2016 - 2020

CORPORATE STRATEGY

viability

growth

lead

ersh

ip

support

customers

2

mission vision values

Homes people choose

PridePassionRespect

InnovationTeamwork

Deliver quality homes, build

communities & improve lives

indexintroduction

strategic objectives 2016-2020

who we are

schedule of awards

46910

In delivering our vision, we expect to achieve a number of key outcomes:

Provide a choice of good quality homes and services.

Deliver excellent services tailored to the needs of individual residents, with

additional support for those who need it.

Support the development of vibrant, sustainable communities.

Continue to provide new homes, working within financial constraints.

MACDONALD C

OU

RT

I am delighted to be introducing the new

Corporate Strategy for Town & Country

Housing Group to take us through to 2020.

The rapidly changing landscape for social

housing and some of the biggest challenges for the

social housing sector in memory has energised the

Board, executives and staff at Town & Country and

this strategy sets out how we intend to respond to

those challenges.

We intend to remain a housing business with

a social purpose. We will adopt a commercial

approach to driving an efficient housing business,

through being an excellent organisation,

maximising resources and investing in commercial

ventures to provide surpluses to invest in affordable

housing and services.

We will build on our strong reputation as an

efficient, well managed and financially sound

business. Our well documented track record of

innovation means we will be able to continue to

deliver on our social purpose as well as responding

positively to the agenda of efficiencies, increasing

the supply of new homes and providing access to

home ownership for more people.

This strategy sets out our focus and objectives

for the next five years to ensure we are well

positioned in the new environment and remain on a

sustainable footing for the future.

Bob HeapyChief Executive

Pride in everything we do

Passion for excellent customer services

Respect for everyone

Innovation for improvement and value for money

Teamwork for results

ICS

SERVIC

EMARK TEAM

4

Over the last five years Town &

Country Housing Group has

made significant progress as a

business. We have increased

our financial strength and become more efficient.

We have high operating margins and in 2016

maintained our credit rating of AA-; we have

continued to grow and regenerate some of our

neighbourhoods delivering 323 new homes in

2015/16; and we continued to improve our service

offer to our residents with customer satisfaction

for repairs now at 94% and overall satisfaction at

82%. We have invested in information technology

which has allowed us to work more effectively and

we are constantly striving to make it easier for our

customers to interact with us.

We have sophisticated internal controls and risk

management tools to help us manage the business.

Our internal ‘tramlines’ enable us to manage our

business comfortably within our financial covenants

Introduction

and manage risk within clearly defined parameters.

Recent changes in our operating environment,

such as falling expenditure on public services, the

continued constraint on welfare benefits and the

reduction in social rents will provide significant

challenges and pressures on the social housing

sector. Town & Country will not be isolated from

these challenges, but we are in a strong position to

respond positively to them.

We recognise and support the need for the

government to manage public finances effectively,

particularly the costs of welfare benefit. Through

our charitable Foundation, utilising our experience

and working with partners, we will assist in

providing additional support for those who need it,

particularly by helping people to move from benefits

into work.

We also recognise and support the government’s

drive to provide opportunities for people to own

a home they can afford, and we can and will

support that aspiration by delivering routes into

home ownership through voluntary right to buy,

shared ownership, rent to home buy, starter

homes and outright sale. We can help people

through that journey into home ownership as their

personal situations change. We also realise that

there will always be people who will never be able

to own their own homes and therefore a key part

of our work is to continue to provide affordable

homes for rent. So we also intend to remain

true to our values and as a minimum protect

the number of social rented homes that we own

and manage by replacing those lost through the

extended right to buy.

We will continue to work with our residents to

ensure our homes and services are of high quality

and continue to meet the needs of our customers.

We anticipate that we will manage many more

interactions with our customers on-line, but

will ensure we are able to continue to provide

direct support to those most vulnerable living in

our homes. Our ‘older persons offer’ has seen

us transform outdated sheltered schemes and

deliver popular state of the art accommodation for

independent living for the elderly.

Over the next five years we will continue to improve

efficiency and deliver cost savings. We will be looking

at new more efficient delivery models, smarter

procurement and further investment in information

technology. A more efficient business will help us to

deliver greater surpluses to allow us to increase the

supply of new homes.

Our focus of operation and growth will remain

within Kent and East Sussex. Our successful stock

rationalisation strategy has seen us exit much

of London, Surrey and West Sussex. This has

allowed us to focus on effectively managing key

local relationships to deliver growth in our core

geographical area. It has also helped us to achieve

the high levels of efficiency in our operations

through geographical concentration.

Our Corporate Strategy is

based around five key themes:

Viability - Customers - Support -

Growth - Leadership

6

ob

jectives

ob

jectives

viabilityContinued viability, innovation, efficiency and financial capacity

growthGrowth and asset investment

Achieve sustainable growth from the

delivery of new homes and new forms of home

ownership.

Ensure we at least maintain the total number of social

rented stock

strategic objectives 2016 - 2020

measures

Maintain financial strength and resilience.

Deliver efficiency and value for money through innovation in all we do to maximise financial

capacity for reinvestment in services and new

homes

• Reduce our operating cost per unit in real terms each year to achieve our business plan position.

• By 2020 achieve gearing below the 52% tramline and surpluses in excess of the 5% tramline

• Continue to monitor the roll out of Universal Credit and the impact of the benefit cap and other benefit changes on our customers.

• Ensure that rent and service charge collection is at least 99.8% (31 Mar 2016 at 99.5%)

• Ensure void processes are effective and void income loss remains at or below 0.6% (31 March 2016 at 0.7%)

• Review the current model for delivering responsive maintenance and voids servicing by March 2017 to deliver improved efficiency on responsive repairs budgets

• Introduce a new ‘Smart Procurement’ approach to deliver annual real terms efficiency savings

• Identify the potential for partnerships with others to share costs and add value

• Deliver in excess of 2% growth in homes annually (including private sale)subject to business plan capacity and commercial tramlines

• Increase return on assets by identifying low performing assets which can be disposed of when void to reinvest in new housing and improved energy performance of our existing stock.

• Continue to rationalise our stock to focus on our core operating areas of Kent and East Sussex through acquisition, swap or transfer.

• Replace homes sold through the extended right to buy one for one to maintain the profile of the rented stock

• Ensure our homes continue to meet the Decent Homes Standard or equivalent standard.

• Grow our leasehold and private rented management functions by delivering services for other providers.

measures

7customersKeeping residents at the heart of our business

Be an excellent landlord, deliver efficient, excellent core services and listen to the views of our residents

• Deliver ‘brilliant basics’ and improve customer satisfaction with repairs to 95% (31 Mar 2016 94%) and overall satisfaction to 84% (31 Mar 2016 82%)

• In 2016 review our operational structure to ensure it is fit for purpose and delivers excellent, efficient services

• Utilise technology to ensure our customers have the opportunity to engage with us in the most appropriate and effective way. Enhance the channels through which residents can interact and transact with us to maximise online transactions and by 2018 have 30% of our customers signed up to ‘My Home Online’ (31 March 2016, 20% of our residents had signed up)

• By the end of 2016, deliver a root and branch review of our service charge process. Ensure service charge variances are contained to within 5% and achieve an overall satisfaction rating with service charges of 60% by 2020

• Increase the percentage of customers who are satisfied that we have taken their views into account to 60% (measured 2013 at 57%)

• Research and by 2017 develop approaches for tenants and shared ownership customers who want to move on to own their home outright

strategic objectives 2016 - 2020ob

jectives

measures

leadershipEffective governance, leadership and people

Provide excellent governance and

leadership, be the local employer of choice to attract and retain the

best talent to deliver our outcomes

• Ensure the governance review implemented in 2014 is reviewed in 2017 to ensure it remains fit for purpose

• Implement a staff development programme, which includes increasing and developing skills that will be needed in the new operating environment

• In 2016/17 deliver an effective succession plan for Board retirements in 2017

• In 2016/17 deliver a succession plan for the executive and leadership group

• In 2017 modernise our brand, building on our new communications strategy

• Retain Best Companies and IIP accreditation• Fill at least 35% of vacancies with internal

candidates from April 2017• Introduce new ways of promoting jobs to our

residents, e.g. using social media. We will monitor applications and report to board.

• Promote our achievements, best practice and innovation through multi media channels

• Review our approach to equality and diversity for both customers and staff, including producing a new strategy by March 2018.

ob

jectives

measures

8ob

jectives

supportSupporting the most vulnerable in our homes

strategic objectives 2016 - 2020

Provide appropriate support for those

most vulnerable in our homes

• Ensure that 6% of annual operating costs is utilised for ‘support’ of residents through both core business and our charitable arm, The Foundation focusing on key themes of:

• Continue to deliver an effective response to fuel poverty and by 2020 ensure our homes have an average SAP rating of 70 (In March 2016 the figure was 68.2)

As well as providing good quality housing,

we are immensely proud of our partnership work

with the wider community, much of which has been

led by the Town & Country Foundation.

The work we have been involved in includes:

~ Learning, skills, employment and enterprise ~

~ Community development and cohesion ~

~ Community wellbeing ~

~ Developing support and services for families ~

work of the Foundation

measures

1. Learning, skills and employment2. Health and wellbeing3. Financial inclusion

9our awardsThe business is in very good health and we are

very proud of our achievements:

We have been named as one of the Sunday Times 100 Best Not for Profit

Organisations to work for both 2015 and

2016.

Our Resident Scrutiny Panel has delivered several

excellent service reviews and in 2015 won ‘The Most

Inspiring Newcomers’ Award at the Customer Scrutiny Inspection Awards and in 2016 were shortlisted in the TPAS (the Tenant Participation Advisory Service) ‘Excellence in

Scrutiny’ Award.

We were the regional winner

in the 2015 Homeswapper Star Landlord

Award.

The Foundation was highly commended

in the ‘Charity Partnership’ Small Business’ category of the Third Sector’s

Business Charity Awards in 2014.

We were highly commended in the Placemakers of the Year Awards in 2015 for the Spa Meadows

development.Awards won by individual

Town and Country staff have included the ‘Green Social Housing Champion of the Year’ Award at the

2014 Sustainable Housing Awards and the Office

Angels Professional of the Year Award for 2015.

Town & Country won three awards at the Kent

Housing Group excellence

awards in 2015.

Our customer contact centre was

highly placed in the London and

South East Contact Centre Forum

awards in 2015.

Sun

day

Tim

es

TPAS Award

Placemakers

Ho

mes

wap

per

Staff Awards

Contact Centre

Charity Award

Excellence

Shortlisted at this year’s Housing

Innovation Awards in the ‘Most Innovative IT System’ category.

We are Investors in People

accredited.

AccreditedIn 2016 we retained a AA- credit

rating.

AA-rating

We retained our Institute of Customer

Services (ICS) ‘Service Mark’ in 2015. We were the first housing

association to receive this accolade.

Ser

vice

Mar

k

Inno

vatio

n A

war

d

10 Who we areTown and Country is an independent provider of housing and related services in the South East of England.

We own 9,247 homes and in addition we own the freehold interest for 455 leasehold properties.

Social rented(general needs)

Sheltered housing

Affordable Rent homes

Market rented

Intermediate rented

Shared ownership

Outright market

sale

Supported housing

The following map shows where our homes are located:

Jargon Buster

List of terms and definitions

AssetsAn asset is something that is owned by a company and has a monetary value, for example property. Decent Homes StandardThis sets out the standard that social housing should meet in terms of having modern facilities, being in good repair and being energy efficient.

Financial covenantsThese are the conditions included in loan agreements (for example something that will or will not be carried out as a condition of the loan). GearingThis is the amount of money owed as a percentage of the company’s assets minus any money owed on them.

GovernanceThe way an organisation is managed or run, including the way decisions are made.

Operating environmentThe outside factors that affect our organisation, such as market conditions and political changes. Operating marginThis is the percentage of a company’s income that is left after paying its operating costs such as wages. Return on assetsThis is the surplus generated by a company as a percentage of the value of the assets owned by a company. TramlinesThese are our financial limits that we will always try to remain within.

Internal controlsThese are the processes we have in place to give assurance that we are meeting our obligations and objectives and we are working efficiently and effectively.

Stock rationalisationThis is our programme for reducing the number of local authority areas in which we own housing so that we can focus on a smaller number of core areas.

Financial InclusionDelivering income and money advice, support and training

viability

growth

customersle

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support

Monson HouseMonson Way

Tunbridge WellsKent TN1 1LQ

01892 501480www.tchg.org.uk