Housing Management Strategy

Introduction

Norwich City Council is a local authority housing provider with more than 18,000 homes across the city. Of these,14,700 properties are available for letting, while over 3,300 are leasehold. This strategy covers areas of service delivery related to housing management and traditional Landlord functions and how we shape, develop, and manage services for tenants.

This strategy will:

Balance the Councils role of sustaining tenancies, alongside the need to manage homes and estates effectively.
Provide a framework from which activity can move forward; a framework that also allows for partners to be included and integrated into our work.
Provide the opportunity to empower tenants, other stakeholders, and staff to transform the way we work and really target support where it is needed most.
Balance the twin priorities of excellence in customer service while seeking efficiency in delivering value for money, at the heart of everything we do.
Enable online and digital interactions in a simple way and build insight in how people are living, to develop the right support for those in need.

Delivering this strategy will increase resident satisfaction and quality of life by improving services and making better use of council resources.

You can also download the Housing Management Strategy as a pdf.

If you would like this information in another language or format such as large print, CD or Braille please visit www.norwich.gov.uk/Intran or call 0344 980 3333.

National and local context

Social Housing Regulation
Each Landlord must comply with standards and display performance against measures which the regulator monitors.

Building Safety Act 2021
New legislation to make sure all tenants are safe in their homes and Landlords have responsibility to advise and report on compliance.

Ombudsman
Advice and guidance issued to social housing complaints.

Housing and Planning Act 2016
Whether to offer lifetime secure or introductory tenancies to Landlords.

Domestic Abuse Act 2021
Advice so that tenants are not disadvantaged and receive support.

Care Act 2014
Ensuring that housing has a role to play in safeguarding adults.

Welfare reform
Universal credit, housing benefit, support grants.

Housing Revenue Account
Requirement that all money received from tenants and leaseholders for rent and service charges pays for housing management services, reactive repairs, planned maintenance, estates, and asset management.

How policy matters for customers

The flow diagram uses the estate caretaking service as an example of how our policy drives service delivery.

We manage and maintain sites and inspect them.
Improvements are designed into estates to make them more accessible.
Appropriate contractors provide services, and we monitor their effectiveness.
The outcome should be that our communal landings, walkways, staircases, and lobbies are safe, well lit, and free from obstruction.
Our tenants provide feedback about their lived experience of these services.

Links to related information:

Cross cutting activities

Independent living: we will enable tenants to live independently by providing support services to adapt homes to help households manage; to support those experiencing complex needs; and to have dedicated sheltered housing.
Tenancy sustainment: we will focus on enabling tenants to get advice to help them manage their tenancy from us and a range of partners.
Neighbourhoods: we will create neighbourhoods pleasant, welcoming, and enjoyable to live, from grass cutting to redesign of estates.
Income and Debt Management: we will provide support and advice on how to best manage when paying rent becomes a challenge.
Customer and digital engagement: we will enable tenants to access services through online, mobile, and digital channels so they can self-serve and be better informed.
Performance and regulation: we will monitor and display performance, setting out how effectively services are delivered, whether this meets standards, and planned improvement.
Enforcement: we will take enforcement action where lifestyles and behaviours impact on others, where necessary we enforce tenancy conditions which can mean serving notices or seeking possession.
Safety and compliance: we will keep our tenants safe, through programmed safety checks, visits, record and intervene on corrective action.
Involved and informed: we will seek tenants views on service design and feedback in relation to services, inform wide cross section of tenants alongside.

Key success measures

Estates are well maintained.
Easy to access services.
Digitally enabled services
Monitored and tracked improvements.
Better use of rent and service charges.
Tenants feel safe and secure.
Tenants shape their service.
Tenants have support for their needs.
Safeguard and advise tenants in their homes.
Homes are adapted to suit need.
Options made available to tenants.
Health and wellbeing are promoted.

Governance

Oversight

Oversight for the delivery of the Strategy will lie with the portfolio holder and the executive director. They will make sure that it fulfils the requirements of the tenancy standard.
Each year, we will update tenants on our progress in delivering this strategy.

Engagement

We will engage tenants, leaseholders, future tenants, and partners in the creating and developing actions where relevant and gather their feedback after we implement the actions.

Action Plan

In collaboration with our stakeholders, we will develop an action plan to deliver this strategy.
Each action will identify a clear expected outcome.
We will monitor satisfaction, performance, and progress within the action plan.

Monitoring

The Councillors and the Leadership team will have regular updates on progress.
The housing leadership team will monitor the delivery of the strategy and its associated action plan.

Review

We will review the Strategy every three years to make sure it remains fit for purpose.

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