Annual Report 2015/16 A year of change and improvement
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ALWAYS WORKING FOR YOU We hope our Annual Report will be an interesting read and will show some of the things we have been working on over the last year and how we’re focused on improving our services to you. The last 12 months have been a year of real change for housing associations across the country. The Government continued to make welfare changes and introduced a 1% rent cut. Whilst this was good news for you as a customer it did reduce the amount of income we receive by almost £1.2m. But, we were determined to make sure these changes affected you as little as possible, whilst at the same time delivering the best services possible, based on the things you told us were important to you. We know how important your home is to you. It provides shelter, safety and warmth but, even more importantly, it gives you a secure future. It doesn’t matter whether you are renting or buying your home, we want you to know that you made the right choice in becoming an Accent resident and we want even more people to make Accent their landlord of choice in every community where we work. We know that we won’t be people’s landlord of choice simply by building and renting more homes. We are always working for you and we have been for the last 50 years. We will do our utmost to make sure we continue to provide the services you need, when you need them and that you are happy in your home.
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Annual Report for residents 2015 – 2016
In 2015/16 we opened our new contact centre etc‌ experunt, totam veritatis dolestrum santem iuntur, commoluptat quis es estia seque aut aut odita pa con eum eosant, omnimi, tem apidusa isqua.
A year of change and improvement
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Annual Report for residents 2015 – 2016
MAKING A DIFFERENCE NATIONALLY We appreciate that times are difficult for many of our residents. This is why in 2015/16 we invested more time in the things that we felt could make most difference to your lives, like our tenancy sustainability service…
Residents supported by our tenancy sustainability service
Average days our homes are empty before re-letting
2014/15
2014/15
871
28.6 days
2015/16
2015/16
1041
Overall satisfaction with responsive repairs
25.3 days
Overall satisfaction with anti social behaviour case outcome
2014/15
2014/15
94.3% 2015/16
82.6% 2015/16
91.9%
83.2%
NATIONAL PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS
81.3
%
(previous year 81.0%)
1977 94
%
of our residents are satisfied with our services
homes let to new families
(previous year 6.7)
103
£12.9m (previous year £14.9m)
of repairs fixed on the first visit
(previous year 91.4%)
8.6
600,000
93.95
%
calls received by our new contact centre since it opened in January 2016
invested on replacing 3284 elements in your homes (bathrooms, kitchens and boilers)
of repairs appointments are kept by our contractors
(previous year 93.0%)
the average days it took to complete a repair
new homes built across the UK
(previous year 291)
A year of change and improvement
23 secs 20
%
the average time it takes our contact centre staff to answer your calls
the amount of staff (surveyors and housing officers) who are no longer office based
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Annual Report for residents 2015 – 2016
2015/16 has been a year of change. We launched our new customer contact centre, introduced mobile working for housing officers and surveyors, launched our online customer portal and our three landlords joined to become Accent Housing. To promote these achievements we made a short film, which you can watch here: bit.ly/accentfilm
A year of change and improvement
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MAKING A DIFFERENCE LOCALLY We are one of Accent’s five regions. We provide homes to rent across Yorkshire and Humberside. Most of these are in Bradford and the surrounding area, but also Leeds and East Yorkshire. We have performed well over the last year, here are some of the key figures:
Residents satisfied with the services we provide 2014/15
81.0% 2015/16
82.0%
Repairs fixed on the first visit by our contractors 2014/15
91.4% 2015/16
97.0%
439
Appointments kept by our contractors 2014/15
homes let to families
93.6% 2015/16
96.6%
£419,000
owed in rent arrears
(a reduction of £83,000)
£1.9m 100%
Residents satisfied with our repairs service 2014/15
95.7% 2015/16
spent on 646 new kitchens and bathrooms in our planned programme
94.7%
Residents satisfied with their neighbourhood as a place to live 2014/15
78.0%
of gas safety checks completed
2015/16
76.0%
(a very important health & safety requirement)
Residents satisfied that we listen to their views and act on them
97
%
99
%
297 80
%
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of our homes meet the Government’s Decent Homes Standard resident satisfaction for our tenancy sustainability service
2014/15
60.0% 2015/16
63.0%
Residents satisfied that their rent provides value for money 2014/15
76.0% 2015/16
complaints received 236 informal and 61 formal
80.0%
Residents satisfied their service charge provides value for money 2014/15
of informal complaints resolved within 24 hours
61.0% 2015/16
63.0%
Annual Report for residents 2015 – 2016
IN SOME AREAS, WE INSTALLED CCTV FOR OUR RESIDENTS’ PIECE OF MIND AND TO GATHER EVIDENCE. CCTV IS ALSO AN EFFECTIVE DETERRENT AGAINST FURTHER PROBLEMS.
Keeping you safe in your home We believe in protecting individuals and communities and taking speedy action to resolve problems when they occur. We work closely with a range of organisations including the police, social services and the fire service, as well as an independent mediation service.
Our performance on gas safety is at 100%. All our homes with a gas supply have received a safety check. We also completed all our asbestos surveys and legionella assessments – more important areas of health and safety we must comply with.
Our ’patch’ based housing staff, supported by our specialist anti-social behaviour and tenancy support officers, are here to work with residents when criminal or anti- social behaviour effects safety, security or tenancies.
Through our planned improvement programmes, we aim to address issues of fuel poverty as a priority for our most vulnerable residents.
276 cases of anti-social behaviour were reported to us during the year. Dealing with anti-social behaviour is a top priority for residents and we monitor cases closely to be sure we are improving. In some areas, we installed CCTV for our residents’ piece of mind and to gather evidence. CCTV is also an effective deterrent against further problems. Our housing manager and tenancy sustainability manager regularly review all open cases, and closed cases are audited. With this process, we learn by our mistakes and have the best chance of improving. We supported 356 residents through our tenancy support service and helped them reduce their arrears and clear debts. Our tenancy support officers are also in contact with a range of local charities which can provide furniture and other household items to help people set up a home.
A year of change and improvement
Value for Money Across Accent, making sure we deliver value for money services is very important, so we focus on improving certain services each year. This year, we looked at high tenancy turnover and long term empty properties. These have a direct impact on our business. By focussing our work in these areas, across the whole of Accent we have: • Reduced the number of residents leaving their tenancy by 225. • Reduced our rent loss from voids by £200,000. • Collected £600,000 more income. The savings and improvements we have made this year will help us to make even more next year. This means we can build more badly needed new homes. Deborah Kelly Regional Housing Director
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KEEPING IN TOUCH National Contact Centre
Mobile Working
Our new state of the art national contact centre opened in 2015 to answer your queries about your home and tenancy. We already know the services it provides are appreciated by residents. It’s open longer, works more efficiently and our staff are expertly answering your calls and resolving any issues you have. We have dedicated numbers for residents (0345 678 0555) and homeowners (0345 678 0588). You can ring the contact centre between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday, and 8am to 12 noon on Saturday. These numbers are charged at a local rate from a landline, and if your mobile contract has ‘free minutes’ then these will be used at no extra cost to you. Outside these hours we offer an emergency repairs service.
As your housing officer and surveyors are now also out and about more, they can visit you in your home. Using mobile technology, your housing officers and surveyors can deal with any aspect of your tenancy whilst visiting you in your home – that’s anything from reporting a repair, to helping you with your rent account. It’s all part of our personal, modern and better service.
Accent Customer Portal Nearly 4,000 residents have activated their customer portal account and you could join them. This new on-line service gives you immediate access to your rent and service charge accounts, enables you to report repairs, anti-social behaviour or complaints and update your personal details. It’s quick and easy to use and there when you need a service. So, if you haven’t already, we would encourage you to set your account up as soon as you can. Please contact us to find out how.
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Accent News We have continued to produce our regular newsletter, Accent News. Almost 950 of you now receive this via email. This has helped us to make a big saving on both print and postage costs which we can then invest in other services. If you’d like to receive future editions of our newsletter via email, you just need to provide us with a valid email address.
Social Media We use Twitter and Facebook to inform you of events in your community and region – do you follow or like us yet? If not, it’s quick and easy! Follow us on Twitter (@accentbd) and like us on Facebook (Facebook.com/accentbd).
Annual Report for residents 2015 – 2016
In 2015/16 we opened our new contact centre etc‌ experunt, totam veritatis dolestrum santem iuntur, commoluptat quis es estia seque aut aut odita pa con eum eosant, omnimi, tem apidusa isqua.
A year of change and improvement
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“IT’S REALLY INTERESTING AND GOOD TO KNOW HOW MY LANDLORD WORKS” CSC MEMBER
Gordon Perry, Accent Group Chief Executive (right) chats with CSC member, Derek Thorn, before the annual conference in November 2015
GETTING INVOLVED This year we launched our new approach to working with residents. We know you are the best people to comment on our services from the grassroots. In each of our five regions we have formed compliance and scrutiny committees (CSCs) made up of local residents and independent experts. Focused on improving performance, the CSC investigates aspects of our services to make sure that we’re always improving, delivering the service in the best way and giving value for money. If you would like to know more about your local CSC, or even get involved, contact Deborah Kelly, Regional Housing Director through our contact centre. We are always interested in hearing from potential CSC members, particularly if you are a homeowner or leaseholder. CSCs meet in the evening and we train and support our members so don’t be put off.
There are other ways to can help us too We have engaged with residents in schemes where there are high levels of tenancy turnover and anti-social behaviour and developed local plans to address these issues. We have also carried out consultation on grounds maintenance and improved our service offer as a result. Following a review of the service we provide to our older residents, we launched our new independent living service. Our scheme managers are now trained to provide a full advisory and lettings service, and we are offering an advisory service to people over 60 who are living independently in their own homes. Our local residents’ panel worked with us on our new resident engagement strategy. Members now meet alongside members of our CSC to carry our detailed scrutiny reviews which tell us how we are doing in certain service areas and where we need to improve. Please talk to us if you would like to get more involved, your input will directly help us to improve our service for the benefit of all residents.
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Annual Report for residents 2015 – 2016
YOUR HOME IS IMPORTANT TO US TOO Getting the basics right We are determined to make sure we provide the best homes possible. Almost 95% of our homes have reached the Government’s Decent Homes Standard but our aim is to deliver an even better ‘Accent Standard’. Now, as part of our planned improvement programme, we include showers over baths and double glazing wherever possible. This year we spent £12.9 million across Accent on replacing 3,284 different elements in your homes like kitchens, bathrooms and boilers. We spent a further £109,000 on 571 minor adaptations and £769,000 on major adaptations to help our disabled residents stay in their homes. In our region, our £1.9million investment paid for over 640 planed improvements, which 97% of residents were satisfied with. Our repairs service in the region has continued to be very good. Our contract manager is closely managing the standard of our long term empty properties (voids). We completed your repairs, on average, in 6.38 days.
Letting our homes Letting our homes is the most fundamental service we provide. We are now letting our homes on average within 27days. Working with local authorities and other agencies across the country, we aim to let our homes quickly and efficiently to those in greatest housing need. We have introduced local letting plans to tackle specific estate issues in those parts of the country were demand for properties is low or tenancy turnover is high. In those areas we also
A year of change and improvement
use websites like Zoopla and Rightmove, and our own website to advertise our vacant homes so people can apply to us direct. Where a potential resident applies to us direct we have introduced the Government’s’ Right to Rent’ check. We have also started to review all our local authority nominations and choice based lettings (CBL) agreements to make sure they allow us to make the best use of the homes we have available. We have already decided to withdraw from the CBL schemes in Bradford and Wakefield. We have also signed up with House Exchange to promote mutual exchanges. We have also launched a pilot scheme to help residents who are finding it hard to manage their tenancy. We have focussed on schemes where a high number of residents leave, one of these is Ripleyville in Bradford where we are hopeful our efforts will make a difference.
But what if something goes wrong? Although we’re always working to provide excellent services we know that occasionally things do go wrong. If you’re not satisfied with any aspect of our service you can complain to us and we promise to treat you fairly and with respect. Improving our complaints service is a very high priority for us. Our staff are trained and we hold regular complaint review meetings. An Accent wide review will be carried out next year to help us improve how we manage our complaints process.
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Tollgate Court, BD8: 7 x two bedroom homes built on the site of an old sheltered scheme, due for completion January 2017
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE The next few years will continue to be a challenge for all housing associations. More people will need our homes, the general population is getting older, public finances will continue to be tight and the welfare reforms will continue. But we are a strong and secure organisation willing and able to take on these challenges.
New technology will become increasingly important as we develop and improve our website, customer portal and communications with our residents.
Over the next few years we plan to build 1,000 new homes in our key target areas across the country. These new homes will contribute to the Government’s target of one million homes by 2020.
• • • • •
We will continue to make sure our poorest or most challenged residents can keep their tenancy, develop more services to support our older residents and improve our services dealing with anti-social behaviour.
•
Nationally this year our focus will remain on improving our services to you by:
• • •
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Completing repairs in 5.3 days Ensuring 94% of repairs are fixed first time Raising repair satisfaction levels to 95% Ensuring 95% of repair appointments are kept Letting our properties on average within 18 days Reducing the rent owed to us by residents to £257,000 Increase complaint satisfaction handling to 80% Resolve 75% of ‘phone queries at the first point of contact Achieve 85% satisfaction with our call handling
Annual Report for residents 2015 – 2016
I WOULD LIKE TO THANK DEBORAH AND HER TEAM IN BRADFORD FOR DELIVERING A STRONG PERFORMANCE IN WHAT HAS BEEN A PARTICULARLY CHALLENGING YEAR FOR HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS. THE TEAM’S COMMITMENT TO LOWERING RENT ARREARS HAS SAVED US £83,000 THIS YEAR AND THEY ARE LEADING THE WAY IN TACKLING ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR. GORDON PERRY CHIEF EXECUTIVE
We welcome your views on how we’re doing so please get in touch‌ 0345 678 0555
customerservices@accentgroup.org
@accentgroupltd
Registered Office: Charlestown House, Acorn Park Industrial Estate Charlestown, Shipley, West Yorkshire, BD17 7SW
/accentbd