1
LANCASTER
RIBBLE VALLEY
WYRE
PENDLE
BLACKPOOL FLYDE
PRESTON
TH SOU
BLACKBURN
HYNDBURN
LE RIBB
BURNLEY
BRADFORD
LEEDS
ROSSENDALE
CHORLEY ROCHDALE BOLTON
BURY
OLDHAM
SALFORD WIGAN
STOCKPORT
WARRINGTON
M HA ER TH RO
ST HELENS LIVERPOOL
TAMESIDE TR AF FO RD
MANCHESTER
HIGH PEAK
CHESTERFIELD CHESHIRE WEST
CHESHIRE EAST
SHEFFIELD
STOKE
MAP KEY 2
LOCATION OF OUR OFFICES
the colours show the number of our properties in each local authority area
1 50
100 250
500 1,000
1,500 2,000
50 100
250 500
1,000 1,500
2,000 3,000
02
MAP
04 - 05
VISION & VALUES
06 - 07
MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE AND THE CHAIR
08 - 09
ABOUT GREAT PLACES
10 - 11
AWARDS AND ACCREDITATIONS
12 - 15
BIG NUMBERS
16 - 21
WHAT MATTERS MOST
22 - 23
INVESTING IN NEIGHBOURHOODS
26 - 29
OUR RESIDENTS
30 - 31
SUPPORTING VULNERABLE PEOPLE
32 - 33
DEVELOPMENT
34 - 35
PLUMLIFE
36 - 39
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
40 - 41
A GREAT PLACE TO WORK
42 - 43
SENIOR STAFF & FINANCES 3
STRONG
BRIGHT REAL 4
TO BE FAIR, OPEN AND ACCOUNTABLE TO KNOW AND VALUE OUR CUSTOMERS AND THEIR COMMUNITIES TO RECOGNISE OUR TALENTED, ENTHUSIASTIC STAFF AND ALL WHO CONTRIBUTE TO OUR SUCCESS
Saquib Hussain, Duke of Edinburgh cohort
5
It’s been a turbulent yet transformative year for Great Places. The downgrading of our governance status by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) in July 2013 was a huge setback but was swiftly tackled through extensive organisational change, not least the appointment of six new board members and a new chair, culminating in us regaining our G1 status in June 2014. There was a challenging restructure in our property services division to contend with but the appointment of an interim director put us on the road to recovery. Despite these challenges we remain a financially strong and robust business with V1 status and a record turnover and surplus for 2013/14.
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As part of the improvements around governance arrangements our former Tenant Services Committee became Customer Services Voice (CSV), with a new name and fresh focus. There was also the establishment of a brand new scrutiny group, Insight, made up of residents from across our regions. The delivery of our development programme has continued apace. In July 2014 we received a sizeable grant allocation from the HCA to build 359 new homes by March 2018, which is testament to our enviable reputation for delivering quality homes on time and on budget. Across our three HCA-funded programmes, we will complete more than 2,500 new homes over four years up to 2018.
Members of Customer Services Voice
Our step into the bond market in 2012 paved the way for a second successful £32m bond issue. This provides us with another guaranteed funding stream so that we continue to create much-needed homes and make vast improvements to the communities we serve. We are still working in a tough climate, which has again made it a difficult year for supported housing, but there have been some genuine good news stories about jobs and services remaining intact. Notably we retained and extended contracts in Manchester, Liverpool, St Helen’s, Bolton, Bury, Trafford and Leeds, and secured funding in partnership with the NHS to extend our heavy drinkers project at Docherty House. There have been many other highs for Great Places: being ranked as the 12th Best Large Workplace in the UK despite the difficulties we’ve faced, winning numerous industry awards, and securing the contract to handle branding, sales and marketing for Matrix Homes (a unique partnership between Manchester City Council, Greater Manchester Pension Fund and the HCA) to build more than 240 desirable new homes for outright sale and private rent in Manchester. We look forward to many more.
I was delighted to join Great Places as its new chair. It’s a solid business with strong, dynamic leadership and committed staff, who have a remarkable sense of social and ethical awareness. The group continues to uphold an enviable reputation among peers and stakeholders. I look forward to helping Great Places serve its residents and communities in the years to come.
Tony Davison, Chair
Matthew Harrison Chief executive
Tony Davison Chair 7
Great Places Housing Group is an award-winning, not-for-profit organisation that puts residents first. Managing almost 17,000 homes in 36 local authorities across the north west and Yorkshire, we build thriving neighbourhoods and work tirelessly to transform the lives of our residents. We’re also an outstanding developer, building quality homes for a diverse range of people.
Re-launched our ASB service as the Community Safety team, focusing on early prevention
ÂŁ1.5m
of savings in the past
18 months because of strong procurement performance
8
Won the branding, marketing, PR services and management contract for Three Towers – a refurbished residential development in Manchester
Revamped our complaints approach to resolve issues quickly and fairly
Retained numerous supported housing contracts despite some tough competition
ÂŁ1 million
put back into our residents’ pockets through sound, financial advice from our Financial Inclusion team
Regained our G1 status after being downgraded by our regulator, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA)
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12th Best Large Workplace in UK Great Place to Work速 survey 2014
10
Award of Excellence Institute of Internal Communication
Top 50 Affordable Housing Developments (Palmerston Street) Inside Housing 2014
WINNER
WINNER
WINNER
Affordable Housing Provider of the Year, First Time Buyer Readers’ Awards 2014
Most Effective Marketing Campaign, First Time Buyer Readers’ Awards 2014
Best Regeneration Project (Fallowfield Triangle), First Time Buyer Readers’ Awards 2014
WINNER
WINNER
WINNER
Best Residential Project (Broom Lane), RICS Awards North West 2014
Workforce Diversity, Rochdale Diversity Awards 2014
Diversity in Housing, Rochdale Diversity Awards 2014
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NUMBERS
£85
MILLION TURNOVER
12
£9.33 MILLION SURPLUS BEFORE TAX
£11 MILLION FROM HCA TO BUILD 359 NEW HOMES BY MARCH 2018
£22.4 MILLION ON REPAIRS AND INVESTMENT IN OUR HOMES
13
576
HOMES BUILT
£81.3
MILLION DEVELOPMENT SPEND
14
245
KEY WORKER HOMES
1,692
SUPPORTED HOUSING/ HOUSING FOR OLDER PEOPLE
1,090
16,861
HOMES OWNED OR MANAGED
1,067 LEASEHOLD HOMES
NUMBERS
425
SHARED OWNERSHIP HOMES
267
RENT-TO-BUY HOMES
11,858 GENERAL NEEDS HOMES
217
OTHER, INCLUDING MARKET RENT AND MANAGED BY OTHERS
PFI (PRIVATE FINANCE INITIATIVE)
Image of Salford skyline © Nick Harrison
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Our dual corporate priorities remained in sharp focus
Excellent customer service The impact of problems with the repairs service and governance downgrade may have had a detrimental effect on our customer satisfaction figures, but the swift and decisive action taken by our directors and new board to put improvement measures in place meant that by the end of July 2014 our overall customer satisfaction was back at 86%, from a low of 79%. This exceeds our current target and is in line with our plans to regain top quartile position by the end of the next financial year.
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Financial support co-ordinator Alison Johnstone with residents Dom and Eve King
76%
75%
of residents were satisfied with the quality of their home
of residents thought that their rent was good value for money
86%
96%
of residents were satisfied with the overall service we provide
of residents were satisfied with how their call was handled
84%
of disabled residents were satisfied with the overall service we provide
87%
of residents were satisfied with the quality of completed repairs
88% of residents were satisfied with the handling of anti-social behaviour cases
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Financial strength We remain a robust organisation with a strong balance sheet, despite the difficulties the sector continues to face. We were again given a V1 rating from the HCA for financial viability, the highest possible, and in May 2014 Fitch confirmed that our credit rating remains at AA-. Our bond issue was again successful retaining £32m at a spread of 104bps and an all-in cost of 4.57%. We’ll continue to seek opportunities to lock in guaranteed funding at competitive rates. Remarkably, given the expected impact of welfare reform on rent arrears, Great Places collected more rent than ever before. Our aim is to better this in the year to come.
General needs housing
3.6%
2.6%
33.4
total arrears, including housing benefit
total arrears, excluding housing benefit
average days to re-let a property
Supported housing
4.5%
2.4%
20.5
total arrears, including housing benefit
total arrears, excluding housing benefit
average days to re-let a property
Plumlife
18
4.2%
3.8%
total arrears for shared ownership homes
total arrears for leasehold homes
Resident Paul Jeffers, community rep and recipient of a payment from our Residents’ Fund for HGV driving lessons
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Business effectiveness Our main corporate priorities seamlessly intertwine with our thorough and increasingly sophisticated approach to value for money (VFM). We’ve remained focused on delivering these core objectives while embedding VFM across the business. We’ve streamlined processes to become more efficient and effective, but there are still improvements to be made.
In 2014/15 Great Places is planning a range of actions including: • Reviewing the structure and resourcing of a number of key functions including procurement, and health and safety • Revisiting our corporate vision, values and objectives with an increased emphasis on business effectiveness and efficiency
• W e expect to save 10% on the following: heating investment, insurance, external decorating, servicing, recruitment and furniture
How we spend our residents’ rent Planned/major repairs 15%
Routine repairs 11% Depreciation 11%
Interest/loan repayments 22% Surplus 11% Staff & office costs 22%
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Services 8%
£100K
£100K
saved on re-negotiation of our gas servicing
saved on creation of a framework for legal services
£30K
saved on re-procurement of the group’s mobile communications services
Some highlights
£19K
invested into an affordable loan scheme with Manchester Credit Union (which is open to all of our residents)
£60K saved on re-procurement of fixed line telephone contract
68 residents helped to downsize
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We’ve been investing in communities for the last 40 years, not only building quality homes but enriching the lives of our residents and creating safe, settled neighbourhoods. This great work continues.
87% of residents were satisfied with their neighbourhood as a place to live
• £ 113m investment in Oldham PFI 25-year project: 312 new homes for rent, 131 free home improvements, 327 refurbished homes and two new community centres • We ran the Strong Women’s course in Knutsford to equip women with the life skills, self-confidence, resilience and decision-making capabilities to allow them to move on to further opportunities in education, training and work • In Sheffield our work continues in Wybourn with the creation of a play area, improvements to highway safety, and the opening of a new community meeting house
87%
of residents were satisfied with the outcome of their ASB case
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Residents at a project to improve alleyways in Oldham
It’s been a turbulent year for our in-house repairs team in which the service struggled to deliver its key objectives. Swift action was taken to improve the situation and the arrival of an interim director of property services saw a positive turnaround. A major restructure is now in process.
91%
91%
88%
of appointments made at residents’ convenience
of repairs appointments were kept
of residents were satisfied with repairs
A
529
327
98%
kitchens installed
A-rated boilers installed
of residents were satisfied with the work carried out
150 new bathroom suites fitted
249 homes got new doors
394 homes got new windows
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24
25
The impact of welfare reform has hit some of our residents hard. We’ve continued to provide them with the support they need to deal with the changes either through downsizing, money management or signposting them to specialist services. The arrival of Universal Credit, the government’s new benefits system, will create yet another challenge, but we are determined to face it head on.
Resident focused Our approach to resident involvement underwent significant change. We re-launched our community involvement team as the in:team, focused on empowering residents to help improve services and increase customer satisfaction. Our first ever Popup doorstep tour, where we visited hundreds of our customers in their homes, was a huge success and helped shape our new involvement strategy. Our former Tenant Services Committee became Customer Services Voice (CSV), the main advisory group to Great Places’ directors. We also established a brand new scrutiny group, Insight, made up of residents from across our regions. This group acts as a critical friend challenging our 8 OUT OF 10 performance, policies and PEOPLE SAID THEY procedures and identifying WOULD RECOMMEND areas which aren’t delivering GREAT PLACES TO A FRIEND customer satisfaction.
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Resident profile
42.8% 24.9% BLACK, MINORITY & ETHNIC
MALE
57.2% 17.6% HAVE A DISABILITY
FEMALE
Welfare reform
193
CREDIT UNION LOAN APPLICATIONS TO OUR ESSENTIAL LIVING FUND
0
EVICTIONS DUE TO WELFARE REFORM
1,462 1,978
RESIDENTS AFFECTED BY THE UNDER OCCUPANCY SHORTFALL
NUMBER OF RESIDENTS RECEIVING FINANCIAL SUPPORT
Broughton Junior Wardens winning a Community Stars Award
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Pop-up doorstep tour results
Resident involvement by numbers
586 residents took part either in person or online
447
residents said it’s important that they have opportunities to provide feedback and influence services
423
339
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total hours of involvement
675 122
residents involved
residents said they were satisfied that Great Places takes their views into account
residents said they were interested in providing feedback or being consulted on services
3,161 nominations for the Community Stars Awards
292
walkabouts conducted by our Community Reps
145
instant mystery shops for our responsive repairs service
Some highlights • R olled out the red carpet for residents at the first ever Community Stars Awards • L aunched our Voluntary Homebuyers Scheme, which makes it possible for some residents to buy the home they rent from us • E mployed a new digital trainer to deliver training to more residents and help them access our services online • O ver 1,000 customers registered for self-service through the website • Introduced a new approach to complaints management, designed to make the complainants experience as positive as possible and focused on enhanced communication and customer care
£137,000 given through our Residents’ and Shared Spaces Funds to help residents access jobs and training, improve health and well-being, do something positive in their community or improve communal areas
Cllr Alan Clague and Margaret Clague with residents from Openshaw Court and Ramsden Fold in Swinton
Mr and Mrs Rahi who have benefited from Great Places Residents’ and Shared Spaces fund
Andy Johnson from the Salford Kurling Club
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It was another difficult year for supported housing. Despite the ongoing uncertainty caused by reductions in funding we continued to maintain contracts and jobs. Our Broom Lane project in Levenshulme for young autistic adults also won best Residential Project at the prestigious RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) North West awards. We have almost 1,700 supported housing places for a variety of vulnerable people including the homeless, young mums, young people, alcohol dependents, those with mental health issues​, and older people (our award-winning Extra Care s​ chemes provide five star facilities for the over 55s).​
96%
of supported housing residents who asked for help were assisted to maximise their incomes
94%
of residents maintained independent living
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84%
of supported housing residents engaged in training or education
83%
of supported housing residents were satisfied with the overall service they received
665
of residents were able to move on from supported housing
86%
of residents managed to reduce their overall debt
• We undertook a ‘Personalisation Pilot’ to make our services more adaptable and personalised for residents. Alongside structured support sessions we also provided drop-in support surgeries for ad-hoc, flexible support times in addition to a range of other social activities • We’ve helped numerous residents access WISH (domestic abuse support) and signposted many to the Freedom Project which helps them recognise the repeat pattern of abuse
Resident Mary Foley from Salford who was 100 on Friday March 21st 2014
• W e retained or extended contracts in all regions and across our schemes up for renewal • We’ve helped residents complete a sixweek ‘Money, Spend and Save’ course run externally • We’ve supported residents to register with GP practices, dentists, attend hospital appointments and take part in activities such as healthy eating, cookery sessions and walking clubs. We work with a number of health professionals and agencies to address health issues and substance abuse
A resident at Blackpool Foyer, our supported scheme for young people
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New homes A mix of 18 two, three and four-bed family houses for affordable rent which have been specifically designed to meet the needs of the local community
QUEENS MILL, BURNLEY
It’s been another record-breaking year for our development team. In 2014 the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) awarded Great Places and our partners over £24m to build more than 1,000 new homes by March 2018. For Great Places this is on top of 708 new homes which will be completed in 2014 and the Affordable Homes Guarantee Programme which will build 922 new homes by March 2017. Our Palmerston Street development in Beswick, Manchester featured in Inside Housing’s Top 50 Affordable Developments 2014, and Fallowfield Triangle, our mixed-use development in Manchester, bagged a First Time Buyer Readers’ Award in the Best Regeneration category and was highly commended in the Retail-led category at the Placemaking Awards. Above all, our homes meet the needs of the local community, providing quality and efficiency at affordable rents.
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44 new homes with a mix of 2, 3 and 4-bedrooms
MILNTHORPE, BOLTON
11 state-of-the-art 2-bedroom bungalows for the over 55s
ST MARY’S, BURY
23 new homes with a mix of 2, 3 and 4-bedrooms
FITZWARREN, SALFORD
SEVERN DRIVE, WIGAN
32 new homes with a mix of 2, 3 and 4-bedrooms
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With the housing market in the north west now gradually in the ascent, it’s been a fast-paced year for our affordable sales brand, Plumlife. Since September 2013 Plumlife has been selling at 13 sales developments across the north west, most of which have been available to buy through Shared Ownership. Despite the popularity of the government’s new Help to Buy Equity Loan, Shared Ownership continues to play an important role in helping first time buyers access home ownership. Service delivery from the sales team has never been better, with no customer complaints in the last year and 100% satisfaction. Plumlife also swept the board at the prestigious First Time Buyer Readers’ Awards this year, winning an impressive three categories, including the coveted Best Affordable Homes Provider category – for the second year running. We secured the contract to handle branding, sales and marketing for what is a truly exciting and ambitious residential development initiative – Matrix Homes – currently building more than 240 desirable new homes for outright sale and private rent in Manchester. The project is being masterminded by a unique partnership between Manchester City Council,Greater Manchester Pension Fund and the HCA.
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Caravan man, our innovative marketing campaign for the government Help to Buy scheme
Plumlife Management secured a contract to manage the Three Towers, a high profile regeneration project in Ancoats. We’ve also beaten off competition from some of Manchester’s top creative agencies to win the branding, marketing and PR services for Three Towers, and will be utilising Plumlife Sales and our Communications team to deliver this section of the work. The scheme consists of three derelict 1960s tower blocks, totalling 196 studio, one and two bedroom apartments. They’re being transformed into desirable, high spec dwellings for the burgeoning private rent market – an area we’re keen to expand.
Cube Great Places Ltd, which was set up in 2007 to undertake non-charitable activity involving outright sale and market rent, successfully completed and sold two profitable projects in joint ventures with private sector partners. Group Board also approved the creation of a 500-home market rent portfolio and made appointments to the Cube Board.
100% of customers were satisfied with the Plumlife sales service
83
Mortgage rescue completions
96%
99.4% of customers’ calls were answered
28
outright sales
Shared Ownership sales
Jessica Cree, one of Plumlife’s Help to Buy customers
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Duke of Edinburgh Great Places became the first housing association in Greater Manchester to be a licensed provider of the Duke of Edinburgh’s award.
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Employment and training Apprenticeship programme
Staff with Skills
76
43 apprentices
residents attended 10 activities put on by 24 members of staff achieving 85 staff hours
supported to date
Build Learn Grow
(a partnership with contractors Seddon and Southdale and housing group Bolton at Home)
27
28 apprenticeships created
people given work experience
Community Interpreters project
70+
interpreters now trained across six local authority areas
25 jobs created
Charity work We continue to devote our time to raising money for numerous charities across our regions. During our annual Charity Quarter staff managed to raise an amazing £2,500 which will go to external charities, the Residents’ Fund and the Walk Centre in Kenya.
Our fundraising co-ordinator also had another bumper year gathering £500,000 through more than 30 small to medium-sized grants.
£49,400
£15,000
Heritage Lottery Funding – for a project exploring the social memories of people growing up as teenagers from the 1930s onwards in Salford and Oldham
Foyer Federation funding to enable a healthy conversations project at Blackpool Foyer, our supported accommodation for young people
Work experience programme
62
placements
37
Environment matters
Over 5,000
We’ve done a massive amount of work to educate residents and staff on energy efficiency.
save-a-flushes were given to residents
8%
301
of water reduced in our head office through the installation of water savers in the toilets and flow restrictors on the taps
First housing association to provide carbon literacy training for our staff
residents visited in our annual You Can Glow campaign targeting those affected by welfare reform, aiming to save residents money and give them advice around
energy efficiency
50,000
energy efficient lightbulbs given out to residents and
2,000
powerdown plugs 38
5,000kwh
of electricity saved through our ”turn off the lights” campaign across our six regional offices and numerous supported housing schemes
Bury residents Clive and Naomi Walker with their Energy Guide
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We were ranked as the 12th Best Large Workplace in the UK in the Great Place to Work® survey, an independent organisation which ranks UK companies on what they are like as employers, alongside Capital One, Microsoft and ebay. We also finished significantly higher than the likes of giants Ikea, MercedesBenz, Volkswagen and Virgin Media.
63% FEMALE
21% BLACK, MINORITY & ETHNIC
40
4%
HAVE A DISABILITY
• We delivered customer service training to all staff focused on how we can develop our already strong performance in this area • Four courses on negotiation were organised to provide staff with the skills necessary to negotiate payment in the event of arrears • The Samaritans delivered two courses to our Customer Access Team on dealing with residents threatening suicide
96%
90%
said they were treated fairly regardless of their disability
said they felt good about the ways in which Great Places contributes to the community
90%
thought Great Places was working to reduce its environmental impact
86%
of staff said they were proud to work here
Staff taking part in a Cycle to Work day
Our chief executive and other staff at the Great Place to Work awards
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Great Places Housing Group Board
MATTHEW HARRISON Chief executive
GUY CRESSWELL Director of housing services
Great Places Housing Association Board and Plumlife Board are coterminous with the Great Places Housing Group Board
PHIL ELVY
Cube Board
Director of finance and company secretary
Will Taylor, chair David Robinson Matthew Harrison
PETER BOJAR Director of development
DAVID WOOD Interim director of Property Services
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Tony Davison, chair Jenny Rayner, deputy chair Roger Kirkwood Andrew Beeput Janet Clafton Christine Goulden Jerry Green, chair of audit & assurance committee David Robinson Richard Sear Tony Snape Thea Stein Matthew Harrison
Group 13/14
Group 12/13
1,033,167 -517,810 -73,011 7,204 235 27,867
971,522 -506,860 -66,168 7,692 743 29,753
TOTAL
477,652
436,682
Financed by Loans etc Revenue reserves Designated and other reserves
411,660 65,817 175
379,940 56,567 175
TOTAL
477,652
436,682
68,590 16,454 85,044
64,718 15,155 79,873
2,773
685
87,817
80,558
Services including Supporting People expenditure Management Maintenance Major repairs Other operating costs Interest received Interest paid
11,357 14,787 10,081 4,207 19,047 -211 19,218
10,636 13,875 10,063 3,756 18,591 -162 16,182
TOTAL EXPENDITURE
78,486
72,941
NET SURPLUS FOR YEAR BEFORE TAX
9,331
7,617
Assets Housing Stock Social Housing Grant Depreciation and impairment Other fixed assets Investments Net current assets
Income Gross income from lettings Other turnover Surplus on sale of properties TOTAL INCOME Expenditure
All figures in ÂŁ000s
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Great Places Housing Group Southern Gate, 729 Princess Road Manchester, M20 2LT tel: 0161 447 5000 fax: 0161 447 5001 info@greatplaces.org.uk www.greatplaces.org.uk
GreatPlacesHousing @mygreatplace