How we perform
This is where you can find information about how well we’re meeting the standards we set for ourselves and that are set for us by regulation and legislation.
Like all housing associations, we’re accountable both to our customers and to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). The regulator sets consumer and economic standards for us to meet and grades us for how well we run the organisation.
A lot of our work is also impacted by the law. So, we make sure we stay on top of any changes and meet any requirements.
Tenant Satisfaction Measures
The RSH introduced Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) to check how well landlords like us provide quality homes and services, from maintaining building safety to responsible neighbourhood management. You can read about the TSMs, our results, and how they’re driving our improvements and priorities on our dedicated TSM page.
Repairs and maintenance
We provide repair and maintenance services to over 11,700 homes. This includes electrical services, plumbing, carpentry, and improvements to kitchens and bathrooms. In the financial year 2023/2024, our trades team and contractors completed over 39,400 planned, responsive, and emergency repairs, of which 88 percent were right first time. They also modernised over 2,300 homes.
New homes
We want to build more great quality new homes by working with a range of local authorities and housebuilders to provide a wide range of housing. In the financial year 2023/2024, we provided 252 new homes for affordable rent, social rent, and shared ownership. Our ambition is to provide 500 new homes a year with our partners as part of our three-year Corporate Strategy. The aim is for 250 of these homes to be delivered alongside for-profit providers. Challenging financial markets led to some development programmes being paused in 2022. As a result, many developers slowed down their building schedules, delaying the completion and handover of affordable homes in 2023.
Lettings
There’s a desperate need for more housing across the country, especially affordable homes. We provide homes for sale, shared ownership and for rent as well as emergency accommodation to prevent homelessness. Most of our property is for rent so to make sure we let homes in the most fair and open way, we base all applications on the relevant local authority’s policy. We let 826 homes in the financial year 2023/2024.
Anti-social behaviour
We know that living happily in your home is about more than the building. Anti-social behaviour can have a big impact on quality of life so we do all we can to minimise this, working with partner agencies to ensure a co-ordinated approach. We take all reports of anti-social behaviour very seriously and we try to make it as easy as possible for you to report anything that affects you, your home, or your community. We had 675 reported cases of anti-social behaviour in the financial year 2023/2024. Out of the cases we closed this year, 453 were resolved at the first stage.
Social investment
We don’t only look after the homes our customers live in, but we also support people by providing welfare benefits advice and signposting to money and debt services. We invest in skills development and help with accessing employment and training through our dedicated team and work with our suppliers to get their help. This includes vocational training courses, such as the Construction Skills Certificate Scheme (CSCS). Over 700 learning opportunities were accessed in the financial year 2023/2024. We also have a scheme that allows our employees to use work time for volunteering in the community. In the financial year 2023/2024, our employees volunteered over 30 days of time. Additionally, we require suppliers to support our community investment work. We expect vendors to carry out services and / or works in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.
Environmental performance
There are lots of legal guidelines about environmental performance that housing associations must meet. But we don’t want to simply stop at fulfilling our legal requirements. We have an Environmental Sustainability Strategy that outlines our actions for 2020-2023, followed by the first phase of a longer thirty-year journey to 2050. Our aims include achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, eliminating unnecessary waste, supporting sustainable communities and a sustainable workplace, and increasing the energy efficiency of our homes. Lots of work has already been done to support these aims, for example in the financial year 2023/2024, we retrofitted poor performing homes to reduce their environmental impact and lower customers' energy costs. In total, 74 percent of our homes now have an Energy Performance Certificate rating of C or above. For more information read our Environmental, Social and Governance Report 2022-2023.
Customer complaints and empowerment
In order to deliver a great customer experience, we welcome all your feedback, both positive and negative. This helps us to know when we get things right and when we need to improve. We have a two-stage complaint process which is compliant with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code. We also provide you with a wide range of opportunities to get involved and influence our services. These include a Customer Review Panel that scrutinises what we do, a scheme for sharing your ideas with us and several feedback groups. The groups cover building safety, repairs and planned maintenance, influencing our policies, and shaping our communications.
