Page 9 - Housing Solutions Annual Report

they need? We’re always striving to do better here, We want to be able to move quickly when someone
but a survey of our residents revealed 83% are is struggling, making sure they’re getting the benefits
satisfied with Housing Solutions, 92% said our staff they’re entitled to and supporting them to achieve
are friendly and approachable and 94% are happy their housing ambitions.
with our repairs.
We’ll be looking to go beyond traditional
Until we hit the top quartile there’s room for partnerships, building relationships with relevant
improvement, but we’re going in the right direction. local organisations from mental health charities to
We’ll continue to push to provide the best service businesses that can offer people a route back to
we can. Our investment in digital solutions is a key employment. To be truly effective we need to clearly
part of this, enabling people to make payments, understand the circumstances of our residents.
register complaints and book maintenance With this in mind we plan to work more closely
requests more efficiently. This includes improving with our resident led Service Improvement Team to
connectivity for those with poor or no access to the jointly improve our knowledge of their needs and
internet and, importantly, still providing a brilliant housing ambitions.
service to those who are not comfortable online.
I have no doubt it’s going to be another
We also want to make sure residents live in the most demanding and unpredictable year. But we’ve
energy efficient homes as possible. For their benefit started it in a positive mood. The past few months
and the planet’s. We’ve reviewed all our energy have proved we’re capable of dealing with anything
performance certificate (EPC) ratings and invested that’s thrown at us, even a (hopefully) once-in-a-
£100,000 to bring the lowest up to standard. We’ve lifetime global crisis.
also boosted energy efficiency across our properties
by investing £242,000 in A+ standard windows We’ve seen how well our closely-knit team works
and doors and £400,000 in heating replacements. under pressure and how committed we are to our
This includes installing Sedbuk A rated boilers and, communities and its residents. That’s why we’ll rise
where appropriate, air source heat pumps. to any challenge that comes our way.

In addition, in recent years we installed photovoltaic
panels on 253 properties. During the year they’ve
provided tenants with enough sustainable electricity
to boil 385,203 kettles, reducing emissions and ORLA GALLAGHER
bills. Our green ethos extends to our maintenances CHIEF EXECUTIVE
teams who use logistics software to minimise their
time on the road, which has been shown to save up
to 490 hours of travel per year. Sustainability is also
a priority during the procurement process when we
select suppliers.

Looking ahead, we aim to have all our homes up to
at least an EPC rating of C by 2022. And we plan to
invest more in online services to improve our digital
capabilities and bring about efficient operations.

Retaining a close relationship with our residents
is going to play a key role in keeping the business
on track. Many work in sectors disproportionately
impacted by the pandemic, such as hospitality and
tourism. Clearly some will face unemployment which
will put a strain on their finances. We’re putting
extra resources into helping residents and we’re
expanding our housing teams.

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