A major repairs transformation programme has helped to deliver a significant increase in completed repairs and improved performance across the service.
The latest Council Housing Performance Report shows that 103,401 repairs were completed during 2025-26, compared to 67,876 in 2024-25 – an increase of more than 52%.
The increase reflects the council's commitment to tackling outstanding repairs, alongside identifying more issues through its proactive Getting to Know You visits with tenants. Despite also receiving higher numbers of damp and mould reports during the winter months, the service has improved its overall performance and is completing more repairs within target timescales.
A comprehensive review of the repairs service has led to significant changes in how teams operate, including streamlined processes, improved scheduling and a more efficient approach to managing repair requests. These improvements are already helping to reduce delays and deliver a better experience for residents.
The results of the transformation are clear. In September 2024, around 63% of repairs were taking longer than target timescales to complete. Following implementation of a new repairs system and processes, by April 2026, performance had improved significantly, with 90.69% of non-emergency repairs and 94.36% of emergency repairs reported between July 2025 and March 2026, completed within target timescales.
Councillor James Coles, Cabinet member for Sustainable Housing and Green Investment said: "Over the last financial year, we've worked hard to improve our repairs service and make sure residents receive the responsive, reliable service they deserve. Completing more than 100,000 repairs is a significant achievement and reflects the dedication of our teams to reducing backlogs and improving performance.
"While we know there is still more work to do, these results show that the steps we've taken are delivering tangible improvements for our residents. We hope to continue to build on this progress throughout the coming year."
To assist with this, the council recently introduced a new Repairs Policy, which came into effect on 1 May 2026. The policy provides greater clarity for residents about how repairs are prioritised, response times and what they can expect when reporting an issue.
The updated policy aligns the service with the Regulator of Social Housing's Consumer Standards, ensuring the council meets regulatory requirements while maintaining a service that is responsive to residents' needs.
One of the key changes is to emergency repair response times. Previously, the service aimed to attend emergency repairs within four hours – a target that exceeded legislative requirements and placed significant pressure on resources. Under the new policy, emergency repairs are now responded to within 24 hours, allowing the council greater flexibility to prioritise the most urgent cases first, while continuing to meet regulatory standards.
The revised policy also enables a more flexible approach for supporting vulnerable residents, ensuring services can be tailored where additional support or faster intervention is needed.
The council expects the combination of service improvements, regulatory compliance and clearer expectations for residents to drive further improvements in repairs performance during 2026-27.
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