Annual Report 2023-24
We want to provide high quality, safe sustainable homes for our customers. This year we count among our successes: building more new much-needed, energy-efficient affordable housing; delivering green upgrades to hundreds of existing homes; developing a proactive approach to deal with damp and mould; plus investing vital funds into a range of projects to improve housing quality and safety.
Our performance snapshot this year…
Gas safety checks
Gas safety checks completed
Gas safety compliance
Of homes with an up-to-date gas safety certificate
Fire safety compliance
Of homes with an up-to-date fire safety certificate
Safety compliance
Safety compliance for water and our lifts
Building Safety
Produced Building Safety Case Reports for our high-rise buildings to comply with the Building Safety Act 2022
Decent Homes
Of homes meet the Decent Homes standard
New kitchens
New kitchens fitted
New bathrooms
New bathrooms fitted
Energy performance
Of existing homes achieved Energy Performance Certificate C or above, up 6% from 2022/23
Funding
Grant funding secured from government’s Social Housing Decarbonation Fund to improve energy efficiency of homes
Sustainability standard
Silver
Silver status with improved performance achieved in our Sustainability Homes Index for Tomorrow (SHIFT) assessment
Retrofit
Completed our first Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF)-backed programme, delivering energy efficiency improvements to around 200 homes across the borough.
Building new homes
Invested in building new homes
Homes built
New homes completed
Energy performance
New homes built to Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) B rating
New homes started
Homes started on site
Spotlight on Great Homes: collaborating with customers to tackle reports of damp and mould
As part of our work to provide great homes, this year we have continued to focus on developing our approach to tackling reports of damp and mould from customers and collaborating with them to resolve issues.
We know a build-up of moisture in homes can have many causes and lead to a variety of problems.
Over the past twelve months we have focused on working with customers to identify and tackle the root of problems as early as possible.
In doing so, we want to resolve issues quickly and most effectively and achieve the best outcomes for our customers.
Among the ways we have stepped up our work over the past year are…
1. Information about our homes
Having good quality information about our homes is crucial. We have carried out stock condition surveys in 96% of our customers’ homes in the past two years. Thank you to everyone who has supported us with these.
The results help us identify where there is or potentially may be an issue with damp and mould so we can take proactiveaction, as well as inform our investment programmes to continually improve customers’ homes.
2. Eyes wide open approach
Across the business our team has an eyes wide open approach when visiting customers’ homes to help us proactively spot trends, identify repairs and look to resolve issues quickly so we can continue to provide great homes and services.
3. Customers have influenced our Damp and Mould policy
Working with our customers is a big part of our progress and we have worked with our Customer Voice Panel to develop a Damp and Mould Policy and a customer-focused version to clearly set out how we deal with these issues and our commitments to our customers. We will continue to review our policy to ensure it responds to industry best-practice and any regulatory changes.
4. Technology to help us deal with damp and mould
We are using more technology to help us understand the issues in homes and their potential causes.
We are using equipment like:
- Hygrometers which measure how much moisture is inside your home and how warm or cold your property is. Understanding these things can help manage the conditions which can lead to more moisture in your home.
- State-of-the-art IoT (Internet of Things) technology which gives us real-time data to help us proactively identify homes which are at risk of damp or mould.
By using kit like this we can find the right solutions and minimise chances of the issue reoccurring.
5. Giving our customers a hand
Keeping homes warm and ventilated is so important for keeping them healthy, but we know that the cost-of-living crisis and high energy prices have had an impact on some customers’ ability to do this.
Through our ‘Need a Hand’ campaign, our teams have been giving tailored advice to customers to help them maximise their income, save energy and more to reduce the risk of problems in their home.
All this is in addition to making sure our team is trained to a high standard in dealing with damp and mould, making it easier for customers to report concerns to us, developing useful information and guidance for customers, and working with other housing associations in Greater Manchester to share and learn new approaches and keep on improving what we deliver for customers.
While we made good progress this year, we know it doesn’t stop there, and we are continually looking at ways we can make an even bigger impact to benefit our customers, so we can keep on providing high quality, safe, sustainable homes.
