Pic to go here? Annual Report to Tenants 2016

Transcription

1 Pic to go here? New s ch f 23 h eme o ouses at B olme rudh Road, Keswic k Aual Report to Teats 2016 (Jauary - December)

2 Welcome to our latest Aual Report Activities & Achievemets Developig ew homes Housig ad Neighbourhood Services What happeed i 2016? Well, it was oe of our most difficult years i my 26 years with Impact. The year started with us recoverig from the December floods which put early 100 of our teats i temporary accommodatio ad left us with a 6 moth recovery programme which cost 5 millio. I March, we closed a large proportio of our supported housig because the Couty Coucil cut the cotracts- our sigle homeless projects, our wome s refuge, half of our supported schemes for youg people all closed. I the ed, we maaged to relocate quite a few staff but we still lost 17 good staff at the ed of the moth. It was the first year of cuts to rets followig the govermet aoucemet i 2015 of a compulsory cut to all housig associatio rets. This will amout to 5% over 4 years. Whilst you may ot thik that this is a large amout, it is 500,000 of cuts for us to fid, year o year. Eve if teats wated to cotiue to pay the old ret, i order to fud maiteace ad our existig services, it is ot a optio for us. Despite challegig fiacial circumstaces we remai committed to growth ad to providig ew homes to meet local housig eeds. I 2016 we developed 92 ew homes icludig: Our housig maagemet service lets our homes ad works with teats to maage teacy issues ad to provide the support ad opportuities for people to have successful teacies ad a good quality of life. Bramble Court i Brampto, our latest extra care scheme. This provides 38 idepedet livig flats for the over 55 s ad is attached to a vibrat commuity cetre ad café saw cotiuig growth i our eighbourhood ad commuity approach. Durig the year, we developed our i-deal offer, ad through this offer have worked with customers aroud a rage of issues icludig fidig work, maagig welfare reform, improvig computer skills ad improvig health ad well-beig. We have formalised this relatioship with some ew customers through a ideal teacy, lauched i Summer This gives a cotractual teacy coditio requirig the teat to egage with support to get the skills eeded to deal with welfare reform, to get o the path to employmet or to meet other aspiratios or eeds that they have. At the ed of 2016 we had over 20 ew i-deal teats ad a further 100+ teats egagig with the i-deal service.. However, o the plus side, we started discussios with the other local housig associatios to see what efficiecies we ca make by workig more closely together. Those discussios have got to the poit where we are talkig seriously to Ede Housig Associatio about a merger. Ede Housig is smaller tha Impact, workig maily i Perith ad the Ede Valley, but also i Carlisle ad South Lakes. There are a lot of similarities betwee our 2 associatios ad we are cofidet that brigig the 2 together will reduce our costs ad safeguard our local services. If we do decide to go ahead, we will be writig to you all separately to seek your views. 23 ew 2 ad 3 bedroom family homes at Brudholme Road i Keswick Twelve plaig gai properties, 4 for ret ad 8 shared equity. Plaig gai are properties that we have purchased from developers at a discouted price i order to provide affordable homes for local residets withi a ew private developmet. The Whitehave Foyer providig 19 bedspaces ad liked support ad traiig opportuities for youg people i the local area The re-developmet of a supported housig scheme i Carlisle ito four shared flats for youg people. This is our first Platform for life scheme targeted at youg people with low support eeds. Lettigs is a core part of our housig service ad i 2016 most of our lettigs cotiued to be made through the Cumbria Choice Lettigs scheme. With a view to wideig the rage of customers housed ad givig better access to all those people who caot afford to buy, we cotiued to explore other lettigs ad marketig optios such as usig high street estate agets ad buildig our liks with local employers. I additio to the above we also completed the first phase of a major refurbishmet programme of log term hard to let voids ad all 13 properties are ow re-let. Work has started o a secod group of properties ad is due to be completed i the sprig of We ivested i 13 properties which had bee idetified for disposal. These properties were fully refurbished the advertised ad marketed as Fellview Homes through a local estate aget. Fellview Homes has bee set up as a marketig tool i order to reach a broader rage of customers. We hope to expad the use of the Fellview Homes bradig over the comig moths. I m sure that 2017 will be just as evetful as last year! Our Board are always iterested ad ope to questios from our teats. If you would like to ask our Board somethig please our Compay Secretary at Lisaf@impacthousig.org.uk or call ad your questios will be directed to our Board members. Best Wishes Mike Muir- Chief Executive Mark Costello- Board Chair 2 Jue Roster i her ew flat at Bramble Court i IT support sessio tre e C l va the O COMMUNITY HUB Our average days to re-let a property i 2016 was 24 days compared to 22 i I 2016 we lauched a pilot i the Maryport ad Cockermouth areas triallig a more flexible approach to lettigs with oe objective beig to let properties more quickly. Some of the thigs tested iclude varyig the repair works carried out to empty properties, marketig more widely, providig small furiture packages ad developig stroger liks to other service providers. 3

3 Opeig of the ew play area ad games area at the Oval Cetre, Salterbeck Activities ad achievemets i the year icluded: Recommedatios from the Iformed 50 group of teats ivolved with cosultatio o the cotractor code of coduct, for improvig repair appoitmets ad for keepig teats iformed o the progress of repair works. The recommedatios are beig take forward as part of the drawig up of ew repairs ad maiteace cotracts ad developmet of the customer app. The settig up of a group of teat ispectors to check ad feedback o the coditio of void(empty) properties ad to discuss the lettable stadard (the stadard to which void properties are repaired) The settig up of a ew Carlisle Area Rep s group Doublig the umber of teats who are part of the iformed 50 from 15 to 30. Residet Ivolvemet Ivolvig our teats ad residets is critical to providig services that are high quality ad meet our customer s eeds ad aspiratios. The ogoig implemetatio of the Salterbeck Commuity Pla icludig a digital champios project to help local residets build their IT skills, the developmet of health ad sports projects ad reovatio of a play area ad multi games area Durig 2016 we started a review of our residet ivolvemet work with the mai aim of developig a clearer framework for ivolvemet that will build teats ifluece i shapig ad improvig services. Oe of our key orgaisatioal commitmets is to give all teats the opportuity to be ivolved to the degree that they choose. To this ed we cotiued to egage with teats i may differet ways icludig: Visits to teats to give iformatio (e.g. about welfare reform, about the i-deal service), ad gather views ad feedback Three mothly are/scheme walkabouts, some of these with residet represetatives Providig iformatio ad opportuities for feedback via facebook ad our website Telephoe surveys. I additio to the regular surveys carried out we cotacted over 800 teats as part of a customer profilig exercise which icluded askig for feedback o the housig service. Through developig the Iformed 50 model, buildig a group of teats to provide feedback o particular services, issues ad policies. Via formal teat ad residet groups such as i-tara ad the Salterbeck Residets Associatio. 4 i-tara Ret collectio ad Fiacial advice Impact Teats ad Residet s Associatio (itara) is the teat group for the whole of Impact. We meet with Impact staff mothly to look at thigs such as performace, services provided by Impact ad ew policies. I 2016 our achievemets icluded: Our Icome Maagemet team moitors ad maages ret ad other paymets, ad icludes the Moey Matters service which provides support ad advice to teats o fiacial matters. The biggest issue for the team i 2016 was the icreasig pressure o may teat s fiaces caused by welfare reform. Esurig that teats uderstad the welfare chages, have access to ay support required to maage these chages, ad uderstad the importace of maitaiig their ret paymets has bee a priority for the team. Settig up our ow bak accout so we have fiacial idepedece Lookig at how other teats groups operate ad learig from this. This icluded visits to Ede Housig s Scrutiy Pael ad attedig the Cumbria ad North Lacs. Teats Forum A more formal approach to moitorig performace i key service areas (e.g. repairs, ati-social behaviour, ret arrears etc.) Workig to support the developmet of the Iformed 50. This is a group of teats who are willig to commet o a documet, a service or a policy ad feedback to Impact ad itara Settig up a Small Grats Scheme that offers small cash grats to teats i eed of quick fiacial help. Durig the year we supported a teat who had a house fire ad also gave a small grat to a teats daughter to support her hockey playig Icreasig membership with ew members from Carlisle ad Keekle. This cotiues to be a priority ad ew members are always welcome. Residet Void Ispectors ad staff checkig a empty property o Salterbeck Towards the ed of 2016, we looked at our role, the group s membership ad our relatioship with Impact s Board, staff ad other teats groups. This has icluded a decisio to make itara a teats oly group ad to broade teat represetatio o the group to iclude for example stroger represetatio from services such as Livig Well ad youg people. Residets will cotiue to play a part i the local teat ad residet groups such as the Salterbeck Residet s Associatio ad the Carlisle ad East Area group. So a challegig ad busy year. Thak you to all the teats ad residets who have bee part of itara durig the year, as well as members of the Salterbeck Residet s Associatio, The Carlisle Area Rep s Group ad the Iformed 50 Ala Markbride - Chair itara Durig 2016: 734,282 was gaied for teats through use of the Moey Matters service - 185,000 more tha i Approximately 44,000 of this gai was achieved through successful Discretioary Housig Paymet awards. These paymets, made by local coucils, have assisted people affected by welfare reforms such as the bedroom tax, the beefits cap ad uiversal credit. 656 teats were supported by the Moey Matters service i Despite welfare reform the level of curret arrears remaied roughly similar ( 1.65% i 2016 compared to 1.64% i 2015). Arrears levels for our former teats icreased over the course of the year by approximately 6,000 to 147,000. The umber of evictios due to ret arrears also icreased i i total compared with 5 i We cotiue to offer advice ad support with further welfare reforms as they are rolled out, icludig the itroductio of the Uiversal Credit full service i Allerdale, Copelad ad Lacaster. I the full service areas more people move to uiversal credit ad all claims are made ad maaged o lie. Approximately 130 teats were claimig Uiversal Credit by December 2016 compared to 45 at the ed of The Moey Matters service was also selected by Allerdale Borough Coucil, alog with the Citizes Advice Bureau, to offer budgetig support to Uiversal Credit recipiets o behalf of the Departmet of Work ad Pesios. If you are movig to uiversal credit, or dealig with aother welfare reform chage, it is very importat to talk to us. We ca esure that ay advice ad support eeded is provided ad that the best outcome is achieved. 5

4 Supportig people ad commuities Our Support ad Commuities team provide a wide rage of services, activities ad commuity busiesses to ehace the opportuities available to our teats ad the wider commuities i which we work. As well as the provisio of affordable, good quality furiture, the service has a focus o assistig people ito work, improvig health ad well-beig ad providig local commuity activities ad services. Commuity Hub s ad customer service I 2014 we re-modelled our offices ad Foyers as commuity hubs desiged to give local access to a rage of services. Durig 2016 over 1000 people per moth came through our doors to access these services. Our customer service staff are based i the hubs ad are a key poit of cotact for services provided by Impact ad by other agecies. To help give better access to our services ad work more efficietly we have developed our Customer App. This is a free mobile applicatio available for all customers to dowload ad istall oto their smartphoe or tablet. The app allows customers to pay their ret, check their ret balace, report ad track their repairs ad egage with our Facebook page. The Oval Cetre The Oval Cetre Commuity Hub o Salterbeck goes from stregth to stregth cotiuig to egage voluteers ad gai ew busiess. The Oval Cetre gym iducted over 140 ew customers i 2016 from the ages of The cetre has see icreased childre & paret activity groups alog with improved ope play areas, playparks ad groups to help tackle social isolatio. The cetre cotiues to provide a rage of social activities for the local commuity as well as beig a key facility for the provisio of IT skills traiig ad support ad traiig to assist people ito work will see the Oval Cetre Gardes & Maiteace team expad takig ew cotracts i the Allerdale area. A focus o improvig health ad wellbeig i the local commuity will be a priority. Through all our activities we aim to provide local job ad traiig opportuities. I 2016 we provided a umber of moder appreticeships providig opportuities for local youg people. Two Moder Appretices workig i our Customer Service team moved ito further work durig the year. Impact Furiture Stores (IFS) Oe of our mai commuity busiesses is the provisio of affordable furiture. We have 4 IFS stores across Cumbria, offerig low cost, good quality doated furiture ad white goods. Our aim is to help people, icludig our teats, to furish their homes sufficietly ad affordably. Through the stores we offer voluteerig ad work experiece opportuities. I 2016 we supported 44 voluteers some of whom wet o to gai employmet. The furiture stores also make a importat cotributio to the eviromet. I toes of furiture was saved from ladfill ad 30,000 items of furiture ad electrical equipmet were reused. If you would like to assist this valuable project by voluteerig your time to lear ew skills, or share your curret skills ad meet ew people, please do t hesitate to cotact us. Supported Housig Our supported housig service, Positive Impact, works with residets who have additioal support ad care eeds. The service aims to eable residets to live as idepedetly ad successfully as possible, icludig workig with residets i temporary accommodatio to move ito their ow permaet homes. The Positive Impact Service provides housig with support to people with a wide rage of support eeds throughout Cumbria, icludig youg people ad those who are homeless. I 2016 we achieved: 133 youg ad sigle homeless people supported i % took part i positive ad meaigful activity 78% improved their fiacial awareess ad skills The service icludes: Residets at the ew Whitehave Foyer Impact s specialist Domestic Abuse support service Let Go. I 2016 our traied staff worked with 870 cliets ad 69% of these said they felt safer ad ejoyed a better quality of life as a result of the service. Livig Well schemes that offer sheltered ad extra care accommodatio for those over 55.These schemes have a rage of services to help people live well i later life. I 2016 we opeed our third Extra Care Scheme at Bramble Court i Brampto, providig a further 38 uits of high quality accommodatio with care ad support. Complaits The followig table details complaits received i 2016 ad the results of these complaits Number received at 1st poit of cotact at 1st stage at 2d stage at 3rd stage Complait result Upheld Complait result Not upheld Customer service 13 Quality of Repair 12 Gas Servicig 10 Coditio of the Property 10 Quality of Service 8 Other 7 Reportig a repair 3 Gardeig /Grouds Maiteace 2 Damage to possessios 2 Cyclical Decoratio 1 Access to Services 1 Delay 1 Total 70 Some of the improvemets we have made as a result of complaits received: Traied cotractors o the correct process to follow with the Out of Hours Call Care Services. Improved commuicatio betwee our frot lie staff ad the Ladscapig Team to esure jobs are effectively captured ad carried out. Stregtheed our complait maagemet processes so that oe member of staff deals with a complait reducig the chace of misuderstadigs ad icreasig complaiat satisfactio. Itroduced a visual progress chart to esure we effectively progress works to those properties with complex problems. Highlight cotractor performace at all cotractor meetigs ad closely moitor to raise stadards.

5 Repairig ad maitaiig our homes Makig a differece Keepig our homes i good repair ad to moder stadards is a vital part of the services we provide. At Impact we have always bee more tha a ladlord ad we provide may wrap aroud services that help people i may differet areas of their lives. Plaed/Cyclical maiteace The followig are the stories of some of the people we worked with durig We have a aual plaed maiteace programme to reew ad upgrade homes. This is supplemeted by the replacemet of large items through void ad resposive works. I 2016 we replaced: 55 cetral heatig boilers, providig ew eergy efficiet boilers 22 full heatig systems 5 kitches 11 bathrooms coverted to we floor showers Widows to 10 homes 8 stair lifts istalled I additio to the above we carried out cyclical works icludig gas servicig ad testig i all properties with gas appliaces, electrical ispectios, ad exteral paitig works. At the ed of 2016 all properties with gas appliaces had bee checked/tested i the year ad 100% had a curret safety certificate. Resposive Repairs I 2016 we carried out a total of 7939 resposive repairs, compared to 8647 i Of these 98.3% were completed o time. Teats satisfied with repairs i the year was 94.56%. This was lower tha the previous year (97.8% i 2015) ad we will be workig with our curret ad icomig cotractors to improve this. Deise s story Rechargeable Repairs Some repairs are caused by teat damage ad recharged to the teat. I 2016 we chaged our approach to these repairs icludig: Requirig the cost of most repairs caused by teat damage to be paid before the repair is carried out by us. Settig fixed costs for the most commo repairs so that the cost to be charged ca be provided at the outset. Ivestmet Pla I 2016 we updated our Ivestmet Pla ad Strategy settig out how we pla to maitai ad ivest i our stock. This pla is available o request. Repairs ad Maiteace expediture (2016) ad budget (2017) Providig value for moey I April 2016 we exteded our resposive ad voids maiteace cotracts for a further year o the same cotract rates or lower. I preparatio for re-tederig these cotracts i 2017 we have cosulted with i-tara ad the iformed 50 group of teats to fid out what is importat to our teats ad how we ca improve service delivery o repairs ad maiteace. This work has bee icluded i our ew cotract specificatio. 8 Sped i 2016 Budget for 2017 Resposive repairs 1,249,902 1,205,000 Plaed/cyclical works 1,422,018 1,795, , ,000 3,611,767 3,700,000 Void repairs Total Deise was made redudat from her sewig machiist job i Ja 2016 ad came i to the Carlisle hub to speak about claimig housig beefit for a joit teacy she shared with her sister. Deise was upset ad cofused ad struggled to accept that her icome would be so little. A referral was made to Moey Matters who sat with Deise ad worked out a budget. The team also helped her to make a claim for Persoal Idepedece Paymet (PIP) as it was clear that Deise was sufferig some health issues. The claim for PIP was successful. While workig with Moey Matters, Deise stated that she would like to move i to her ow property ad followig a discussio with Housig Optios, Deise was show how to bid for properties ad made a successful bid o a oe bedroomed flat. This triggered a further icrease i icome as Deise was ow etitled to claim Severe Disability Premium. Deise admitted that followig her redudacy, she was very dow ad worried costatly about how she would maage. Supportig her through a very difficult time has left Deise much more positive; she uses the I.T. facilities at the hub ad has started voluteerig part time i a local charity shop. She is very grateful for all the assistace she received from Impact. Marc ad Suzae s story Marc ad Suzae were helped as part of their pathways pla with Impact to start persoal traiig sessios. Marc suffers from metal health problems ad Suzae is his parter ad carer. As a result of these sessios both Mark ad Jeifer have started usig the Oval Cetre Gym, as well as cotiuig with their oe to oe sessios ad persoal traiig plas. They have also started slimmig world sessios ad Mark has already lost over a stoe i weight. As a result of the assistace provided Marc feels his metal health has improved greatly. He feels more cofidet ad ow leaves the house whereas i the past he was ofte to self-coscious to do this. Michael s story Michael retured to this coutry after 20 years livig ad workig abroad. Whe he moved ito his ew home i Carlisle he had t maaged to fid work ad decided that this eeded to be his ext step. After discussig with Michael how Impact might help staff worked with him to achieve this aim icludig creatig a ew CV, assistace to atted a Costructio Skills course at a local college ad usig the Worksearch programme to look for local jobs. A problem Michael had was that he had o iteret access so via the digital offer Impact provided him with a tablet device with free access to the iteret. The great ews is that with this support Michael foud a costructio job i the area ad has ow had settled employmet for a umber of moths. Although Michael s mai eed has bee met he cotiues to keep cotact with the service ad is workig to improve his IT skills. 9

6 Performace Value for Moey It is importat to provide homes ad services that are efficiet ad effective. To achieve this i 2016 we: Cotiued with our programme of service reviews to improve our systems, processes ad outcomes for our teats. Exceeded our efficiecy savigs target by 11%. Our target for cost savigs i the 2016 budget was 745,000 ad we achieved 828,000. Amogst other thigs cost savigs were achieved o salaries, staff ad office overheads ad traiig ad developmet costs. We are also reduced our fudig for the i-deal service, focusig o stroger partership workig ad exteral fudig. Lauched a ew busiess pla for our Furiture Services with a strog focus o the provisio of voluteerig opportuities ad work placemets to support teats ito employmet. We restructured the furiture services reducig the umber of stores from 6 to 4 ad puttig i place a ew staff structure to build capacity to geerate ew busiess whilst maagig the ruig of the stores as efficietly as possible, Achieved social value savigs worth 1.5 millio with activities such as our voluteerig programme, helpig our teats to access extra icome, ad job clubs. Made effective use of our Asset Register ad Ivestmet Pla to get the most fiacial beefit ad product quality from our housig ad other buildigs. REPAIRS Number of Day to Day Repairs 8,647 7,939 % of Day to Day Repairs completed o time 98.6% 98.3% 95% % of Teats satisfied with Repairs 97.8% 94.56% 84.9% RENT ARREARS Geeral Needs Housig Curret Ret Arrears as a % of retal icome 1.64% 1.65% 2.49% Geeral Needs Housig Former Arrears as a % of retal icome 0.83% 0.99% 0.75% Number of evictios as a result of ret arrears 4 10 N/A ANTI SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR % of ASB cases that were closed ad resolved 93% 86% 67% Teats satisfied with the outcome of their ASB cases 76.8% 90.6% 90.3% Average umber of days to close / resolve ASB cases LETTINGS Number of Lettigs N/A Average umber of days to re-let a empty property GAS SERVICING % of homes with a curret Gas Safety Record 100% 100% 100% other Housig Associatios based o a peer group of 73 associatios. Savigs o Resposive Repairs 210,828. This sum was re-ivested to replace property compoets withi our housig stock. We are re-tederig our Resposive Repairs cotract for of our difficult to let properties were remodelled ad are ow occupied. We secured over 100,000 of Disabled Facilities Grat fudig which meat 43 people could remai livig i their home ad local commuity. Testig of property alarms has bee take i-house savig 13,000 per year. Chages i our trasfer policy resulted i a savig o void costs of 21,882 Ideal Outcomes For Our Customers 2016 Our expediture for each of retal icome 2016 MONEY FURNITURE OUR IDEAL SPECIALIST HOUSING YOUNG PEOPLE Loa Iterest 24.15p Maiteace 33.47p Salary, other staffig costs ad office costs 26.97p Housig, lad ad buildigs depreciatio ad other property costs 15.41p 574 teats used our Moey Matters Service The Moey Matters Team helped our teats save 9,940 through budgetig, switchig eergy suppliers, maagig debt ad other cost savig ideas Moey Matters supported teats to get 734,282 i extra icome by claimig the beefits they are etitled to Our basic furiture package costs 450 that s 930 cheaper tha the high street ad 7,116 cheaper tha buyig o a pay weekly high iterest loa 25,693 items of doated furiture were resold 10,643 voluteerig hours were give by 44 voluteers 222 people beefited from employability activities 8 people wet o to get work 132 people were helped to lear IT skills 93 Extra Care elderly flats i 3 schemes allowig older people to live idepedetly 160 specialist uits for adults with disabilities to live idepedetly 124 youg people have beefited from our youg peoples housig services 85% of youg residets felt that, with our support, they were a valued member of their commuity. Lookig to the Future Social Value We have take our first steps to havig a published report o the social value we brig as a orgaisatio to our teats ad commuities. The report detailig the beefits of our support to customers will be available i our Hub ad o our website ad Facebook page i March. This will give us a strog base to develop with our teat group itara. We will cotiue to build our i-deal offer ad commuity activities i order to provide a rage of opportuities for teats ad commuities to meet their eeds ad achieve their ambitios. Maitaiig our assets We will be updatig iformatio i our Assets ad Liabilities Register to iform decisios o improvemet works, re-modellig ad possible sale/disposal of older, outdated housig. We will be workig to re-balace our repairs ad maiteace expediture puttig a greater proportio of the budget to plaed work/major improvemets. We are eterig ito ew cotracts for our repairs ad voids which will start i July with the aim of improvig the service, icludig value for moey. i-tara, will be workig with us o the appoitmet of ew cotractors. Workig efficietly We will be focused o workig as efficietly as possible icludig maximisig our icome (keepig ret loss as a result of ret arrears ad empty properties as low as possible ad explorig ew icome sources), reducig our costs ad re-modellig some service provisio. We will review ad ivest i our IT systems to get maximum beefit from these. This will iclude buildig usage of our customer app by teats ad ehacig IT mobile workig for staff to allow us to provide better ad more efficiet services out of the office ad i local commuities. Welfare Reform 2017 will see the impact of welfare reform icrease sigificatly. We will cotiue to focus strogly o the chages i order to maitai our retal icome ad eable teats to successfully maage the chages ad sustai their teacies. We will cotiue to esure that our processes for maagig welfare reform are fit for purpose, that we commuicate the chages effectively ad that all ecessary support is available to those who require it. This will iclude a persoal approach that targets those most at risk ad provides the appropriate help ad support

7 Impact Housig Head Office Nook Street, Workigto, Cumbria CA14 4EH Telephoe: Registered Society 21411R