HOUSING MANAGEMENT AND CAMDEN COUNCIL STREET PROPERTIES

"There exists a number 'grey' areas with regards to how different teams should be working to provide an effective housing management service to tenants and residents living in LBC street properties. The majority of tenants and residents living in LBC street properties to not have access to the same support mechanism in place (caretakers, patch managers, etc) to assist and support LBC residents to address problems around anti-social behaviour, support for vulnerable residents, repair problems, neighbour disputes, etc. In fact, for many residents living in LBC street properties the onus is on the residents themselves to try and 'manage' such problems and we are seeing examples of where residents have had to alert various agencies in a desperate attempt to get difficult situations under control. Unfortunately, this can lead to increased difficulties in the property and the resident(s) can be left feeling isolated and without any support from DHO's. District Managers argue that LBC street property tenants and residents have access to the same services as residents who live on Camden's estates. However, is LBC Housing able to demonstrate, through case studies, how Estate Officers fulfill the role performed by the many officers who regularly come into contact via various means with residents who live on Camden's housing estates - caretaakers, patch managers, community safety teams, community development workers, etc. All of these officers have specific roles to play in trying to address the myriad of problems /issues which can arise when living in a challenging city environment (CASP Deputation to Camden's Overview and Scrutiny Commission", June 14th 2005) 

HOUSING SERVICES TO CAMDEN COUNCIL STREET PROPERTIES TO BE FORMALLY SCRUTINISED (June 2009)

After a CASP deputation to Camden's Housing and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee (May 26th 2009) it has been formally agreed that the Committee (made up of elected, cross-party councillors) will 'scrutinise' the standard of housing services received by tenants and residents who reside in Camden Council street properties. We know from feedback from our members that although services do exist, they can be more difficult to identify and access by tenants and residents who live in Camden Council street properties, especially by tenants and residents who live in those properties which are scattered or isolated throughout the borough.

Services expected to be 'scrutinised' include services to remedy noise nuisance / pollution issues, community safety and general housing management issues!

It is hoped that this work will be linked to the Association's Annual Action Plan / List of Priorities 2008/9 - please refer to relevant section on this site!

Please note: It was announced by Camden Council / HASC scrutiny committee that the report would be presented at its October 13th 2009 meeting, however, due to the length of the report and the number of items being considered, it has been decided that the report will be presented at a later HASC scrutiny committee meeting.

Update November 2009: the above report on housing services to LBC street properties will be discussed at the Association's AGM on December 2nd 2009. Following this, it will be discussed by the HASC Scrutiny Committee on December 8th 2009 - we aim to keep members informed of any progress!

CAMDEN'S HOUSING MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT PLAN (March 2009)

At its AGM on September 4th 2008 and in its latest borough-wide newsletter the Association reported on Camden's plans to re-draw housing management service boundaries to align with ward boundaries. Earlier changes as part of the Plan included the creation of a centralised rents team and the appointment of individual anti-social behaviour (ASB) co-ordinators. Camden is now pushing ahead with these and other proposals and from March 9th 2009 new ward and estate based service managers will be in place to deal with housing management issues. We will also see a reduction of District Managers from five to two. Saying this, Camden will not be closing any district housing offices.  

IT IS QUITE CLEAR THAT THESE CHANGES WILL IMPACT QUITE SIGNIFICANTLY ON HOW SERVICES ARE DELIVERED TO TENANTS THROUGHOUT THE BOROUGH AND IT IS VITAL THAT OUR MEMBERS CONTINUE TO HAVE THEIR SAY AND BECOME INFORMED ABOUT THE PLAN!

Camden Council: General housing advice to Camden Council tenants and leaseholders on a range of issues - please see below link!

 http://www.camden.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/housing/council-tenants-and-leaseholders/ 

Ward-based Services

Housing Management Restructure

From Monday, 9^th March 2009 new ward teams are being introduced to manage local housing services.

The changes are the final stage in the Housing Management Improvement Programme which has also seen the creation of the rent team, the appointment of anti social behaviour coordinators and the current caretaking pilot project in Hampstead.

The teams reflect the new housing management areas which match Camden’s ward boundaries – making it easier to work with other services and partners who operate within the wards and in particular promoting better liaison with ward councillors.

The changes are designed to deliver savings and improvements including increased tenant participation and better signposting to other services.

Managed by the heads of housing services for the east and west of the borough, and based in the district housing offices, ward housing and estate services managers will take on the roles and responsibilities of the old patch and tenancy services managers.

The attached team structure chart has details of who will be managing housing services in your district.  A small number of vacancies remain in the structure, with some posts being covered by temporary staff and other officers who are acting up.  Our continuing priority is to fill these roles permanently as soon as possible.

An update will be provided at the March round of DMCs.

The new team structure: