April 2002, pages 100-101 Reports from the best value inspection service suggest that councils need to significantly improve their private sector housing services. John Rood provides guidance on improving services before the inspectors arrive on the doorstep

The introduction of the "best value" regime has proved to be a radical challenge for the private sector housing service. Councils now have to carry out a fundamental review of this service and identify ways to significantly improve performance. The Government is looking for a "step-change" in all public services, while the introduction of external inspection, a new experience for many councils, has challenged both attitudes and performance. With the focus currently on the customer's experience, staff, managers and elected members alike are faced with a new perspective. But how are the private sector housing services performing?

Best value inspection reports, published in 2001, show that many private sector housing services have a considerable way to go (table 1). The majority of councils inspected received very disappointing results and only three councils have managed to impress the inspectors so far.

Wigan MBC and Derby CC clearly lead the way, with 3-star (excellent) services. Inspections show that these two councils are providing a high quality service that has had clear positive impacts on private sector housing, achieved by close partnership working with local residents and other agencies with a role to play. The City and County of Swansea has a 2-star (good) rating with a well developed, targeted approach for renovation grants, clear service standards and challenging targets.

There are a number of key areas for improvement that can be gleaned from the inspections so far.

Links to other strategies
A feature of private sector housing is its contribution to other key strategies, and councils need to make clear and explicit links between these and the private sector strategy. For example, decisions about renovation grant policies must not be developed in isolation and should be linked to crime and disorder strategies and Local Agenda 21 etc, both within and outside of councils.

Improving knowledge of the private sector
Stock condition surveys have been used extensively to identify the level of unfitness and substantial disrepair in the private sector. Although these have proved to be an essential source of information, private sector housing services now need to go a stage further. They need to know the location of properties that are unfit and in serious disrepair, where empty properties are and the reasons why they remain empty.

In addition, there needs to be an appreciation of how the private rented sector operates locally. More importantly, inspections have recommended that councils need to be far more proactive by developing a risk-based approach and this may have a significant impact upon resources. At Derbyshire Dales DC, inspectors took the unusual step of recommending that the limited number of staff working on private sector housing services should be reviewed, given the problems the service is experiencing.

Developing financial and other assistance packages
Renovation grants provide an essential catalyst to renewal activities, but there remains the constant problem of an increasing unmet demand and restrictive means tested eligibility criteria. Inspections have highlighted some councils that are ineffectively managing their waiting lists for grants. As a result, owners are allowing their properties to deteriorate further.

Councils are being challenged to find new ways to regenerate the private sector as financial resources are scarce, and are likely to continue to be so in the future. Inspectors have identified some excellent examples of non-grant funded mechanisms to help people repair and improve their homes, including equity release schemes and home maintenance advice services. Derby CC, for example, has actively promoted the need for home maintenance by producing a booklet that is distributed to all those enquiring about maintenance problems. It gives guidance on arranging repairs and instructions on how to carry out simple repairs. Many schemes being developed involve the creation of robust partnerships and the provision of "joined up" services, both of which increase the quality of service to customers.

Improving customer focus
Councils using an area-based approach to urban regeneration are commonly putting residents at the heart of decision making and helping to shape their private sector housing services. However, the inspections have shown that all councils need to do far more to engage their customers and other stakeholders. One of the issues that has prevented this is the lack of in-depth knowledge of the local private sector. In recent years, public sector landlords have made great progress involving their tenants and it is important that similar progress is made in the private sector.

Inspections have found that where councils have service standards they have often been developed in isolation, rather than by involving customers and other stakeholders. High performing councils publish their service standards, make them readily accessible to all customers and report back on their performance at regular intervals. Wigan MBC urban renewal service has a service charter so that customers know what level of service to expect.

One of the most important themes emerging from inspections is the need for councils to promote their private sector housing services and increase awareness among their potential customer base. Some practitioners have expressed concern that the widespread promotion of services would lead to a massive demand that could not be met. However, without the knowledge of potential demand for their services, councils cannot clearly identify the resources needed locally and target them effectively.

On a similar theme, there is an important role that renovation grants can play in generating accommodation to contribute to meeting local housing need. Identifying the level of local housing need is an essential part of developing a housing strategy and this information should be fed into the policy on how renovation grants might be better targeted.

The quality of some councils' publications and application forms has been adversely commented upon by some inspections. It is good practice to involve customers in the development of publications and application forms and to carry out reality checks to ensure that they put out the right message and can be easily understood by customers.

Working through a HIA
Home Improvement Agencies (HIAs) have proved over the years to be a very effective way of delivering renovation grants to vulnerable homeowners and tenants. Councils have provided this service either in-house or in partnership with the private sector, especially housing associations. In either case, it is important that the HIA provides value for money, particularly in respect of the fees it charges for services.

The presence of a HIA can also significantly increase demand for services, in particular disabled facilities grants. This has had some adverse effects on customers in some areas where occupational therapists have not been able to respond to the increased demand. Councils need to respond to this situation and find ways to avoid long delays for their customers.

The inspection reports published in 2001 contain many pointers for improvement. In the past, many environmental health departments have failed to effectively engage their customers and other stakeholders. Best value is changing that and there is still some way to go.

John Rood is a consultant with the Housing Quality Network and can be contacted on Tel: 01723 515050 or e-mail: hqn@hfta.co.uk