A Decent Home for All

The Government has set a target to ensure that all social housing meets decency standards by 2010. The Borough supports this goal and is working to try and ensure that all residents regardless of tenure, live in a decent home. A decent home is one that is wind and weather tight, warm and has modern facilities.

The Council's adopted definition of a decent home is based on the following four criteria:

• It meets the current statutory minimum standard for housing.
• It is in a reasonable state of repair.
• It has reasonably modern facilities and services.
• It provides a reasonable degree of thermal comfort.

One of the particular aims of the Borough's Community Strategy is that Spelthorne should be a place where people choose to live. As the majority of the housing stock in the Borough is owner-occupied, it is of real importance that the Council has clear policies in place to encourage and where necessary assist owners to carry out any necessary repairs and improvements to their houses.

To assist the Council in developing its private sector policies a comprehensive joint housing needs and house condition survey was undertaken in November/December 2001 and results were presented to Members in April 2002.

Following the survey and a rigorous Best Value review of the private sector housing service, an improvement plan has been adopted and the private sector strategy is being reviewed. This will help the Authority meet its long-term aims and objectives.

This Chapter sets out how the authority will work in partnership to continually improve the condition of housing in the area.

Preventing Unfitness and Further Decline

Spelthorne has a housing stock of approximately 38,400 properties. Of these, almost 80% is owner-occupied, 15.1% of homes are owned by Registered Social Landlords and the remainder (5.4%) is privately rented. The recent house condition survey has estimated that there are a small number of unfit properties (1.4% or approximately 532 houses).

The survey identified that approximately 2,550 (6.7%) properties are seriously defective. These are properties that without intervention and significant expenditure have the potential to descend into unfitness.

The survey estimates the cost to remedy unfitness in the Borough at £2.4m and to remedy serious disrepair at £18.41m. The survey found that the highest cost of repair is for older properties, pre- 1919, and also highlights significant costs to remedy defects in houses constructed between 1919 and 1945.

The House Condition Survey highlights the highest level of unfitness and serious disrepair as being in the private rented sector (approximately 410 properties).

Although the level of unfitness is low compared to the national rate of unfitness for all housing stock (which is 7.6%), the authority is committed to improving these properties that are unfit for habitation and have made this a priority area. The Authority recognises that additional intervention to prevent further decline into unfitness as necessary.

Improving Homes for the Elderly and Disabled

Older and disabled residents continue to be a priority group for assistance by the Council, as identified by members in 1999. This will remain a priority as the Housing Needs and Stock condition survey identified that over 3000 households have one or more disabled residents, and as the care and support needs of the elderly are set to grow. The Authority's strategy is to assist disabled residents to adapt their homes to promote independence and will achieve this through ensuring access to Disabled Facilities Grants and other assistance.

However, of particular concern is that residents aged 75 and over will, by 2011, represent more than 10% of the population, 8,955 people. This is a 36% increase for this age group. The authority expects an increase in the needs for aids and adaptations over this period, and will work with its partners to meet this need.

Apex Home Improvement Agency

The Authority will continue to work with Surrey County Council and the Apex Home Improvement Agency to provide disabled facilities grants for residents. The Authority will work to assist in the implementation of the Supporting People initiative, which may result in beneficial changes to the operation of the Home Improvement Agency.

Current Service Provision

The Council currently has a number of initiatives in place to address poor conditions found in the private sector stock and to meet the needs of disabled residents who require adaptations to their homes.

These include:

• Providing a comprehensive information pack to residents whose properties are unfit or in serious disrepair, supported where appropriate by the provision of renovation grants.
• Home repair assistance grants to assist residents repair defects or inadequacies in their homes that if left untreated, would affect the health, safety and welfare of occupants.
• Security package schemes to assist older homeowners ensure their homes are secure. (nb. This scheme is being revised to ensure it supports the Crime and Disorder Strategy).
• The use of mandatory and discretionary disabled facilities grants to assist disabled residents to adapt their home to meet their needs and promote independence.

Continuous Improvement in Private Sector Housing

Spelthorne Borough Council recognises that in order to significantly improve conditions in the private sector stock, it will be necessary to review our current policies relating to private sector renewal. This will require a new strategy on private sector housing renewal - and we will commence this in consultation with relevant stakeholders and in line with the regulatory Reform Order 2002 (once government guidance has been issued).

Although the Authority recognises that responsibility to maintain homes to a decent standard lies primarily with the owner, we will continue to intervene to assist owners who cannot afford to carry out necessary work. In order

to prepare for the implementation of the new strategy, consultation with local residents has already been carried out to try to determine how best assistance could be used.
The results identified strong support for maintaining the current system of providing grant assistance for the most vulnerable residents, but found that there is also scope and support for providing other forms of assistance - such as equity release loans.

The Best Value service review highlighted a number of improvements to the current service and also the operation of the Home Improvement Agency. These improvements are outlined in detail in the Action Plan at the back of this document. The review also raised a number of innovative schemes to promote private sector renewal which the Council will be pursuing. These are outlined below.

Equity Release for Home Improvements

The Authority is in the process of setting up a Scheme to administer equity loans for Private Sector Home Owners. The Authority supports the government's opinion of equity release scheme as an innovative way of using the debt-free equity value of owner-occupied homes to provide repairs, improvements and adaptations at minimal public sector cost. The proposed scheme will be set up in partnership with a number of other Local Authorities and in conjunction with the Home Improvement Trust (a not for profit agency). Residents would take out a loan secured against the value of their home, repayable usually on sale of the home; the loan being capital-and-interest repayment, interest only, or interest roll-up.

The proposed scheme, the House Proud scheme is aimed primarily at older home owners who are equity rich but income poor in order to assist them in accessing finance to undertake necessary works with the knowledge that their home is not at risk as there is a guarantee of no repossession and that they will be helped throughout the process. Those under 60 with disabilities would also be eligible for assistance. The scheme has a particular attraction in the South East of England, where very high property values (both now and in the foreseeable future) mean that repayment of capital and interest on sale of the property will still leave a large amount of equity for other uses such as health care, legacy for relatives, etc

The House Proud scheme will lever in private sector money, enabling scarce public sector resources to be specifically targeted. However, it will not replace the existing grant system, but it will enable many who would not have qualified for the current grant system to improve the quality of their home, or for others, the loan may represent a client's contribution towards a grant particularly with Disabled Facilities Grants.

In order to inform the decision regarding whether or not to take part in an equity release scheme, 1500 households in Spelthorne with a house member over the age of 50, and a list of residents provided by Age Concern were contacted to try to determine eligibility for and interest in this type of scheme. 377 responses to the questionnaire were received. The results showed support for the current system of providing grants for renewal and disabled adaptation and support for alternative forms of assistance.

Working with Private Landlords

Accreditation for Private Landlords - The Council will be developing a voluntary scheme where local private landlords are given advice and information to enable them to bring their properties to a high standard of repair and safety.

This will cover key health and safety issues, and if landlords reach a certain standard, they will receive accreditation. The landlord is then free to promote a home to both estate agents and tenants as being accredited by the local Authority.

Landlord and Tenant Surgeries -This is a service being developed by the Council whereby local landlords and private sector tenants can obtain advice and information in relation to housing conditions. This will help highlight problems in this sector that have been difficult to reach in the past.

As this sector has a higher proportion of unfit and seriously defective dwellings than in the owner occupied sector, such surgeries will promote understanding of tenants rights and obligations, and also of landlord's responsibilities.

Developing a landlord's forum - The Council over April and May 2002, advertised widely in the local press and the Borough Bulletin to determine the support from private sector landlords for a local forum. Approximately 20 landlords expressed an interest in this initiative.

The Council is currently reviewing the options on taking this forward. The numbers expressing an interest are low and the Council is considering a further advertising campaign. Other options include the possibility of working with Runnymede on a joint forum, or possibly providing an on-line service for landlords.

Licensing Houses in Multiple Occupation -This is a scheme whereby all houses in multiple occupation (including flats, hostels and bed and breakfasts) will be licensed by the Council, and where conditions relating to the safety of the residents, management of the property and condition of the property are monitored. Benefits to the community will be improved safety of those living in such accommodation.

Tackling Empty Homes

In 2001, the Council carried out research to identify the number of empty homes in the Borough. This was to review how many there were and what impact such properties were having. The main sources of data used were Council Tax records.

The research found that there were approximately 750 empty homes across the Borough - representing 1.9 % of all homes. The Council has now formally adopted an empty homes strategy, and set a target to bring back into occupation 10 homes per year.

Figure 8. Photo - Empty Homes in Spelthorne (Other homes have been empty over 10 years)


Reducing Fuel Poverty

The Council undertook a detailed representative energy survey of dwellings in the Borough as part of the house condition survey (2001). The final report revealed some interesting new information about the energy performance of the housing stock and also specifically addressed the issue of fuel poverty.
The survey estimated the total number of homes to be at risk of fuel poverty to be 4,648, or 12.1% of the total number of households in the Borough. The ageing population was contributing significantly to this statistic, with older householders tending to live in homes that were less energy efficient. Some 1900 elderly households had a SAP rating of less than 30 and are at risk of fuel poverty.

In order to address the issue of fuel poverty for elderly households, the 'Access Warmer Home Scheme' was developed in conjunction with Age Concern Spelthorne and with the support of British Gas, Apex Housing Group and Help the Aged. The Spelthorne Energy Partnership in Action (SEPIA) has also been formed to promote this and other initiatives to vulnerable households.

Promoting Energy Efficiency
This is being undertaken in line with our HECA responsibilities. We are assisted in this by the Surrey and East Sussex Energy Efficiency Advice Centre, with whom we have a formal agreement to undertake appropriate promotion to social landlords, tenants groups, health professionals, day centre users and helpers, as well as undertaking training of Council staff and in local schools etc.

A number of individual initiatives to raise community awareness have been adopted. These include:

• actively participating in Energy Efficiency week
• giving talks and presentations to groups of elderly people at local day centres
• direct contact with members of the public through local road shows

In 2001 we launched a condensing boiler scheme, in partnership with other District Councils in Surrey. This was identified in the energy survey mentioned above as being the biggest single initiative necessary if we are to achieve a 30% improvement in energy efficiency throughout the Borough.
A number of opportunities already exist to achieve the promotion of energy conservation and many of these have already been successfully used as described above. We need to build on these successes and continue to develop a message of how important energy conservation is to both present and future generations.

Fun events, such as the local village fair, can successfully get the message across to the public. We will continue to promote energy efficiency to householders through both the press and the Borough Bulletin which is distributed to all households throughout the Borough. A Fuel Poverty Strategy has now been prepared, with action points, and these points are outlined in the report appended to this document.