Annual Report for

2013/14

Kate Pearlman-Shaw, Chair of LjHA with Lee Bloomfield, Chief Executive of LjHA

Our Vision Statement“To provide secure, safe and sustainable housing to the Jewish and other

local communities in North Leeds”

Welcome to our Annual Report for 2013/14

This is our 61st Annual Report with information about what we have been doing over the past 12 months. The report includes information about:

¨How we have performed against targets

¨How much our services cost

¨How we have responded to views of our tenants

¨Our priorities and services for the year ahead

¨Where there is room for improvement and our plans for tenant scrutiny and further input into our services

This report was prepared in partnership with our tenants. To keep costs down we have decided to email it to all our tenants for whom we have email addresses, put a copy on our website for you to read and place copies in communal areas. Copies will also be available from reception at the MAZCC. We can also post copies to tenants who specifically request a copy.

There are lots of challenges ahead in the coming year as some of our tenants are feeling the pinches of Welfare Reform which makes it even more important that we are able to support them by maximising the benefits they are entitled to and help them sustain their tenancy.

The appointment of our new Chief Executive, Lee Bloomfield, gives us the opportunity to look at new and exciting ways of offering and delivering our services to you, with even greater levels of Tenant involvement.

About Us

We are an independent Housing Association and are regulated by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). We are also registered as an Industrial Provident Society.

We manage 482 Homes. Around 52% of our properties are designated as Older Persons Accommodation with the emphasis on independent living. Around 48% are General Needs properties. We also work closely with our colleagues at the Leeds Jewish Welfare Board to provide accommodation and support to people with Learning Disabilities and Mental Health.

Whilst we work closely and in partnership with the Leeds Jewish Welfare Board, we are a separate organisation with our own Management Committee. The majority of our income is from the rent you pay which provides the Repairs and Maintenance and Housing Management Services you receive. We receive little income from other sources.

What services do we provide?

¨Tenancy Management - such as dealing with anti-social behaviour and other neighbourhood issues¨Housing Support for Older People - delivered through our dedicated team of Housing Support Workers¨Tenancy Sustainment Support - support for General Needs tenants to help them maintain their tenancies through financial inclusion work and other assistance¨Leasehold and Shared Ownership services¨Letting properties through our Allocation process - working closely with our partners at Leeds City Council to address housing need¨Developing and encouraging Tenant Involvement to help improve our services through your input¨Rent collection, arrears management and financial inclusion activity

The LjHA Staff Team

LjHA Housing Support Workers with tenants

Tenant Involvement and Empowerment

Customer Service and Complaints

Involving tenants in our work is the key to developing services. This allows us to deliver services that help meet your expectations.We welcome comments, compliments and complaints, and use them to inform service development and improve performance.

Learning from your Complaints and Enquiries

From time to time we receive complaints from you. We take them very seriously and investigate thoroughly. Where necessary, we use them to improve things where we have got things wrong, or failed to deliver the expected level of service.

63% of you said that LjHA listens to your views and acts upon them. Only 56% of you know how to use our complaints procedure. We want to improve these scores for 2014/15.

As a result of complaints regarding communal lighting, we have instigated a programme to replace communal lights with low cost LED lighting.programme started with Skyte House and will be rolled out across other schemes over the next 3 years.

Get Involved, Get Empowered

Our Volunteer Coordinator, Lesley Boyd, is employed by LjHA to involve tenants in our Sheltered and Supported Schemes. Events put on include: Suppers, Bagel Brunch, Afternoon Tea, Music Afternoons, Theatre Trips and Clothing Sales.

Tenant Panel

The Tenant Panel reviewed The Repairs & Maintenance Service which led to a re-vamp of the Repairs Leaflet.The Panel recommended that information from various sources (Tenant Handbooks, Leases etc.) should all be pulled together into one leaflet. Other recommendations regarding presentation and wording were also implemented. As a result of Tenant Panel involvement, the window cleaning service was extended and improved. We introduced pre- and post-season garden reviews on most sites; introduced Suggestion Boxes in most communal schemes; took on board suggestions regarding the Social Activities; made improvements to various communal facilities; made suggestions regarding the Tenant Satisfaction Survey; Health & Safety and Security issues were also reviewed by the Panel.

LjHA will continue to look at new and effective ways of obtaining your views, suggestions, opinions, recommendations and feedback to improve our services.

Involving Young People

We work closely with our colleagues at The Zone to provide activities for young people. We managed to obtain a further 12 months funding for all children of LjHA tenants to attend The Zone for one activity a week free of charge. This helps to ensure young people are kept occupied in meaningful activities and helps reduce potential nuisance by providing diversionary activity.

64% of you said that you were satisfied that LjHA listens and acts on what you say. We aim to improve our level of engagement and involvement opportunities to enable you to get involved at a level that suits you.

Home Standard

An important part of the work we do is to maintain and improve your homes. Money is spent based on priorities and our modernisation plans to deal with properties in the worst condition first.

86% of you said that you were satisfied with the quality of your home.

We have to spend resources in a way that delivers value for money and provides benefits to you. This includes maintaining your home with general day to day repairs and maintenance services provided by our chosen partnership company, Ford Property Maintenance.

During 2013/14 we:

¨Completed 1268 reactive repairs

¨Completed 18 home refurbishments

¨Installed 16 new boilers

¨Installed 21 new heating systems

We also spend money on bringing empty homes back into use. We try to turn properties around quickly to avoid rent loss. Our average time to turn a void property around is 29 days. We plan to improve this performance during 2014/15 by mainstreaming and simplifying the process.

Gas Servicing - We have a legal duty to carry out an Annual Gas Safety Inspection. We have serviced 295 properties during 2013/14 through our specialist contractor Natural Gas Services. Sometimes we find difficulty accessing certain properties to do this, but it is a condition of your Tenancy Agreement and a legal requirement that you must allow access.

The Ford team with Ray Procter, LjHA Contracts Manager and Claire Margerison, LjHA Repairs Administrator.

Ford Director, David Harrison in a recently refurbished kitchen.

Improving your satisfaction with repairs and maintenance services is a key priority for us. You told us through the Resident Satisfaction Survey that only 68% of you were satisfied.

We visited schemes throughout September 2014 to discuss the results of the Tenant Satisfaction Survey in more detail with you and to get your feedback on how we can improve services going forward.

Tenancy Standard

Allocations

We allocate our properties based on housing need for the Jewish community and other local communities in North Leeds.

Our Allocation Scheme works on points and is based on housing need, and therefore those identified as being in the greatest housing need get the highest number of points.

Our application process is through Leeds City Councils Shared Housing Register and we work closely with the Council to ensure that we identify members of the Jewish and local community who are in greatest need of our homes and need our help and support.

We have also worked closely with tenants who have needed to move to smaller properties due to welfare reforms. During 2013/14 we helped 5 tenants move to a smaller homes.

During 2013/14, 60 Homes became empty and we allocated:

¨57 flats

¨3 houses

Rent

Welfare Reform changes have brought financial difficulties for some of our tenants. We have reviewed our services and explored what additional support can be provided.

Our Tenancy Sustainment Officer, Cathryn Young, has worked hard to ensure where tenancies are at risk due to financial pressures or other financial constraints, that tenants have accessed any benefits or grants that they may be entitled to.

Collecting rent is important to us as it is our main source of income. Whilst we always assist people in arrears and agree a repayment plan, we unfortunately have to take more serious action for people who persistently don’t pay.

Neighbourhood and Community Standard

Having you involved in your neighbourhood is a key priority for us. We have ensured through our Grounds Maintenance contract, that schemes are well maintained and are visually appealing.

The Tenant Satisfaction Survey shows a great score for your neighbourhood as a place to live, with 91% of you satisfied in the area you live.

Whilst we receive few complaints about nuisance and anti-social behaviour, we have worked proactively to deal with any reported incidents swiftly to resolve the issues.

We work closely with the Police and other agencies, undertake joint investigations where appropriate, and ensure a multi-agency approach to resolving matters of nuisance or harassment.

It was great to see a number of tenants helping out on the Queenshill Estate during the recent Operation Champion where LjHA staff, together with tenants, police and other agencies from Leeds, worked together to clean up the Queenshill Estate. Operation Champion aimed to help reduce crime and disorder, including addressing environmental issues in North Leeds. Everyone helped out by picking up litter, removing rubbish from hedges and bushes, filling skips with dumped items and removing graffiti.

Operation Champion

Governance and Viability

We continue to operate in challenging times, and effective governance has never been more important.

We are governed by a Management Committee who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience and are committed to working with Senior Officers to find ways to improve how the Association operates. The Management Committee are responsible for the Association’s Strategic Direction, monitoring performance, making sure we are managing risk and providing good services.

Our Management Committee are committed volunteers and receive no remuneration for the work they do. The Committee also includes Tenant Representatives and people attending as Advisors who are not full members but bring considerable knowledge and experience which benefits the organisation. In addition to the Management Committee we currently have the following committees to oversee day to day operations:

¨Building Services¨Housing Services¨Finance¨Internal Controls Group¨PR/Marketing Group

Management Committee Members are:

Chair-Kate Pearlman-Shaw MSc(C. Psychol) Vice Chair-Jayne Wynick Dip PFS

Treasurer-Daniel Myers BSc (Hons) FCA Janet Stowe Dip COT

Dr. Neville Packter LHd. BsC (Hons) Lisa Baker LLB Hons

Robert Sandler BSc (Hons) Adam Baxter BSc (Hons) MRICS

Mark Manning BSc (Hons) Rebecca Teiger MA Oxon

John Collins MA-Co-opted Member John Diamond-Co-opted Member

Niki Yoshua-Chair Tenant Reps. Marcia Levy-Vice Chair Tenant Reps.

Ian Land LLB (Hons)

During 2014/15 we will be undertaking a full Governance review which includes looking at current structures, ensuring these are fit for purpose going forward, ensuring succession planning is effective and strengthening tenant involvement.

Chair, Kate Pearlman-Shaw with the Chairs of LjHA’s sub-committees, from left to right: Daniel Myers, Adam Baxter and Jayne Wynick.

Value for Money Standard

We are committed to delivering the best value for money for every pound spent. The better we are at this the more repairs and improvements we can make to your homes.

Value for Money means that we don’t always go for the cheapest option. For example, if we are replacing boilers, we need to balance between cost and quality. You have helped us to achieve good value for money as you told us you were unhappy with the gardening service and it wasn’t giving value for money. As a result of this it was decided to retender for a new contractor.

Our Contracts Manager is constantly scrutinising contracts we have in place, and checks the market place to ensure we are receiving the best deal for the contracts we procure.

Ray Procter, LjHA Contracts Manager

showing Stonegate Way tenant,

Leslie Zeretsty, the newly fitted fire

alarm system.

Where your Money is spent

Income and Expenditure for Year Ending 31st March 2014

Income Expenditure

Rent £ 1,942,132 Employee Costs £ 657,924

Service Charge £ 711,112 Property Establishment £ 952,692

Less - Losses from Voids £ (110,734) Administration Costs £ 171,166

Interest Received £ 0 Finance Costs £ 234,049

Revenue Donations £ 3,955 Depreciation £ 481,683

Profit on Sale of Assets £ 26,751

Other Income £ 1,691

Total income £ 2,574,907 Total Expenditure £ 2,497,514

Surplus £ 77,393