York resident left without a working toilet for four months as backlog of repairs hits 6,000
York’s council house tenants should not “be allowed to have a second class service” despite the huge pressure the city’s housing department is under, a meeting heard.
A combination of Brexit and the pandemic has seen the backlog of repairs to council properties grow to 6,000 and the number of unliveable council homes lying empty has more than doubled.
Labour councillor Michael Pavlovic said a tenant in his ward had been unable to use his toilet or bath properly since June as they were leaking effluent.
He told a meeting of the housing scrutiny committee it was “our shame” as a council that people were living in substandard housing and that sorting it out “needs to be a priority”.
Cllr Pavlovic stressed he was not blaming hardworking staff who had “one hand tied behind their backs”, adding that he was “talking about resourcing”.
The housing waiting list has also increased by 25 per cent – from around 1,500 in 2019 to 2,000 in 2021, and there is a backlog of over 500 new applications.
‘Immensely difficult’ task
Council officers were praised for a “transparent” report in which they laid out the “immensely difficult” task of keeping up services amid the “perfect storm” of Covid and Brexit.
The council has found it difficult to recruit skilled tradespeople, as well as officer roles, to cut the backlog of repairs.
It was unable to recruit a single joiner to fill three posts, despite trying on three occasions, though the situation has improved in recent months.
Corporate director of place Neil Ferris told Coun Pavlovic the case he raised was “entirely unacceptable”.
He added: “Nobody from the officer corps is happy with the level of service we are providing at the moment.
“That has been recognised as a deteriorating situation. It is in response in part to Brexit, it’s partly in response to Covid.
“When we’re not getting it right we should say we’re not getting it right and we should put an action plan in place to get it back on track. This report…is a recognition that it’s not right now and it needs to be put right.”
The housing department’s action plan to boost its services includes a recruitment campaign, prioritising higher need cases and getting contractors to help bring empty properties back up to scratch.