Councillor Alex Batchelor, Portfolio Holder for Housing, endorsed the council's self-assessment and annual report on complaints, approving their publication on the council's website, and supported the relaunch of the Perfect Fit scheme to better utilise social housing stock. The Head of Housing Services was delegated authority to submit the annual report to the Housing Ombudsman and to enter into a funding agreement with PA Housing for the Perfect Fit scheme.

Perfect Fit Scheme Relaunch

The Portfolio Holder supported the relaunch of the Perfect Fit scheme and delegated authority to the Head of Housing Services, in consultation with the Heads of Finance and Legal & Governance, to enter into a funding agreement with PA Housing regarding the operation of the scheme until 31 March 2027. The relaunched scheme will be funded through an underspend of £105,500 from a previous commitment to the scheme.

The Perfect Fit scheme encourages under-occupying social housing tenants to downsize, freeing up larger, family-sized homes. The scheme was initially launched in April 2012 and ran until 2021, during which time it helped 181 households to downsize, releasing 249 bedrooms.

The report noted that there were approximately 386 households on the council's housing register with a three-bedroom need, but only seven properties had been available for letting to this group in 2024/25. For households requiring four bedrooms, there were 50 applications and two lettings.

Under the proposed arrangements with PA Housing¹, its Home Moves Team will liaise with under-occupying tenants and provide one-to-one support to help with moving. PA Housing will also bear the void costs. The council's funding will cover financial incentives to encourage under-occupiers to move, ranging from £2,500 for releasing one bedroom to £6,000 for four or more bedrooms.

The draft Perfect Fit Scheme Specification outlines the eligibility criteria, including that the current home must be owned and managed by PA Housing, be located within Elmbridge, and have at least two bedrooms. Tenants must have security of tenure and a clear rent account. The applicant household should be assessed as under-occupying their home in accordance with the Council's Housing Allocations Policy.

At least 75% of the resulting vacancies/bedrooms are to be made available to applicants on the Council's Housing Register, with a local connection to Elmbridge, and up to a quarter being made available to the landlord for management transfers.

Annual Complaints Performance and Tenant Satisfaction Measures

Councillor Alex Batchelor endorsed the council's draft self-assessment measuring compliance against the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code² and the draft Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report – 2024/25, approving their publication on the council's website. He also delegated authority to the Head of Housing Services to complete the online annual submission to the Housing Ombudsman by 30 September 2025. The Portfolio Holder also noted and approved for publication the council's performance against the Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) for 2024/25.

The council became a registered provider of social housing in June 2024, triggering mandatory membership of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. Members of the scheme must follow the Complaint Handling Code and submit an annual report. The council is also required to collect and publish Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) to comply with the Regulator of Social Housing's Consumer Standards³.

The draft self-assessment indicated that the council demonstrated full compliance with the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code across all nine sections. The key findings from the draft Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report for the year ending 31 March 2025 included:

• Seven complaints received by the managing agent, PA Housing.
• No complaints received by the council directly.
• Five complaints related to responsive repairs, one to rent charges, and one to damp and mould.
• Two complaints were not upheld, and five were upheld.
• Four complaints did not progress past stage one, three progressed to stage two, and none were escalated to the Housing Ombudsman.

The report highlighted three areas of service improvements: the appointment of Pinnacle Housing as the new managing agent, a new internal structure with increased staffing resources, and the adoption of a complaints policy specific to the residential landlord role.

The Portfolio Holder was updated on three of the TSMs that were being finalised when the report was published:

• RP01 Homes that do not meet the Decent Homes Standard: 10% of homes did not meet the standard, but plans were in place to reduce this to 0% with investment already earmarked and work in progress.
• BS03 Asbestos safety checks: 64% of eligible properties were subject to these checks. The aim was to reach 100%, and work was ongoing through the development and implementation of a specific policy focusing on sampling properties rather than all properties.
• BS04 Water safety checks: The performance of 30% was based on a rigorous interpretation of the indicator, and the policy was being reviewed to implement a sample check rather than checking all properties.