doors and closes and gutter repairs.
Why do we need to raise rents by this much? The answer is our legal obligation to bring our houses up to the very basic Scottish Housing Quality Standard by 2015. That means new kitchens, bathrooms, roofs, heating systems and other work for many of our properties. The whole thing will cost upwards of £90 million between now and then.
We have to borrow this money and pay it back out of the rents. At least the new heating systems will help tenants save some money, especially those who have old fashioned electric storage heaters.
The Housing Department is looking for efficiencies and has reduced staff costs by more than £400,000 per year. By improving the way we work we hope to find even more savings, all of which will help keep rent increases down.
No-one pretends the rent increase will be popular, but at least the quality of council housing in Dundee is increasing significantly and the new kitchens, bathrooms and heating systems are proving very welcome.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Sunday, August 23, 2009
In office at last
The last post on this very neglected blog was before the SNP took over the Administration of Dundee City Council. I'm now Convener of Housing, Dundee Contract Services and Environmental Services. Being this busy meant I had to stand down as Convener of the Dundee Sirolli Project, now known as Clocking Onto Business.
What do I want to do with my new Convenership? I want to offer people council houses in move in condition. I want to get relets done much faster. I want to find a way to ensure that we don't let houses to people who will make their neighbours' lives a misery. And I want to see our houses brought up to the Scottish Housing Quality Standard.
I'd also like to build new council houses, and that will be happening soon. But I am still not convinced that we have a "surplus" of public service housing (ie council and housing association houses) in Dundee, no matter what the experts tell us. I'm looking forward to receiving reports from the Housing Department on the costs and benefits of keeping houses in Derby Street which currently scheduled for demolition.
I have ambitions for the other Departments overseen by the Housing, DCS and Environmental Services Committee. More on those later ...
The last post on this very neglected blog was before the SNP took over the Administration of Dundee City Council. I'm now Convener of Housing, Dundee Contract Services and Environmental Services. Being this busy meant I had to stand down as Convener of the Dundee Sirolli Project, now known as Clocking Onto Business.
What do I want to do with my new Convenership? I want to offer people council houses in move in condition. I want to get relets done much faster. I want to find a way to ensure that we don't let houses to people who will make their neighbours' lives a misery. And I want to see our houses brought up to the Scottish Housing Quality Standard.
I'd also like to build new council houses, and that will be happening soon. But I am still not convinced that we have a "surplus" of public service housing (ie council and housing association houses) in Dundee, no matter what the experts tell us. I'm looking forward to receiving reports from the Housing Department on the costs and benefits of keeping houses in Derby Street which currently scheduled for demolition.
I have ambitions for the other Departments overseen by the Housing, DCS and Environmental Services Committee. More on those later ...
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Rent increase
Last night's Housing Committee meeting increased council house rents by 5.9%. This is a very big increase at a time when inflation is dropping towards 2%.
The Labour/Lib Dem Administration had originally proposed a much higher increase of 7%; I had an increase of 5% in mind; in the end 5.9% was an acceptable compromise.
There are a number of reasons why we need to increase our rents so much. The first is that previous Labour/Lib Dem administrations have saddled us with £125 million in housing debt. 34p of every pound paid in rent goes to pay interest on that debt. Yet we are demolishing schemes such as Maxwelltown where huge amounts of cash were spent just a few years ago.
The second is that we need to improve our houses to meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard. This is pretty basic and it's not to the Council's credit that we have to spend so much to bring our council houses up to scratch.
The third is that we're clearing various multi storey developments. Many of the tenants are going to housing association properties, so we lose their rents. We are also losing houses through the Right to Buy ... although we get some money in from sales, the rent is lost for ever.
Finally, we could be more efficient. It takes us 68 days to relet one of our more popular houses, and 80 days for less popular houses. Why does it take so long? If we could improve our performance here by just one week, we'd bring in an extra £70,000 in rent.
We supported the 5.9% increase reluctantly. But if and when the SNP becomes Dundee's administration, reletting houses much more swiftlywill be one of our first priorities.
The Labour/Lib Dem Administration had originally proposed a much higher increase of 7%; I had an increase of 5% in mind; in the end 5.9% was an acceptable compromise.
There are a number of reasons why we need to increase our rents so much. The first is that previous Labour/Lib Dem administrations have saddled us with £125 million in housing debt. 34p of every pound paid in rent goes to pay interest on that debt. Yet we are demolishing schemes such as Maxwelltown where huge amounts of cash were spent just a few years ago.
The second is that we need to improve our houses to meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard. This is pretty basic and it's not to the Council's credit that we have to spend so much to bring our council houses up to scratch.
The third is that we're clearing various multi storey developments. Many of the tenants are going to housing association properties, so we lose their rents. We are also losing houses through the Right to Buy ... although we get some money in from sales, the rent is lost for ever.
Finally, we could be more efficient. It takes us 68 days to relet one of our more popular houses, and 80 days for less popular houses. Why does it take so long? If we could improve our performance here by just one week, we'd bring in an extra £70,000 in rent.
We supported the 5.9% increase reluctantly. But if and when the SNP becomes Dundee's administration, reletting houses much more swiftlywill be one of our first priorities.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Housing Department under fire?
I note that Radio Tay is carrying a story that housing bosses are under fire for not carrying out nearly 700 gas safety checks. I've brought this issue up with the Housing Department and the subject comes up at the Housing Committee tonight (24 November). According to the paper being presented to the meeting, 92% of checks have been done, but that means 8% haven't been done. And 8% adds up to nearly 700 homes. I'm glad to say the Housing Department is working hard to put things right, and fewer tenants are now waiting for their safety checks, but I'm still concerned.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Dundee's burns - a source of power?
The Scottish Government wants 1000 mini hydro electric generators in Scotland, and I think two or three of them could be in Dundee. Here's a news release carried by the Evening Telegraph which says a bit more ...
Hydro power for Dundee? Coldside Councillor investigates ...
A Dundee councillor says power from Dundee's burns could help cut fuel bills, and reduce the city's carbon footprint at the same time. Cllr Jimmy Black says the possibility of hydro power on the Dighty and other burns is worth further study.
"Before the city spread out in Victorian times there were several important burns flowing through Dundee, some of which powered water wheels on mills. The Dighty looks the most promising - I'm told there were four water mills on that burn. There was also a mill at the foot of Commercial Street, powered partly by water which flowed through an aqueduct from Albert Square.
"In my own ward we have the Dens Burn, which now surges through a culvert underneath Dens Road; and an old map shows that the Wallace Burn flowed down under the Dens Brae to the Harbour. I think the Wallace Burn and Dens Burn are probably the same thing, but I'd be delighted if anyone could provide further information."
Councillor Black's researches follow a Scottish Government call for 1,000 micro hydro schemes across Scotland to cut carbon emissions and save fuel costs. New technology means that hydro schemes no longer need to be on a large scale.
"If we could provide enough electrical power from a burn for the street lights in a small housing scheme, or heating in a sheltered housing complex, that would make it worth the effort. Along with other small scale schemes such as the use of windpower, bringing Dundee's burns back into use could help make the city greener and save us all some money."
Councillor Black has written to the Director of Planning and Transportation, Mike Galloway, asking for more information about the city's watercourses. He has also been in touch with Dundee's Sun City project and staff at the University of Dundee.
"I'm hoping that someone with resources and expertise will take this suggestion forward," said Councillor Black. "There are grants available from various agencies for feasibility studies, and even more grants to assist with the cost of building small scale hydro schemes. I strongly believe this is worth further study and I will take every chance to push the idea wherever I can."
The Scottish Government wants 1000 mini hydro electric generators in Scotland, and I think two or three of them could be in Dundee. Here's a news release carried by the Evening Telegraph which says a bit more ...
Hydro power for Dundee? Coldside Councillor investigates ...
A Dundee councillor says power from Dundee's burns could help cut fuel bills, and reduce the city's carbon footprint at the same time. Cllr Jimmy Black says the possibility of hydro power on the Dighty and other burns is worth further study.
"Before the city spread out in Victorian times there were several important burns flowing through Dundee, some of which powered water wheels on mills. The Dighty looks the most promising - I'm told there were four water mills on that burn. There was also a mill at the foot of Commercial Street, powered partly by water which flowed through an aqueduct from Albert Square.
"In my own ward we have the Dens Burn, which now surges through a culvert underneath Dens Road; and an old map shows that the Wallace Burn flowed down under the Dens Brae to the Harbour. I think the Wallace Burn and Dens Burn are probably the same thing, but I'd be delighted if anyone could provide further information."
Councillor Black's researches follow a Scottish Government call for 1,000 micro hydro schemes across Scotland to cut carbon emissions and save fuel costs. New technology means that hydro schemes no longer need to be on a large scale.
"If we could provide enough electrical power from a burn for the street lights in a small housing scheme, or heating in a sheltered housing complex, that would make it worth the effort. Along with other small scale schemes such as the use of windpower, bringing Dundee's burns back into use could help make the city greener and save us all some money."
Councillor Black has written to the Director of Planning and Transportation, Mike Galloway, asking for more information about the city's watercourses. He has also been in touch with Dundee's Sun City project and staff at the University of Dundee.
"I'm hoping that someone with resources and expertise will take this suggestion forward," said Councillor Black. "There are grants available from various agencies for feasibility studies, and even more grants to assist with the cost of building small scale hydro schemes. I strongly believe this is worth further study and I will take every chance to push the idea wherever I can."
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