The Communities Scrutiny Committee met to discuss housing performance and several housing policies. The committee reviewed the annual housing performance report, and provided comments on the proposed pet and other animals policy, the housing domestic CCTV policy, the parking policy for HRA¹ land, and the damp, mould and other emergency hazards policy in light of Awaab's Law². The committee's comments will be passed on to the cabinet.

Awaab's Law

The committee considered the Damp, Mould and Other Emergency Hazards Policy in light of Awaab's Law. The policy outlines how Epping Forest District Council intends to meet the requirements of the new legislation, which places updated responsibilities on the management and effective reduction of homes with damp and mould, and other significant hazards as defined in the Housing Health & Safety Rating System (HHSRS).

The report to the committee explained that the council's Housing Asset Management service already meets the requirements of the new legislation within its current practices, and continuously reviews compliance. The aim is to ensure that the council does everything it reasonably can to make sure residents stay safe, healthy and well in their homes.

The new requirements will be implemented within the existing 2025/26 budget, including staffing resources. Budgets for 2026/27 will need a full review following full implementation.

Adherence to Awaab's Law will provide assurance that Epping Forest District Council is compliant with its statutory obligations under:

• Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025, also known as Awaab's Law
• The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985
• The Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Housing Act 2004

The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 provides the Regulator with powers to set strict time limits for social landlords to fix reported health hazards within specific timeframes. It also provides greater powers to the Regulator of Social Housing to ensure housing providers are managing condensation, damp and mould.

Housing Pet and Other Animal Policy 2025

The committee considered the Housing Pet and Other Animal Policy 2025, which sets out the terms under which Epping Forest District Council tenants may keep pets and other animals at their home.

The policy requires that tenants request permission before keeping any animal at their home. If tenants live in a flat or maisonette and do not have their own garden, they may not be permitted to keep a dog or cat. No one is permitted to keep any animals in or on communal areas of Epping Forest District Council Housing properties. Epping Forest District Council will normally allow tenants to keep a small, caged bird or a small aquarium and tenants may need permission to keep any other animal. Tenants in enclosed Independent Living Schemes are not normally permitted to keep any pet or other animal except, with permission, a small, caged bird or small aquarium. Discretion will be applied. In some circumstances, and at the discretion of a Tenancy Officer, someone taking up a new tenancy may be allowed to keep a dog or cat without access to a garden. This will only be if the new tenant has a pet that they cannot rehome straight away. However, they may not be permitted to have another animal when the initial pet is rehomed or passes away. All tenants who keep animals at their home are advised to obtain suitable insurance to cover treatment costs. No animals that are classified by law as dangerous will be permitted to be kept at Epping Forest District Council housing properties. The council will not permit any tenant or lessee to keep a dog that is classified as 'banned' under legislation. Any dog that requires an exemption certificate, or which the Government has advised should not be kept as a pet, will not be permitted. All dogs and cats must be microchipped in accordance with relevant legislation.

The Tenant and Leaseholder Panel considered the draft Housing Pet and other Animal Policy and were supportive of the policy.

Housing Domestic CCTV Policy

The committee reviewed the Housing Domestic CCTV Policy, which sets out the council's approach to tenants and leaseholders who wish to or have installed CCTV, including door cameras. Such systems are referred to as 'domestic CCTV' for the purposes of this document. The policy takes account of the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) advice on domestic CCTV systems as well as obligations in tenancy agreements and leases.

Epping Forest District Council does not require residents to apply to install domestic CCTV systems in their homes unless the installation could affect the fabric or utilities of the property. Tenants and leaseholders are advised to refer to the ICO advice regarding any proposed or current installation.

If a council tenant or leaseholder wishes to install CCTV (including video doorbell cameras), they only need to request permission if the installation involves penetrating the building's external surface or requires electrical work.

Any application for the installation of hard wired domestic CCTV or cameras that need to be mounted with bolts or similar fixings will be referred to the council's property assets team.

If any tenant or lessee is concerned about crime or anti-social behaviour in their area, they should report it to the council or to the police. If domestic CCTV is an option to help combat crime and/or anti-social behaviour this may be taken into account when considering any request. Irrespective of the reason for domestic CCTV being installed it must comply with the requirements above. In particular, the CCTV can only be used to cover the installers own property and not infringe the privacy of others.

Any tenant or leaseholder with concerns about CCTV, particularly smart doorbells, being installed by other residents should refer to the ICO advice initially and raise them with the Tenancy and Estates Team only if they feel they cannot work with their neighbours to reach a resolution.

The Tenant & Leaseholder Panel considered the proposed policy on 10 June 2025 and the draft was also published on the council's website. There was discussion about how the council will identify people who had domestic CCTV in place before the policy comes into force. Officers will deal with such cases as and when they come to their attention. Officers will also publicise the introduction of the policy, reminding tenants and leaseholders that they have obligations under their tenancies and leases.

Parking Policy for HRA Land 2025

The committee discussed the Parking Policy for HRA Land 2025, which sets out the terms for parking arrangements on Epping Forest District Council Housing Revenue Account Land. HRA land is not covered by the North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP), however the proposed policy follows many of the principles of that Partnership.

The policy allows residents to request new or revised parking arrangements. Such changes could include parking enforcement measures or converting areas of non-parking land into parking.

The draft policy proposes that HRA budgets must be used to fund any changes to parking arrangements. In addition, the NEPP Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) will be followed to change arrangements on unadopted HRA land.

The Tenant and Leaseholder Panel considered the Policy on 8 April 2025 and made the following comments:

• Obstructive parking on pavements needs to be addressed within the policy
• Any enforcement must include contractor and Qualis vehicles
• Any enforcement must include an appeals process, with Epping Forest District Council being the final arbiter.

These matters have been addressed within the draft Policy.

Annual Housing Performance Report

The committee reviewed the Annual Housing Performance Report, which summarises housing services performance in 2024/25 and includes the results of the 2024/25 Tenant Satisfaction Measures survey.

Performance measures enable the council to track, forecast and improve performance. There is a suite of key performance indicators (KPIs) and measures that are monitored throughout the year, with service managers and teams being held accountable for performance through regular meetings.

Tenant Satisfaction Measures are a requirement of the Regulator of Social Housing, introduced in 2023/24. The TSMs are a core set of performance measures against which all providers must publish their performance. There are 22 TSMs, these are made up of 12 tenant perception measures (TPM), and 10 management information measures (MI).

Overall, performance has been good in terms of most key performance indicators. The TSMs have not all improved on the previous year, and some have disappointingly gone down. Whilst the council continues to perform well in comparison to peers, this is not acceptable, and action planning is underway to:

• Undertake further research to dig deeper into the reasons for some dissatisfaction
• Improve satisfaction scores in future.

The overall satisfaction has reduced, although it is above the median for the peer group. The council will be looking at anti-social behaviour and complaints handling as two specific areas of concern. This work will include discussions at the newly launched housing complaints panel that has been set up with Qualis and a group of residents. Residents will bring their lived experience of complaints so that the council can understand how it can increase satisfaction with how complaints are handled.

Work Programme

The Communities Scrutiny Committee reviewed their work programme and suggested the number of housing policies programmed was too demanding for the number of meetings. They requested an additional meeting be added and that the items be realigned. The work programme was amended and realigned, and an additional Communities Scrutiny Committee meeting was scheduled for Tuesday 7 October 2025.