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FIRE PROTECTION FOCUS & CHAS REVIEW ISSUE : 244
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BUILDING DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION MAGAZINE
Social Housing Special
ISSUE 244
Featuring: Trivallis Dundee Housing Thrive Homes A1 Housing & more
We Cover BIG Buying Power PROCUREMENT & BUYING Timber Buying Group mergers with H&B Group
Drywall Solutions
PDC Construction
Ballymore
SOCIAL HOUSING SPECIAL SOUTHERN HOUSING GROUP
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BUILDING DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION MAGAZINE
SOCIAL HOUSING SPECIAL SOUTHERN HOUSING GROUP
100 years of history As one of southern England’s largest housing associations, Southern Housing Group provide over 27,000 homes for more than 72,000 people. Southern Housing Group was established in 1901 and has grown to become one of the largest housing associations in the South East of England. Currently housing approximately 72,000 customers and owning and managing around 30,000 homes, the Group also works within 40 local authorities and provides a whole range of housing products on top of a wide range of activities to improve the lives of its customers.
Southern Housing Group has been around for over 100 years, aiming to provide a first class housing management service to all its customers. Predominantly operating in London and the South East but with a lot of stock on the Isle of Wight, the business with social objectives has a strong presence in Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex, as well as Dorset, Surrey and Kent. In terms of property assets, Southern Housing Group runs around 22,000 homes for general needs, which forms the core stock. Around 3,000 homes
are for shared ownership, 2,300 are for older people (sheltered) and 330 are supported homes. Maintenance is obviously a vital part of managing these assets, and this is why Southern Housing Group revisited their strategy last year. Paul Wenham is the Property, Maintenance and Investment Director at Southern Housing Group, and he is responsible for any asset related activity. This includes major works, asset management systems and process, planned works, responsive repairs and compliance.
“It does take a lot of energy to do this but we believe it’s the right way forward”
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SOCIAL HOUSING SPECIAL SOUTHERN HOUSING GROUP Paul told us, “We prepared a new repairs and maintenance strategy early last year. We wanted to rethink how we do things with the whole organisation involved, particularly our housing management colleagues. We discussed what we do, how we do it and how we could improve. “Two thirds of our responsive maintenance is now conducted by external contractors, which we have balanced with the use of our own in-house contractors. We decided on this strategy to give us a foot in both camps, as we know that service failures when maintenance is completely inhouse can cause major problems. “The balance between the two allows us the Ă€H[LELOLW\ WR SURYLGH PRUH ZRUN IRU RXU GLUHFW ODbour force if this is something we would like to do in the future.â€? Managing assets comes down to having a good knowledge of your own stock. Southern Housing Group has been operating the Keystone asset management system for the last 12 to 18 months, and it has now been fully installed. This, combined with existing data, is part of the company mission to bring a number of these services in-house.
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Southern Housing Group now uses its own stock condition surveyors with the intention to have 100 per cent of their own stock inspected as opposed to cloning or extrapolating data. The company is currently 80 per cent of the way there, which has been very pleasing for the team. Paul Wenham continues, “It does take a lot of energy to do this but we believe it’s the right way forward. Once the stock condition is up to date and accurate, we will know exactly what our current and future predicted investments are – we can turn the theory into delivery.â€? “Previously we tendered on a scheme by scheme basis, which sometimes resulted in 20-25 tenders going out in the same year. This obviously means losing a fair proportion of the year with the sheer amount of procurement processes, so we have changed our procurement process and contractual arrangements in order to manage delivery, making life easier for RXU FXVWRPHUV VWDႇ DQG FRQWUDFWLQJ SDUWQHUV ´ Taking surveying services in-house has meant that the organisational structure now effectively supports the necessary ways of working. The organisation is now saving around ÂŁ1.2m a year in consultancy fees alone, which
BUILDING DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION MAGAZINE
can be reinvested and put towards additional kitchens and bathrooms for our customers. The in-house services initiative spans across Southern Housing Group’s technical teams and the operation model has changed quite significantly for the better over the past four to five years. Something else that has benefited the organisation during this time is the centralised Compliance Team, which provides a high level of assurance throughout the Group. Southern Housing Group felt it was important to create one specialised team led by a Head of Compliance, bringing all of the separate compliance requirements together. This has worked exceptionally well and has kept the Group compliant across the board for a number of years. Paul Wenham concludes, “From a management perspective, we know that there is one version of the truth. We can access information DQG EH FRQÂżGHQW LQ LW WKLV KDV EHHQ D ELJ EHQHÂżW IRU XV RYHU WKH ODVW IHZ \HDUV 7KH PDUNHW is pretty keen currently, so it can be a struggle getting the good people in, but we have managed to do this. We are doing very well at the moment.â€?
SOCIAL HOUSING SPECIAL SOUTHERN HOUSING GROUP
DW SUPPORT SERVICES has been maintaining and refurbishing thousands of properties for Housing Associations and their customers since 1986. Delivering multiple work streams from internal and external redecoration, kitchen and bathroom UHSODFHPHQW SURJUDPPHV WR ZLQGRZ LQVWDOODWLRQV DQG URRƬQJ repairs, DW work with local authorities, educational institutions, community centres, the healthcare sector, care homes as well as properties in the private rental sector.
creating partnerships
• Responsive repairs and void works • Building refurbishment
• Cyclical works • Communal works
• Decentralised heating • Community engagement
01844 399 110 liam.hithersay@dwsupportservices.co.uk www.dwsupportservices.co.uk
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