Our Annual Report 2022/23
The Regulator of Social Housing’s Home Standard says it expects us to provide you with a good quality home and to offer value for money with our repairs and maintenance service.
Repairs and Maintenance
This year, we have:
Spent £5.7 million on work to improve your homes, including replacing:
- 138 kitchens
- 132 bathrooms
- 196 boilers
- 57 electric heating and hot water upgrades
- 154 windows and doors
- 28 external doors
- Reroofed one block of 36 properties
How are we doing?
|
Type of repair |
Our target |
Our result |
|---|---|---|
|
Day-to-day repairs completed on time |
90% |
96% |
|
Day-to-day repair appointments kept |
95% |
97% |
|
Heating repairs completed on time |
98% |
98% |
|
Heating repair appointments kept |
98% |
98% |
|
Properties with a valid Landlord Gas Safety Record |
100% |
99% |
|
Properties with a valid Electrical Certificate |
100% |
96% |
|
Properties which are asbestos compliant |
100% |
100% |
|
Lift services completed on communal lifts |
100% |
100% |
|
Blocks with a valid fire risk assessment |
100% |
98% |
|
Blocks with a valid water safety risk assessment |
100% |
100% |
Where we need to improve
Unfortunately we did not meet our target for all properties to have a gas safety check and certificate by 31st March 2023. However, this was partly due to no access to some properties and the changeover of the gas contract from Gas Call to Swale on 1st April. We are working with Swale Heating to ensure these are completed as a priority. When we contact you to say we need to carry out your annual gas safety check, please help us to keep you safe by allowing us access to complete the check.
At the end of March, only two properties were without a valid electrical certificate and three fire risk assessments were outstanding. These were all completed by the second week of April.
Tenancy
The Regulator of Social Housing’s Tenancy Standard says it expects us to let our homes fairly, transparently, and efficiently.
This year, we have:
- Re-let 175 homes
- Reduced the current tenant rent arrears owed to the council by more than £135,000 between September 2022 and March 2023.
How are we doing?
|
Rental information |
Our target |
Our result |
|---|---|---|
|
Average re-let time |
25 days |
25 days |
|
Rent collected as a percentage of rent owed |
98% |
98.94% |
|
Current tenant rent arrears |
2.3% |
2.11% |
Where we need to improve
Although we met our targets in this area, the time taken to re-let empty homes increased towards the end of the year. This was partly caused by an increase in the number of re-lets and partly by a change in management at Mears. We are working with all teams and contractors involved in the re-letting process to speed things up.
It’s important that we re-let homes as quickly as possible, both because of the large number of people waiting for a council home and to reduce the amount of rent the council loses while homes are empty. If you are moving out of your home, please help us by making sure it is in a good state of repair before you move, otherwise we may have to recharge you for some tenant responsibility repairs!
We met our target for current tenant rent arrears, but we realise many residents are struggling with money due to the cost-of-living crisis. We know nobody wants to be behind with their rent and we want to give all the advice and support we can. If you’re struggling to keep up with your rent payments, please contact us – the quicker we know about it, the quicker we can help you.
Neighbourhood and Community
The Regulator of Social Housing’s Neighbourhood and Community Standard says it expects us to keep your estates and communal areas clean and safe, as well as working with others to promote wellbeing and deal with anti-social behaviour.
This year, we have:
- Investigated 106 anti-social behaviour cases
Completed 225 wellbeing plans with tenants in our independent living (sheltered housing) schemes
How are we doing?
|
Neighbourhood and Community Satisfaction |
Our target |
Our result |
|---|---|---|
|
Satisfaction with anti-social behaviour case handling |
75% |
40% |
|
Satisfaction with anti-social behaviour case outcome |
75% |
40% |
Where we need to improve
Tenant satisfaction is hugely important to us, and we very much value your views. If you haven’t yet completed this year’s tenant survey, there’s still time. Call us on 01303 853270 and we’ll be happy to fill it in over the phone with you – it will only take around 10 minutes of your time and we really want to hear what you think about the housing services we provide.
Involvement and Empowerment
The Regulator of Social Housing’s Tenant Involvement and Empowerment Standard says it expects us to give you the information you need, set out a clear approach to dealing with complaints and give you a wide range of ways you can get involved and influence the housing service.
This year, we have:
- Held six Strategic Tenant Advisory Panel meetings and six Independent Living Forum meetings
- Sent out two newsletters and two bulletins
- Dealt with 51 complaints
How are we doing?
|
Involvement and Empowerment Satisfaction |
Our target |
Our result |
|---|---|---|
|
Overall satisfaction with the housing service |
N/A |
68% |
|
Residents satisfied the council listens to and acts on their views |
N/A |
49% |
|
Complaints responded to on time |
95% |
97% |
|
Average time to respond to complaints |
10 days |
8 days |
Where we need to improve
We didn’t have targets for satisfaction with the housing service, but we are aiming to improve on last year’s satisfaction rates. We carried out another satisfaction survey earlier this year and we’re currently going through the data. We’ll report the results of this year’s survey and our planned action in the October bulletin. We are also setting up a tenant scrutiny panel to look in detail at how we deal with complaints.