Regulatory judgement improvement plan

6. Timeliness of the repair and maintenance of empty homes

Regulatory standard	Safety and Quality
Area of weakness	Time taken to carry out repairs and maintenance of empty homes is too high
Intended outcome(s)	Reduction in time taken to complete repairs to empty homes before they are ready to let.
Lead	Kevin Lowry (Service Director, Repairs and building maintenance) Laura Atkinson (Service Manager, Repairs and voids)
Target completion	Average days to let a home - void to ready to let - 80 day target (2025/26)
Step targets (where possible)	Annual target, no quarterly or monthly targets
Short/medium/long term plans	Short Term Reduce voids in work to less than 300. Medium Term Achieve 80 day target by end of March 2026. Long Term: Prioritise older voids first to get a clearer picture of average turnaround time and service performance.
Organisational risks	Complexity of repairs Levels of tenant damage Level of capital replacement work and budget
Potential impact on customers if we do not achieve intended outcome	Longer waiting times for housing allocation Increased reliance on temporary or unsuitable accommodation
Current position	At end of quarter 4, it took an average of 98 days from void to ready to let, with the shortest time being 1 day and longest being 623 days. Whilst the average is 18 days longer than the year end target and the void taking the longest is significantly longer than the longest in previous quarter, it should be noted that problematic/complex voids are continuing to be resolved. Work is still ongoing with these so may continue to affect future results. Several long term voids were resolved in this period. Significant work has been undertaken with the implementation of the Void Improvement Plan and the actions needed to reduce the number of HRA voids. An Operational Void Group has also been established to provide constant overview and 'problem solving' capacity within the voids process at the incoming void/works stage. Progress is most evident in the second half of the 2025/26 with the number of voids in work at the lowest level since 2016/17. Some higher than average incoming void levels during March and April have impacted further improvements in performance, but levels have stabilised.
RAG	Red - Not on target
Evidence	Performance reports to Housing Environment and Healthy Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HEHC OSC) and Strategic Housing Board