Lib Dems condemn failings over council housing repairs

Sheffield Lib Dems are condemning continuing delays to the Council’s housing repair service, which is continuing to weigh down council finances, while failing to deliver for residents.

It was revealed last week in answer to enquiries by Councillor Sophie Thornton that the longest waiting time for a repair currently sits at over two years. The repair in question, shockingly, relates to fire safety.

The average waiting time also increased from July to September, going from an average of 20 days to 25.

The repairs service states that the increased waiting times are due to seasonal increases, as well as shortages of contractors, trades people and materials.

As of November, the service has overspent against the council’s housing business plan by £7,300,000, which is likely to impact on the council’s future ability to build new housing and complete badly needed improvements to insulation and energy efficiency.

The backlogged repairs service is also struggling to turn around empty properties, with 350 council houses currently sitting vacant due to repair work waiting to be done on them. These delays have led to a further £3,100,000 loss of rent to the Council, as well as a £1,300,000 loss of council tax.

Furthermore, the significant delays have also led many households to solicitors in the hope of having their repairs addressed. Costs to the council for legal fees currently stand at double the expected amount, at £2,600,000.

Councillor Thornton condemned the delays, saying that “It’s absolutely shocking for any fire safety repair to have taken over two years and still be outstanding. The absolute minimum our tenants deserve is to feel safe in their own homes, and if we can’t even deliver on that, we’ve got to ask what’s gone wrong.

The fact that we have over 300 council houses sitting vacant is also disgraceful, considering the length of our waiting list and the amount of homeless families that are living in temporary accommodation in the city. Getting these things right is the absolute basics for any local authority”.