Housing Leeds annual report

Some highlights of the work we carried out. 

• New kitchens and bathrooms: 199
• New gas boilers installed: 2,263
• Re-roofing and insulation: 350
• Homes supplied by ground source heat pumps: 811
• Spend on repairs and maintenence: £35.2m
• Number of repairs carried out: 204,164

Adapting Homes

We completed 932 major adaptations in council homes and 649 in the private sector alongside 1000’s of minor adaptations. The service spent just under £17 million on adaptations and the promotion of independent living for people across the city. 

Reducing energy use

We completed improvement works to over 1,400 homes helping reduce fuel bills by up to 30%. Work included installation of Air Source Heat Pumps to six high rise blocks across the city, providing low cost heating and hot water to replace the electric storage and immersion heaters. We also obtained Social Housing Decarbonisation funding which helped install Ground Source Heat Pumps at two of our high rise blocks. 

Insulating homes

This year we installed external wall insulation to 126 back-to-back homes and 150 non- traditional homes, as well as work to seven high-rise blocks across the city. 

Our tenants have told us how pleased they are with the works and that the “finished properties look fantastic”. Tenants have also said that it is, “definitely money well spent from the council in tackling fuel poverty”. One of our residents living in a block with a ground source heat pump expressed to us that they’re “pleased to see their quarterly electric bill in credit”, and that the work has been “well worth the installation”. 

Tackling damp and mould

We want you to live in a home that is free from damp and mould. 

To make sure that we’re dealing with your reports of damp and mould we: 

• created and shared new advice videos, explaining ways to help prevent damp, mould and condensation and when to report issues
• created a new information site where staff can access training guides and our damp and mould policy
• share regular advice in our tenant email about how to tackle damp, mould and condensation and how to report this to us
• set objectives for all staff about damp and mould, so everyone is aware of the impact to residents and able to give the right advice
• published new website content

Fire safety

To keep you safe we have: 

• carried out 338 ‘Safe & Well’ visits to our more vulnerable residents giving home safety advice
• fitted sprinklers to a further 12 high rise blocks. We’ve now fitted sprinklers to 70 High Rise blocks, with 4 in progress
• completed fire safety work in our ‘back to back’ homes, including fitting internal fire doors, fire alarm systems, and fire safety work to basements
• completed over 7,000 flat entrance and communal door inspections, in line with the new Building Safety Act
• completed all fire risk assessments on 1,139 properties in line with the fire safety programme and legislative requirements
• commenced Person Centred Fire Risk Assessments for residents who may require assistance to self-evacuate from their high rise home

Building new homes

Over the past year we completed over 200 new build homes, including the Extra Care housing scheme at Gascoigne House, Middleton and other new schemes in Seacroft and Chapel Allerton. We also acquired, refurbished, and let a further 87 homes to meet the diverse housing needs of customers across the city. 

• Ensure compliance with new and emerging legislation, including the Building Safety Act and Social Housing Regulation Act
• Improve re-let times for our empty homes
• Increase your satisfaction with our repairs service
• Continue to ensure you are safe and feel safe in your home
• Review our Asset Management Strategy to make sure we can invest in new technologies while maintaining the homes we already have

Rent collected:

• 95% (2022/23)
• 95.45% (2023/24)

Collected from former tenants

• £878k (2022/23)
• £985k (2023/24)

Households supported to claim additional income/benefits

• 4,680 (2022/23)
• 5,143 (2023/24)

Tenancy check ins

Some of you get in touch with us regularly and others less so. As a minimum, we aim to check in with you at least once every 3 years. This gives you an opportunity to meet your local Housing Officer, or Retirement Life Support Officer and talk about any issues you may have. We also check that your home is in a good condition and there are no concerns. 

• 26,071 Tenancy check ins completed
• 418 Hoarding cases identified
• 649 Safeguarding cases identified

Rent and support

We support you to pay your rent, reduce any arrears, apply for eligible benefits, and manage your overall living costs. Rent collected is used to keep homes in good repair and to provide services to you. If a tenant leaves their tenancy with arrears, we will seek to collect the money owed. 

Rent enforcement

We always try to work with tenants who are having difficulties paying their rent. We will only take eviction action as a last resort, if other attempts to recover arrears are unsuccessful. 

Tenancy fraud

Last year we recovered 26 properties where we identified housing fraud. Tackling housing fraud enables us to let homes to those who need them most. Of the fraud cases we investigated: 

• 56% for subletting fraud
• 21% for right to buy fraud
• 9% for non-occupation fraud
• 9% succession/assignment fraud
• 4% application fraud
• 1% other fraud

We carry out benefit checks to make sure that tenants are receiving the maximum amount of benefit that they’re entitled to. We also help tenants to complete appeals when benefit applications have been refused. Last year we worked with over 5,000 households helping them secure £3,175,000 in additional income, an average of £617 per household. Of the households supported, a third of these had children. Our officers also work with partner agencies to provide advice around debt and budgeting, and last year we helped award over £400,000 of British Gas vouchers to households most in need. 

Working alongside Yorkshire Water we helped tenants in Gipton, Burmantofts, Little London and Moortown to reduce their water bills. Some residents had water meters fitted, meaning they only pay for the water they use. Where water meters couldn’t be fitted, residents were put on capped bills which reduced their spend on water. Over 200 customers were supported with savings of over £70,000. 

A lot of our tenants pay their rent by Direct Debit. You can also pay your rent online, by phone, or in person. Visit www.leeds.gov.uk/rent for more information. 

Many of our tenants are still impacted by the cost of living. If you are worried about paying your rent, we are here to help. Please contact your local housing office. We can support you and check your entitlement to welfare benefits. 

Our service supports over 4,500 residents to live independently in their homes in our 125 Retirement LIFE schemes across the city. 

• Our dedicated and friendly team of support officers are available to provide regular well-being checks, offering choice and flexibility to suit changing needs
• ’Living in a Friendly Environment’ is at the heart of the services we deliver and across all schemes, staff are regularly on site attending meetings with residents and social activities
• We are committed to scheme improvements. In 2023/24 schemes at Rycroft Green, Dulverton Court and Wellington Gardens had new furniture, carpets and decoration and 12 communal lounges had new blinds to improve the communal areas
• In 2023/24 we started to explore opportunities to improve our Service Offer, this included: engaging with residents to take part in a survey to understand what they value most about our service. We also consulted over 45s to learn what future customers may want and need

We opened our third Extra Care scheme in October 2023, Gascoigne House. This state of the art building has 60 apartments and is connected to a further 12 accessible bungalows for working age adults with a physical or sensory impairment. In partnership with us, Home Group has built a further Extra Care Scheme in Woodlesford. The scheme has 63 apartments with allocations well under way. The scheme is due to open soon. 

Community-based activities are strong and running at all Extra Care schemes, including bingo; a mother and toddler group; and a lovely partnership with a local primary school where the children write to, and read with, the residents. A Middleton resident has even set up a domino club. 

This year we will: 

• Build on our engagement with residents and partners to continue to develop our Service Offer for the future
• Work closely with Adults & Health to support older people better, helping them to live independently, including exploring digital opportunities to improve our service
• Make sure our engagement with residents and activities are diverse and inclusive
• Progress with plans for a new 65-unit Extra Care Scheme in Armley, which we aim to start building in late 2024

If you want to find out more about the service we give contact the Older People’s team on 0113 378 3696 or email housing.leeds.olderpeople@leeds.gov.uk. 

• Supported 67 local tenants, residents and community groups
• Appointed new tenant board members to the Leeds Housing Board
• Continued to support 100’s of health and well-being activities in our Retirement Life Schemes
• Consulted with over 600 high rise residents about building safety to help us understand how well our engagement is working and to improve how we listen and respond to high rise residents in future
• Involved 100’s of tenants in helping design day to day services through surveys, focus groups, or workshops

Tenant Scrutiny Board

The Tenant Scrutiny Board reviewed the advice and support we give to tenants about damp and mould. Speaking to different teams, researching with customers, and looking at what other landlords do, they submitted 12 recommendations for improvement to us. We accepted these and have now published new advice and information to residents as a result. We’re grateful to the board for helping us improve and look forward to supporting them in their next review about how we learn from complaints in the year ahead. 

Who are the Tenant Scrutiny Board?

The Tenant Scrutiny Board are a group of tenant volunteers who review our services and make recommendations for improvement. When carrying out a review, they may speak to tenants, staff or any of our partners or contractors. They’ll also look at management and performance information, and good practice from elsewhere to help them identify areas for improvement. 

Growing our Tenant Voice Panel

Since our last annual report, our ‘Tenant Voice Panel’ has grown from 170 to 240 members. We invite the panel to take part in various consultations and service improvement work. This helps us strengthen your influence, and gives us a more diverse range of feedback. 

Consulting the panel has helped us to: 

• design the ‘Building Safety Hub’, where high-rise residents can access information about their home or block
• write the first hard copy building safety newsletter
• select a new gas servicing contractor, making sure any future contract has high levels of customer care
• get feedback from Retirement Life residents about what’s valued most about our service and to help shape a wider residents consultation plan
• design this annual report

Panel members have also become Leeds Housing Board members and joined the Tenant Scrutiny Board to help them with their reviews. 

Housing Advisory Panels

During the year HAPs made 250 local funding decisions, giving grants and funding projects to a value of £395,000. These helped improve neighbourhoods in response to residents feedback and supported community activity. You can see some examples of HAP funded activity in our 10 year anniversay HAP film. A massive thank you to everyone who helped the HAPs in their final year of operation to invest in local communities. 

We’ll continue to offer local opportunities for tenants to give feedback on how we deliver services, and to influence local priorities. We’ve been consulting on how best to do this and we’ll be releasing more information about what we’re doing and what this achieves in the year ahead. Other priorities include improving the accessibility of our communications, ensuring we comply with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, reporting back to you in better ways how we learn and respond from all your feedback, and developing new digital engagement approaches. We look forward to delivering these and other improvements with your input. 

We welcome your feedback as it helps us improve the services we give. If our service fails you, you can complain to us so we can put things right. If you remain unhappy with our response, you can approach either the Housing Ombudsman or the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman depending on what your complaint is about. 

Three out of four complaints were resolved at stage one and 96% were resolved without involving either Ombudsman. We work closely with both Ombudsman services to make sure that residents are given advice and information on how to access their services if they wish to. 

What your complaints were about

• 68% – Day to day repairs
• 16% – Tenancy management
• 16% – Other

This year we will:

• Continue to support staff and contractors to listen to you and put things right
• Carry out any recommendations made by the Housing Ombudsman
• Provide more feedback to residents on how we’re learning from complaints
• Complete our annual complaints self-assessment with tenant input
• Work with the Tenant Scrutiny Board to support them in their review of complaints
• Continue to support staff with training and development to better respond to complaints

Other improvements made as a result of your complaints

• Continued to share our monthly ‘hints, tips, and reminders’ for all staff
• Continued to invest in our damp and mould team to help with early intervention and triage of cases
• Used customer satisfaction data to address dissatisfaction and put in place service improvements

To read more about all the ways we listen and respond to your feedback visit www.leeds.gov.uk/tenantinvolvement 

Leeds Antisocial Behaviour Team (LASBT) work with us to respond to antisocial behaviour (ASB) complaints and concerns from across the city. We’ve seen an overall decrease in ASB over the past year. Working with West Yorkshire Police, we’ve focused on early intervention and prevention, as well as enforcement. 

Highlights from the year include:

Supporting young people

Our aim is not to criminalise young people, but to ensure they are aware and understand the impact of their behaviour. A range of partnerships and forums help reduce the impact resulting from young people causing ASB. Helping identify, intervene, educate, and put in place appropriate diversions at the earliest opportunity, to try and change behaviours and reduce the need for enforcement. 

New ASB problem solving team

We have secured funding from the West Yorkshire Authority to create a new Problem Solving Team. They can deploy 10 temporary CCTV cameras alongside other targeted equipment. This helps us to support residents and our partners to tackle problematic areas of ASB. 

Successful Problem Solving Groups (PSG) in Beeston and Holbeck

PSG helped resolve short term issues through intensive partnership work to achieve a positive impact in a short timescale.

• We carried out two weeks of action on Dewsbury Road in relation to the supply of drugs. This resulted in premises closure orders and injunctions
• In Holbeck, challenging ASB and criminality, and carrying out environmental work including clearing waste ground, improving lighting, and clearing bin yards

• We completed 425 walkabouts throughout the year. These happen at least twice a year in the Spring and Autumn Contact your local Housing team to get involved
• We work closely with the Cleaner Neighbourhoods Team and other partners to take a proactive approach to managing the environment
• Thank you to West Yorkshire Probation Service who have completed 150 jobs, helping keep estates tidier, cleaner, and greener
• Continued to respond to local issues, working with residents to achieve positive outcomes, such as holding estate action and clean up days

• Promote more widely how residents can report ASB and raise awareness of how we can help
• Complete our ASB policy review using feedback from residents
• Publish our service standards in an accessible format for residents
• Provide more training and support for staff to help them deal with your reports of ASB
• Continue to work with residents and our partners to improve local areas

For more information on how to report antisocial behaviour please visit our website 

Belle Isle Tenant Management Organisation (BITMO) manages 1,800 council homes in Belle Isle on behalf of Leeds City Council. It is run by tenants of Belle Isle and is the largest estate based TMO in the country. 

I’m pleased to share with you a short summary of the work of BITMO. As a tenant-led organisation we rely on the commitment of our tenants to tell us what their priorities are, and to provide leadership through our Board. 

If you would like to find out more about BITMO or get involved in our volunteering programme, please 

get in touch, we’d love to hear from you - www.belleisletmo.co.uk 

Deborah Kelly (BITMO Chief Executive) 

Working with our tenants we have: 

• Continued to provide a programme of FREE tuition in Maths and English for primary school aged children
• Created a garden tool library helping provide gardening tools to people who don’t have access to any. We have also provided skips to help clear waste for our tenants
• Increased the frequency of cleaning in our flats at no extra charge to
• Improved the CCTV and lighting in areas following concerns about anti-social behaviour, highlighted by our tenants and the Police
• Repurposed a bowling green as a community orchard and planted trees across the estate with the help of volunteers
• Redecorated, carpeted, and refurnished communal rooms in our Retirement Life schemes
• Fenced off Belle Isle Circus with improved lighting to come