Harlow Council on track to ‘clear the backlog in council house repairs this year’ as new initiatives producing promising results
News / Thu 13th Jul 2023 at 11:19am
AS part of the Harlow Council’s priority to fix council housing, council housing repairs backlog figures have begun to fall for the first time in 18 months. The council has pledged to ‘clear the backlog’ in housing repairs this year and the interventions that have been made since May are already having an impact.
The council has reviewed and prioritised the way in which repairs are scheduled and carried out has meant that, for the month of June, the number of outstanding housing repairs has reduced.
The service is showing “green shoots” across most trades and the number of tenants awaiting repairs and property maintenance will now continuously fall as works are programmed over the financial year. A significant amount of new investment is being injected into this priority, alongside the use of local SME sub-contractors to deliver the works.
The latest figures show a very positive start for the council’s priority to fix council housing.
Councillor David Carter, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Housing, said:
“We have pledged to fix council housing and one of the ways we are doing that is by clearing the backlog in housing repairs, which has increased for every month for the last 18 months. Harlow Council has let council tenants down by allowing this backlog to build up meaning tenants have been waiting for far too long before repairs are carried out.
“We are going to clear that backlog this year and I am immensely proud of the work carried out so far to begin delivering on our priority to fix council housing. Our Housing service and HTS have been working hard to significantly change the way we do things, and that work is having an impact as we have now seen that backlog in repairs peak and fall for the first time in June. By batching repairs and using local sub-contracted businesses, we expect now to see a significant reduction is outstanding works over the next few weeks.
“This is just one of the measures being taken to reduce the repairs backlog, which has remained too high for too long, and it is so pleasing to see that we are getting things done in line with our priorities.
“By streamlining and speeding up processes to bring works to completion we are backing up words with action and delivering for our council tenants.”
Bruce Downey
2023-07-13 12:10:46
It seems to me, this all goes back to 2020 pandemic 😱 when at the outset HTS were told to stay at home..and no urgency to catch up by Labour.
Dan Long
2023-07-13 13:56:37
They should of been doing this as soon as they got elected in has the administration party of Harlow, thanks to my help. Not a year before a general Election.Torys and Labour are as bad as eachother, in my opinion.
Bruce Downey
2023-07-13 16:32:16
Labour back then seemed to care more for their workers than the residents, probably one of many reasons why they lost..
Kim Oconnor
2023-07-13 18:51:15
Labour and conservatives are as bad ,as one an other.. I need a new toilet system, it's been there since the house was built, you have to push the flush 2 or 3 times...... the man with a van from the council came fwe weeks ago... humed and ared,,, put me new ball cock in,,, now we have to flush it 4 or 5 times....... you couldn't make it up...... Your bodging jobs,, on the cheap...that's what your actually doing... I have a bay window, which the roof leaks, they came, said not rotten, went away.... the rain sits on roof , then comes through ceiling... Nope you couldn't make it up. We pay for theses services,,, your either not doing anything, or your fixing on the cheap.
Gary
2023-07-14 09:58:33
Once again they tell us how well there doing, what a joke, ever since grenfell went up they have been wasting money hand over fist, but we have enough money to help put criminals in hotels, stop voting for these clowns, time for a change, stop over paying managers who do nothing, sort it by voting someone that's not lab/ con / lib,
Jamie Warr
2023-07-14 17:23:30
That's good to know. Maybe they'll eventually fix the leak That's been piddling through my living room ceiling on and of for the last year with fobbing me off.
Jamie Warr
2023-07-14 17:24:41
*without
Alex
2023-07-14 17:56:23
A year Jamie! I've been waiting 3 years for them to fix the leak in my bedroom ceiling. Found out 2 months ago it didn't even have a job number. Was assured it now has. Still not heard anything. I'm 70 by the way and have had prostate cancer and have arthritis in every joint in my body.
Jamie Warr
2023-07-14 18:21:13
Sorry to read that Alex. 3yrs is even worse.
Mark Gough
2023-07-14 22:35:25
Well to be fair to David, he seems to be getting on top of the most thankless Portfolio in the Council. But frankly hailing one good month isn't good enough. When we have six good months, then I will think residents will join me in saving our applause until then. Kim, Alex and Jamie, I am very sorry to read your bad experiences, but now you have David to contact directly! Personally I would like the Senior Management at HTS to get out of their Ivory Towers and check up on what their employees are actually up to. Still too many HTS vehicles parked up with staff inside eating and drinking at all hours of the day! I'm not against lunch or breaks - I'm against ones of ridiculous long length - which need stopping so more can get done for taxpayers! Mark Gough - Reform UK
David Carter
2023-07-15 11:15:26
If Kim Alex and Jamie contact me direct at the council I will look into these problems and see what needs to be done David Carter Harlow Council
Gary Roberts
2023-07-15 14:39:04
How many of the contractor' jobs are checked by HTS? I was told not many. Why not?
Marie
2023-07-16 09:56:28
Gary Roberts, HTS checking jobs? You havin a laugh. All they ever check is the sausage rolls in Greggs! See their vans always parked up eating and drinking tea. A joke.
13 Comments for Harlow Council on track to ‘clear the backlog in council house repairs this year’ as new initiatives producing promising results: