Barnet (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Barnet Council has voiced serious concerns about delays in its housing repairs service, calling for urgent improvements to meet residents’ needs and standards.
Last Thursday (June 12), Cllr. Ross Houston, the cabinet member for housing and regeneration, told an overview and scrutiny committee that timely repairs and addressing delays were “real problems.”
To address these “recurring issues,” a “repairs improvement plan” was put into place last year. According to a report on the plan’s progress, resident satisfaction rose and the number of official complaints decreased.
Cllr. Houston asserted that the inspection committee must continue to hold Barnet Homes, an arms-length management firm, “to account.”
Speaking about the action plan, he said:
“I think the repair improvement plan, that has been put in place, has had results.
I think we need to go further and I think it’s important that this committee and the cabinet hold Barnet Homes to account in relation to that journey continuing in a positive direction.”
As part of the plan, a “new approach” to helping homeowners was to establish a “P2 Team” for emergency repairs.
The four members of the team are capable of handling “the majority of emergency repairs,” and they demonstrated a “positive impact” “quickly.”
According to the data, the number of emergency repairs that are finished on schedule has increased by 12% annually.
The percentage of non-emergency repairs that were finished on schedule, however, dropped little from 60.7% in 2023–2024 to 59% in 2024–2025.
Cllr Kath McGuirk, a member of the Labour committee, invited Barnet Homes to discuss the outcome.
The committed staff that was put in place at “no extra cost” was responsible for the successful outcome, according to Kate Laffan, group director of resident services.
She said:
“What would happen previously, when you had a report of water pouring through a ceiling, the plumbing job that was booked-in for another tenant had to be cancelled and that resource diverted.
That tenant may have had their job cancelled a few times for that reason so the P2 Team has worked really well since it’s been in place starting from May last year.”
Ms. Laffan attributed the “lag” to the recent closure of numerous “old jobs” and stated that the council was still on a “journey” with non-emergency repairs.
“When we started this repair and improvements piece, we had a lot of old jobs. We had jobs that were going way back, and actually over time we’ve reduced those,”
she said.
The service’s “average performance” suffered when it was shut down, she continued. Nonetheless, she anticipated that “non-emergency repairs will see an improved performance” by the second quarter.
What are the main factors contributing to these delays?
The council’s housing arm, Barnet Homes, has nearly doubled its normal backlog of over 4,300 unfinished repair jobs since the Covid-19 pandemic. Resident satisfaction has declined as a direct result of this backlog, with satisfaction levels below the council’s goal.
Recruiting and retaining experienced tradespeople has become more challenging due to the pandemic and sector-wide issues. Barnet Homes has responded to this by raising wages and holding hiring campaigns, but staffing shortages have continued, delaying repairs.
Repair requests have grown, especially for damp and mold, as a result of high-profile accidents and heightened industry scrutiny. Additionally, the repairs service is under additional strain due to post-Grenfell safety regulations.