annual report to tenants 2010 - b3living.org.uk · throughout this report. 4 :broxbourne housing...

Performing for youAnnual Report to Tenants 2010

Better homes, better communities

Performing for you

Annual Report to Tenants Broxbourne Housing Association : 32 : Broxbourne Housing Association Annual Report to Tenants

In July 2008 we were inspected by the

Audit Commission. We were awarded a

two star rating with promising prospects for

improvement. We have taken on board

the recommendations they made to

improve our services further.

★★

EVIDENCE

The information in this report is taken from:

l our annual performance reports;

l our analysis of where we are falling

short of the national standards;

l 3,500 returned repair feedback surveys;

l the 2008 Status Survey which went to

all residents;

l our financial statements accounts,

audited by Beever and Struthers; and

l Housemark, which allows us to

compare our performance against

other landlords.

Broxbourne Housing Association is

monitored and regulated by the Tenant

Services Authority. If you want more detail

about our performance please phone us

on 01992 453 700.

MESSAGE FROM RESIDENTS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR

OuR VISION,PuRPOSE ANDVALuES

Our vision is to be the

preferred landlord,

employer and social

business partner in the

Lea Valley.

Our purpose is to be an

excellent housing

association, providing

high quality affordable

homes and effective

services that meet our

residents’ aspirations.

We have signed up to

work in a way that is:

COLLABORATIVE +RESPECTFuL + CREATIVE+ RELIABLE + ExCELLENT

Built 61

new homes

More residents involved

in decision making than

ever before

Investors in

People and Best

Companies

accreditation

All staff involved in

estate inspections

£200,000 spent oncommunity projects Set up a Customer

Service Centre

We have been involved in producing this

Annual Report from the beginning. After

the first draft we decided certain points:

make it more visual; make it easier to

understand; avoid jargon and use more

straightforward words.

Please feel free to comment and give us feedbackwhich will make future reports easier to produce. A feedback form is enclosed.

Do you feel we have the priorities correct? If not, tellus. This report is for you – help make it better!

Shoaib Gillani and Pamela Evans

.3

Highlights of

the year

.6

Better homes

.12

Better

communities

.4

National

standards,

local deal

.7

Performance

information

.13

Financially

sound

.5

Involving you

.11

Your tenancy

.15

Well run and

governed

CONTENTS

Performing for you

1It tells you how we have

performed in a number of

key areas.

2It tells you how we think we

are meeting the Tenant

Services Authority national

standards and how we aim to

improve. The Tenant Services

Authority currently regulates

social housing.

There are 6 national standards,

these cover: the quality of your

home; value for money; your

tenancy; how we are run;

community issues; and involving

you. Within the national

standards there are many areas

of work. We are working with

residents to adapt the standards

to your local situation. By spring

next year, we aim to have a

deal which states the service

everyone can expect. But we

will also have specific local deals

for older people, people with

disabilities or additional needs,

and for people on some of our

larger estates.

We are aiming to publish the

local deals in spring 2011. These

will then form the basis of our

work in the future.

❱❱ Get involved in developing

the local deals - call PeterWalkinshaw on 01992 453 779.

Value for money

We aim to provide cost-

effective, efficient, good quality

services and homes to meet

your needs, and we will involve

residents in decisions about how

we spend your money.

Although Value for Money is a

specific national standard, we

have not highlighted this

separately. Instead, our value for

money measures are explained

throughout this report.

4 : Broxbourne Housing Association Annual Report to Tenants

Your complaints and

suggestions help us to

improve the service.

You can make a

complaint or a

suggestion by telling

us in person, on the

telephone, by e-mail,

on line through our

website or by letter.

Our complaints

procedure is available

on the website or in

a leaflet from the

Customer Service Team.

❱❱ To get involved in

decision-makingabout your homes

and services ring Peter Walkinshaw on

01992 453 779.

NATIONAL STANDARD LOCAL DEAL INVOLVING YOu

The InvolvingYou standardmeans: To meet it we: To improve we will:

Easy to accesscustomerservices

Make sure all services areaccessible to everyone

Answer the phone quickly

Are helpful, friendly and polite

Have clear service standards

Have a clear complaints system

Have lots of clear informationavailable

Involve residents in a style guidefor writing letters

Answer letters more quickly

Continue to develop our Customer Service Centre

Residentsinvolved indecision making

Have a dedicated residentinvolvement manager

Have lots of opportunities forinvolvement and influence inthe housing service

Work with you to develop localdeals (see page 4 for details)

Provide training for our Residents’Panel so that they canchallenge how we work

Arrange more informal ways toget involved

Continue to involve tenants inscrutiny in relation to thenational standards

A service thatmeets yourneeds

Have accessible offices andoffer home visits

Train people who work for us totreat everyone fairly and withrespect

Supply printed information inlarge print and audio

Develop services in line with theinformation you have given us

use the information you havegiven us to provide servicesthat are appropriate for you

Supply letters in large printwhere needed

Value for money Look at continual improvement Involve you in deciding thebest way to use our resources

Encourage you to complain!

Annual Report to Tenants Broxbourne Housing Association : 5

Residents of all ages

can get involved

We are working hard at providing excellent customer service

and finding ways for you to influence all areas of our work.

You want to be involved in decisionsand choices, be treated with respect,listened to and have your views takeninto account.

We want this annualreport to be honest andhelpful. It gives you twosets of information.

Residents have voted ontheir priorities

Performing for you


✓ £36m spent on your homes

– on target ✓ Install 1500 new kitchens

– we have already installed

1790

✓ Install 1300 bathrooms

– we have installed 1337

✓ Replace 500 doors

– we have replaced 684

✓ 1360 heating systems installed

– all homes now have some

form of heating

✓ £1.2m on adaptations

– we have assisted 800

households

✓ Improve the repairs service

✓ Focus on getting repairs done

right first time

✓ Involve residents in

repairs contracts

✓ Provide some decorating

and odd jobs for older and

vulnerable tenants

✓ £1.3m on estate improvements

✓ Improvements at

Macers Court – finished

summer 2010

✓ Major works at Fishers

Close and Coopers Walk

– started September 2010

✓ Hold estate inspections

PERFORMING FOR YOu

Homes owned / managed 4,387

Rented 3,525

Shared ownership 148

Leasehold 687

Turnover £17.8m

Total staff number

(equivalent to full time) 120

Homes in development 106

KEEPING OuR PROMISES

Many of you have said that percentages and graphs don’t help you to

understand the figures. So we have developed a new system to show

you if we are doing well or badly, if we are getting better or worse, and

how we compare to other housing associations. See right for details.

❰❰ we are doing well

❰❰ we are doing okay

❰❰ we are doing badly

How we are doing onthis topic:

Arrows show whether ornot we are improvingcompared to 2008/9:

Show how we comparewith other housingassociations:

The figures for comparison

are not available for every

category, but we have

shown them where we can.

KEY STATISTICS - APRIL 2010

KEY TO SYMBOLS

BETTER HOMES

The BetterHomes standardmeans: To meet it we: To improve we will:

Good quality, well-maintainedhomes

Exceed Decent HomesStandards on all properties otherthan 40 at Grove House, whichneed improved insulation. Thiswork started recently

Complete all gas safety checkson a rolling cycle

Make sure all properties andprocedures meet all legal healthand safety requirements

Bring Grove House up to theDecent Homes Standard by2010 (this is on target)

Choose contractors who canbe flexible about when work isdone

Do a fire risk assessment of allproperties and install smoke,heat and gas detectors whereappropriate

Timely, efficientand costeffective repairs andmaintenance

Have a 24-hour repairs line foremergencies

Make and keep appointments

Carry out repairs within publishedtimes

Plan major works and cyclicalrepairs

Review our procedures so thatwe get more right first time

Do more to publicise thedifference between tenants’responsibilities and our own

Publicise the major works andcyclical repairs programme

A service thatmeets yourneeds

Give everyone choices wherepossible, for example a choice offinish and colour when installingnew kitchens

Provide 808 retirement propertiesfor people over the age of 60,some with extra care support

Install adaptations

Improve the waiting time foradaptations

Value for money Keep our promises forimprovements

Meet our target repair times

Involve residents at an earlierstage of setting the budgets

Do a full review to bring downthe overall cost of repairs

The government says

all homes must meet

the Decent Homes

Standard. All of our

properties will meet

the standard by 31

December 2010. Many

of them will exceed it.

Our repairs service

compares well with

other housing

associations. It is in the

top quarter.

These pages give details of how we havebeen performing over the year from April2009 to March 2010.

You want a good quality home, witha timely and efficient repairs andmaintenance service. You want clear,accurate information about when toexpect work to be done.

❰❰ better than last year

❰❰ as good as last year

❰❰ worse than last year

❰❰ we are in the top quarter

❰❰ we are in the middle

❰❰ we are in the bottom quarter

When we took over the housing nearly 5 years ago, we madea number of promises. Here’s how we are doing:

Performing for you

We promised to involve residents in every aspect

of the housing service. In 2009/10 there were:

141 opportunities to get involved including:

6 open meetings across the borough

1 Residents Fun Day

4 Residents’ Panel meetings

9 focus groups on disability issues, antisocial

behaviour, younger people and repairs; estate

inspections and community audits; and we set

up the Straight-talkers to guide all written

communication. These groups are open

to everyone.

12 Holdbrook Residents’ Association meetings for

people on the Holdbrook estate

PLuS regular meetings in each retirement scheme


PERFORMING FOR YOu

CuSTOMER SERVICE

We want you to complain! Your ideas help us to improve the service.

These are the complaints we received in 2009/10:

Subject Total number Number justified

Capital Works 14 10

Repairs 30 18

Rents & Tenancy Services 6 3

Caretaking 5 2

Lettings 2 0

Garages 1 0

Total 58 33

Mystery shopping: 10 resident volunteers have been trained to

test the standard of our customer service. Results are generally

very positive. The volunteers find staff to be friendly, helpful,

knowledgeable and polite.

“they arealways veryhelpful andfriendly” Tenant at the Local Deal meeting in May 2010.

8 seconds – the

average time it

takes us to answer

the phone

8 out of every

10 callers found

staff helpful

8 out every

10 questions

were dealt with

in one call

6 out of every

10 letters were

replied to within 5

working days

COMPLAINTS

GETTING INVOLVED

1 complainant went to the

Housing Ombudsman and their

case was dismissed.

We have changed our services

as a result of the complaints we

received. For example:

l we have increased

inspections after repairs;

l we no longer send rent

arrears cards to tenants who

pay by direct debit; and

l we are looking at ways of

improving estate caretaking.

When you phone us to report a repair, you can now make an appointment

for the contractor’s visit. You can also report repairs online 24 hours a day

We do everything from changing a communal light fitting to re-wiring an

entire 4-bed house.

An average repair costs £135.41 This is down by £10.59 from the

previous year, but is still too high.

We meet all relevant statutory requirements that provide for the health

and safety of residents in their homes.

PERFORMING FOR YOu

BETTER HOMES

A decent home is one which is warm, weather-proof and has modern

facilities. All homes will meet the Decent Homes Standard by 31

December 2010.

This year we have:

✓ Installed 300 kitchens

✓ Installed 250 bathrooms

We use the standard assessment procedure (SAP) to work out the

average energy efficiency of our homes. Our SAP rating is 67 The

average for other social landlords is 68.

61 new homes completed

106 new homes currently in development

TIMELY, EFFECTIVE REPAIRS

HOW EFFICIENT WERE WE?

98 out of every 100 emergency repairs completed on time

97 out of every 100 urgent repairs completed on time

99 out of every 100 routine repairs completed on time

99 out of every 100 appointments made are kept

Average time to re-let a general property is 25 days

The average for other housing associations is 29 days

WHAT YOuSAID ABOuTREPAIRS

We had 3,500 replies

to our repairs survey.

You said:

99 out of every

100 appointments kept

The average for other

housing associations is

96 out of 100

97 out of every

100 were satisfactory

80 out of every

100 were completed

in one visit

In 2009/10:

We spent

£500,000 on

3,300 communal

repairs and inspected

9 estates with local

residents and the

police, fire service

and other agencies.

“Major works

are well

managed with

noise and

mess kept to a

minimum.”

Performing for you

10 : Broxbourne Housing Association Annual Report to Tenants

We promised to tackle antisocial behaviour firmly and fairly. In 2009/10:

930 complaints were made about antisocial behaviour and estate

management issues like litter and bins.

96 out of every 100 people who complained about antisocial behaviour

were satisfied with the outcome

90 out of every 100 people were satisfied with the way their case

was handled

9 out of 10 residents at Paddick Close feel safer since we installed CCTV

Antisocial behaviour on our estates is no higher than elsewhere in the borough.

Our tenancy support team have provided support to 538 families.

PERFORMING FOR YOu

To apply for a property

through the Choice

Based Lettings scheme

pick up a leaflet from

our office, a One Stop

Shops or the Council

offices.

YOuR TENANCY

The Tenancystandard means To meet it we:

That we co-operatewith the localcouncil’s housingstrategy

Support the local authority’s homelessness strategy

Take all allocations from the local authority housing register

Are part of Homeswap and Choice Based Lettings

Make the best useof our housing

Let homes quickly and to people who need them; the right sizeproperty for the household

Assess all applicants according to their mobility needs

Support vulnerable people to apply for housing

Assess the support needs and medical needs of peopleapplying for retirement housing

Set rents accordingto governmentguidelines

Set rents according to government guidelines

Clear policies aboutour tenancymanagementapproach

Have an easy to follow Tenants’ Handbook

Visit all new tenants during their first year

Support tenants to live in their homes

Explain key information at sign up

You know yourresponsibilitiesand rights

Provide an easy to read Tenants’ Handbook

Offer money advice, family support and help with jobs and training

Tell you how to get free advice from other agencies such as the CAB

Tell you when and how you can complain to the HousingAssociation Ombudsman

We comply with all aspects of the Tenancy Standard.

But we need to improve the time that properties are

empty between lettings. We will have a full review of

our processes to reduce this time.

Police Community

Support Officer Jane

Collins does invaluable

work on our estates

part-funded by us

You want properties to be let fairly topeople who need them. You want to becharged a reasonable rent for theproperty and services you receive. Andyou want everyone to understand theirresponsibilities and their rights.

WHO DO WE LET OuR PROPERTIES TO?

In every 100 tenant households:

36 include someone with a long-standing illness, disability or infirmity

which limits their daily activities, with 4 including someone who uses a

wheelchair.

Total number of lettings in 2009/10:

332 general housing

97 retirement housing

COMMuNITY PROJECTS

We have spent £200,000 on community projects, including:

✓ paying for courses at Hertford Regional College

✓ providing family support from Homestart

✓ visits to the Olympic Sites

✓ financial advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau

✓ working with the Volunteer Centre

✓ European Neighbours’ Day

Our community projects are developed with residents and based on

themes agreed with the Broxbourne Local Strategic Partnership.

ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOuR

We are committed to

involving residents in

decisions about how

we spend money.

Currently, our housing

management costs

are lower than many

other similar housing

associations. We are

working to keep

improving on this.

WHERE THEMONEY GOES

“Residents are

increasingly

involved in

decisions

about how

we spend the

money”

Annual Report to Tenants Broxbourne Housing Association : 11

Performing for you


BETTER COMMuNITIES

The Communitiesstandard means: To meet it we: To improve we will:

Clean and safeneighbourhoods

Have published a BetterCommunities Strategy

Have a ranger service and groundsmaintenance contract

Remove rubbish and graffiti quickly

Publish cleaning schedules

Arrange estate inspections and act ontheir findings

Encourage people to take care of theirgardens

Keep talking to residents through ourHome Visiting Project

Conduct a survey of all tenants to findout what you think we can do better.

Pilot an estate skip for large itemswhich may otherwise be dumped

Get better facilities for the rangersincluding a regular water supply

Support residents who want tomanage communal gardensthemselves by providing tools andtraining for gardening clubs.

Communitydevelopment and co-operation

Work with other agencies to providemoney advice; family support; safeaccess to credit; free training and jobadvice

Support local projects through ourcommunity development fund

Continue to comply with all aspectsof this standard as it relates to localarea co-operation

Good behaviour to be encouraged andantisocial behaviourto be dealt witheffectively

Support people to live peacefullytogether

An annual good neighbour award

Zero tolerance towards bigotedbehaviour

Make it easy to report antisocialbehaviour

Take complaints seriously, act on themquickly and keep all parties informed

Support parents to manage theirfamilies

Continue to comply with all aspectsof this standard as it relates toantisocial behaviour

Continue to develop our range ofpositive activities for young people

You want clean, safe, friendly places tolive. You want us to deal effectively withantisocial behaviour.

FINANCIALLY SOuND

Our accounts for the year to 31 March 2010 have

been audited independently. They were approved

by the Board on 13 September. A summary is on

the right.

Our financial performance meets the agreementwe have made with the bank. We have enoughfunding to deliver all of our promises to tenants andto meet our business plan targets.

Our balance sheet can be found atwww.broxbourneha.org.uk/publications.htmlor you can get a copy by ringing the office 01992 453 700 and we will send you a copy.

This amounts to:

£16,370,032 from rents

£1,041,884 from service charges

£375,278 from property sales

£941,477 from other (eg letting office space)

£1,260,059 from grants

£5,400,920 from loans

This amounts to:

£3,394,000 staff

£3,907,000 maintenance

£2,029,000 services like gardening etc

£2,450,000 interest on loans

£1,402,000 central costs (offices, legal etc)

£6,831,000 major works

£5,069,000 development of new homes

£307,000 other capital

Our incomeEvery £1 we get is made up of:

How we spend the moneyFor £1 we get in, we spend:

21p loans

5p grants

1p other capital

20p development

of new homes

27pmajor works

13p staff

8pservices

10pinterest

6pcentral costs

2010

£’000

Turnover: Continuing activities 18,136

Operating costs (11,053)

Operating surplus: Continuing activities 7,083

Surplus on sale of fixed assets – housing properties 375

Interest receivable and other income 1

Interest payable and similar charges (2,448)

Surplus on ordinary activities before taxation 5,011

Tax on surplus on ordinary activities -

Surplus for financial year 5,011

You want to be sure that we are financiallysound and use your rent money properly.

15pmaintainence

64p from rents

4p service charges

2p property sales

4p other


Performing for you

WELL RuN & GOVERNED

We comply with all aspects of the Governance and

Financial Viability standard. So that we continue to

do so, we have carried out a comprehensive

governance review.

The national standardrequires: To meet it we:

A code ofgovernance

Have adopted the National HousingFederation code

Effective financialcontrols

Have a proper budget process andmonitoring systems in place

A business plan Have a published business planavailable on our website

We are:

✓ a registered housing

provider

✓ an Industrial and

Provident Society

with charitable

objectives

✓ registered with the

Financial Services

Authority,

(registration number

29876R); and the

Tenant Services

Authority

(registration number

L4455).

We have adopted the

NHF Excellence in

Governance code

and abide by the rules

of the Charity

Commission.

You want us to operate within the lawand make sure we do not get intofinancial difficulty. A chart showing howwe spend our money appears on page13 of this report. If you want more details,a full set of accounts is available.Ring 01992 453 700.

Head of HR Anna Knight

joins the senior team

Sandra (Chair) and John

(CE) spotted on site

The senior team at theend of the day!

An accountable board

We have a strong Board of 10

members and 3 co-optees with

the know-how, skills and

experience to steer the

association. Its main task is to

protect the Association from risks

which could damage its

reputation, its finances and the

services it provides.

In 2009/10 we started our

comprehensive governance

review.

There is also a programme of

regular training for all members

and a development programme

for potential Board members. The

Board currently has 4 places for

residents.

Board and membership

Every resident and independent

Board member place comes up

for selection every four years, on

a rolling programme.

Our 2009/10 Boardmembers

Derek Hawes

Chair

Sandra Royer

Chair

Eric xuereb

Vice Chair

Malcolm Aitken

Liz Clayton

Mike Curtis

Stewart Heath

Karen Forbes-Jackson

David Nutt

Kevin Parker

Tanya Alexander

Paul Seeby

Mary Stevenson

Frank Wallder

+ co-optees

Pat Milner, Anne Shearman

and Chris Mitchell.

Committees

The Board is supported by four

committees:

l Resources (finance, HR and IT)

l Audit

l Operations (housing and

property services)

l Development

All board and committee

meetings are open to any

residents to observe. Some items

may need to be dealt with

confidentially.

Senior team

John Giesen

Chief Executive

Ken Goodsell

Director of Business Services

and Company Secretary

Steven Tarry

Director of Development

& Property Services

Simon Walton

Director of Housing Services

Paul Williams

Director of Resources

All of our staff are paid on the

basis of a fair assessment of the

market rate for each job. This is

reviewed annually.

FIND OuT MORE ABOuT uS

Broxbourne Housing Association Limited.Charitable Industrial & Provident Society

(29876R). Registered with the TenantServices Authority (L4455).

From:

Our website www.broxbourneha.org.uk

The Tenants’ Handbook

Information leaflets

Home newsletter

Residents’ meetings: all meetings are publicised in

Home and on the website.

Information can be provided in large type, audio

tape, CD, Braille, by email, or translated into other

languages.

CONTACT uS

Write or visit

Broxbourne Housing Association,

Scania House,

Amwell Street,

Hoddesdon,

Herts EN11 8TS

Phone

Customer Service Team: 01992 453 700

Out of hours emergencies: 01992 639 561

Freephone repairs line: 0800 107 0712

Freephone from the Council’s One Stop Shops

E-mail

[email protected]

Visit our website

www.broxbourneha.org.uk

Happy in our work!

annual report to tenants 2010 - b3living.org.uk · throughout this report. 4 :broxbourne housing...

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