Copyright scotsman
Housing officer Jennifer Benson told West Lothian councillors that “negative tenancy ends” often result in homes needing major repairs before they can be re-let. Last year it was revealed that the majority of empty homes were left in squalid conditions, classed as Category C, needing £10,500 of repairs. Questions on empty or void homes top most councillors’ mailboxes as constituents see homes sitting empty for long periods at a time when the waiting list is around 11,000. In Livingston South ward there were 31 void homes on October 1, the local area committee heard. This is 12 more than the same period last year. There were three evictions in Livingston South between July and September, with a total rent debt value of £16,642. For the full year to date – 1st April to 30th September – there were 63 properties let. There were 81 new voids received into the service from outgoing tenants. Councillor Maria MacAulay asked: “How are we managing voids? I wanted to ask about the costs.” Ms Benson, a project officer with the housing department, said: “We do have properties that are void and require a lot of work. I do understand that it is frustrating for people. It all comes down to the condition of the property. “In a negative tenancy end, such as eviction or an abandonment, the conditions can be very poor.” At the recent Housing Services PDSP, the Building Services Manager, Grant Taylor told councillors that there had been an improvement in the turnaround time in which void properties were repaired and returned to let. A specific team concentrating on getting voids repaired was set up a year ago after growing problems with the numbers of voids across all wards. It costs around £10,500 to repair homes in Category C, the worst of conditions, to be re-let. The majority of homes returned to the council are in this category. The poorer the state, the longer the refurbishment work takes. For Category B the repair bill is £4,500. Very few homes come back to the council as Category A’s needing only £1,200 worth of repair work. Councillor Moira McKee-Shemilt asked if there was a way that housing officers could “legally monitor” the conduct of tenants and how they treat council homes. Ms Benson outlined that regular statutory gas checks were carried out by council staff, as well as compliance work on electrics, which gave council staff access to homes. Often however problems only became apparent when a tenant reaches out for help, having reached a crisis point through incidences such as ill health or issues such as hoarding. Ms Benson added: “Housing officers are concentrating more on tenant engagement, working with tenants to reduce as much as we can the properties coming back in poor condition. “If people are paying their rent, and engaging, we might not notice there is a problem until people reach crisis point. Behaviour and lifestyle can have an enormous effect.” She added that housing staff would work with the tenants and also with other council departments such as Social Policy to help tenants facing problems.
