2026

HBM0627 - Council housing: Buy back former council stock or buy new? - 200526

A local authority is seeking to establish how much former local authority housing stock is being bought back into council housing stock.
This local authority has a very low level of doing this, acknowledging that the alternative method of buying new-builds negates the need to retrofit homes for energy efficiency purposes. However, they also mention that new-builds come with higher rental requirements to offset the investment, and bring their own issues with procurement.
 The local authority would like to know which method for increasing housing stock is preferable in other local authorities.

HBM0626 - Building mainteance stores review survey - 300326

A member authority is reviewing how their materials warehouse/stores operation records and manages stock, with a particular interest in moving away from paper‑based processes toward barcoding or handheld digital solutions. They would therefore be grateful if colleagues could share their experiences by answering the questions below and/or providing any relevant insights about your current systems, challenges and lessons learned.

HBM0625 - Measuring the productivity and efficiency of employees and tradespeople - 220126

A member authority is seeking information regarding how local authority repairs and maintenance services measure and monitor the productivity and efficiency of employees/tradespeople and their services.