2012-2013 RESIDENT ANNUAL REPORT SUMMARY A warm welcome from the Orbit East Resident Scrutiny Panel On behalf of the Orbit East Resident Scrutiny Panel, we are pleased to present you with the Orbit East 2013 Resident Annual Report summary. This summary gives you information of how Orbit East has delivered against the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) regulatory standards and used resident feedback to improve services for all residents.
panel and other resident groups have worked to help shape positive changes across Orbit East. We hope you find it interesting and if you would like to get involved with the Orbit East Resident Scrutiny Panel, we would love to hear from you. Just contact the Resident Engagement Team for more information.
Resident feedback is really important and the Orbit East Resident Scrutiny Panel works closely with Orbit to review different areas and make suggestions for improvements. In this summary, you’ll see examples of how the
To view the full version of the Orbit East 2013 Resident Annual Report, visit orbiteast.org.uk
Homes and Communities Agency Consumer Standards As a housing association, Orbit East follows national standards by the Government’s Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). Throughout the report we’ll tell you how we’ve measured up in the following areas:
Tenant involvement and empowerment • how we give residents opportunities to influence housing related policies and how our services are delivered • how we involve residents in scrutinising performance • how we manage complaints and improve our services by learning from them.
Homes • how we provide homes that are warm, weatherproof and have modern facilities • how we provide a cost effective repairs service that responds to, meets the needs of and offers choice to residents.
Neighbourhoods and community • how we keep neighbourhoods clean and safe by working with residents and other partners • how we promote social, environmental and economic well-being in the communities where we work • how we work with other partners and agencies to tackle anti-social behaviour.
More information about the HCA’s national standards can be found at homesandcommunities.co.uk/ourwork/standards
Tenancy • how we rent homes in a fair and transparent way and make the best use of available housing • how we meet the aspirations and needs of current and potential residents, contribute to local authorities’ strategic aims and help deliver sustainable communities.
Tenant involvement and empowerment Feedback
Resident focus groups, blogs, online research communities, panels, forums and associations
One of the most important ways for us to improve is to listen to what you tell us. There are a number of ways that we collect your feedback and use it to guide us:
MOT (moment of truth) surveys
Resident Inspectors
Committee and Board membership
STAR survey
RESIDENT
SCRUTINY
Neighbourhood Facebook pages
The Orbit East Scrutiny Panel has had another busy year! Last year they reviewed our gas servicing to help improve our overall approach and ensure we gained access to properties to complete the safety checks.
Complaints
We currently have vacancies, so if you would like to get involved please just contact Orbit’s Resident Engagement Team on 0345 600 2535.
Estate inspections
Local offers
Last year, the Orbit East Resident First (Regional) Panel shared their views in a number of key areas including; the successful Residents’ Fair last September, the Orbit 2020 transformation project and a Government plan to reward residents for completing minor repairs in their home.
68.9%
of residents are satisfied that we take their views into account (down 3.7% from 2012).
86.5%
of residents think that we do a good job of keeping them informed about things that affect them as residents (a decrease of 1% from 2012).
Street and Block Voices
Scrutiny panels
Mystery shopping Community events
Delivering value for money
Getting the best value for money is really important and we constantly look for ways to achieve this in all that we do. Every team at Orbit looks to identify and track savings and then each year, those savings are reinvested into our communities. Through these efforts, last year we saved an additional £535,000 which is being put towards a wide range of community projects.
All of this feedback allows us to continually learn from what we do. It tells us what we do well and where we need to improve, so that we can make positive changes for all residents.
We also had a challenge to see which team could find the best savings and our Planned Works team saved an incredible £351,000 by sourcing outside funding and getting better prices for energy saving improvements and insulation upgrades at Old Foundry in Ipswich.
Homes People who live in Orbit East homes
6% of residents surveyed did not respond
% 3 5
nt s e d i le res fema f o re a
77
W B r hi t e i t is h
%
47% of residents are male
23% Non-White British
26. 2%
of r are eside the ove nts of age r 60
% 9 . 23
nt s de u s i s re ld a of ve to ave ha ey h ility t h is ab d
Types of homes we manage General needs rented
3,149
Homes for older people
600
(includes Private Retirement Leasehold)
Supported housing (all ages) Home owners and leaseholders (not including Private Retirement Leasehold)
333
1,532
Getting homes ready for new residents After residents moved out, we prepared 325 homes to be re-let to new residents who need them. It took us an average of 12.6 days to complete the works to get each home ready for new residents. The Orbit East Resident Scrutiny Panel helped review this area and as a result, we’re now developing checklists for cleaning and labelling for stop taps.
Repairs
13,003 repairs completed
97.26% within target timescales
Gas safety
100%
of Orbit East homes held a current gas safety certificate (as of 31 March 2013).
88%
of residents are satisfied with the overall condition of their home (an increase of 1.4% from 2012).
Neighbourhoods and community Last year in Orbit East and Orbit South...
30
apprentices developed their skills in office administration, construction, sports/fitness and grounds maintenance
840
residents completed training and/or obtained a qualification
In Orbit East last year…
225
anti-social behaviour cases were reported
7
63
written warnings issued, along with 13 verbal warnings
injunctions issued (including 4 injunctions with the power of arrest)
3
5
possession orders issued
Our ‘Resident Led Improvement Budget’ saw us deliver £42,000 towards 17 projects that create cleaner, greener or safer areas. This includes CCTV in Newmarket, a bike shelter in Bury St Edmunds and landscaping at a scheme in Norwich.
Last year, Orbit East inspired 22 residents to reach their goals by offering them a free two-day course on how to improve their lives. Offered in partnership with GOALS UK, the course helped motivate residents in a fun and practical way to make positive changes. It was so successful, we’re offering it again this year and are hoping more residents will take part. Just contact Orbit East’s Community Investment Officer for more details.
cases of mediation
61
early interventions by our Neighbourhoods Team, including one undertaking where we reached an agreement with a resident to stop their nuisance behaviour
Tenancy
677 new tenancies were started last year (including care and supported accommodation) It took us on average 15.2 days to let our general needs properties It took us on average 55.4 days to let our sheltered and very sheltered properties Gross rent arrears Net rent arrears (rent before Housing (rent after Housing Benefit payment) Benefit payment)
4.87% 4.40%
8
3.25% 3.14%
(£689,549)
(£765,297)
(£460,213)
(£546,304)
2011-12
2012-13
2011-12
2012-13
Get involved! Whether you have a little or a lot of spare time, we are always happy to hear from residents who want to get involved in shaping our services. For more information, please contact a member of the Resident Engagement Team on 0345 600 2535.
We’ve been working hard to help you understand the changes that the new Welfare Reforms are bringing. We’ve published regular articles in Your Orbit and sent all residents a copy of our handy ‘Guide to Welfare Reform’ last September. We have also added three new sketch animations to our website to give you a visual way of accessing information so you can check to see if any of the reforms affect you. Go to orbiteast.org.uk and follow the link from our homepage to find out more. 442 Orbit East households were identified by their local authority as being affected by the new Welfare Reforms including 377 of which were being under occupied. We saw 313 residents directly and wrote to all 442 households with further information. We have a specialist Welfare Benefits Advisor who can help guide you if you have any questions about the changes. Contact us on 0345 600 2535 to learn more.