Tamworth housing contractor issued notice after increase in complaints

The issue was raised at a recent full council meeting where Councillor Tina Clements asked what is being done to address the increase in complaints. Recently a meeting of the corporate scrutiny committee investigated void properties.

Data shows that average contractor time has increased over the past five years and now stands at 42 hours in 2025, which is 12 hours longer than 2020 and the average void period at 88 days in 2025 compared to 54 in 2020.

The cost of tackling the voids in Tamworth is currently between £4,000 – £4,500, which is constantly higher than the £3,000 for other areas. The higher costs have been put down to the cost of clearing rubbish at the properties.

Housing voids are the time between somebody leaving the property and a new tenant moving into the property.

Now a full contract reset is underway aiming to tackle the issues. A service improvement plan has also been developed to tackle problem areas. However if standards do not increase the council has said they will act.

Responding, Councillor Ben Clarke, cabinet member for housing, homelessness and planning said: “We’re taking several steps to drive up performance. We meet regularly with Equans to review performance, including complaints and satisfaction levels and agree on actions to resolve those issues.

“We’re also in the midst of a full contract reset process with external support; looking at all aspects of the agreement as part of this we’ve developed a service improvement plan to tackle problem areas. We’re committed to being transparent with tenants, performance data is shared regularly and tenants are directly involved in scrutiny through both the tenant consultative group and the housing and homeless advisory board.

“While we want to work constructively with the contractor we will take formal action where necessary. I can confirm we are serving an improvement notice on Equans regarding their performance on void properties. This gives them a chance to improve standards before we consider further contractual steps.”

A spokesperson for Equans, said: “We are working on a service improvement plan alongside Tamworth Borough Council which is already having a positive impact on the processes involved in refurbishing empty properties.

“Our aim is to deliver a high quality service to residents on behalf of the council and we seek to continuously strengthen the services we provide.

“Since our ongoing repairs and maintenance contract with the council began in 2020, we have refurbished over 1,400 empty properties to be relet, providing homes for those who need them most”