Agenda item

Further to minute 20 of 15 September 2015 the committee is requested to consider the attached report from the Hyde Group.

MrMorrisey (Director of Core Operations, Hyde) introduced the report (copy attached to the official minutes). He reiterated the recommendations which had been made by Cabinet to Hyde requesting further information from them at this meeting. He acknowledged that Hyde could have been far better at communicating to residents in advance of the service charge increase and he had rearranged communication plans to build in prior discussions with residents. Ms Chatfield, Service Charge Manager, had attended these group meetings which had enabled Hyde to listen to residents re service charge issues and other items they had raised.

The Committee made comments including:

·         A short notification time was given to a member to attend a local residents meeting at Bishop Luffa.

·         The effect of Hyde service charges on housing benefits paid?  Most service charges are eligible for housing benefit. The Council receives a subsidy back from the Department for Works & Pensions (DWP) for claims.

·         Did Hyde realise the enormous impact these increases would have on residents? At the time they were very close to issuing statements and there was a naivety on their part, however lessons have been learned and in future more consultation will be carried out.

·         There are surpluses on your books over the last few years of £25m, £31m and £45m and your profit margins have increased from 6% to 14%. Hyde appears to be a large capital company with a certain arrogance rather than a registered provider charity with an ethos to help people. Hyde has a well-documented procedure to assist tenants with financial issues. Income services team talk to residents and offer to extend payments or to provide support in covering the costs. The last resort is eviction action. The charity is a not for profit organisation and remains so. Any surplus is used to develop new properties. We are trying to increase the housing stock and generate a surplus to reinvest it.

·         Feeling from residents that more complex complaints are not getting attention and going on for months? Hyde has recruited 2 additional staff responsible for resolving complaints to ensure that they are not passed around. Ms Chatfield undertook to let members have their names.

·         How far back is Hyde legally allowed to recover service charges?  Could charges have been introduced over a longer time to alleviate residents’ financial problems? Will we see a reduction in service charges in future years? Hyde can only charge going back 18 months and then only in the year that the service is carried out. There will be a spike in the first rollout as there are charges in that year for services which are only required to be carried out every five years such as electrical maintenance.

·         It is understood that S20 notices are a way of consultation with tenants to charge one off charges according to Building Control legislation dating back to 2000. The regulations changed in 2002 to allow consultation for any changes in charge.

·         Those tenants who are covered by housing benefit will cover the payments but those who are not have found it very hard financially. Pilgrim Court tenants are now paying £55.92 per week service charges which equates to £3,000 annually. How can you justify such a high service charge?  Tenants are entitled to come and talk to us regarding clauses in their tenancy agreement they don’t understand and to get legal information regarding the tribunal service for challenging service charges. Tribunal numbers are low. Pilgrim Court is supported more than general blocks; there are communal areas and on site support. We are looking closely at these charges.

·         Are you charging over and above your statutory responsibility? Private landlords do not include health and safety checks in rents. Statutory charges should be your expense. It is the law to charge for health and safety requirements. All registered providers operate in this way.

At the Chairman’s request Mrs K Moss, a resident of Merle Court Gardens, spoke about her experience of communicating with Hyde regarding decreasing services at this property.

Ms C Brown (Director of Residents Services (Regions)) thanked the committee for considering the report from Hyde and undertook to continue to update the committee with progress made in the original recommendations. Mrs Rudziak advised the committee that she would review the way regular meetings are held with Hyde.

RESOLVED

That the report from Hyde be noted.