Cllr Maria Caulfield

Nine out of ten Brighton & Hove City Council tenants support proposed changes to their tenancy agreements that include measures to reduce anti-social behaviour.
 
Changes were proposed by the council earlier this year covering important issues such as repairs, rent and anti-social behaviour and feedback from those tenants that responded has been overwhelmingly positive.
 
Seven out of ten tenants support ‘being a good neighbour’ changes that strengthen neighbourly responsibilities. These cover being responsible for children in shared parts of the estate, outlining and being explicit about what anti-social behaviour is and keeping gardens and patios tidy.
 
Sixty-six per cent agreed with changes on ending a tenancy, while 62% agreed with those rents and other charges while more than half or 54% agreed with the changes on repairs and improvements. The council received more than 2,300 responses – a response rate of 16.9 per cent - for the revised tenancy agreement which is due to come into effect early next year.
 
Councillor Maria Caulfield, Cabinet Member for Housing, said:
“Tenants have overwhelmingly agreed proposals to improve the tenancy agreement. These include measures designed to improve the lives of tenants such defining what constitutes anti-social behaviour, maintaining cleaner environments and setting out the roles of both tenants and the council on repairs and improvements.”
 
At the Housing Cabinet Member Meeting on January 6, Ms Caulfield will consider a new plan to distribute funding for the 5,000 vulnerable residents who rely on housing related support services in the city.
 
Supporting People services, which have been shown to provide a cost benefit of £3.41 for every £1.61 spent, help the elderly live independently as well as those with learning disabilities and hostels for homeless residents.
 
Ms Caulfield will also make plans to improve customer care and sensitivity in handling succession of council homes where a tenant dies which has involved a programme of officer training and close work with bereavement services.
 
The council, which is committed to making consistent, fair decisions and implementing them sensitively, is also due to confirm its succession policy which acknowledges the shortage of homes and the need to tackle under occupancy.

Leader of the Lib Dem group Cllr Paul Elgood, said:
"A commitment to being a good neighbour surely needs to be made by every single tenant, not just seven out of ten of them?
 
"The council needs to demonstrate that it has learnt the lessons of previous cases, where tenants from diverse backgrounds have raised serious concerns over the unacceptable behaviour of neighbouring tenants and then the subsequent handling of their complaints by the council.  This will need to be closely monitored to see how effective any new agreements are."

Leader of the Labour group Cllr Gill Mitchell, said:
“It is good to see such strong backing from tenants for measures to tackle anti-social behaviour being included within this new council tenancy agreement as all too often, a badly behaved minority can ruin life for a community. The Government now makes it a requirement that all providers of public housing produce landlord service agreements for their tenants that must include measures to reduce harassment and anti-social behaviour, so the support shown by local tenants for the new agreements will strengthen this more rigorous approach.”
 
For more information about Brighton and Hove Council view:
www.brighton-hove.gov.uk