Annual Report 2022/2023

Contents

Welcome

Welcome to our Annual Report to Tenants, which tells you what we have achieved over the last 12 months and how we have performed in the key areas set out by the Regulator of Social Housing, called Consumer Standards. 

These Consumer Standards are:

  • Tenant Involvement and Empowerment - How we should communicate with and involve tenants.
  • Tenancy Standard - How we allocate our properties and support our tenants.
  • Home Standard - How we maintain your home.
  • Neighbourhood and Community - How we should work with other agencies to manage estates and tackle anti-social behaviour.
  • Value for Money and Rent Standard - How we spend your rent money and set your rent for the coming year.

This report deals with the 12 months between the beginning of April 2022 and the end of March 2023. From April 2023, we are required, as part of new Tenant Satisfaction Measures introduced by the Government, to collect and provide information that supports effective scrutiny by tenants. To reflect this, we have included a section on Tenant Satisfaction Measures and the ways in which we have enabled tenants to scrutinise our services, and how tenants perceive the quality of our services.

In addition, the Social Housing Regulation Act, received Royal Ascent in July 2023, and the Regulator of Social Housing is currently consulting on its revised Consumer Standards from April 2024.  All of these new measures will be included as part of future Annual Reports to Tenants.

The initial feedback from tenants, as well as the data and information contained in this report, shows that we are delivering our services in a way that the majority of tenants are happy with. We will also continue to move forward and use this feedback to improve the services that we provide to tenants.

With that in mind, we hope you find our Annual Report informative and that it gives you a greater insight into the work that we do for the benefit of all our tenants.

If you have any further questions about the information that is included in our Annual Report, please don’t hesitate to contact us on 0800 590 542 or email us at customer.services@bassetlaw.gov.uk

Cllr Jonathan Slater – Cabinet Member for Housing and Estates

Alison Craig – Head of Housing

Tenant Involvement and Empowerment Standard

We are proud to work with our tenants, amplify their voices and value the input they have in our goal to keep improving how we deliver our services for the benefit of all tenants.

There are many ways in which tenants and residents can engage with our Housing Service, as well as different levels of involvement that tenants may wish to have. This starts with staying in touch with our latest news and developments through social media, digital newsletters and our printed newsletter – In Touch; being a valued part of consultations, surveys and forums; right through to being an active member of a review group and tenant panel.

At the time of this report we had:

  • More than 13,000 followers on Facebook
  • More than 5,500 subscribers to our Digital Housing Newsletter
  • Deliver a printed newsletter to more than 6,500 tenants

Over the last 12 months, we have:

  • Introduced a new Complaints Monitoring Panel, which looks at all aspects of how we handle complaints including; the reasons for complaints and dissatisfaction with our services, and how we can identify improvements as a result of complaints.
  • With the support of TPAS – The Tenant Engagement Experts, and in consultation with tenants, we have created a new Tenant Engagement Strategy and have begun to implement it across our services.
  • Undertaken a satisfaction survey of tenants across a range of our services and identified areas for improvement.

Over the next 12 months, we will:

  • Create a new strategy and engagement team that will increase the resources we have to work closer with tenants.
  • Set up more Service Review Groups to look at Repairs, Compliance, Allocations and Tenant Engagement.
  • Set up our Tenant Liaison Group, comprising tenants and elected members to ensure that tenants are involved at the highest level in scrutinising our housing services.

Tenancy Standard

This standard looks at how we allocate our properties and support our tenants. As well as week-to-week turn-around of properties, it includes our Supported Housing Service and our work to help some of our more vulnerable tenants.

The Demand for Housing in Bassetlaw is extremely high and we have more than 4,492 active applicants on our waiting list. From a total housing stock of 6,539, this year we let 354 properties.

As well as finding homes for new tenants, our Adaptations Team helps to improve the lives of our current tenants and enable them to live in their homes safely and independently. Through this work we have completed:

  • 60 Self-Referred adaptations, which include grab rails to prevent falls
  • 189 Minor Adaptations such as half steps, hand-rails and drop down rails;
  • 106 Major Adaptations such as level access showers, ramps and stair lifts.

Over the last 12 months, we have:

  • Done more to prevent people sleeping on the streets by creating six self-contained flats in central Worksop. Former rough sleepers living here will also receive support from our Housing Options Team, in addition to CGL, Framework and health services.
  • Introduced a 24/7 – 365 day a year telephone and web-based Tenant Support and Wellbeing Service, which provides counselling and advice on issues such as health and wellbeing, legal, financial, childcare and consumer affairs.
  • Supported more than 65 extremely vulnerable tenants to remain in their homes, enjoy better health outcomes and improve their overall standard of living. This has included intensive support to help them maintain their tenancies, provide access to benefits and other financial support.

Over the next 12 months, we will:

  • Consult on changes to our Choice Based Lettings and Allocations Policy to ensure that the way in which we allocate housing is fair and that we are housing those with the greatest needs.
  • Upgrade our Choice Based Lettings IT system to improve the way in which people can bid for homes, apply for re-housing, and submit supporting information online.
  • Create a new Housing Solutions Team that will look at people’s holistic and long-term housing needs to ensure that they are supported in their tenancies and do not face the prospect of losing their home.
  • Achieve Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) accreditation and embed these measures across our services to identify and reduce domestic abuse in our communities.

Home Standard

The Home Standard includes all the elements of how we maintain your home, from everyday repairs to major improvements, and ensure that your homes are safe and working efficiently.

We own and manage 6,549 properties and over the last 12 months, we have:

Maintaining Your Home:

  • Carried out a total of 17,235 repairs.
  • Completed 99.25 % of all repairs within our timescales.
  • Tackled damp and mould through targeted surveys in high risk homes, provided tenants with more information on how to reduce the causes of damp and mould, and provided our staff with comprehensive to support tenants and identify issues quickly.

Major Home Improvements:

To ensure that properties continue to meet the Decent Homes Standard we have invested almost £9 million in your homes during 2022/23. We continue to carry out Stock Condition Surveys to understand what future improvements are required.

This work has included:

  • Replacing 32 roofs
  • Installing 154 new bathrooms
  • Replacing 103 kitchens
  • Improving 41 properties with new windows and 82 with new doors
  • Continuing the major refurbishment all of our Independent Living Centres, with the completion of Larwood House, Worksop; and the start of works at Westmoreland House in Harworth and Bircotes.

Over the next 12 months, we will:

  • Deliver £12 million of improvements to our existing housing stock.
  • Introduce a new Repairs IT System, which will improve the way tenants can report repairs online, including making an appointment at a time of their choosing.
  • Start to build 90 new Council-owned homes at Radford Street, Manton.
  • Carry out rigorous fire safety measures across our flats, starting in Sandy Lane, Worksop, to ensure full compliance with the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and Building Safety Act

Neighbourhood and Community Standard

As well as ensuring that your homes are a safe and comfortable place to live, we work hard improve the appearance and functionality of your neighbourhoods and communities.

As part of this work to improve our estates, we have committed a total of £13.8 million over the next five years to maintain estates and neighbourhoods with programmes that include improving roads, footpaths, parking, fences and garages.

Over the last 12 months, we have:

  • Reviewed how our Caretakers work with our Street Cleaning and Parks Teams by ensuring that fly-tipping is removed by one team on all Council land, so reports are dealt with quicker and more efficiently.
  • Set up a new ‘Clean and Green Team’ to improve the appearance of estates with large communal areas by cutting and edging grassed areas, weed treatment and removal, and shrub bed maintenance.
  • Consulted with tenants and residents living in the Carlton Wimpey Estate on major plans to regenerate areas of their community, with a view to providing additional housing, creating new public spaces and tackling anti-social behaviour.
  • Increased the number of completed occupancy visits from 53% to 62%. These visits help to identify any issues that tenant’s may be experiencing early and ensure that appropriate advice and support can be provided.

Over the next 12 months, we will:

  • Begin major regeneration work on the Carlton Wimpey Estate that will tackle anti-social behaviour by closing off alleyways and ‘rat-runs’, install a comprehensive CCTV network that will create more security for residents, and plan for new housing.
  • Create and implement a new garden maintenance service that will support tenants based on their age, ability, income and support from friends and relatives.
  • Implement the Council’s new Anti-Social Behaviour Policy, which sets out a clear statement of our approach to tackling ASB, both in relation to housing and public spaces within neighbourhoods.

Value for Money and Rent Standard

Every penny that we receive from tenants’ rent helps to fund our Housing Service. The Value for Money Standard looks at how we spend the rent we receive from you, plus funding from other areas.

The Housing Service’s budget for 2022/23 was over £28 million

During 2022/23 we collected just over £26.7 million in rent, which is 99.4% of the rent and arrears due to be paid to Bassetlaw District Council. Our Rent Arrears for this year were £337,000.

To illustrate how we spend your rent money, we have broken down how each pound in rent that you pay is distributed across the Housing Service.

  • 48p – Maintaining your home. This is split into:

18p for Major Works and 30p for Responsive repairs.

  • 19p – Housing and Tenancy Management
  • 7p – Supported Housing and Caretakers
  • 13p – Interest charges on loans
  • 10p – Contribution to future capital investment
  • 3p – Other management costs including IT and bad debts

Over the next 12 months we will:

  • Continue to identify areas where we can work more efficiently and reduce costs, which we will reinvest in our services to tenants.
  • Continue to review external contracts with a view to bringing work back in house where possible to ensure greater value for money.
  • Continue to modernise services, utilising technology that will deliver improved services resulting in better value for money.

Tenant Satisfaction Measures

As part of the Government’s Social Housing Regulation Bill, a new set of Tenant Satisfaction Measures were introduced in April 2023.

These satisfaction measures will provide the Regulator of Social Housing with information about our performance and the quality of our services, and allow tenants to see clearly how their landlord is performing and hold them to account.

The Government has asked us to collect and publish the data on 22 tenant satisfaction measures, covering five main themes. 10 of these will be measured by landlords directly, and 12 by landlords carrying out tenant perception surveys.

We will be required to collect and publish this information every year, and will include Tenant Satisfaction Measures as part of the Government’s new set of Consumer Standards in next year’s report.

Earlier this year we carried out a Survey of Tenants and Residents (STAR) and collected responses from 1,190 tenants. We are really pleased with these initial results, which have shown that we can count ourselves among some of the best performing Councils in certain categories.

The STAR results revealed that:

  • 83% of tenants are satisfied with our services.
  • 88% of tenants were satisfied with their last repair.
  • 80% of tenants were satisfied with our Repairs Service overall – This puts us in the Top 25% of all Councils Surveyed.
  • 70% of tenants were satisfied that we listen to them.
  • 90% of tenants were satisfied that their home is Safe and Secure – This puts us in the Top 25% of all Councils Surveyed.
  • 71% of tenants surveyed trust Bassetlaw’s Housing Service.
  • 87% of tenants believed their rent provides value for money.
  • 89% of tenants were satisfied with their Neighbourhood – This puts us in the Top 25% of all Councils Surveyed.

Complaints

During 2022/23 we received 89 formal complaints. Of these, 13 complaints were resolved at Stage 2 of the Council’s Formal Complaints Process. There were no complaints referred to the Housing Ombudsman during this year.

We also received 113 compliments about our service provision.

Over the next 12 months, we will:

  • Carry out rolling surveys to ensure that we meet the Government’s Tenant Satisfaction Measures. These telephone surveys will be carried out on our behalf by IFF Research
  • Review complaints made to the Council about the Housing Service through our Complaints Panel and use this information to improve our services. This is in addition to dealing with complaints in line with the Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code.
  • Analyse the information gathered through these processes to allow us to continue to improve our services to customers

Last Updated on Thursday, September 5, 2024