This report card includes information about the performance of Shetland Islands Council Housing Service between April 2021and March 2022 as reported to Scottish Housing Regulator in the Annual Return of the Charter.
In order to ensure the safety of the tenants, customers and staff, some changes had to be made to how the service was delivered due to ongoing effects of the Covid pandemic.
Housing Repairs
| Repair Priority with SIC Target time | No of repairs completed | SIC average time |
| Emergency (1 day) | 396 | 2.49 hours |
| Urgent (3 days) | 1415 | 2.68 days |
| Routine (28 days) | 1825 | 33.25 days |
| 3-Month | 30 | 134.15 days |
| All Non-emergency (Urgent, Routine & 3 Month Total) | 3666 | 11.20 days |
The Covid pandemic had a major impact on the Housing Service including how repairs could be carried out. This led to a backlog to repairs which we are continuing to work through. We thank tenants for their patience at this time.
Repairs and Maintenance Satisfaction
During 2021/2022 the overall tenant satisfaction with the repairs and maintenance service was 84.2% with the majority of tenants saying they were very satisfied following a repair being completed. The satisfaction level with the repairs service remains high (although affected by the Covid-19 Pandemic). Tenant satisfaction is gathered after all responsive repairs have been completed and feedback is much appreciated.
Adaptations
There were 89 adaptations carried out to Council Houses in 2021/2022. This includes both minor and major adaptations from grab rails to level access showers and ramps. For the major works, they are assessed on medical need and recommendations from our Occupational Therapy colleagues.
Scottish Housing Quality Standard(SHQS)
The SHQS level includes different areas of quality including Energy Efficiency, Electrical Testing and Fire Detection, all 3 are required to meet the standard. The levels at March 2022 are shown below -
- Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH) - 80%
- Electrical Tests - 83%
- Fire Detection - 43%
Overall at March 2022, 29% of Council Housing Stock met the Scottish Housing Quality Standard for Social Housing.
Planned works are ongoing to improve our pass rates, with all electrical tests and fire detection works due to be completed by March 2023.
We need access for these works to take place and if you have been contacted to make an appointment please get in touch asap - 01595 744360.
Weekly Rents
The 2021/2022 average weekly rent for a lettable, self contained SIC property was £82.60. Please note this includes all sizes of properties.
Due to the Council decision to freeze rents for 2022/2023, there was no annual rent increase for HRA properties.
Rent Loss
There has been an increase in rent loss due to properties being empty to 2.26%. The turnaround time for properties that became available for re-let was increased due to the Scottish Government Covid guidance. Covid impacts on external contractors also continued to contribute to the length of time properties were void.
Arrears
The percentage of total rent arrears as at 31 March 2022 was 11%. This figure includes all arrears: current tenants, former tenants and amounts written-off in the year. This is the same as in 2020/21.
If you find yourself in arrears or have difficulty paying your rent, please contact the Council's Finance Recovery on 01595 744623 and the Citizens Advice Bureau on 015950 694696 who will be able to help you.
Offers Made
We made were 199 offers of housing, 18% of which were refused. The main reason for refusals was a change in circumstances for the applicant. We would like to remind applicants to advise us of any changes which may affect their housing application and ability to accept an offer.
Properties Allocated
In 2021/2022, we let 136 SIC properties. As well as that, through our Nomination agreement, 34 applicants were housed by Hjaltland Housing Association. The table shows the number of lets and nominations by locality.
| Locality | Council Lets | Hjaltland Housing Nominations | Total Lets and Nominations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Lerwick and Bressay | 51 | 19 | 70 |
| North | 24 | 1 | 25 |
| North Isles | 32 | 1 | 33 |
| South | 17 | 7 | 24 |
| West | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Whalsay & Skerries | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Total | 136 | 34 | 170 |
Average Time to Relet
The number of lettable properties that became available during 2021/2022 was 113, or 7.05% of stock, very similar to the previous year. The average time to relet was 101.85 days. There are many factors involved in this, a lot of them being directly due to the pandemic and the restrictions in place. In addition, there were some long term voids which were let in the some of the low demand areas which has significantly impacted on the calculation of average void days. When excluding low demand properties, the relet period is 54 days. Compared to the previous year, there have been more properties let and the average time to relet has decreased.
Mutual Exchanges
In 2021/2022, there were successful mutual exchanges involving 15 SIC properties.
Housing Applications
The number of applications on housing register at March 2022 was 692, which is similar to the number reported last year. Please note that this includes both live and suspended applications.
Tenant Handbook
A review of the tenant handbook is ongoing. Some interested tenants are involved in the update, and we will let you know when that is available.
Further tenant information can be found on our website.
Tenant Satisfaction
The key results from the last SIC Tenant Satisfaction survey are below.
| Charter Question | % of SIC tenants very and fairly satisfied |
|---|---|
| Taking everything into account how satisfied are you with the overall service provided by the Housing Service? | 79% |
| How good or poor do you feel the Housing Service is at keeping you informed about their services and decisions? | 79% |
| How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the opportunities given to you to participate in the Housing Service's decision making processes? | 60% |
| Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the quality of your home? | 74% |
| Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the Housing Service's contribution to the management of the neighbourhood you like in? | 84% |
| Taking into account the accommodation and the services the Housing Service provides, to what extent do you think that the rent for this property represents good or poor value for money? | 74% |
A tenant satisfaction survey will be carried out later in the year for feedback to be gathered on the services provided to tenants.
Involving tenants
We are always keen to hear from tenants and to try and find ways of making it easier for you to be involved in shaping the services you receive from us. Ideas and views are always welcome. We want to provide good quality, value for money housing services to all tenants.
We continue to develop our Register of Interested Tenants, where you can tell us what you are interested in and how you want to be involved. You don't have to leave your house to be involved.
You can find out more information on our Register of Interested Tenants.
Full Charter Submission
Our full Charter submission and the report from the Scottish Housing Regulator on our performance is available from the Housing Office and online. We have included a summary on the key indicators as identified by tenants through their Landlord Report for the last 5 years.
The Annual Return on the Charter is available from the Housing Regulator website.
Feedback on Report Card
We are keen to hear what you think if the information included in the Report Card - please let us know your thoughts. You can share your views with us by email or telephone using the contact details below.
If you require a paper copy of the Report Card please contact us.
How to Contact Us
email
Enquiries: housing@shetland.gov.uk
Repairs Helpdesk: housingrepairs@shetland.gov.uk
Phone
Enquiries: 01595 744360
Repairs Helpdesk: 01595 744399
Out of Hours
Homelessness: 01595 695611
Repairs: 01595 693972