Long-awaited East Devon social housing survey complete but wait goes on for publication

A long-awaited analysis into the state of East Devon’s social housing stock is unlikely to be made public for months.

Construction consultancy Currie and Brown was commissioned in March 2022 to conduct a survey of the district council’s social housing stock to work out how much money will be needed to bring the properties up to scratch.

The company was given 18 months with a further three-month contingency to complete the work, but it has taken until now to finish the job.

Now councillors have seen the data in a private meeting, but the report is unlikely to come to the council’s housing review board (HRB), which is responsible for overseeing social housing, until next year.

Officers said this is because repairs were carried out while the survey was being conducted and the HRB needs up-to-date information.

But Cllr Steve Gazzard (Liberal Democrat, Exmouth Withycombe Raleigh), himself a social housing tenant, is uneasy about this.

“The HRB is one of the most important committees going, and as councillors have had the opportunity to come along and listen to the start of the process regarding the stock condition survey, I find it strange that members of this board will have to wait until January or maybe even until April to get an update,” he said.

Catrin Stark, the council’s director of housing and health, said officers still needed to do more work.

Asked whether there could be an earlier meeting to discuss the stock condition survey, she said an exceptional meeting in March may be possible if the work had been completed by then.