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The question of "voids" was raies again today. It all stems from a ground floor flat that became vacant when the keys were handed back to the Council in mid February.
It was offered to a resident who was in a second floor 2-bedroom flat who eventually moved in when the void works were completed (but the standard of workmanship was not too high, to say the least!) in mid May.
We make that around 12 weeks the flat was "void" and no rent income generated.
The flat that subsequently became available in mid May was earmarked for a young couple with a baby who were living in a bed-sit next door.
The couple were formally offered the 2-bedroom flat and were told that there would be a couple of weeks delay while the electrics were checked and a crack in the wall was seen to. (The previous tenant who had moved to the ground floor had left the place in good condition.). The couple with the baby were led to believe that they could take over the flat a week ago.
So he applied for seven days holiday from work - and it was granted. She had just returned to work after maternity leave.
Enter from stage left the contracts department of the Housing Department. They were saying that they needed some empty properties in which to train staff to work the palmtop computer thingies that were needed to undertake the long-awaited "stock condition survey" wich was a "key task" of the housing department in 1995!
Yes, you've guessed it! The empty flat that was one of those required for "staff training" was the very same flat that the young couple had been promised!
Housing department then informed the couple that there would be a delay! This did not go down too well as his employer was not able to alter the leave arrangements!
The keys were duly handed over to the contracts department for their "staff training". The "void repairs" were astonishingly put on "hold"!
Keys were returned from the training mission late last week. Alas the "Orchard" computer system was "down" last Friday when Housing went to order the void repairs.
[thinks: whatever happened to the old fashioned telephone? Or even the more modern fax? Not to mention the brand new E-mail system that the council boasts about?]
When we were alerted to the problems that this young family were having, we contacted the housing office. We learned that the Orchard computer system was still kaput!!!!!!!!!!
But, we were told, they would order the void repairs as soon as they could!
Now we all know that Housing Committee thought we were "unsustainable" for them to grant us our "right to manage". But had we been a TMO and we were "managing" void repairs and lettings (in actual fact, we were only wanting to manage the caretaking service, the eastate car parks and the grounds maintenance), this is what we would have done ...
1. Received the keys from the previous tenent (there should have been two front door keys among them - if there was only one, we would have immediately have got a second cut).
2. Given one front door key to the contracts department for their training, telling them that they had 5 days!
3. Immediately the flat was formally handed back, ordered the void repair and electrical check. The second front door key could have been used!
With any luck, the flat could have been turned round in two weeks - or less.
As it is, the loss of rent (void loss) is doubled ... not to mention the inconvenience caused to the couple and the "wasting" of a week's leave.
The notice boards that we ordered have arrived and the caretaker will be fixing them to the wall inside the entrance to each block in the next week or so. When they are all up, it will mean that notices will be able to be put up without having to tape them to the recently varnished woodwork in the "foyers".
Also, the gounds maintenance contractors were on the estate cutting what used to be called "lawns", but are now nothing but grassed areas. Despite incresing rents - and the amounts within our rents for "ameneties", the cost-cutting has meant that the grass is not looked after like it was.
Just a quick reminder that we DO know about the problems with the guest book. The problem is being worked on, but we suspect that the snag is at TenZero, the company that provides the guestbook at no cost to us. Some of you are Emailing us instead - and thanks for the comments.