Investing in our homes and Efficiency drive

We have spent £2,173k on our existing homes - £677k on routine maintenance, £504k on cyclical maintenance and £992k on major repairs mainly including new kitchens, bathrooms, windows and replacement of lifts and boilers. The repair needs recognised in the stock condition survey undertaken two years ago have been included in our business plan projection. The outcome shows that the business will generate sufficient funds to finance the new reinvestment programme for our existing properties. We have £3.8m (last year £3.4m) in our Designated Reserves to meet future repair liabilities. The survey showed that 96% of our properties complied with Decent Homes Standards.

We have continued to focus on achieving Best Value through several best value reviews.

At the end of last year, during the Treasury Management review we converted a £3m loan tranche to a revolving loan facility and successfully negotiated with our major lender to reduce their margins. In a climate where interest rates have been increasing both strategies mentioned above reduced the net interest burden by £39K this year and will continue to provide savings in the future.

Our arrears management improvement targets have been tightened each year and successfully achieved for the last three years. This is a key performance criterion in the sector.

We market tested our outsourced day to day repairs service provision and have switched to a new contract with Pathmeads. The initial experience has given us confidence that the new contractor will provide quality value for money services.

All these efficiencies have helped us maintain our surplus and being a social enterprise we will reinvest to provide better quality and enhanced services to our existing tenants, build stronger communities and neighbourhoods and in addition endeavour to accomplish our mission to provide more homes.