Annual Report 2016
Contents
Welcome & Overview
3
Our Governance
5
Our Homes
10
Our Team
15
Our Values
17
Our Goals
18
Our Performance
20
Value for Money
21
Customer Service & Collaboration
23
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
2
Welcome & Overview This report is for our tenants and leaseholders. It explains our performance over the year to 31st March 2016 – where we are doing well and where we need to improve – and looks at the services we offer compared to other landlords. It also looks at the feedback we have received from our customers and how we are responding to it. CDS has a unique purpose. We were formed more than 40 years ago to provide, support and promote co-operative (and other resident controlled) housing. We do this as a social landlord, as a service provider for housing co-ops and through our work to champion the growth of the co-op housing sector. During this year we have reviewed and updated our vision and values and this is reflected throughout this document. We are inspired by the challenge of making co-operative housing a mainstream option – something that is widely and easily available across tenures and price points. As existing residents, you will already know the value of having a secure home that you enjoy and can afford to live in and our aim is to make this more possible for more people, by helping them to share resources and combine effort. This report focuses on our role as a social landlord. Over the last 2 years, we have been changing our approach – seeking to improve our core services and our efficiency. This report shows real evidence of improvements in customer and housing services during the last year and we hope that the benefit of these changes is being felt by our tenants and leaseholders. CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
3
We recognise that there is plenty more to do and we are focused on continuing to improve steadily so that our services compare favourably to other landlords. We are also striving to make our role as a collaborative landlord more meaningful. CDS has a very diverse and geographically widespread housing stock which presents some challenges for customer engagement. We are using the results of our 2015 resident survey to guide priorities that will have the maximum impact on customers and this is being overseen by a customer forum of interested residents. All of this work is happening in the context of great change for housing organisations. Our tenants will be aware that housing association rents are being reduced in real terms by 1% every year until 2020. We welcome this as a move that makes rents more affordable for customers. Equally, the impact on our business plan is significant – requiring savings of nearly half a million over the next 5 years – and this will need creative and efficient solutions to deliver improved quality for less cost. We are publishing this report on our website and a summary of the key points will also be included in the next CDS newsletter.
Linda Wallace Chief Executive
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
4
Our Governance We have adopted the National Housing Federation’s Code of Governance as our governance code. Our Board of Management oversees the strategy and direction of CDS, working closely with the Chief Executive and wider staff team. CDS shareholders elect the Board of Management One third of our Board are members who are nominated by client organisations and one third are independent members, with the rest being any shareholder who is nominated and elected. To become a shareholder, you can apply to the Chair of the Board saying why you are interested and your application will be considered by the Board. Once you are a shareholder, you can vote at Annual General Meetings.
Joining our Board The Board has agreed to reserve one co-opted Board place for a tenant or leaseholder who has the necessary skills to help us run the business. You don’t need to be an expert – but you do need to be able to commit some time to reading and understanding reports, to learning more about what we do, and be able to work collaboratively with the Board and staff team to help to build CDS’s reputation and service. If this is something of interest to you and you would like to find out more, please get in touch via stephen.brown@cds.coop
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
5
Maureen Stables – From Tenant to Chair After almost 35 years as Chair of CDS, Maureen Stables stepped down from the role at the end of March. Her impressive housing career began when she became a tenant of the newly built Furbank Housing Co-operative in Welwyn Garden City in 1979. “I was working for my local authority and someone told me about a new housing co-operative development. I was the only prospective tenant, but I was very interested”. Maureen spotted the benefits from the start. “It seemed to me that when I moved into the co-op it was a wonderful opportunity for those living in the community to control their environment without owning it,” she says. “I believe that you don’t have to own your house to have the right to manage it”. “CDS wanted someone to join its board. Its London base was a 30-minute train journey away but I decided to go for it.” The move turned out to be the catalyst for Maureen’s new career. “I learnt a lot about housing and asked lots of questions until I got answers I fully understood.” She had soon accrued enough sector knowledge to lead Praetorian Housing Association, and later became director at Alamo Housing Co-operative and then West Hill Housing Trust. Since Maureen took over as Chair in 1982, CDS has expanded from 10 members of staff and 368 dwellings in seven schemes, to owning and/or managing over 3,000 dwellings with 75 schemes with over 40 members of staff. Her personal and enduring commitment was rewarded in 2015 when she won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Inside Housing/CIH Housing Heroes Awards. Shortlisted from more than 200 entries, the awards acknowledged the significant contribution Maureen has made to CDS and the UK co-operative housing sector. We would like to thank Maureen for her many years of dedication, for being the linchpin of our organisation, and for providing inspiration to thousands of people in the co-operative housing sector.
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
6
Celebrating 40 years of CDS Co-operatives
Our Board Our Board (as at 1 September 2016) are: ⌂ ⌂ ⌂ ⌂ ⌂ ⌂ ⌂ ⌂ ⌂ ⌂ ⌂
Brigid Sutcliffe Paula Farrow Jon Fitzmaurice Craig Glasper Dave Holmes Mike Jeanes Theresa Lyons Rafia Patel Martha Slade Karlene Watson Tony Watt
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
Chair Rep of Corporate Member Ind. Member Ind. Member Rep of Corporate Member Ind Member Rep of Corporate Member Ind Member Ind Member Rep of Corporate Member Rep of Corporate Member
7
Brigid Sutcliffe – our new Chair
We are delighted to introduce our new Chair, Brigid Sutcliffe, who joined the Board in March 2016. Brigid is a Chartered Accountant by training and brings a wealth of experience in executive and board roles in the private, public and third sectors. Brigid has been a board member for 11 years of Thames Reach, a significant London-based charity that provides a range of services for homeless, former homeless people and others. In addition to Thames Reach, she is the Audit Chair and non-executive director of the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, a government-owned science research institute, and of BRE Group, a research, consultancy and testing business for the construction and built environment sectors, owned by a charity. She is an experienced finance professional with a strong sense of duty to the community. On her appointment, Brigid said “I am excited that CDS Co-operatives has given me this opportunity to lead the Board to work closely with the management team, in order to build a stronger organisation and move towards our goal of making co-op housing a mainstream option”. Maureen Stables, outgoing Chair, said “I am very pleased that we have found a capable and expert person to take over from me and am particularly happy that Brigid has such an experienced background in finance”.
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
8
How we are Regulated We are regulated by the Homes and Communities Agency who have published standards that we have to meet. The Board reviews our compliance each year on a five point scale to drive awareness of strengths and weaknesses and continuous improvement.
Standard
Compliance
1. Governance and Financial Viability
Substantial
2. Value for Money
Good
3. Rent Standard (New Statutory requirements in place)
Full
4. Tenant Involvement and Empowerment ⌂ Customer service, choice and complaints ⌂ Involvement and empowerment ⌂ Understanding and responding to the diverse needs of tenants
Substantial Reasonable Reasonable
5. Home ⌂ Quality of accommodation ⌂ Repairs and maintenance
Substantial Good
6. Tenancy ⌂ Allocations and mutual exchanges ⌂ Tenure
Substantial Full
7. Neighbourhood and Community ⌂ Neighbourhood management ⌂ Local area co-operation ⌂ Anti-social behaviour
Good Good Full
During the last year we have improved our rating in almost all areas by at least one point on our scale. We have not yet improved our local accountability as we received limited feedback from customers in relation to local groups. As a step forward, we introduced the Customer Feedback Forum During the year we have which seeks to ensure that our priorities are guided by customer input and the work of this group is explained improved our rating in later in this report.
almost all areas by at least one point on our scale
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
9
Our Homes Homes for Rent As of 31 March 2016, we owned and rented out 689 properties to tenants. This was a reduction in 1 unit on the previous year following a sale under the right to buy scheme. Rented stock owned by CDS Bedsits 25 units 3.6%
1 Bedroom 174 units 25.2%
2 Bedroom 281 units 40.8%
3 Bedroom 189 units 27.4%
4 Bedroom 14 units 2.0%
5 Bedroom 6 units 0.9%
Total stock 689 Currently one of the bedsit units is being held as a long term void on our largest estate to provide office and welfare facilities for estate based staff and the community whilst we seek planning permission to build a new community facility. Separately, we also provided some or all management services for 2,060 rented units on behalf of 46 client co-operatives.
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
10
Home Ownership In addition to these rented homes, we own 101 and manage 43 shared ownership units where the purchaser has not yet bought 100% of the equity. We provide an estate service to 466 properties that now belong to residents (either leasehold or freehold). The owners of these properties pay a service charge, which covers the upkeep of the communal areas of blocks of flats and gardens, as well as non-adopted roads, pathways and communal open spaces on the estates. Our total housing stock (owned and managed) spans 28 local authority areas.
Major Repairs During 2015/16 we reviewed our asset management strategy to ensure that we know the condition of our stock and have budgeted to keep it in good repair. All of our homes meet the decent homes standard and we budget for major works on an “at fail” basis – which means we will usually have funds available if there is a component failure in your home (boiler, roof, windows, bathroom, kitchen etc). If you have a major repair problem and feel we are not resolving it for you, please contact us on talktous@cds.coop. CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
11
Day to Day Repairs This year we have worked closely with our contractors to introduce a new basis for ordering and managing work. All of our contractors now go through basic safety and competence checks each year and enter into an agreement with us about how they will work, including things like how they behave in your home, how they communicate and quality of work.
Our contractors should always treat you respectfully and honestly. If you feel this is not happening or you have a repairs problem, please do let us know immediately.
Keeping Homes Safe and Sound Safety is our number one priority for customers, staff and partners. We regularly review and talk about safety to raise awareness and to encourage people to be proactive in their approach to hazard identification and management.
Safety is our number one priority for customers, staff and partners
Safety inspections are a key part of our planned maintenance programme and we have improved our gas safety management process in the year. The process aims to ensure that a new landlord gas safety record (LGSR) is issued before the existing LGSR expires or if this is not possible, that we have commenced legal action against the tenant to enforce our right of access to carry out this important safety check. The gas safety check is carried out to protect the safety of our residents and your neighbours. It is important that tenants co-operate with us when we need access to carry out this vital safety inspection. Other safety checks include ensuring that recommendations arising from Fire Risk Assessments in blocks are implemented, regularly re-inspecting any known asbestos to ensure that it is still in a safe condition, and checking lifts and water tanks.
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
12
Key Statistics Time taken to Complete Repairs We aim for 100% of emergency repairs to be attended and made safe within 24 hours of the matter being reported. Last year we significantly improved performance from 94.3% in the previous year to 97.1%. In the last six months of the year performance significantly improved with just one emergency repair completed outside of its target.
Average time to complete repairs was 8.5 days, down from 9.5
97.1% Emergency repairs made safe/completed within 24 hours
We recognise that customers care about how quickly repairs are done. This year we reduced the average time taken from 9.5 days to 8.5 days – in line with some of the best performers in our peer group.
Once we are notified that a day to day repair job has been completed our customer service team attempt to contact the resident concerned by telephone to check that the work has been carried out satisfactorily. We also conduct a satisfaction survey where we ask customers to give an overall satisfaction score for the repair out of 10. Last year the average score improved on the previous year, averaging 9 out of 10.
Our residents rated their satisfaction with the last repair as 9 out of 10
Lettings
We let homes in 28 days, down from over 35 days
We let 19 homes during the year with 7 households additionally carrying out a mutual exchange. This was a reduction in the number of lettings compared to the previous year.
We let homes much more quickly this year down from over 35 days to just under 28 days, although this is still high compared to our peers and remains a target for further improvement.
Neighbourhood Management We work hard to ensure that our estates are areas that customers can feel proud of. We have high standards for estate maintenance and grounds maintenance and we regularly visit each estate to ensure that standards are met and that areas are safe. We publish details of these inspections so that customers can join us in reviewing standards.
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
13
Anti-Social Behaviour The communities on our estates are very well established and we have very low levels of antisocial behaviour. We recognise that our customers can sometimes experience disruption due to lifestyle clashes which are not actionable through legal means (for example, household noise or normal children’s play) and in these cases the best solution is agreement between neighbours themselves, supported by mediation where this is helpful. Where behaviours constitute a legal nuisance (for example noise that is noted by Environmental Health teams as breaching acceptable standards or criminal acts) we will work with residents and with other agencies to take action under the tenancy. During the course of the year we closed 5 ASB cases with 3 resolved and 2 were closed unresolved.
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
14
Our Team Our team consists of the Operations, Finance and Corporate Services sections, based in our new office in Great Dover Street, Borough. Our Operations team contains the front facing staff that provide you with tenancy liaison, income support and maintenance services. Finance works hard behind the scenes making sure that your rents are processed promptly, that we pay our bills and provide accounting services. The Corporate Services team includes our Senior Management Team, our IT section and administration staff.
‘I enjoy working for CDS. I have a good rapport with the tenants and the contractors and it’s great to go home at the end of the day knowing that you are all satisfied with the services we have provided.’ Kathy Leslie – Customer Service Advisor
‘My family has a long history of working in social housing and trade unions and my role enables me (indirectly) to work towards creating a more equal society for everyone. I acknowledge how acute the housing crisis is and take comfort in aiding those that need it most.’ Chris Gunter – Corporate Services Officer
Chris Gunter – Corporate Services ‘IOfficer am amazed and encouraged by the
number of dedicated co-op members who volunteer to work on behalf of their community. Without them, co-ops would not work as well as they do.’ Peter Youles – Client Relationship Manager
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
15
‘I enjoy working for a smaller organisation where I can have a positive influence through my work as a member of the senior management team and working closely with our elected Board of Management to support them in their governance role’. Stephen Brown – Corporate Services Director
‘I love working at CDS, my colleagues are fabulous! Our new office is on one floor which means we can all work as one great team!’ Eva McCarthy – Arrears Control Officer
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
16
Our Values Our values underpin our decision making and approach and should be visible in the way we behave. Our aim is to be trusted as a landlord because we are reliable, fair and act with integrity. In our work this would mean: HOW WE WORK RELIABLE
⌂ ⌂ ⌂ ⌂
We are clear about what we do and what we don’t do We do what we say we will We are consistent We respond quickly when things go wrong
FAIR
⌂ ⌂ ⌂ ⌂
We work collaboratively We look for win/win solutions which empower people We make decisions using evidence and facts We seek balance and equity
ACT WITH INTEGRITY
⌂ ⌂ ⌂ ⌂
We are open and accountable We treat people with respect and kindness We are socially responsible We act in line with our values – even when it is tough or noone is looking
These values guide the way we work – influencing not just what we do but the way that we do it. They are simple and describe how we will behave. Our values matter to everyone at CDS whether an employee or a voluntary member – and will become a core part of setting standards for those who provide services in our name – such as contractors and consultants. When you deal with us or with our agents, you should expect to be treated in line with our values and let us know straight away if this is not the case. If you are unsure about who to contact, you can always email talktous@cds.coop or phone us on 03333 21 30 30 and ask to speak to any member of our team.
We want co-op housing to be a mainstream choice
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
17
Our Goals Making Co-op Housing a Mainstream Choice
Promoter
Provider
Investing in Growth
Collaborative Social Landlord
Supporter Co-op Service Agency
During the last year we have revisited our purpose as an organisation. Our business has three main goals – to provide housing, to support housing co-ops (and similar landlords) to do their work, and to promote the growth of co-op housing as a sector. As a social landlord, we have benefited from historic government grants which helped us to buy or build homes at below market value. This in turn has enabled us to let homes at below market rents and to keep our borrowing low. Those historic grants mean that we now make surpluses as our loans are paid off. In our business strategy review, the Board recognised that we are ‘custodian’ of these grants and made a commitment to use our profits to increase the amount of housing that is available in the areas where we work. We want to make sure that we do this in line with our core purpose and in the most effective way. Although we do make surpluses, they will not (on their own) build many new homes – so the Board thought more widely about how to get the best value out of the use of this money. We concluded that we wanted co-op housing to be a mainstream housing choice – something that is widely and easily available, across a range of prices and tenures. We know that this is a big task and that our goal will most quickly be achieved by using our work and resources in partnership with others who share our vision and values. We also want to make sure that every part of our business is connected to this overarching goal. We will do this in three ways: ⌂ Provider In our core social housing business we will become more efficient and effective, increasing our surplus and using this to invest in work that enables co-op housing options to grow widely. We will work to show how a traditional landlord can achieve more by working collaboratively with tenants and leaseholders.
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
18
⌂ Supporter As a co-op service agency, by providing good quality landlord and business services at cost we will help housing co-ops to remain viable and well governed. This will show how effective co-op housing is as a business model.
⌂ Promoter As a co-op housing champion, we will be a passionate advocate for mass market solutions, facilitating collaboration, encouraging creativity and investing in the design of sustainable building, planning, legal and financial approaches that can be widely and easily available.
Specific Goals for 2015/16 Our key priorities for the year under review are listed below along with the summary of progress on these priorities from the end of year report to the Board:
⌂ Improve our services There was demonstrable progress on core services (as shown in the performance data overleaf) although it is recognised that further improvements are required on financial services and staff skills.
⌂ Increase the influence of our customers Some progress on collaboration with our own tenants and leaseholders (launch of Share – see page 25). We have made some progress with developing the Phoenix Hub – a community centre and office for our largest estate in Dartford.
⌂ Embed Value for Money thinking throughout our business We have contained our central office costs with a move to flexible office space in Great Dover Street and made some demonstrable progress on core services – particularly repairs and voids.
⌂ Become more reliable as a company and as individuals We have made reasonable progress with the implementation of a new structure, improved accountability, performance measurement, performance management and our internal service ticketing. There has also been improved use of risk mapping and internal audits and better complaints handling.
⌂ Build the reputation of co-operation as a business model We have made reasonable progress through our developing work with AltGen (who support worker co-operatives established by younger people), membership and active engagement with the Confederation of Co-operative Housing and the Community Housing Alliance. We are also collaborating with the UK Cohousing Network and the Community Land Trust Network to increase the provision of community-led housing.
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
19
Our Performance CDS Service Performance 2015/16
Last Year
This Year
Median Peer Group
Performance Better / Worse the Prior Year
Performance against peer group
Improved
Average
RESPONSIVE REPAIRS
8.5
8.9
8.5 9.0
99.23% 2.70%
99.81% 3.25%
100.37% 3.79%
Improved
Below Ave
Worsened
Good
60%
87%
Not Avail
Below Ave
35.3 0.46% £2,327
27.7 0.19% £1,534
27.7 0.99% £2,130
Improved
Average
Improved
Good
Improved
Good
5.51%
2.76%
3.78%
Improved
Good
100% 100%
100% 100%
100% 100%
Stable
Good
Stable
Good
74.0%
89.6%
86.4%
Improved
Good
9.50% 99.10% 5.70% 98.90%
6.46% 107.5% 2.69% 106.1%
Average Time to Complete all Repairs (days)
9.52
Overall Repairs Satisfaction Score (out of 10)
Improved
RENT COLLECTION & ARREARS Rent Collected (%) Current Tenant Arrears (%) ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR Cases Resolved Successfully (%) LETTINGS Average Re-let Time (days) Void Rent Loss (%) Average Direct Cost per Property of Voids works TENANCY MANAGEMENT Tenancy Turnover - equivalent annualised figure SAFETY Properties with a Valid LGSR (Gas Safety) Fire Risk Assessments within date (%) COMPLAINTS Complaints resolved at Stage 1 (%) HOME OWNERSHIP Home Owners Service Charge Arrears (%) Home Owners Collection Rate (%) Shared Ownership Arrears (%) Shared ownership Collection Rate (%)
Improved Improved Improved Improved
During the year we focused on improving our repairs, voids and arrears performance. We introduced new arrangements for our repairs contractors which have led to better controls and faster repairs – as well as reducing our costs. We also improved both the speed and the cost of bringing empty properties back into use. However, our arrears performance worsened by 0.55% in the year, primarily due to more customers falling into low level arrears.
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
20
Value for Money Rents Our rents continue to offer very good value for money compared to other social landlords. Average social housing rents in London and the South East (March 2015) were £121.37 and £108.64. CDS rents were £106.35 per week at that time, increasing to £107.99 by March 2016. Up until 31 March 2016 we increased rents at inflation plus 0.5% in line with the Government formula. Earlier this year, the Government required us to reduce rents for 2016/17 by 1% and this will continue for the next three years. Rents for shared ownership properties continue to rise in line with the provisions of the lease. Our service charges are reviewed each year and are increased or decreased based on our expected costs of running the estate services such as cleaning, gardening and lifts.
Our rents were £106.35 in March 2015 compared to £121.37 (London average) and £108.64 (South East average)
We took the opportunity of having to reduce rents to harmonise the annual rent review date for all CDS owned rented properties to 1 April each year which will improve efficiency in future years.
How your Rent is Spent (CDS-owned properties only) During 2015/16 we received an average of £105.65 a week in rent and service charges per property. This money was spent in the following ways:
Routine Maintenance
£15.18 £22.29
Planned Maintenance £4.26
Property Depreciation Housing Management
£1.56 £17.29
£11.58
Service Costs Mortgage Payments Exceptional Items
£5.92
Bad Debt £7.53
£20.03
Surplus for reinvestment
The exceptional item figure includes some one off costs associated with re-structuring the business plus effects triggered by changes in the accounting rules for housing associations which will not be repeated in future years. CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
21
Actions to Improve Value for Money There were a number of things that improved our ability to offer customers good value this year including: ⌂ Improving how we manage our maintenance services which meant we did less repairs, did them faster and paid less for them. Together this made a saving of more than £100,000 and meant that customers had most repairs done within 8.5 days ⌂ Improving how we manage our void property work resulting in a 30% improvement in the speed of letting and the cost of works. Together this made a saving of more than £40,000 ⌂ Improving our rent collection for shared ownership and leasehold arrears resulting in increased income in excess of £22,000. ⌂ Improving the speed with which we pay invoices to suppliers ⌂ Board Members now manage meeting papers electronically, increasing efficiency and reducing postage/paper costs ⌂ We moved to more flexible office space and now share our space with others to increase efficiency. We also use a new electronic document management system which has reduced the cost of floor space used to house paper, worth around £40,000 per annum Some areas worsened or failed to improve sufficiently during the year, in particular: ⌂ Our arrears for general needs customers increased by 0.55% ⌂ We lost more time to staff sickness (an average of 2.8 days more per staff member) primarily due to a small number of long term absences which was expensive in both staff cover and disruption ⌂ Our restructuring took longer and was more expensive than we had anticipated Our costs still appear high in some areas compared to our peers, particularly our central overhead costs – things like finance, management and information technology. We are working with Housemark and the Smaller Providers Benchmarking Group to understand these differences and have plans in place to reduce our costs over the next two years. In addition, we are reviewing our charges for non social housing work to ensure that all parts of our business cover their core costs.
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
22
Customer Service and Collaboration Learning from Complaints We received 79 formal complaints about our services during the year and this was similar to previous years. We significantly improved our speed of response to customers, with 94% of complaints responded to within 10 days compared to 66% in the previous year. We focused on helping customers quickly and effectively when they had a complaint. We were really pleased that many more complaints were resolved at the first stage – up from 74% to 90%.
“Thank you very much for your very customer focussed & prompt reply”
We focus on learning from the complaints that we receive. Specific areas of learning this year included understanding the need to listen more carefully to every element of the customer’s concerns and to respond to these specifically rather than taking anything for granted. We have also changed some of our processes – such as our consultation process for major works where we identified that, whilst we might address the purely physical needs of the properties during cyclical works, we sometimes missed small but important issues that customers felt strongly about locally.
Collaboration Customer Feedback Forum Our new Customer Feedback Forum has now met several times and is proving very productive. Led by Theresa Lyons, Chair of Senacre Housing Co-op and a member of the CDS Board, the Forum has been set up to identify opportunities for service improvements. The Forum has been reviewing the information that we make available to our customers to ensure that it is useful and to identify where we can improve our communication tools. It has also been working to understand the results from our Customer Survey so that we can develop a mandate for action in the coming year. Theresa Lyons said “It is great that we can meet the residents and find out what they need in their local area. They have already put forward some great ideas for improvements. We look forward to continuing this work in the coming year.” CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
23
Enabling our Tenants We are working with residents at Phoenix in Dartford to help them create a Tenant Management Co-op on their estate to give them more control of their housing at a local level.
Estate Inspections During the year we published the dates of our regular estate inspections in advance to provide residents with an opportunity to meet with staff responsible for their estate on a regular basis to feed back about any issues such as cleaning and gardening standards. However, this year we are reviewing our estate inspection process looking at ways in which we can deliver them in a more cost effective and efficient way. This may involve training residents to undertake these inspections on our behalf.
Joining our Board The Board has agreed to reserve one co-opted Board place for a tenant or leaseholder who has the necessary skills to help us run the business. See page 5 for more information.
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
24
SHARE Scheme
WITH
During the year we launched our SHARE scheme – a membership card for tenants and leaseholders – and a basis from which we hope to build loyalty and opportunities for collaboration. If you haven’t yet registered, you can do so by sending your details by email to share@cds.coop or telephone our Customer Service Centre on 03333 21 30 30.
Membership No: 00001
Equality & Diversity In 2015, we adopted a new equality and diversity strategy and updated our equality and diversity policy in light of this. Our strategy is centred on the Chartered Institute of Housing’s charter is available here http://www.cih.org/resources/policy/equalityanddiversitycharter.pdf One of our first tasks was to update the information we hold about our customers so that we better understand the diverse needs of our residents – and also so that we could help those affected by imminent welfare changes. We found that a significant number of our residents reporting a disability in their household that affects their daily life in some way – which was an unexpected result. Since then, our Customer Feedback Forum has agreed a programme of activity to respond to this including raising awareness, training for staff and contractors, and linking up with a disability organisation to provide meaningful assistance to residents with disabilities.
Our Annual Report If you would like a copy of this report sent to you in large print, audio or in another language please call our Customer Services Centre on 03333 21 30 30 or email talktous@cds.coop. We welcome your feedback on this annual report or any aspect of our service. Please send your comments to jane.cameron@cds.coop.
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
25
CDS Co-operatives 7-14 Great Dover Street London SE1 4YR 020 3096 7730 www.cds.coop talktous@cds.coop
CDS Co-operatives – Annual report 2016
26