Housing Leeds annual report

We spent £70m on improvements to homes including:

• roofing £3.7m 
• energy efficiency £9.2m 
• fire safety £1.7m 
• adaptations £9m 
• heating upgrades £4.7m 
• kitchens and bathrooms £3.7m

In addition, £40m was spent on day to day repairs.

• Emergency repairs completed in timescale - 91.6%.
• Non-emergency repairs completed in timescale - 89.3%.
• Annual gas safety checks carried out - 99.8%.
• Homes not meeting the decent homes standard - 5.5%.
• Required fire risk assessments carried out - 100%.
• Required communal passenger lift safety checks carried out - 96.9%.
• Required asbestos surveys or inspections carried out - 99.8%.
• Required water risk assessments carried out - 100%.

Adapting homes

Health and Housing completed 1,960 adaptations across the city to both private and council homes, supported by £16.3 million in grant funding. This has supported customers to live more independently and safely in their own homes, reducing reliance on Social Care and hospital services.

The Occupational Therapists within Health and Housing have rehoused 518 customers into homes that are already adapted, making a saving of just under £5 million.

“From start to finish the job has been carried out in a totally professional and courteous manner. The team worked diligently and with empathy to any changes, questions or concerns.”

“We’ve just had an extension done for a bed/bathroom on the side of the house for our daughter. Absolutely fantastic start to finish, it’s made life a lot easier, the internal door have been widened to fit equipment through smoothly.”

“Thank everyone involved in the decision to install a wet room in my property. It’s made such a huge positive difference to my life. I now feel safe taking a shower and I can look forward to my future surgeries without the dread of how to shower after.”

New council homes

• We built 33 homes made up of 25 apartments and 8 houses in Seacroft, and 47 homes at the Ambertons in Gipton. These developments include a mix of 1-4 bedroom homes.
• Construction continues on 82 homes in Pudsey, a mix of houses and apartments, and planning approval was granted for a future scheme of 22 apartments in Morley in January 2026.
• We bought a further 94 homes, a mix of 1-4 bedrooms across the city, some of which have been al located to support homelessness programmes.

The Tenant Portal

More tenants than ever are choosing to manage their tenancy through the Tenant Portal. By signing up to the portal you can:

• book a non-emergency repair
• view the details of any recent repairs
• view your up-to-date rent account
• download a rent statement
• view information about your tenancy
• request permissions

Visit www.leeds.gov.uk/ssp to sign up or log in.

Tackling damp and mould

In October we launched our new procedures for dealing with damp and mould reports, as Phase 1 of the new Awaab’s Law legislation went live. Since then, we have received over 5,000 new reports of damp and mould and we have investigated 100% of these within the guidelines.

Our preparation for Awaab’s Law was critical and built upon the improvements that we have put in place over recent years. During the year we:

• adopted new IT systems so we can complete surveys digitally, whilst inside tenants’ homes
• created a new investigation report for tenants, with input from Tenant Voice Panel members
• trained all our staff and contactors on our landlord responsibilities under Awaab’s Law
• updated and refreshed our Damp and Mould Policy and our damp and mould web-content for residents, including important information around health concerns

This year we will be looking at how we can work better with tenants to help make access to homes easier.

Fire safety

To keep you safe we:

• committed £19 million in fire safety improvement works
• carried out 1,150 Person Centred Fire Risk Assessments
• carried out 344 Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans
• completed over 10,000 flat entrance and communal door inspections
• completed fire risk assessments on 1,232 blocks of flats with shared communal areas

• Meet the next stage of Awaab’s Law, using what we’ve learned and the feedback from phase one.
• Continue with our new legal process so we can gain access to homes and complete all electrical safety checks.
• Deliver our £97 million programme to improve and invest in our homes.
• Make sure every home has had a Home Survey within the last 5 years.
• Listen to residents and use their feedback to check how well our new Contractors Code of Conduct is working.

Rent collected:

• 96.15% (2024/25) 
• 96.03% (2025/26)

Rent collected from former tenants:

• £1.1M (2024/25)
• £914k (2025/26)

Households supported to claim additional income/benefits:

• 5,728 (2024/25) 
• 5,347 (2025/26)

Home visits

Some of you get in touch with us regularly and others less so. We aim to carry out periodic home visits to our tenants. This gives you an opportunity to meet your local Housing Officer, or Retirement Life Support Officer and talk about any issues you may have. We also check that your home is in a good condition and there are no concerns.

• 23,303 home visits and 2,060 visits to Retirement Life tenants
• 464 hoarding cases identified
• 297 safeguarding referrals made

Mutual exchange

We supported 241 mutual exchanges allowing tenants to move to more suitable homes.

Rent and support

We support you to pay your rent, reduce any arrears, apply for eligible benefits, and manage your overall living costs. Rent collected is used to keep homes in good repair and to provide services to you. If a tenant leaves their tenancy with arrears, we will seek to collect the money owed.

Rent enforcement

We always try to work with tenants who are having difficulties paying their rent. We will only take eviction action as a last resort, if other attempts to recover arrears are unsuccessful. There were 79 evictions during the year.

Tenancy fraud

Last year we recovered 27 properties where we identified housing fraud. Tackling housing fraud enables us to let homes to those who need them most. Of the fraud cases we investigated, most related to subletting, non-occupation, and ‘Right to Buy’ fraud.

The Housing Officer Income (HOI) Team assists tenants across the ci ty carrying out benefit health checks to ensure tenants are receiving their maximum benefit entitlement. They also assist in completing benefit applications and, mandatory reconsiderations, if the initial application has been refused.

The team assisted 5,347 households, helping them secure over £4m of additional income. This is an a verage additional income of over £700 per household. Of the households supported, 960 (18%) had children.

The HOI team, and our wider housing office network, also work with partner agencies to provide further support where possible. We teamed up with the British Gas Energy Trust to provide emergency gas and electricity fuel vouchers. We provided £338,000 of vouchers to 2,300 households throughout the city.

A lot of our tenants pay their rent by Direct Debit. You can also pay your rent online, by phone, or in person. Find more information.

Struggling financially? If you are worried about paying your rent, we are here to help. Please contact your local housing office. We can support you and check your entitlement to welfare benefits.

Extra Care update

The Extra Care Service provides purpose-built housing with on-site care and support to help residents live independently. Schemes are located at Cardinal Court (Beeston), Gascoigne House (Middleton), and Wharfedale View (Yeadon). This year, the service has continued to engage with residents to deliver improvements including:

• working with residents across our schemes to improve how we explain the care, support and services available, helping everyone clearly understand what Extra Care offers and how to access support. Feedback has been positive, and our updated Service Offer now focuses on key information about the scheme, our team, and how we involve and communicate with residents
• throughout the year we have continued to strengthen the range of inclusive activities available in our schemes by listening to our residents and working closely with third sector and voluntary groups; including a regular men’s group session, LIPPY People (sharing life experiences through engagement and storytelling), and a Memory Cafe
• we have delivered scheme improvements including investment in decoration at Wharfedale View, and in 2026 we will be installing new telecare equipment at Cardinal Court
• ensuring that we listen to residents’ views through regular communication and engagement, taking a “You said, we did” approach across a range of issues that residents have told us are important to them

A resident of Wharfedale View Extra Care was recognised as the 2,000th individual to have a G10 smart meter installed as part of an energy efficiency upgrade. To commemorate this milestone, Switch2 presented the resident with a bouquet of flowers and a luxury hamper.

Our next new council-led Extra Care scheme development at Laurel House, Armley is making excellent progress on site, and we expect new residents will be able to start moving into their homes in early 2027. This new scheme will provide 65 high-quality, energy efficient and affordable one and two bed apartments supporting independent living opportunities for older people in the city. The scheme will also benefit from communal lounge and a bistro/dining area, along with landscaped gardens.

Retirement LIFE

Our service supports over 4,000 residents to live independently in their homes in our 125 Retirement LIFE schemes across the city.

During the year we:

• provided regular well-being checks and a range of referrals completed to Adult Social Care, benefits teams, Green Doctor and food bank provision
• completed the analogue digital switchover programme across Retirement LIFE schemes
• strengthened partnership links with neighbourhood networks across the city
• set up a new community space with Armley Helping Hands in one of our communal lounges
• identified 250 damp and mould concerns through home visits
• updated our information on the Leeds Homes website to provide clearer information for prospective customers
• invested in communal areas through a significant decoration programme including at Whitelaithe Court, Stoney Rock, and Northfields

This year we will:

• aim to open our Extra Care scheme in Armley and welcome new residents
• complete the review of our local lettings policies
• consider how best to support customers who wish to down-size
• look at ways to expand our enhanced CCTV monitoring across more high-rise blocks
• put into practice our Individual Needs Policy with training for all staff to help us make our services as accessible as possible
• roll out fresh customer care training for all staff

The Tenant Voice Panel (TVP) has grown from 350 to nearly 450 residents, including 10 leaseholders. Tenants, residents and leaseholders on the panel are invited to take part in our consultations or workshops to help us improve and design services to meet the needs of customers. Anyone can join, and you can take part in as little or as much as you like. Find more information.

The Tenant Scrutiny Board (TSB) is a group of 11 tenants and 2 leaseholders who look at how a part of our service is working and then make recommendations for improvement. When they do this, they’ll talk to other tenants, staff, or our partners and contractors so that what they recommend is based on evidence. During the year they published two reports, helping us improve how we communicate and carry out Home Surveys and one about the training and support we give to new Housing Officers. A massive thank you to the TSB for their work.

Over the last year our Housing Leeds Feedback website:

• was visited 30,985 times with 2,240 people taking part in our consultations, giving 3,594 views or comments
• had 1,842 residents sign up to receive email updates - they now receive alerts when new consultations are launched, along with updates on the outcomes of previous consultations, showing how their feedback has helped us improve
• hosted 17 consultations on different aspects of our service

We’ve consulted and gathered residents’ views on:

• how we let newly built council homes
• a review of local lettings policies
• charging for preventable repairs and maintenance costs
• how we look after shared green spaces in and around council housing
• the support we provide to residents who wish to downsize into a smaller home
• how safe high-rise residents feel in their homes

Twice yearly walkabouts are carried out by local housing teams. These in person walkabouts are boosted by ‘virtual walkabouts’ hosted on the Housing Leeds Feedback website. This allows residents to contribute at any time by highlighting areas they feel needs attention or by suggesting improvements. Over the 12 months, we received 573 contributions from the 15 virtual estate walkabouts. This included lots of ‘likes’ from residents, reacting to the comments from fellow residents. The feedback from our virtual walkabouts is then actioned by our local housing teams and a summary of our actions given back to residents.

Using your feedback we have

• Planned a new approach to downsizing - offering additional support to tenants interested in moving to a smaller home.
• Reviewed our approach to communication and the engagement with residents in all three of our Extra Care schemes.
• Launched new repairs webpages, designed with tenants to ensure information is clear, relevant, and easy to navigate.
• Introduced new Customer Service Standards, so no matter how residents contact us, they know the levels of service they can expect.
• Added new examples of how we’ve learnt from your feedback on our learning from complaints web page.
• Made changes to our Local Lettings Policy, in line with our Lettings Policy, making the process fairer and clearer.
• Improved support for tenants in arrears, with letters made clearer and more tenant friendly.
• Introduced a clearer and more consistent approach to dealing with requests for home alterations.
• Implemented a new Adaptations Policy, with new post-installation questionnaires, quality checks on completed work and clearer communication throughout.
• Implemented new updates that tenants receive after reporting damp and mould, ensuring our communication is easy to understand and meets the requirements of Awaab’s Law.

• To publish more information about our service standards to help residents understand what to expect from our service and how we are performing against these standards.
• To review how we work with Tenant Voice Panel members to make sure we make it as easy as possible to give feedback about our services and make the panel as a whole as good as it can be.
• To involve high-rise residents in the monitoring of the quality of cleaning within high-rise buildings.
• To make sure that tenants living in the PFI areas and within Belle Isle have the same opportunities to influence what we do.

Number of complaints received:

• Stage 1 – 1,966 (equivalent to 37.5 per 1,000 homes)
• Stage 2 – 519 (equivalent to 9.9 per 1,000 homes)

Complaints responded to within Complaint Handling Code timescales:

• Stage 1 (10 working days) – 92.4% (95% in 24/25)
• Stage 2 (20 working days) – 90.4% (89% in 24/25)

All social landlords must meet the requirements of the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code. Our annual assessment against the code is available online.

Your feedback helps improve the services we give. If you are dissatisfied with our service, you can raise a complaint, so we can resolve the issue. If you are still not satisfied with our response, you can take your complaint to either the Housing Ombudsman or the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, depending on what your complaint is about.

96% of complaints were resolved without involving either Ombudsman. We work closely with both Ombudsman services to make sure that residents are given advice and information on how to access their services if they wish to.

What your complaints were about

Service area

• Day to day repairs - 58%
• Tenancy management - 22%
• Planned repairs - 2%
• Other - 18%

Complaint issue

• Expectations not met - 35%
• Job not started/not completed - 25%
• Unhappy with work/outcome - 11% 
• Request for service/information - 8%
• Staff conduct - 8%
• Other - 13%

We will share our Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report later in the year.

This year we will:

• share learning from complaints on our feedback site
• carry out recommendations from the Ombudsman
• review what complaints are telling us with our Complaints Working Group
• complete our annual complaints assessment with tenant input
• support staff and contractors to respond to complaints and put things right

A Complaints Working Group was set up in September 2025 to take a closer look at how complaints are handled and how services can improve. There are 5 members of the group: 1 Councillor, who leads the group, and 4 tenant representatives from the Leeds Housing Board.

The group makes sure that complaints are handled properly and follow national rules as set out by the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code. They support a positive approach to complaints, where feedback is listened to and used to improve services, and complaints are dealt with fairly and as quickly as possible. The group reports back to the Leeds Housing Board to make sure that complaints, and how they are dealt with, are high on the Board’s agenda.

So far, the group has:

• checked how well the complaints service meets national standards
• reviewed complaints data to spot trends and areas to improve
• looked at staff training, templates and responses to improve the service residents receive
• helped review and improve complaints policies and procedures
• considered how different residents experience the service, including those with individual needs
• looked at how lessons from complaints are learned and shared with resident

What customers have told us about using the complaint’s process

We value your complaints to help us identify and fix issues, improve services, and learn for the future. Whilst we don’t always get things right, we’re pleased to hear positive feedback about how the complaint’s process has worked.

• "I was very impressed with the way my complaint was handled. I thank you so much."
• "Thank you for the response, I do appreciate it, good customer service goes a long way. Thank you, appreciate your help."
• "The lady involved in my complaint raised the issue immediately and kept us informed, she also gave us a phone number to contact her, a very helpful lady."
• "It was handled efficiently, with a positive response."

Number of antisocial behaviour cases:

• 2,546 (equivalent to 48.5 per 1,000 homes)

Number of antisocial behaviour cases that involve hate incidents:

• 76 (equivalent to 1.4 per 1,000 homes)

Reporting antisocial behaviour (ASB)

During the year, our community safety priorities focused on encouraging more people to report ASB, strengthening partnership working, and improving how we tackle issues that affect whole communities. This includes problems where those responsible are not always easy to identify, such as drug dealing or nuisance motorbike use in public spaces.

We are now receiving more reports of ASB. We see this as a positive step, as it shows that residents feel more confident about reporting problems and contacting us when issues occur. Residents reporting ASB helps us to build a clearer picture of what is happening in our neighbourhoods and take appropriate action.

Support from police

We jointly fund a dedicated team of police officers who work specifically on issues affecting council tenants and leaseholders. This team has specialist expertise in using legal powers such as injunctions and closure orders to tackle serious and persistent ASB.

For much of 2025/26, the team was working in the Beeston, Holbeck and Hunslet areas, where they supported action to address drug dealing and cuckooing. This work brought real improvements for residents. You can read more about it in the articles from South Leeds Life, Relief for residents as court action helps turn the tide on antisocial behaviour and Retailers see drop in ASB following focus on Hunslet retail parks.

Cuckooing

Cuckooing is an increasingly common method used by criminals. It involves taking over someone’s home and using it for illegal activities, often putting tenants and neighbours at risk. Further information is available from West Yorkshire Police.

We expect cuckooing to become a specific criminal offence later in the year. During 2026/27, we will continue to work closely with West Yorkshire Police and partner agencies and will keep residents informed about how we are tackling cuckooing and supporting those affected.

• Last year we completed 536 estate walkabouts to check the condition of our estates and gardens. If you would like to join us on a walkabout in your local area, please contact your local housing office.
• We also completed 15 virtual walkabouts inviting residents to give feedback online at a time that’s convenient to them.
• Additionally, local housing teams organised several estate action days where we met with partners, including Cleaner Neighbourhoods, West Yorkshire Police, local Ward Members, and local community groups. These are further opportunities for us to engage with residents and seek their views on their priorities for their estate as well as advising on environmental issues, such as how to get rid of bulky waste.

• Respond to customer satisfaction data to improve services.
• Update ASB website content, to make reporting easier for customers.
• Develop a new IT system to help better manage cases of ASB.
• Improve working in partnership with other social landlords.
• Continue to work with residents and our partners to improve local areas.

Belle Isle Tenant Management Organisation (BITMO) manages 1,800 council homes in Belle Isle on behalf of Leeds City Council. We are a tenant-led organisation that has the following mission: Build a safer stronger greener Belle Isle, where people want to live.

Our strategic objectives are:

• building tenant control
• investing in people’s homes
• helping people to live well

If you would like to know more about our work or get involved in our volunteering programme please get in touch. We would love to hear from you - www.belleisletmo.co.uk

• Percentage of rent collected - 97.5%
• Investing in your homes - £1.98m
• Number of complaints received - 73
• Complaints responded to in time - 96%
• Overall satisfaction - 76%
• Satisfaction with repairs throughout the year - 78%

In addition:

• 76% of respondents thought that BITMO provides a home that is well maintained
• 68% of people thought that we listened to your views and acted on them
• 58% were satisfied with our approach taken to antisocial behaviour
• 73% were happy that communal areas were kept clean and well maintained
• 78% of those surveyed considered that BITMO had made a positive contribution to the
  neighbourhood

We know there is a lot more to do. If you feel that you could help improve our estate then please contact us on 0113 378 2188 or email bitmo.enquiries@belleisletmo.co.uk.