Milton Keynes City Council Landlord Board

Milton Keynes City Council Landlord Board is responsible for overseeing the delivery of all landlord services and ensuring overall compliance with the Regulator of Social Housing’s Consumer Standards.

The Board is made up of the leads for the different Housing Service areas and is led by:

• Stuart Proffitt, Director Environment and Property
• Steve Richardson, Director for Finance and Resources
• Victoria Collins, Director Adult Services

The Board meets monthly to review MKCC’s performance in meeting these standards.

Service Leads and Responsibilities

• Alison Cook, Assistant Director of Housing Maintenance, Investment and Corporate Health & Safety
  Oversees repairs, maintenance, and investment service and is responsible for overseeing compliance with the Safety and Quality Standard.
   
• Will Rysdale, Head of Housing Delivery and Regeneration
  Oversees the delivery of all new council homes and the enabling of affordable homes in partnership with both private developers and a range of registered providers. Alongside this is the responsibility for delivering the Council’s regeneration aspirations. 
   
• Leona Evans, Head of Homelessness and Tenancy Services
  Oversees tenancy management services and is responsible for overseeing compliance with the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard, Neighbourhood and Community Standard and Tenancy Standard.
   
• Sonia Hattle, Head of Finance
  Leads Housing Finance, Business Improvement and Systems Teams. The teams provide integrated and proactive support to Housing Services. The main areas of focus include regulatory compliance assurance, data quality, efficiency and resilience, service improvement and innovation, workforce development and retention. 

Contact

If you have specific concerns around the safety of Council homes, please contact:
housingsafety@milton-keynes.gov.uk 

• Councillor Ed Hume, Cabinet Member for Housing
  Responsible for ensuring there is a positive complaint handling culture, and that insight and performance is shared with our governing body. 
   
• Lisa Beckett, Head of Customer Data and Insight
  Oversees compliance with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code and for ensuring that complaints are effectively managed.

Contact for Complaints Process

If you have any questions or concerns about accessing the complaints process, please contact:
complimentsandcomplaints@milton-keynes.gov.uk 
01908 253817

This standard means that landlords have to provide their tenants with safe, good quality homes and effective landlord services.

Requirement 1 - Stock Quality
Registered providers must have an accurate, up to date and evidenced understanding of the condition of their homes that reliably informs their provision of good quality, well maintained and safe homes for tenants.

Requirement 2 - Decency
Registered providers must ensure that tenants’ homes meet the standard set out in section five of the Government’s Decent Homes Guidance and continue to maintain their homes to at least this standard unless exempted by the regulator.

Requirement 3 – Health and Safety
When acting as landlords, registered providers must take all reasonable steps to ensure the health and safety of tenants in their homes and associated communal areas.

Requirement 4 - Repairs, maintenance and planned improvements
Registered providers must provide an effective, efficient and timely repairs, maintenance and planned improvements service for the homes and communal areas for which they are responsible.

Requirement 5 - Adaptations
Registered providers must assist tenants seeking housing adaptations to access appropriate services.

To improve tenant-landlord relationships, tenants need to be able to get relevant information from their landlords, and landlords need to listen to their tenants and act on their views.

Requirement 1 - Fairness and respect
Registered providers must treat tenants and prospective tenants with fairness and respect.

Requirement 2 - Diverse needs
In relation to the housing and landlord services they provide, registered providers must take action to deliver fair and equitable outcomes for tenants and, where relevant, prospective tenants.

Requirement 3 - Engagement with tenants
Registered providers must take tenants’ views into account in their decision-making about how landlord services are delivered and communicate how tenants’ views have been considered.

Requirement 4 - Information about landlord services
Registered providers must communicate with tenants and provide information so tenants can use landlord services, understand what to expect from their landlord, and hold their landlord to account.

Requirement 5 - Performance information
Registered providers must collect and provide information to support effective scrutiny by tenants of their landlord’s performance in delivering landlord services.

Requirement 6 Complaints
Registered providers must ensure complaints are addressed fairly, effectively, and promptly.

Part of a landlord’s role is to work with others to help with the upkeep and safety of the neighbourhoods and communities their homes are part of.

Requirement 1 Maintenance of shared spaces
Registered providers must work co-operatively with tenants, other landlords and relevant organisations to take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of shared spaces.

Requirement 2 Local cooperation
Registered providers must co-operate with relevant partners to promote social, environmental and economic wellbeing in the areas where they provide social housing.

Requirement 3 Anti-social behaviour and hate incidents

Registered providers must work in partnership with appropriate local authority departments, the police and other relevant organisations to deter and tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) and hate incidents in the neighbourhoods where they provide social housing.

Requirement 4 Domestic abuse
Registered providers must work co-operatively with other agencies tackling domestic abuse and enable tenants to access appropriate support and advice.

The new Tenancy Standard requires landlords to allocate and let homes fairly, and set expectations for how landlords manage and end tenancies. We are proposing a standard with four main requirements that landlords have to meet.

Requirement 1 Allocations and lettings
Registered providers must allocate and let their homes in a fair and transparent way that takes the needs of tenants6 and prospective tenants into account.

Requirement 2 Tenancy sustainment and evictions
Registered providers must support tenants to maintain their tenancy or licence. Where a registered provider ends a tenancy or licence, they must offer affected tenants advice and assistance.

Requirement 3 Tenure
Registered providers shall offer tenancies or terms of occupation which are compatible with the purpose of the accommodation, the needs of individual households, the sustainability of the community, and the efficient use of their housing stock.

They shall meet all applicable statutory and legal requirements in relation to the form and use of tenancy agreements or terms of occupation.

Requirement 4 Mutual exchange
Registered providers must support relevant tenants living in eligible housing to mutually exchange their homes.