Sheffield Council Approves Over £2 Million for Council House Repairs

[SheffieldForum]

Sheffield Council has approved a proposal to spend more than £2 million on repairing council houses, including addressing issues of damp and mould.

 

The council’s housing policy committee has greenlit a plan to commission two separate contracts, focusing on disrepair works and damp and mould remedial works. The contracts are valued at £1.2 million and £1.25 million, respectively, and will run for up to two years.

 

A report highlighted the urgent need for these repairs, stating: “The council is currently facing significant volumes of work in disrepair cases and damp/mould on its social housing estate. Whilst in-house resources are being increased to ensure sustainability in the future, current in-house and sub-contractor resource in these workstreams is not sufficient to deal with the volume of current work in progress. The level of work in progress is therefore not currently reducing.”

 

At the housing policy committee meeting, Cllr Paul Turpin (Gleadless Valley, The Green Party) raised concerns about the varied causes of damp and mould, such as rising damp, leaks, and condensation, and asked what solutions would be included in the contracts. He was assured that a range of different interventions would be implemented to address the issues.

 

The report also revealed a significant increase in damp reports and disrepair cases. In 2022, the council received an average of 22 reports of dampness per day, which rose to 45 cases per day in 2023—a 115 percent increase. The number of new disrepair cases surged from 117 in 2018 to 821 in 2024, with 2023 seeing the highest number at 1,045 new cases.

 

The projected spend figures are based on historical spend data and the current backlog of works. The funding for these repairs will come from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA).

[hackey lad]

 

[Pyrotequila]

Judging from the state of some of them around here, I'm not sure £2 million is enough to cover the whole city.

[hackey lad]

Council doing what it should be doing and someone makes a big song and dance about it . 

[Tipstaff]

1 hour ago, hackey lad said:

Council doing what it should be doing and someone makes a big song and dance about it . 

Same as the newsletters from SCC  (We've listened to you and we're tackling anti-social behaviour) and SYP  (We've listened to you and we're tackling anti-social behaviour)  

[Tipstaff]

I do agree that given the state of some of the housing stock £2m is a start, but very much a drop in the ocean.