2012/13 Residents Annual Report

Welcome!

Welcome to our first joint annual report for Bristol Community Housing Foundation (BCHF) and United Housing Association (UHA). In the following pages you can find out how we each performed during the year to 31st March 2013 and what is coming up over the next year.
During 2012/13 the boards of our two organisations gave approval for us to begin working together in a partnership that keeps our individual histories and legal identities alive but which allows us to combine resources to improve services to our customers. Our partnership, which we recently launched as United Communities, formally began on 1st April 2013.

Although we were not officially working together during the year to March 2013, many of our priorities were similar. A key focus for both organisations has been managing rental income and helping our customers to deal with the affects of welfare reform. All BCHF and UHA customers affected by the bedroom tax have been visited or received guidance on how to best deal with their individual circumstances. We are continuing with this work now as we approach the launch of universal credit and direct payments, which will affect our customers over the coming years.

Looking to the future

Together, United Communities owns and manages over 1,700 homes. In early summer we set about, through a series of roadshows, to find out how we can best serve all of our customers. You told us that improving our planned maintenance, repairs and anti social behaviour services are key priorities. Your feedback has directly informed our new Plan for our Future. This plan and our priorities will help to guide us through the next few years, against a backdrop of further austerity and tough times for residents. We remain committed to the principle of supporting and leading community initiatives within communities, not as an add on but as a central part of what we do. A group of tenants are helping to design a new involvement structure to ensure that BCHF and UHA customers can play an active part in United Communities future. Finally we would like to say a big thank you to all of you who have contributed during the year by letting us know what you think of our services. We are very much looking forward to our future as United Communities.

Oona Goldsworthy
Chief Executive

Jenny Vernon
Chair

Your Home
Providing homes that are well maintained.

Performance
Total number of responsive repairs % of repairs fixed first time Average time (in days) to complete a repair % of tenants satisfied with the repairs service % of properties overdue a gas safety certificate

BCHF
Target Year end 2,827 88% 10 days 98% 0% 92% 8 98% 0%

United
Target Year end 3,191 91% 6 days 86% 0% 86% 7 95% 0.04%

What BCHF did in 12/13

What United did in 12/13

Piloted texting customer satisfaction surveys

100

roof spaces fitted with extra ventilation

41

new homes completed

& new kitchens 54 installed

in homes

new bathrooms

average to complete repairs

8 Day

28

aids and adaptations carried out

71

homes fitted with new windows

9 & 68 homes

Painted communal areas

13/15 United Communities priorities

on average invested to improve the quality of each home

1000

of repairs completed right first time

At least Over 90% 85%

of tenants will be happy with the quality of their homes

Your Community
Working with communities to make sure the neighbourhoods where we have homes are safe and clean places to live.

Performance
% of tenants satisfied with the handling of their ASB complaint Number of ASB cases reported % of ASB cases resolved successfully

BCHF
Target Year end 100% 109 94%

United
Target Year end 83% 89% 37 95% 100%

What BCHF did in 12/13

What United did in 12/13

10 tenants accessed

training to support the voluntary work they do in their community

tenants nominated for a community award

17,000
invested to improve The Old School House and Wilson Street flats

One

years funding provided for a Yarn club tutor

Relaunched the Wordsworth Community Centre

Sponsored

local youth project and elders sewing group in St Pauls

3,000

invested in estate improvements

13/15 United Communities priorities

Over

of tenants will be happy with how we handled their ASB case

70%

Over

of tenants will be happy their neighbourhood is safe and clean

70%

Help 40

tenants into work or training

Your Tenancy
Letting our homes in a fair and transparent way and providing the support you need to manage your tenancy.

Performance
Rent arrears Number of homes re-let Average time to re-let all homes (days) Number of mutual exchanges 10

BCHF
Target Year end 1.80% 2.34% 34 14 23

United
Target Year end 5% 6.95% 54 18 18 24

What BCHF did in 12/13

What United did in 12/13

91

tenants received a home fire safety visit

4,860
disability living allowance secured for tenants

All

tenants received a welfare reform guide

15,661
grant funding for tenants to buy white goods & carpets for homes

60

tenants received settling in home visits

215

tenants registered with Homeswapper

13/15 United Communities priorities

new homes built

68

A Personal Plan for all vulnerable tenants

80%
of tenants will say we offer a personalised & accessible service

Listening to Your Views

Putting tenants at the heart of what we do and making sure your involvement results in real service improvements.

Performance
% of complaints resolved % of tenants satisfied with the handling of their complaint

BCHF
Target Year end 94% 90%

United
Target Year end 91% 83% 89%

What BCHF did in 12/13

What United did in 12/13

Tenants Young
interviewed & selected Dale Maintenance as the new maintenance contractor

Rangers Network produced an ASB DVD to highlight what ASB means to young people

Tenants
chose kitchen replacements for tenants homes

Tenants
group set up a Benefits Changes information event

Tenants 6 tenants
designed our new joint newsletter

The News

trained as Estate Champions

13/15 United Communities priorities

Over 75%

of tenants will feel their views are acted upon

Over 80%

of tenants will recommend us to a friend

Managing our Money

Making sure that your money is spent well and achieves value for money (VFM) in everything we do.

What BCHF did in 12/13

Where our money came from n Rents n Other n Shared ownership sales n Gift aid from subsidiary n Community regeneration Total income = 3,789,000 How our money was spent n Managing homes n Service charges n Routine and planned maintenance n Bad debts n Depreciation n Shared ownership sales n Community regeneration Total expenditure = 2,391,000

251,000 86,000

4,000

30,000

60,000
surplus generated from our solar panels project

3,418,000 75,000 303,000 421,000

27,000
invested in a new texting system
131,000

823,000 4,000 634,000

150,000 60,000

development fees saved by employing a new Development Director

What United did in 12/13

Where our money came from n Rents n Floating support & supporting people n Other Total income = 4,983,000 How our money was spent n Managing homes n Service charges n Floating support & supporting people n Routine & planned maintenance n Bad debts n Leasing properties n Depreciation Total expenditure = 3,693,000

99,000

43,000

of savings reinvested in responsive repairs and planned maintenance

4,841,000
386,000

166,091
1,029,000
393,000

480,000 128,000 100,000 1,326,000

saved by bulk buying from Advantage South West

244,000

180,000

invested in improving Roshni Ghar our sheltered housing scheme

13/15 United Communities priorities

An independent review of the Strategic Alliances progress

5%

efficiency savings achieved as a result of the Strategic Alliance

Bring historic rent arrears under control

Customer Services 400 Filton Avenue, Horfield, Bristol, BS7 0LJ Tel: 0117 9470501 Fax: 0117 9694111

Corporate Services 3rd Floor, New Bond House, Bond Street, Bristol, BS2 9AG Tel: 0117 9424600 Fax: 0117 9421565

Corporate Services Team

Oona Goldsworthy Jenine Macey Chief Executive HR and Office Manager

Based at
New Bond House New Bond House

Telephone
0117 944 0545 0117 944 0546

Finance Team
Jo Makinson Steve Irwin Seeve Suppiah Laura Weston Collette Parnell Thomas Armour-Chelu Director of Finance Finance Manager Finance Assistant Finance Assistant Performance & Project Co-ordinator Corporate Servies Assistant New Bond House New Bond House New Bond House New Bond House New Bond House New Bond House 0117 970 3071 0117 944 0540 0117 944 0592 0117 970 3075 0117 970 3074 0117 942 4600

Business Development Team

Sarah McQuatt Jayne Whittlestone Jackie Bonnick Tamsin Evans Julia Wilson Director of Business Development Neighbourhood and Communities Manager Resident Involvement Officer Resident Involvement Officer Community Land Trust Development Officer New Bond House New Bond House New Bond House New Bond House New Bond House 0117 944 0594 0117 942 4600 0117 944 0549 0117 970 3072 0117 970 3072

Tenancy Estate Team

Mark Way Dave Bull Kate Berry Raz Chand Femi Robinson Ian Cousins Laura Rogers Kirsty Hallett Amy Oxenham Tom Wild Trevor Roberts Janette Birch David Oteng Kate Balloch Jane Care Katie Oxenham Director of Customer Services Head of Tenancy Services Senior Tenancy & Estate Officer Scheme Co-ordinator, Roshni Ghar Tenancy & Estate Officer Tenancy & Estate Officer Tenancy & Estate Officer Lettings & Tenancy Services Assistant Tenancy Sustainment Officer Tenancy Sustainment Officer Interim Income Manager Senior Income Recovery Officer Income Recovery Office Income Recovery Officer Income Recovery Assistant Income Recovery Assistant Filton Avenue Filton Avenue Filton Avenue Roshni Ghar Filton Avenue Filton Avenue Filton Avenue Filton Avenue Filton Avenue Filton Avenue Filton Avenue Filton Avenue Filton Avenue Filton Avenue Filton Avenue Filton Avenue 0117 947 0501 0117 931 9780 0117 931 9774 0117 970 3076 0117 947 0501 0117 931 9773 0117 970 3070 0117 931 9787 0117 947 0501 0117 947 0501 0117 944 0591 0117 931 9786 0117 944 0595 0117 947 0501 0117 931 9775 0117 947 0501

Property Services Team

Rod Brown Craig Crosbie Tony Locke Kevin Daly Sue Harvey Gemma Halliday James Tompkins Philip Robson Steve Pearce Jordan Lindsay Head of Property Services Maintenance Surveyor Maintenance Surveyor Repairs Inspector Senior Maintenance & Servicing Co-ordinator Maintenance & Servicing Co-ordinator Maintenance & Servicing Co-ordinator Customer Services Officer Estates Caretaker Apprentice Estates Caretaker Filton Avenue Filton Avenue Filton Avenue Filton Avenue Filton Avenue Filton Avenue Filton Avenue Filton Avenue Filton Avenue Filton Avenue 0117 931 9778 0117 931 9776 0117 944 0591 0117 931 9783 0117 944 0547 0117 942 4600 0117 931 9781 0117 931 9771 0117 947 0501 0117 947 0501