Purpose

To seek in-year budget growth to complete the
stock condition survey programme by end Q3 25/26

Content

Exempt Paragraph 3 - Information relating to
financial and business affairs of any particular person (including
the Authority holding that information)
 
RESOLVED
 
That the Cabinet:

a)               
approves the need to bring forward the end date for the first cycle
of the Asset Survey programme to complete in Q3 2025/26.

b)               
approves Option 1 as set out in paragraph 5.1 and 5.2 of report
CH/228 as the preferred option for delivery.

c)               
subject to recommendation (d) being agreed, delegates the
negotiation, approval and completion of all relevant documentation
including legal paperwork necessary to the Head of Crawley Homes,
the Head of Corporate Finance and the Head of Governance, People
and Performance, in consultation with relevant Cabinet
Member.
(Generic Delegations 2 & 3 will be used to enact this
recommendation)

That Full
Council be recommended to approve the in-year budget growth of
£651,370 to deliver completion of the Asset Survey programme,
this will enable the Council to procure six external surveyors to
complete 5,200 Asset Surveyors for a cost of £95 per Asset
Survey together with eight months of temporary support to
administer the project.

Reasons for the
Recommendations

 

a)               
The commitment for completion of Asset Surveys on all council
properties by the end of Q3 will ensure we can demonstrate
equitable outcomes for our tenants, provide an evidence base for
compliance with the Safety and Quality Standard from the Social
Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and record outcomes of all required
works identified during inspection.

b)               
The completion of all Asset Surveys by the end of Q3 will allow
Crawley Homes to apply all the property asset data into the Planned
Maintenance Module of Active-H, to provide an evidence base that
will inform and enable the 30-year HRA Business Plan to be
finalised and allow an accurate forecast for capital investment
required to keep the council stock in line with required decency
standards. Completing the survey programme by Q3 will allow for any
adjustments to be made to the initial submission to be ratified for
April 2026 with evidence-based projections for financial year
2026/2027.  

c)               
To date the Council has completed 1,900 Asset
Surveys on Active-H, these have been delivered through a blend of
in-house surveyors, agency surveyors and external surveyors.
Therefore, a further 6,309 properties require an asset survey to
fully populate our asset management system with current asset
data.

d)               
It is anticipated that the Council’s three
in-house Stock Condition Surveyors will complete 1,109 Asset
Surveys over a 110-day period, with an allowance for annual leave
etc. built in as there are 132 working days to the end of
Q3.

e)               
This would leave 5,200 properties to receive an
Asset Survey by the end of Q3. As per 3.3, Crawley Borough Council
have already benefited from external surveyors who demonstrated
they are able to average seven surveys per day. Should six external
surveyors be commissioned during 2025/26 to undertake Asset Surveys
on behalf of the Council the programme would be complete by end
Q3.

f)                 
The Asset Survey project to date has been supported
by an administrative resource managed by the Planned Maintenance
Manager. Due to the high volume of surveys to be completed by the
external surveyors, which will result in a significant number of
responsive repairs which must be addressed within relevant
timeframes, our proposal includes the continuation of this resource
to ensure that expected outcomes following Asset Survey are
completed within relevant timeframes. This administrative support
role will be responsible for ensuring that the high volume of Asset
Surveys completed by the external surveyors have any outcomes
addressed within relevant timeframes, as well as communicating with
tenants and assisting the in-house team schedule their Asset
Surveys. The cost for this resource over the eight months required
to deliver the project is £25,145 of this £770 has
already been incurred.

g)                
The spend for external surveyors on the project
during the previous financial year, 2024/2025, was £83,329.
Additionally, costs incurred for the administrative resource was
£770 for 2024/25. This total sum of £84,099 was
invoiced and budgeted during financial year 2024/2025.