Kirklees Together

We’ve just shared an update on Homes and Neighbourhoods (H&N), our social housing service, and the ongoing work to improve safety, standards and services for people living in council-managed homes.

At a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 8 July, councillors discussed a report outlining progress since our decision to self-refer to the Regulator of Social Housing, who set standards for social housing across the UK, earlier this year. The self-referral, made in March 2024, helped us look at areas where improvement was needed and triggered a lot of changes across H&N as a service, all aimed at making things better for everyone living in our homes.

What’s changed so far

Our top priorities will always be making sure you’re safe in your home, and delivering a more responsive, cost-effective housing service that meets the needs of all our H&N residents.

Since the referral, we’ve made a wide range of improvements. These improvements include safety upgrades to housing blocks like Harold Wilson Court, with further work planned for low-rise homes. The number of homes where residents are currently reporting damp, mould and condensation has dropped by 40% in recent weeks, thanks to new processes that are helping teams respond faster and more effectively.

Work is also underway behind the scenes to build a more modern and responsive service. We’ve brought in new staff, strengthened our governance, invested in better IT systems, and brought in external partners to help deliver services more efficiently.

Putting tenants first

Another key focus of the ongoing work is improving how we communicate and engage with you, because we want to make sure you feel heard and kept up to date as changes are made to your homes.

Tenants can sign up for the free tenant email newsletter from Homes & Neighbourhoods through the council’s Stay Connected page.

We hope you’ll notice these changes more and more over the coming months, and we’ll be providing more updates to Cabinet about further improvements to H&N.

Councillor Moses Crook, Deputy Leader of Kirklees Council and Cabinet Member for Housing, said:

“Self-referring to the Regulator was an important step in getting us back where we needed to be, after bringing our Homes & Neighbourhoods service back in house. Since then, the changes we’ve made for the better have been transformative – but I want to be completely transparent about the fact that there’s still improvement needed and work to be done.

“In the long run, we don’t just want to meet the basics for those who live in our homes and neighbourhoods. We want to be providing people with excellent place to live – somewhere they can feel safe and comfortable, and use as a springboard for the rest of their lives. I’m pleased with how far we’ve come in the last year, but I also know we’re all completely committed to delivering far better services for all of our tenants in the future.”