South Kesteven DIstrict Council leader Ashley Baxter says council works to ensure housing needs are met
South Kesteven District Council is very much involved in housing, writes leader Ashley Baxter (Ind).
Our planning process decides where houses will be built and we have enforcement and building control teams to ensure houses are built properly and are fit to live in.
We are also own and manage over 5,000 council houses making us one of the largest public sector landlords in the region. The last four years have been quite turbulent for our housing department. Back in 2020, the council was put into ‘special measures’ by the Regulator of Social Housing because many properties did not even have the most basic safety checks in place leaving residents at risk.
Since then, the housing team has been transformed. In the last two years, the change of leadership among officers and councillors has resulted in more and better housing for residents. Many people have been involved in turning things around but Councillors Virginia Moran and Phil Dilks deserve special mention for their zeal as successive cabinet members responsible for housing. It shouldn’t be forgotten that until 18 months ago, despite the problems, the council didn’t even have a housing committee.
Safety checks are now fully up-to-date. The only houses which are not compliant with gas and electrical safety are a handful of properties where tenants have refused entry to council contractors trying to help them stay safe. Sadly, we have to expend council resources going to court to gain access to these properties.
Another particular area of focus is properties where one tenant has moved out but a new tenant has not yet moved in; these are known as ‘voids’. A change of tenancy presents an excellent opportunity for refurbishment and repair creating homes new can take proud in. However, when properties are void we receive no rent and consequently we aim to make them fit for occupation with speed and efficiency. Since March this year, the average period of ‘void’ has fallen by over 25 percent but we still have much work to do to clear the backlog of long-term voids we inherited from the previous Conservative administration.
Unfortunately, we lose dozens of council houses every year because of ‘Right-to-Buy’; in fact, we have been forced to sell thousands over the years. Nevertheless, we are now building and buying new properties to replenish our housing stock. We have plans for more new council houses in Stamford, Grantham, Market Deeping, Corby Glen, Horbling and Colsterworth. The demand for safe and affordable housing never goes away and at South Kesteven we are doing our utmost to meet residents’ needs.