Tenants Annual Report 2014/2015 Writ ten by residents, for resident s
➤ The X-tra Factor Team I am delighted that once again our tenants have produced this Annual Report, written by residents, for residents. Involving customers in helping to shape services and how to respond to changing needs has always been very important in everything New Charter does. Whilst the group has interests in other areas,
we own a lot of property in Nottingham and across other parts of Greater Manchester, our work in Tameside remains vital to our continuing success. This Annual Report will be a first for the digital age, and heralds new ways of communicating with our customers - I hope you enjoy it.
Ian Munro Group Chief Executive
Our team this year has been:
Navinder
Jade
Michael
If you need help understanding this document, please call us on 0161 331 2000 and we will arrange for somebody to help you.
02
Sue
➤ Contents ➤ Who lives in our homes?
04
➤ GREAT Facts
05
➤ Value For Money
06
➤ Resident Involvement
07-09
➤ TMT - Scrutiny Panel
10
➤ Social Enterprise
11
➤ Neighbourhood & Communities
12
➤ Anti-Social Behaviour
13
The design concept and theme for this report has been developed by Jade Taylor and the designers, Resource Housing, on behalf of New Charter Homes.
➤ Community Regeneration
14-15
This has been shared with Gedling Homes as part of New Charter Group, reducing costs for both organisations
➤ Allocations
16-17
➤ Welfare Reform
18
➤ Repairs & Investment
19
➤ Complaints and Customer Experience
20
➤ Organisational Development
21
➤ Performance
22
➤ STAR Survey Results
23
➤ Governance
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3.97%
16-24 year olds
45-64 year olds Disabled
Gay, lesbian or bisexual
25-44 year olds
13.50%
1.73%
22.35%
25.53%
22.95%
Religion other than Christian
Black, Minority & Ethnic
65+
47.82%
15.67%
0.01%
Female
52.17%
Under 16s
Male
Transgender
➤ Who lives in our homes?
0.64%
2.17%
This information is linked to the profiling information gathered from new tenants and is based on what tenants have declared to us.
Percentages from a total of 30522 residents.
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If you would like any further information on our customer profile please contact: Greg Suligowski, Head of Customer Experience, Quality and Insight at: greg.suligowski@newcharter.co.uk
➤ GREAT Facts For 2014/15 - our key financial figures:
Turnover
Rental income
£70.095m
£66.650m
Repairs & Investment cost
£23.662m
Borrowing/Loans
£326.550m
Number of properties New Charter own or manage
15093 Engagement
Awards/Accreditation
(as of 30th September 2014)
Sunday Times Best Companies (8th Place) Number 1 Landlord in the UK 24 Housing Magazine Contact Centre of the year plus 2 x North West Contact Centre of the year
Number of employees
955
Overall customer satisfaction
89%
Targets
National award from Business in the communities for building stronger communities HQN (Housing Quality Network) estate management accreditation HQN relets accreditation
Our key Corporate plan objectives remain to: Inspire people to achieve their aspirations through a choice of homes, employment, and health and wellbeing opportunities Achieve five-star status across all the neighbourhoods where we operate Provide efficient and cost effective services that demonstrate social impact and value Develop the independent living service for older people 05
➤ Value For Money Value for money is about getting the best possible service for our customers from the resources we have available. Delivery of excellent services will be achieved by considering the balance between cost and quality. Money coming into New Charter comes predominantly from rents and through contracts completed by the New Charter Building Company.
New development
23p
17p
Employee costs
Major 13p repairs i.e. investment prog
Interest & finance charges
21p
15p
Overheads
1p Neighbourhoods & environmental
10p Responsive, voids & cyclical repairs
Source: New Charter Value for Money Self-assessment 2014
If you would like more information about Value for Money, please contact Matthew Selby, Head of Risk and Assurance at: matthew.selby@newcharter.co.uk
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➤ Resident Involvement The Resident Involvement Strategy has been re-written this year to adopt a 5 year strategy in line with the Corporate plan. It is ambitious and aims to get more people actively involved at New Charter by offering further individual and group opportunities.
Resident Involvement Team
The strategy will be monitored by the Tenants Panel and the Resident Involvement team.
Tenants Panel
Tenants Training
Tenants Panel
Tenants Training
The Tenants Panel have continued to monitor Resident Involvement across the organisation as well as monitoring the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) consumer standards from a resident perspective.
Free courses being offered to tenants increased this year and we have employed a new trainer to concentrate on improving confidence building and ability. During 2014/15 we have trained over 340 residents on a variety of topics, helping them to improve their skills and to get them ‘job ready.’
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➤ Resident Involvement
Involved Residents
Resident Associations The work of formal resident groups has improved this year with groups actively assisting in improving their neighbourhoods and contributing to the star ratings of the neighbourhoods plans. As of March 2015 we had 34 active Residents Associations and 14 Forum groups. 18 of our neighbourhoods, mainly Resident Associations, entered the RHS In Bloom competition this year, supported by our Resident Involvement, Regeneration and Green Charter teams.
Independent Solutions Panel The work of the multi landlord ITS panel has grown this year. The group acts independently for residents who have exhausted the complaints procedure and are still in dispute with their landlord; a total of 13 complaints were heard by the panel, making recommendations to the landlords concerned.
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‘GREAT’ Value for Money Conference
‘GREAT’ value for money customer conference In June 2014 we held our first customer conference in Buxton, followed by a second event in March 2015 where residents from New Charter Homes, Gedling Homes, Aksa Homes and Threshold attended to give their views on improving value for money and prioritising services.
Tenants Awards - External Awards The X-tra factor panel and Dave Pinnock from the Little Hedgehogs club in Audenshaw were finalists at the Northern Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) awards for ‘Excellence in Tenant Annual Reports’ and ‘Excellence in Youth Involvement’. In 2014, we also won the ‘Excellence in Tenant Led Scrutiny’ Northern final.
➤ Resident Involvement Internal awards Tenant achievements were celebrated in style again in 2014 with a dinner event at the Village hotel to recognise residents who had made a difference in their communities, by contributing to their neighbourhood or by taking a stand against anti-social behaviour. Winners for making a difference in their communities were:
Hunters Court Resident Involvement awards Audrey White, Christine Gethins, Tony Rider, Green Charter monitors, TMT, Tenants Panel, Pembroke Court, The Independent Tenant Solutions Panel.
S.T.A.R. Winners Together we can Millbrook Residents Association and Smallshaw Tenants & Residents Association (S.T.A.R.)
The work of formal resident groups has improved this year with groups actively assisting in improving their neighbourhoods
Volunteers of the year Maureen Higgins, Donald Hindley & Jean Wareham Young Volunteer of the year Conor Gibbons Green Fingers Grange House garden group and Ray & Lynn Harney Neighbourhood Improvement awards Hunters Court & Audenshaw Community Association
If you’d like to know more about Resident Involvement, please contact Sue Cox, Resident Involvement Manager at: sue.cox@newcharter.co.uk
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➤ The Tenant Management Team Scrutiny Panel The past 12 months have seen the team change in both its members and the way they approach scrutinising the services on your behalf. The team now has 9 members all of whom are active in their scrutiny role and aim to improve customer facing services within New Charter. The team has spent part of the year working with a consultant to develop a more rigorous and focussed approach to agreeing priorities for scrutiny from a tenant’s perspective, as well as conducting scrutinies on service charges and the Connect telephone service.
Tenant Management Team Scrutiny panel
In addition they took part in sessions at the Chartered Institute of Housing conference in Manchester and led workshops in London, Nottingham and Warrington where they shared good practice as part of the Tenant Central programme. If you would like to know more about the Tenant Management Team, please visit their website: www.tenantmanagementteam.org.uk or contact Stephen Fanshawe, Resident Development Officer at: stephen.fanshawe@newcharter.co.uk
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➤ Social Enterprise 2nd Generation Furnishings Business since opening. Their work has created a saving of 82,000kgs of furniture and white goods going to landfill, helping the environment and cutting tipping costs for New Charter Homes.
2nd Generation Furnishings Astral House, Stamford Drive, Stalybridge SK15 1QU Opening times: Mon-Fri: 9:30am-4:30pm, Sat: 10:00am-4:00pm
2nd Generation Furnishings is a not for profit, charitable, social enterprise company set up to recycle furniture, clothes and other household items. They aim to help those in financial hardship and give people in Tameside an opportunity to develop their skills by volunteering their time. 2nd Generation Furnishings have expanded this year by opening a new shop in Ashton town centre, creating 7 volunteering posts. The organisation have now helped in excess of 2,200 people turn their house into a home with low cost furniture and white goods and have helped over 1000 tenants with free home starter packs
96 Old Street, Ashton under Lyne, Lancs OL6 7SD Opening times: Mon-Sat 9.30am-2pm (closed Tuesdays) Email: 2ndgenerationfurnishings@gmail.com Telephone: 0161 303 0083 Website: www.2ndgenerationfurnishings.co.uk
If you would like further information on 2nd Generation Furnishings or on volunteering opportunities please contact them at: 2ndgenerationfurnishings@gmail.com
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➤ Neighbourhood and Communities The first tree survey has now been completed and will result in a planned maintenance programme rather than a reactive response, on our communal and highway trees. The team also continue to work closely with the resident monitors to see how they can improve the service. Neighbourhood bus tours
Neighbourhood Plans New Charter Homes have 32 neighbourhoods, each with its own plan to improve the area over 3 years. Each neighbourhood is ranked from 3 to 5 star. Having started in 2013 with 8 three star neighbourhoods, this figure has now been reduced to only 2 due to hard work and dedication from both residents and staff. We are in the final year of the current plans and already 90% of the interventions have been completed.
Green Charter The gardening competition in 2014 was a great success with an increased number of entries and new categories for 2015. Green Charter has supported residents in several ‘In Bloom’ events and have donated hanging baskets and bedding troughs to the Independent Living Schemes. The low cost gardening service is proving valuable to residents who need help at an affordable price. Over 120 customers took advantage of the service and when surveyed, 100% were satisfied.
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CleanCare CleanCare continue to respond to the challenge of keeping our communities clean and tidy, working with colleagues across the Neighbourhood team. They have developed a very successful recycling system at Cavendish Mill with the assistance of Greater Manchester waste. This is planned to be rolled out at other high rise blocks over the next 12 months. It is estimated this will save around £10,000 a year.
Independent Living Services Managing our Independent Living Services has been a challenge since October 2014 due to the removal of the Supporting People Grant subsidy of £350,000. The resulting restructure has introduced Activity Co-Ordinators to improve on social activities in the schemes improving health & wellbeing and reducing social isolation.
If you would like to know more about Neighbourhood Team, please contact Emma Wilson, Director of Communities at: emma.wilson@newcharter.co.uk
➤ Anti-Social Behaviour Action to reduce crime and ASB continues making our communities safer and stronger places to live as well as enhancing our neighbourhoods. The Neighbourhood Enforcement team are now part of the wider Neighbourhood team, and officers meet regularly with relevant Neighbourhood Co-Ordinators to discuss cases. This provides the opportunity to share knowledge of any general ASB or crime issues that are a cause for concern and need to be resolved with a more holistic approach. This has helped reduce the number of open cases managed by the Neighbourhood team to 73 during the year.
Positive Behaviour Officers continue to work with clients with complex needs to reduce ASB and ensure people with drug/alcohol and mental health issues can retain their tenancies. New Charter’s Neighbourhood Enforcement team is one of only two Registered Providers in Greater Manchester and there are only a few nationally; who have been devolved the power of the Community Protection Notice by the Local Authority. This new power under the new legislation will enable us to tackle lots of issues swiftly and effectively i.e. dog control, untidy gardens, noise, litter and of course ASB. We have issued 10 warning letters and 4 notices to date.
Satisfaction with the Service provided Percentage of respondents very or fairly satisfied with the way their ASB complaint was dealt with 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 The Neighbourhood Enforcement Team This year the Neighbourhood Enforcement Team were awarded ‘Team of the Year’ by the Social Landlords Crime and Nuisance Group (SLCNG), a prestigious national award, for activity in reducing crime and ASB through innovative measures. Restorative justice in our communities goes from strength to strength with ASB and disputes being resolved successfully and for the long term. Case referrals are now in excess of 250 and victim satisfaction rate is 100%.
100%
83% 92% 90% 90% 95%
Percentage of respondents very or fairly satisfied with the outcome of their ASB complaint 10/11
74%
11/12
12/13
13/14
14/15
91% 88% 89% 92%
If you would like to know more about the Neighbourhood Enforcement team, please contact Alan Kibble, Neighbourhood Enforcement Manager at: alan.kibble@newcharter.co.uk
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➤ Community Regeneration
Work Club
Cook & Eat Session
Great Opportunities Our ‘Great Opportunities’ programme helps tackle local unemployment by providing opportunities to develop skills and build confidence. This is done by training, education and volunteering. We run 10 workclubs across the borough, operating from our local Neighbourhood Hubs. These are supported by Job Centre Plus and other partners, and now involve use of a new web based job search and training package, ‘My Work Search’ which assists residents to maximise their access to vacancies and avoid benefit sanctions. From our programme, we have helped 240 people during the last year, put 109 people into work, and given training to 685 people, along with providing work experience for 127 people.
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Health Session
Cook & Eat Session
Health and wellbeing We have developed networks with a wide range of partners and begun to understand where Housing fits within the broad Health and Wellbeing agenda and how we can influence future decisions. We have aided 133 health checks across the neighbourhood, from which we referred 35 people for further necessary checks. Along with this, over 1000 young people were given health advice at youth and healthy living sessions.
➤ Community Regeneration We also provided opportunities to take part in externally funded healthy eating courses, which 132 adults completed; 52 of these were new tenants. The Great Sports programme has had 11,877 young people attend their physical activity sessions over this year and as a result, 100 14-50 year olds are now actively volunteering on this programme.
Over 1000 young people were given health advice at youth and healthy living sessions
Timebanking
Youth team Over the last year, the youth team delivered 380 sessions which engaged over 1000 young people. The aims of these provisions are to engage our younger communities, which is giving them a focus via alternative activities, keeping them off the Youth streets and reducing ASB. Awards Our work includes the use of one-to-one sessions helping young people with a variety of issues, including health and wellbeing. Along with the ‘Great Opportunities’ programme, we help and encourage young people to apply for jobs and look for opportunities. We have helped with application forms and to prepare them for interviews. The youth awards evening at New Charter Academy was very well received by both young people and staff and received press coverage highlighting the work of the Youth team and achievements of the young people.
We continued to work in partnership with Community Voluntary Action Tameside (CVAT) on the Timebanking programme, an informal swap volunteering scheme. This year the areas of concentration were re-defined to match the Neighbourhood priorities and the scheme has assisted 10 people into sustained employment.
Manchester United Foundation Hub Partnership working has continued this year with the Manchester United initiative at New Charter Academy. This engages over 500 young people from the Academy and local feeder schools. The aim is to inspire, engage, and motivate learners to achieve their full potential in learning, leading, and participating in various projects - not just sport. Projects include the ‘Something to Chew’ initiative, a 10 week programme educating primary school children on being healthy.
Child Sexual Exploitation Following the great work in schools in 2013-14, we now work in partnership with TMBC Local Children’s Safeguarding Board and Greater Manchester Police, as part of their Phoenix project, to provide resources to schools to help address this issue.
If you would like more information about Regeneration, please contact Adele Robinson, Regeneration Manager at: adele.robinson@newcharter.co.uk
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➤ Allocations New Charter Homes is the first housing association in the country to receive a new national accreditation from Housing Quality Network (HQN) for the way we let our homes, which we will keep for three years. As part of the accreditation, assessors carried out a four-day assessment of services which looked at allocations, voids, value for money and performance management. It also reviewed health and safety, partnership working and system reviews.
Empty homes
HQN relets accreditation
The number of empty homes has steadily decreased this year and we have beaten our year end target.
2014/2015 Empty Homes
170
191
186
157
159
167
150
136
137
133
125
134
Apr 2014
May 2014
Jun 2014
July 2014
Aug 2014
Sep 2014
Oct 2014
Nov 2014
Dec 2014
Jan 2015
Feb 2015
Mar 2015
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2014/2015 Housing Applications received
262 262 305 351 340 340 342 304 214 469 376
419
Apr 2014
Mar 2015
May 2014
Jun 2014
July 2014
Aug 2014
Sep 2014
Oct 2014
Nov 2014
Dec 2014
Jan 2015
Feb 2015
Affordable rents
Homeswapper
In 2011, New Charter Homes entered into a contract with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) which included a commitment to convert 624 homes to affordable rents by April 2015. We achieved this target.
949 New Charter tenants found a new home using the Homeswapper service. This is a free mutual exchange register between registered providers which gives tenants a more flexible way to move than the traditional transfer.
The number of empty homes has steadily decreased this year and we have beaten our year end target
If you would like more information about Relets, please visit our website www.newcharter.co.uk, visit one of our Neighbourhood Hubs or call Janet O’Connor, Empty Homes Quality and Performance Manager at: janet.oconnor@newcharter.co.uk
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➤ Welfare Reform Welfare Reform has affected some residents, 545 undertook benefit advice and 474 asked for debt advice. The proposed Benefit Cap reduction and the roll out of the Universal Credit are the two main areas of concern to both residents and to New Charter Homes. There are also further proposals for the future, including no automatic entitlement to help with housing costs for 18-21 year olds, a 7 day waiting period for new claimants of Universal Credit and a freeze on working age benefits for 4 years. If you have difficulties with Welfare Reform then New Charter Homes can offer advice on debt, benefits, available financial products, affordable warmth with specialist teams for Great Opportunities and digital inclusion.
Illegal Money Lenders New Charter continue to publicise the possible harmful effects of using illegal money lenders often referred to as loan sharks. These unlicensed money lenders often prey on the most vulnerable and ‘in need’ residents who feel they have no other choice for borrowing money. If you know of any loan shark activity in your neighbourhood, please report it confidentially to the Illegal money lending team on 0300 555 222 or text LOAN SHARK and your details to 60003 or email reportaloanshark@stoploansharks.gov.uk Remember if you have borrowed from an illegal money lender, you haven’t committed a crime.
My Home Finance fair loans My Home Finance is an alternative lender offering fair loans to tenants and leaseholders. 18
This organisation has been developed by the National Housing Federation in partnership with housing providers. If you are looking for a loan, budgeting advice and help with bank accounts call ‘My Home Finance’ on 0845 519 7237, call into any of our Hubs or visit www.myhomefinance.org.uk
Smarterbuys Store This is an alternative to high street stores selling household goods. The aim of the Smarterbuys Store is to give tenants access to the goods that you need, including televisions, cookers, fridge-freezers, bedroom and living room furniture, without having to worry about high cost borrowing options. Payments for items are made weekly over 104 weeks, and you can pay over the phone. For further information, please call into any of our Hubs or visit www.smarterbuys.org.uk/home www.gm.sbstore.org/home or call: 0300 500 0975 In January 2015 we issued a booklet called ‘My Money, My Choice’ to every household to make people aware of the financial services tenants have access to that may help money go a bit further. It’s now available on our website.
If you would like more information about Revenues, please contact Julie Vickers, Director of Business Support at: julie.vickers@newcharter.co.uk
➤ Repairs & Investment 53842 repairs were carried out over this past year, 99.89% of which were completed on target, improving customer satisfaction. Investment Plan update ➤ Installation of 416 front entrance doors ➤ Installations of new lifts to Kendal House, Stalybridge, and Hunters Court, Dukinfield
New Build
➤ External painting to 2,382 properties ➤ Over 5,000m2 of brick pointing works (approx. 200 properties) ➤ Deck access re-covering and concrete repair to Central Estate, Dukinfield ➤ Complete rewire to Ryefield House independently living scheme, Ashton ➤ Re-siting and re-modelling of the basement area of Cavendish Mill, home to Quest Media, Tameside Radio and the Tameside Reporter and Chronicle.
New Build
New Builds Construction started this year on a further 4 schemes that will eventually create an additional 70 properties.
Solar Panels This year, we have installed solar panels to 2,647 properties. The estimated saving is between £150 and £250 per property per year. The saving varies between properties as the daytime usage of electricity varies from one property to another.
If you would like more information about Repairs & Investment, please contact John Ardern, Director of Property Services at: john.ardern@newcharter.co.uk
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➤ Complaints and Customer Experience Complaints received by New Charter Homes
253
Number that needed more investigation (Stage 2)
7
Number where we hadn’t done the best we could to resolve the problem earlier
65
Most complained about topic
Repairs This year we have been working hard to understand how we can improve our services to reduce complaints. We examine outcomes from every complaint and learn from them. This has allowed us to improve some of our processes to improve customer service. We have been working closely with the Tenants Panel to provide them with themes and trends to aid decisions on what to investigate. This has proved useful, in improving repairs and neighbourhood services. Over the next 12 months, we will be working to reduce the number of complaints we get by ensuring we do as much as we possibly can to resolve dissatisfaction when you first contact us.
Home and Community Hubs The Home and Community Hubs continued to provide a GREAT service and added value to the organisation. They dealt with almost 47,000 20
customers (nearly 4,000 per month) with over 75,000 queries, 95% of these queries being resolved at this first point of contact and have generated an income of over £500,000. Improvements this year mean that staff can now track repairs for residents and weekly drop-in debt surgeries have been introduced with the Money Care team.
Connect statistics The Connect service is our customer contact centre. The service is available 24 hours, 7 days a week and aims to deliver an excellent customer service experience at first point of contact. The team answered 238,700 calls during 2014/15, 91.03% of all calls made. The service is able to help with: ➤ Logging repairs ➤ Arranging gas service appointments ➤ Enquiries about current housing applications ➤ Tenancy issues ➤ Green Charter ➤ Reporting ASB ➤ Paying rent ➤ Accessing NCH switchboard
If you would like more information about Complaints and Customer Insight please contact Greg Suligowski, Head of Customer Experience, Quality & Insight at greg.suligowski@newcharter.co.uk
➤ Organisational Development
Give & Gain Day Apprentices
Apprenticeship Programme New Charter have successfully run an apprenticeship programme for the past 10 years and are actively engaging the local community to promote apprenticeships, including attending career events at local schools and colleges. In 2014 New Charter took on 12 apprentices.
Corporate Social Responsibility This year we have excelled in Corporate Social Responsibility meaning that we have given back to our local communities both financially and by supporting community projects. Some of our highlights included fundraising from staff of over £1581 via our monthly ‘dress down’ days. Using our generous 2 day volunteering opportunity, where each member of staff is entitled to donate their time and skills to local causes. Match funded over £5000 to individual fundraising efforts. We also took part in the Business in the Community (BITC) Responsible Business week, the BITC National ‘Give and Gain day’ and the Tameside Paint It Pink volunteering event.
If you would like more information about Connect or Organisational Transformation, please contact Jane Atherton, Director of Organisational Transformation at: jane.atherton@newcharter.co.uk
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➤ Performance Great Homes
Great People
Average time taken to do any repair
% of calls answered in Connect
Overall satisfaction with repairs
Complaints replied to in time
5.70 days (Target: 6 days) 94.79% (Target: 96%)
91.45% (Target: 95%) 99% (Target: 95%)
Number of repairs completed right first time
99.92% (Target: 99%)
% of appointments kept
100% (Target: 100%)
Corporate Services Rent collection rate
100% (Target: 99%) Rent loss from empty homes
Great Neighbourhoods
1.01% (Target: <1.4%)
Satisfaction with newly let properties
100% (Target: 98%) Average relet time
21.6 days (Target: Below 24 days)
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Above target Within target Below target
➤ STAR Survey Results Each year we carry out a customer survey called STAR (Survey of Tenants and Residents). We do this to check how happy tenants are with services and find out what needs improving.
89%
Overall customer satisfaction
70% of you say repairs and maintenance is important for you. We’ve introduced new technology so that we can offer more appointments to do repairs on our first visit to you
84% Satisfied with your repairs service How likely you are to recommend New Charter to others (A net promoter score of +20 is recommended for a social landlord like us)
+45 Good net promoter score We’ll be working with our Youth team to get more young people involved in our business and communities
24% Younger customers
interested in getting more involved
We recently reviewed our neighbourhood plans and almost 50% of you told us that they’ve made a difference in your communities. We’re using your feedback to guide us on the things we need to do in your neighbourhoods for the last 18 months of the plans
84% Satisfied with your
neighbourhood as a place to live 57% of you say the quality of your home is important to you. We’re continuing to put money into your homes to make them good quality for you. We’re listening to your feedback on the works we do on your homes to keep improving our services
87% Satisfied with the quality of your home 23
â&#x17E;¤ Governance Tenant Board members at New Charter Homes Limited.
Lez Barstow
Helen Garnett-Wren
Tammy Williams
If you would like more information about becoming a Tenant Director, please contact Laura Douthwaite, Assistant Company Secretary at: laura.douthwaite@newcharter.co.uk