Repairs ‘slower’ for council house tenants in city

Council house tenants in Dundee have to wait more than twice as long for emergency repairs as most people in Scotland.

And more than a quarter of all repairs are not properly completed first time, according to council figures.

Emergency housing repairs by Dundee City Council take almost 17 hours on average, while the Scottish average for such repairs is just under seven hours.

Dundee City Council also compares badly with other Dundee landlords, which take around eightand-a-half hours to make repairs.

When it comes to non-emergency repairs the council takes around 15-and-a-half days to carry out work, almost twice the Scottish average of just over eight days.

Other private landlords in the city take nearly 11-and-a-half days.

It was also revealed that just 72% of repairs are completed right the first time, in a customer report by the council’s director of housing. This compares to 87% in Scotland and 86% of Dundee’s private landlords.

Councillor Brian Gordon, Labour’s housing spokesman, said it was disappointing to see the council doing so poorly compared to others. A review has been launched to see what can be done to improve performance.

Director of housing, Elaine Zwirlein, said in her report: “The housing department has initiated STEP reviews into the repairs and void management processes.”

The council manages 12,906 houses in the city and charges weekly rents of between £55.92 and £92.68.

Dundee’s housing stock is good, with 92.2% of homes meeting the Scottish Housing Standard Quality.

The report also noted that 77% of tenants were satisfied with the overall service they receive.

The council is obliged to publish a customer report each year in line with the Scottish Housing Charter and the Scottish Housing Regulator.