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Welsh housing associations limit repairs and focus on emergency lettings as country enters lockdown
Housing associations in Wales have reduced their repairs work and reverted to emergency lettings only, with the country entering a two-week ‘fire-break’ lockdown.
Inside Housing has spoken to several social landlords in Wales that have decided either to stop non-essential repairs or to reduce repair work following Welsh government guidance stating that people should consider whether repairs work can be safely deferred until after the short lockdown.
Andrew Vye, managing director of homes and communities at Pobl, Wales’ largest housing association, said the organisation will carry out urgent repairs only during the lockdown, as it does not think that delivering routine repairs is “within the spirit of the fire-break”.
He added that Pobl is taking the opportunity to carry out work on its empty homes, such as kitchen and bathroom work, alongside outdoor work such as fencing.
Ian Thomas, chief executive at 10,000-home Trivallis, said the organisation is currently “reviewing routine repairs that are booked in over the two-week period” and is expecting some “disruption”.
A spokesperson for Taff Housing Association said the landlord has “placed a halt on booking in any additional non-essential repairs in the fire-breaker period”.
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A fire-break lockdown in Wales began on Friday 23 October and will come to an end on 9 November.
The representative from Taff said the organisation will be making welfare calls to vulnerable tenants throughout the period, while Mr Vye said Pobl is introducing “additional well-being measures” for staff, such as resilience coaching.
On the subject of lettings, Mr Thomas said Trivallis will focus on homes it lets to council housing applicants through its common housing register, adding that the organisation sent a list of its void properties to the council on the morning the fire-break lockdown began.
Other applications will be assessed “on a case-by-case basis”, while lower-band applications, mutual exchanges and transfers will be put on hold for two weeks, he said.
Taff said it is introducing a “virtual lettings process” for homeless applicants, while Mr Vye said Pobl is reverting to “emergency lets only”, for example for those coming out of temporary accommodation.
Clarissa Corbisiero, deputy chief executive and director of policy and external affairs at Community Housing Cymru, said: “The number-one priority for housing associations is to ensure tenants are safe and secure, and support them through any financial hardship they experience.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, housing associations across Wales put measures in place to support tenants throughout this period including safe working protocols, digital lettings processes and our commitment to support tenants facing financial hardship as a result of the pandemic.
“As the impact of COVID continues, that commitment has not changed.”
27.10.2020 10.13am UPDATE
An earlier version of this article said that Welsh government guidance stated repairs work can go ahead during the lockdown if carried out safely. It has been updated to reflect the fact that the guidance also states people should consider whether repairs work can be safely postponed until after the lockdown.
