The council says high demand for repairs as well as rising costs have forced it to only focus on emergency works, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

An Enfield Council repairs van in Hoe Lane

Enfield Council has placed “non-emergency” housing repairs on hold until further notice amid increasing costs and “high demand” for services.

While requests for non-emergency repairs are still being recorded, the council warned on its website that the work will be “programmed for delivery at a future date”.

Asked to clarify what constituted an emergency, a council spokesperson confirmed the types of repairs prioritised would be damp and mould, electrical safety, heating, and lifts maintenance.

The website says the focus going forward is on issues that impac the health and safety of residents. How severe cases need to be, to be considered a priority, is not specified.

The postponement of non-emergency repairs by the council has been happening since 27th November.

In a statement, the council spokesperson blamed a “perfect financial storm” caused by government cuts, increasing repair service demand, and inflation.

They said: “The cost-of-living crisis has meant more residents are turning to us for assistance, while the costs for delivering our services have increased threefold as a result of inflation.”

Further explaining the reason the spokesperson emphasised the need to “prudently manage” the budget going forward, given the “rising costs” of fuel and material.

For non-emergency repairs residents will receive completion dates as “packages of work are compiled”.

Repairs reported up to the date of the change will be completed the usual way.

The spokesperson instructed residents to continue to log non-emergency repair requests via the council webform at https://www.enfield.gov.uk/services/housing/council-housing/repairs as cases are still being recorded and reviewed on a “weekly basis”.

They added “appropriate action” would be taken to resolve works especially relating to vulnerable households “if necessary”.

Despite the concern that could arise amid the change, the spokesperson said results from a recent survey of tenants carried out by the council found satisfaction rates with housing services had improved year on year and satisfaction overall was “above the benchmark” when compared with other landlords.

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