Housing Transformation: more repairs completed first time as work on empty homes continues
The Housing Transformation Board met on 26 October to review progress across Housing services and the Building Maintenance Division (BMD).
This month’s meeting covered repairs performance, work to reduce the time homes remain empty, damp and mould inspections, digital systems and customer service training.
Repairs completed first time
The Board received an update on 'bolt-on skills', which allow operatives to carry out a wider range of tasks during visits.
Figures presented to the Board show that the percentage of reactive repairs completed right first time increased from 80.84% in 2024/25 to 96.25% in 2025/26, above the Scottish benchmark of 95.29%.
Tenant satisfaction with the repairs service also increased over the same period, from 85.85% to 93.4%.
Operatives are carrying out additional tasks, including smaller plumbing jobs in empty homes and lock changes. The first operatives have also been trained in grass cutting, with a test case completed in October.
The 40 additional one-hour repair appointment slots reported in September are now in place.
A benchmarking exercise found that the Council's approach to classifying emergency repairs is in line with other councils, with the improvements identified mainly relating to wording.
Reducing the time homes remain empty
Work continues to improve how empty homes are repaired, allocated and brought back into use.
The number of empty properties in the repairs stage was below 100 for three consecutive weeks between 21 September and 5 October.
The Board also reviewed work on the allocations process, including analysis of refused offers to identify opportunities to reduce avoidable refusals.
The early access pilot is continuing, with further work on recording and monitoring visits to help assess its impact.
Discussions are also progressing on how utility arrangements can be managed more effectively when properties become empty.
Revised void standard
Following the introduction of the revised void lettable standard in September, work has continued on information for tenants.
The tenant-facing version has been updated following tenant feedback, and the webpage content has been finalised. A supporting flyer is being developed for use during the lettings process.
Damp and mould
New requirements for landlords to investigate reports of damp or mould and begin necessary repairs within set timescales came into force in Scotland on 6 October.
The recording of damp and mould inspections on the console system began on 5 October.
Information has been issued to tenants through Tenant Talk, and staff training is continuing.
A room-by-room inspection module for damp and mould is being tested ahead of going live.
Measuring performance
Work on the Housing Transformation performance dashboard has progressed, bringing together information on repairs, empty homes, tenant satisfaction, compliance and maintenance.
New measures include gas safety checks completed on time, cyclical maintenance work completed and satisfaction with the quality of homes when tenants move in.
Monthly reporting on the time taken to resolve damp and mould cases is due to begin in November.
Staff training and communications
Customer service training continues, with the programme aiming to reach 802 employees by January 2027.
Work is also progressing on a Housing services resource page, and a job shadowing exercise is planned for December.
The tenant communication preferences form has been developed, and a pilot is planned, subject to completion of integration with the NEC system.
Malcolm Bennie, Director of Place Services and Deputy Chair of the Housing Transformation Board, said:
We want to provide our tenants with the best service possible and are working towards that every day. One aspect of that is completing repairs on the first visit and it is really encouraging to see the progress that is being made on that front. We know we can keep improving though and will continue to drive through changes in the coming year for the benefit of tenants and our Housing colleagues.
"It is also positive to see that the number of empty homes waiting to be repaired has fallen because we're completing the work quicker. We are targeting further improvements in 2026/27 by looking at the entire end to end process.
Next steps
The Board's next meeting takes place on 14 December, with updates expected on the end-to-end process for empty homes and the NEC module tracker.
Staff can keep up with updates on the Housing Transformation web page and Viva Engage channel.