Housing Services Annual Report Published

Orkney Islands Council’s Housing Services Annual Report for 2023-2024 has been published and details a strong performance across a number of areas, despite a challenging year for the service.  

These include: 

• the properties are in good condition and the Council is well underway to meet the expected enhanced standards by 2032; 
• a low number of repairs per property; 
• the service is delivering well against the energy efficiency standards they are required to meet 
• current rent collection is high 
• the response to homelessness is good. 

Areas where performance could be improved include:

• the time it takes to return empty properties to an appropriate standard so they can be relet 
• the time taken to complete emergency repairs 
• the recovery of rent arrears.  

The Annual Report looks at how the service is performing in comparison to the previous two years and against similar local authorities – Shetland and Highland - and the Scottish average using a series of national performance measures including the percentage of housing which meets the Scottish Housing Quality Standard, the percentage of housing which meets the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing and the percentage of tenants satisfied with the overall service provided.  

Chair of Education, Leisure and Housing Committee Councillor Gwenda Shearer said: “The annual report for tenants has grown and developed over the last few years and will continue to do so over the coming years.  

“It’s undoubtedly been a busy year for the service.  

“During 2023 and 2024, we completed a significant piece of work around the level of housing need in Orkney. This includes the needs of residents and the needs of essential workers, some already resident, and some of whom will move into Orkney. Our Housing Need and Demand Assessment was subsequently approved by the Scottish Government in October 2023.  

“A consultation on our draft Local Housing Strategy for the next 5 years was then undertaken in early 2024, building on wider community consultation led by the Council in late 2021 and early 2022  That strategy was approved this summer and sets in place the vision for the Council and partners for the future of housing across all tenures and types of accommodation, taking account of national priorities as well as local needs. 

“All this work is against a backdrop of the challenges raised by restricted budgets and rising costs, for us and our contractors, but our tenants too 

"I’d like to thank staff and our contractors for all their work and for their commitment over another challenging year. I’d also like to thank our tenants for taking the time to contribute to the development of this report and for taking part in our enhanced tenant engagement. We really appreciate all of your feedback on our services and also the style of this report, and on the information contained within. This helps us to improve our services." 

The full report is available here - Housing Services Annual Reports

Paper copies or reports in a different language or format, can be obtained by calling 01856 873535 or emailing housing@orkney.gov.uk

Tenants who are interested in finding out more about Tenant Participation or have an interest in attending the Residents’ Panel should contact Claire Pritchard on 01856 873535 or e-mail claire.pritchard@orkney.gov.uk.