Norwich City Council to spend £3.8m on backlog of home repairs

A city council is setting aside £3.8m to cover a massive backlog of repairs to empty council homes.

Norwich City Council said a combination of labour shortages, material supply-chain issues, rising costs and Covid caused the lengthy waiting list.

The upgrades will mean the number of empty available council properties is set to rise in the coming months.

The authority said it will hire contractors for a nine month period to cover the arrears.

The city council is in the process of transferring services, including building maintenance, carried out by Norse - a Norfolk County Council-owned company - over to its own company - Norwich City Services Ltd (NCSL), the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The transfer is set to be completed in April.

In total, 303 void homes - properties without tenants - are expected to be available by March, up from 176 in December.

Labour council leader, Alan Waters, told the cabinet: "We have not been able to see a complete improvement from the pre-Covid period.

"We are at the fag-end of a contract and there have been a number of issues relating to shortages in the labour market.

"These are broad issues that affect a number of areas of the economy."

The cabinet agreed to spend £3.8m on contractors following a procurement process.

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