Council homes in Bristol left empty for almost three months
More than 21,000 households are on the waiting list for social housing
Council homes in Bristol are left empty for almost three months on average in between tenancies despite thousands languishing on the housing waiting list. Staff at Bristol City Council could be paying over the odds for repairs on homes after tenants move out, according to an investigation.
The largest landlord in the city is the council, which manages around 26,600 homes. More than 21,000 households are on the waiting list for social housing, which includes council homes as well as those owned by housing associations.
Auditors found that the council is not holding contractors to account financially, potentially paying too much for repairs in between tenancies. The council “cannot demonstrate value for money”, due to delays in repairs, inaccurate records and poor accounting. An update was given to councillors on the audit committee on Tuesday, November 25.
Sonia Furzland, interim executive director of housing, said: “Having our homes empty for a long period of time means that they’re not available for our residents. It also means that we’re losing rent, and that rental income is critical for investing in our existing homes.”
Every year, tenants move out of around 1,100 council homes which then need to be prepared for new tenants to move into. The average time in between tenancies is 83 days, which is relatively long. However, many of the council’s homes are old and have several defects, meaning that repairs and refurbishments can take a while to carry out.
Ms Furzland added: “We also choose to do some planned works when the homes are empty, because it minimises the disruption for residents. If the property is due at some point in the near future for a new kitchen, bathroom or rewiring, we’ll often use the point when it’s empty to do that.
“But that’s something we probably need to review. We need to find the balance between disruption, rent loss and the lack of availability of our homes.”
A new IT system is gradually being rolled out in the housing department. This will help staff keep track of how much contractors are charging, as well as the cost of losing rent when homes are empty. Plans were approved earlier this year to sell off some council homes, if they are too old and repairs are deemed to be expensive, with the income used for repairs elsewhere or buying homes.
The target for re-let times is 50 days, however the council has not met its target for several years. The average time is improving, and councillors previously raised questions about this problem after hearing that the average time towards the end of 2023 was 115 days.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Nicholas Coombes said: “If we were to get our empty homes from where they currently are to the target, that would be worth 130 houses. That’s the scale of the opportunity here, if we hit our targets, that’s 130 houses for free.”