2008-09 Annual Performance Report to Tenants

Annual performance report to tenantsApril 2008 – December 2009

Introduction by Rob Young,Chief Executive Welcome to your annual performance report, in here you will find information about how we did last year,

how you think we are doing now and what we are planning for the future.

In July 2009 we celebrated our seventh birthday, an importantdate for tenants who remember the stock transfer back in 2002. I am proud to say that we fulfilled all of the things we promisedand achieved much more.

One of the main reasons for stock transfer was to invest inimproving tenants’ homes and it is here that we really made ourmark, investing over £270 million on things like windows, centralheating, new bathrooms, kitchens and roofs.

In 2008 our board set us an ambitious target, to increase thepercentage of tenants very satisfied with our services by 25% by2012, which meant moving from 37% to 46%. Our recent STATUStenants’ survey results have shown that we have exceeded thistarget two years early, with 49% of you very satisfied with theoverall services provided by Helena Homes.

This report is split into six themes; these are the national standardsthat our regulator, the Tenant Services Authority has set for socialhousing landlords. The standards are based on what tenants,landlords and others have told the TSA that it is important to get right.

They are a good indicator of how we are performing against othersocial landlords, but it is important for us to set local standards too,so that we provide services tailored to our Helena Homes tenants.

In last year’s annual report we talked about how we wanted tenantsto play a bigger part in measuring our performance and a biggersay in how we can provide excellent services to customers. Youcan find out about the progress we are making with this on thenext page in the introduction by Sandra Binns, Chair of theCustomer Excellence Panel.

2 Annual Performance Report

Rob Young, Chief Executive

This report covers an 18 month period from

April 08 to December 09, this takes into

account the fact that our regulator has changed

from the Housing Corporation to the Tenant

Services Authority during this time.

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

% How Satisfied are our Tenants?

FairlySatisfied

VerySatisfied

38

36

2004

74

49

37

2007

86

39

49

2009

88

* Please refer to page 4 for Key to symbols.

Introduction by Sandra Binns, Chair of the Customer Excellence Panel I am the Chair of the Customer Excellence Panel, a group of tenants that meets to discuss Helena services.We work closely with staff across the organisation to find where improvements can be made. We feel

privileged to be able to influence the services that have a big impact on tenants’ lives.

I attend Helena Board Meetings along with the Customer ExcellencePanel Vice-Chair, Jim Scotson. This is really useful as we are ableto make recommendations about how things can be improvedand generally get a tenant’s point of view across. If we feel that aservice doesn’t come up to scratch, we are able to speak to thepeople who make decisions within Helena.

Our work is supported by a much larger group called One Voice.Over 400 tenants form this group. They take part in regular surveysor attend focus groups to help us work out what we could bedoing better. Every year we aim to refresh one third of panelmembers and we are currently looking for new members to signup and get involved.

We also have 10 trained Customer Inspectors who carry outinspections and mystery shopping exercises to feedback on thequality of Helena’s services from a tenants’ perspective.

Tenants are at the heart of how Helena delivers its services. TheCustomer Excellence Panel has been in place for around a yearand has already done some really interesting work. The CustomerExcellence Panel has looked at five areas of the business – therepairs and maintenance service, the condition of green spaceson estates, anti social behaviour, the One Call contact centre andvalue for money.

When we carry out these reviews we look at recent performance,feedback from customers and the service standards that Helenaneeds to meet. We have the power to say if we don’t thinkperformance is good enough or recommend new standards that wethink customers deserve. The people who manage those servicesthen have to report back to us a few months later to let us knowhow they are getting on with the improvements that we agreed.

Throughout the rest of this report you will see the followingsymbol:

When this appears next to a performance standard you know that this is one of the standards that the Customer ExcellencePanel monitors.


Sandra Binns,

Chair of the Customer Excellence Panel

If you’re interested in joining our Customer

Excellence Panel, One Voice, becoming a

Customer Inspector or finding out more

about how you can shape the services that you

receive, call Helena’s Customer Insight Officer,

Hannah Fitzhenry on 01744 63 73 83.

KeyHere is what the symbols, words and phrases we use throughoutthe report mean:

Performance has improved

Performance has stayed the same

Performance dipped

Customer Excellence Panelperformance standard

Where you see this symbol we havereviewed our existing service standards inresponse to what you have told us. Furtherdetails about our new standards will be sent to all tenants in April in a brand newPromises document which sets out whatwe plan to do over the next five years.

Performance Indicator or Key Performance Indicator – Thesetell us how well we are performing. We use these to monitor dayto day activities. They help us to easily identify when we are hittingour targets or when we need to improve in a particular area.

Benchmarking – This is when we compare our performance orhow much things cost with similar organisations. It can showwhere improvement is needed, or tell us what we need to achieveto be a top performer. We use this information to set our targets.

Target – This is the level of performance that Helena aims toachieve in that year. We look at how other similar companies areperforming when we set our targets.

Value for money – This is all about deciding if the amount ofmoney we spend on something is appropriate to what we get outof it. For example, are we spending a lot of money on a servicethat only benefits a small number of customers?

If we were able to improve the way we did something withoutspending more money, this would be good value for money. If wespent more than we had done before and our performance gotworse, this would be poor value for money.

Customer Excellence Panel (explained in more detail on page 3).

What you told us – These sections show the results of ourSTATUS Tenant Survey. This is a large scale survey of tenants thatall housing organisations must carry out every three years. Ourresults show what tenants living in general family and shelteredhousing have said about Helena. The survey helps to identify whatwe do well and where tenants would like us to improve. We haveincluded our results for 2004, 2007 and 2009 so you can see howwe have improved over time. If there is no result for 2004 it meansthat the particular question wasn’t asked that year.

You said…Tenants should have more say

in agreeing what we need to

get better at.

We did…We have increased the number

of ways you can get involved

to help to shape the services

that you receive and challenge

us if we do not meet your

expectations. See pages 10

and 11 for more information.


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Section 1 - Your Home

In this section we look closely at the quality of services we provide for your home.

On March 31st 2009 we managed:

• 11,381 general family homes(We manage 27 of these for other social landlords)

• 1,293 sheltered homes for older people or supported housing

• 3 homes purchased through shared ownership

• 347 leaseholders

We employ 593 full time equivalent members of staff.

We are committed to providing a repairs and maintenance service that meets the individual needs of our tenants. In the lastseven years we have invested over £270 million in your homes. 99.9% of our properties now meet the Decent Homes Standard. This is a government standard to ensure that all homes are warm,weatherproof and have modern facilities.

What you told us

Our recent STATUS tenant survey showed that 88% of tenantsare satisfied with our repairs and maintenance service with almosthalf (49%) stating they are VERY satisfied. When compared withother housing associations nationally, this puts us within the top25 percent.


You said…Our repairs appointment times do

not meet the needs of people in

full time employment.

We did…We will soon be able to offer

repair appointments until 6pm,

Monday to Friday. For those who

are not at home during the day,

we will then look to offer

appointments between 6pm and

8pm on Wednesday evenings and

between 9am and 12 noon on

Saturday mornings.

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

% Satisfaction with Repairs and Maintenance

FairlySatisfied

VerySatisfied

39

42

Helena 2007

81

37

47

Helena 2009

84

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What you told us

In 2008 we introduced a new repairs appointment system calledOptitime. We now offer you an appointment time when you reporta repair and send you a text message to confirm your appointmentslot and let you know when we are on our way.

When we introduced this system we faced some technicalproblems and so we didn’t meet our targets for the percentage ofrepairs completed within target time. We expected this to happenbecause of the big change we were making to our old system.During this time, customer feedback on the standard of jobscompleted and customer care was still very high.

• 89% satisfied with being told when workers would call

• 95% satisfied with attitude of workers

• 88% satisfied that dirt and mess kept to a minimum

• 89% satisfied with quality of the repair

Since April 2009 our performance has improved significantly, we have included our performance for the current year so far onpage 19 to reassure you that we’re back on track.

What tenants said about our Repairs and Maintenance service

The Customer Excellence Panel reviewed the repairs andmaintenance service when Optitime was introduced. They felt that we should focus more on the overall customer experience,from the time you report a repair to when it is completed. These are their recommendations:

• Get more repairs right first time in one visit

• Tailor services to meet the individual needs of tenants andresidents by considering evening and weekend appointmenttimes for people who work full-time

• Keep tenants informed about what is going on if the repair is more complicated or involves a few different services

• Involve tenants in agreeing which repairs are classed asemergency, urgent and routine

• Update customer service standards

Improving your safety

Our gas servicing performance was very strong at the end ofMarch 2009, with just 17 homes not serviced. By November 2009we got this figure down to zero within the 12 month servicingperiod. Gas servicing is something we have to do by law everyyear but it is very challenging as a small number of tenants don’tlet us into their home to carry out this important safety check.

Our Gas Team is committed to making sure your homes are safeand so they will be persistent, even pursuing more reluctanttenants during the evenings and weekends in all sorts of locations,including pubs, clubs and supermarkets. As a last resort tenantswho refuse access have been taken to court. Having your safetycertificate gives you peace of mind that your home is safe.

If your appointment is due, we will send you a reminder beforeyour appointment day to let you know.


100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

% Satisfaction with Quality of Home

FairlySatisfied

VerySatisfied

51

37

Helena 2007

88

40

50

Helena 2009

90

You said…Our promise to complete major

repairs within six months was

too long.

We did…We have reduced our target

to complete major repairs to

three months.

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“We have been helped and informed

on all aspects of having an affordable

and well maintained property with

back up on all aspects.”

“Since moving in I have received a new

kitchen and bathroom and have had

various repairs. I have been satisfied

with all the work that has been done.”

Source: STATUS Tenant Survey 2009

Section 2 - Your Tenancy

Rents

Every year we compare our rent levels with other organisations.As you can see from the chart below, our rent levels comparewell to other housing associations with homes in St Helens.

Helena

Arena

William Sutton HA

LHT Maritime

Cosmopolitan

Riverside

66.23 64.20 76.74 66.49 70.72 67.8464.00

80

78

76

74

72

70

68

66

64

62

60

Housing Associations operating in St Helens

Average Rent Per Week (£)

How do we spend each £1? (1st April 2008 – 31st March 2009)

You may wonder how we spend the rent that you pay. We arecurrently spending more money than we receive in rent becausewe have committed to invest large sums of money in your homesand neighbourhoods. We take out loans to cover the differenceand these loans will be paid back out of future rental income.

46p Improving your homes through major repairs

21p Planned and routine repairs to your homes

15p Management costs such as staffing and offices

8p Interest on our loans

8p Care and support services for tenants

2p Depreciation such as the value of our homes

You said…Reduce the amount of paper

information given to new

tenants at sign up.

We did…Reviewed the sign up pack

and made it a lot more compact

and we are now considering

putting sign up information on

a DVD or Digital Television site.


What you told us

Our recent STATUS survey results show that 77% of you aresatisfied with getting value for money for the rent you pay.

We will continue to invite you to get involved in choosing thegoods and services we buy, so that you can help to assess whetherthey provide good value for money. We will work closely withpartner agencies to get the best deal when buying materials andservices.

In the next 12 months, our Customer Excellence Panel will reviewthe value for money we provide, compared to other organisationslike ours. They will agree targets for improvement where they feelwe could provide better value for money.

For the longer term we will give you opportunities to have a say inhow we prioritise spending your rent money.


100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

% Satisfaction with Value for Money for your Rent

FairlySatisfied

VerySatisfied

54

27

Helena 2007

81

37

40

Helena 2009

77 Putting money in your pocket...In 2009 we set up a new Money Matters team whichhelps tenants manage their money more effectively. We have a financial inclusion officer, an affordablewarmth officer and three welfare benefits advisors. The team can help on issues from dealing with debt to making sure our tenants get all the benefits they areentitled to.

Since April 2009 they have gained £96,000 in lump sumsand £381,000 in ongoing benefits for our tenants. Morerecently they have been successful in helping tenantsmove to more economical heating tariffs, helping to keepyou warm in the winter.

Margaret Foster, a Helena tenant pictured above, is very happy with the help she received, she said, “The Money Matters team has been fantastic - I’m now paying my debts off slowly. You getprofessional help but with the Helena name you trust. They talk at your level so you understand them.”

If you would like some free help or advice on your Money Matters, call our team on 01744 63 73 83.

Empty homes and lettings

We are not performing as well as other housing associations in the time taken to let an empty home. Because ofthis we have changed the way we manage empty homes and have had a new team in place to oversee this importantarea since September 2009. We are already seeing a reduction in the amount of time it takes to get our homesready for new tenants. See page 20 for more detailed performance information.


Section 3 - Having your say

We are always looking to improve what we do, and we can only do this by listening, talking and acting on

what you tell us. We realise that not everyone wants to come along to meetings so we have many different

ways for you to influence the services you receive from us.

You can now have your say from the comfort of your home via ourpostal and phone surveys, through informal discussion groups orregular tenant meetings and events. We use the feedback we getfrom you to shape our services in the future.

Achievements:

• We set up the One Voice panel of 400 tenants who take partin regular surveys or attend focus groups to help us work outwhat we could be doing better

• We have recruited and trained 10 customer inspectors whohave reviewed three of our key service areas so far

• The Customer Excellence Panel has chosen a selection ofperformance indicators which it monitors monthly

• We have an editorial panel of tenants for our newsletter, theyhelp us to decide what makes a Helena Headline

• We reviewed our complaints policy and made changes to the way we manage complaints to ensure that we respondpromptly, fairly and politely and learn from your views andfeedback

• We held a series of Listening Days to ask tenants to tell uswhich services they want us to spend more time and money on

• We have brought together everything you have told us overthe past few months and identified the following areas tofocus on:

– An improved repair service

– Tackling anti-social behaviour

– Improving the environment on our estates

– Better services for those who need extra support

– Making it easier to get in touch and have your say

– Investing in your home

– Investing in new homes

– Providing value for money for your rent

“I am happy overall with my home

and the services provided. I have little

niggles like most people, and I would

like to thank you for the opportunity

to share my views with you.”

Source: STATUS Tenant Survey 2009

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Are we listening?

It is not just your feedback that helps us to improve the servicesthat you receive; we also learn how to make things better fromyour complaints. Between April 1st 2008 and March 31st 2009we received 309 complaints and responded to 75% within ourtarget time.

We are working hard to improve the way we manage complaints.Following consultation with tenants we changed our complaintspolicy and are implementing a new automated complaints processto speed up and improve complaints handling.

What you told us

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

% Satisfaction with views being taken into account

FairlySatisfied

VerySatisfied

32

26

2004

58

35

27

2007

62

35

38

2009

73

Customer Care

When contacting Helena:

78% agree it is easy to get hold of the right person

85% stated staff were helpful

81% said staff were able to deal with their problem

72% satisfied with outcome


Section 4 - Your neighbourhood

You may be happy with your Helena home, but it is also important to be satisfied with your neighbourhood

as a place to live.

You said…We should respond quicker to

complaints of anti-social behaviour

and keep people informed of

progress.

We did…We have reviewed our service

standards and will contact customers

within 48 hours of anti-social

behaviour being reported and keep

you updated on progress every week.

We will respond to customers who

have reported hate crimes within

24 hours.

Anti-social behaviour

We already know that this is an area where you want us to performbetter. To start reviewing the way we currently do things, we askedthe Customer Excellence Panel to review anti-social behaviour.We wanted to know which things we do well and get some ideasfor how we could improve the service.

Here are their recommendations:

• Keep tenants up to date once they have reported anti-social behaviour

• Celebrate success and raise awareness of the service

• Provide opportunities to report ASB via local access points as well as neighbourhood offices

• Provide alternative options to enforcement

Facts:

Between April 2008 and March 2009 we handled 80 anti-socialbehaviour cases for every 1,000 properties that we own.

79% of people who reported an anti-social behaviour issue were satisfied with the way their case was handled.

69% were satisfied with the outcome of their anti-social behaviour case.

What you told us

Our latest STATUS tenant survey results show that 80% of youare, but there is always room for improvement.

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

% Satisfaction with your neighbourhoodas a place to live

FairlySatisfied

VerySatisfied

44

36

Helena 2007

80 80

39

41

Helena 2009

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TURNING LIVES AROUNDA Helena Neighbourhood Officer identified Jack

as being involved in anti-social behaviour

Jack then managed to get some hands on experience training

and working in construction

Jack was lucky enough to get a job as an Apprentice Joiner and

is loving every minute of it

He was referred to Craig as somebody who would benefit

from taking part in Evolution

Took part in a development programme for young people called New Start which is run by St Helens Chamber

“A piece of green flat land was improved last year by planting

trees and bulbs. It’s now a nice place, especially when the

flowers are in bloom – what a difference it makes!”

Source: One Voice panel member

Improving the environment

Our Customer Inspectors visited 11 areas on our estates inAugust 2009. They made their judgements based on maintenance,litter and general appearance. The areas visited were mostly largegreen open spaces. Here are some of their comments:

• There was a lack of colour in the green spaces; introducemore flowering trees, colourful flowers, hanging baskets, bird feeders and wall art.

• Break up large open spaces with interesting pathways andconsider placing benches in improved areas so local peoplecan enjoy them.

• Try to improve garage sites and derelict land by introducingplanters, hanging baskets and considering graffiti walls.

The newly established Green Space Team will be working closelywith local residents throughout 2010 to improve the way in whichwe manage landscaped areas. We will be planting wildflowermeadows on a number of sites this year in response to the tenantinspector’s recommendations to make areas more colourful.

Back in October 2009 Helena employee Craig Fletcher won aprestigious national award for his work with young people on theEvolution programme. He devised Evolution to deter young peoplefrom making the same mistakes he did when he was younger.Evolution is a project designed to challenge young people's attitudesabout crime and change negative lifestyles before it’s too late andthey end up in serious trouble or even prison. After his success at theawards Craig said: "I am both overwhelmed and humbled to win sucha prestigious award and more importantly have my work publicallyrecognised. In order to understand the importance of this award forme, I have to reflect back to my time in prison and then look wheremy life is now. What a massive transformation.”

The Tim Winter Award recognises exceptional performance in tacklinganti-social behaviour which makes a real difference to individuals andthe community.

Jack Lea is one young person who went through the Evolution programme and has managed to turnhis life around. The diagram below shows his journey, which is typical of many other people who havebeen involved with Evolution.


Section 5 - How we run the company

Helena Partnerships is run by a board of directors which is evenly split between tenants, local councillors,

independent members and co-optees (this means representatives of particular sectors within the community

or experts in their field).

The Board directs the work that we do and the decisions that we make, this includes:

• Making sure that the company operates within the law and follows the regulation that is set by the Tenant Services Authority

• Making decisions about policy and strategy

• Managing performance and setting budgets

• Forming links with key partners in the community

Our Board members serve for a term of three years and eachBoard member can serve for a maximum of three terms. A vacancy on the Board has arisen and the company is seeking to appoint a tenant Board member. Helena Partnerships isparticularly keen to recruit women and those with a registereddisability who are currently under-represented on our Board sothat it reflects the community that its customers live in.

If you have any questions or you would like to receive aninformation pack please call Kath Taylor, Board and GovernanceOfficer on 01744 63 73 83

Helena pays its Board Directors a modest sum to reflect the hard work and commitment which goes into their role. Alongsidethis payment, they participate in a programme of training andassessments to ensure they have the skills required to bestsupport and lead the organisation.

Here is the amount that Board Directors currently receive per year.

Chairman £10,000 per year

Vice-Chairman £4,000 per year

Independent & Tenant £500 per year plus an additional Board Directors £1,500 per year for those who

also act as Board Champions

Special advisors to Regeneration Committee £250 per year

Council Board Directors Do not receive a payment

In 2009 board members achieved attendance levels of 80% toboard meetings and 73% to committees.

Coming SoonDuring 2010 we will be launching a brand new section on ourwebsite containing more information about our Board of Directors,the issues they are considering and decisions that are being made.We will make some of the minutes of their meetings available todownload so you can better understand how and why they makethe decisions that they do.

“I first saw the advert for a tenant board

member in Helena Headlines and thought

I would find out more. After meeting

the people at Helena I felt that with the

support and training on offer I could do

the job.

Now three years later as Board Champion

for Customer Excellence and Involvement,

I would urge other tenants to ‘come on

board’. If you are interested in being a

Board Member then please get in touch

with Helena to find out more about

what is involved. If you don’t think that

is for you, there are so many other ways

you can get involved, including the

Customer Excellence Panel which is doing

a great job in scrutinising the services

you receive as customers of Helena.”

Marlene Newman, pictured above, Tenant

Board Director and Board Champion for

Customer Excellence & Involvement


Board Directors

Peter StycheChairman

Tom HarrisonVice-Chairman

Bob Barr Ken Birch

Joe Andrews Marlene Newman John Perry Kath Wilkinson

Linda Maloney Richard McCauley David Crowther

Peter Mercer Liz Moss Gregory Jobome

Independent Board Directors Council Board Directors

Tenant Board Directors Co-optee Board Directors



Section 6 - Value for money

The table below shows you how much it costs to manage Helena services each year. Remember, the green

icons mean that we are getting good value for money, red and amber means we need to improve.

Service Cost per home Performance Value for money (VFM)(2008 / 09)

Rent Arrears & collection £78 We are 5th out of 31 associations in terms of costs. Cost Quality

We collected 97% of rent owed to us in 2008/09. However, the percentage of tenants who owe us money through rent arrears is worse than other associations and we are working to improve this.

Resident Involvement £42 We are 7th out of 31 associations in terms of costs. Cost Quality

This includes keeping tenants informed, as well as consulting and supporting tenant groups. Our costs are relatively low and we are performing in the top 25% of associations.

Our tenant survey results tell us that over 70% of you are satisfied with your views being taken into

In the performance column, we have added details about how Helena is performing compared with other North West housingassociations of a similar size. Every year we compare our costs and performance against other housing associations of a similar size to Helena.

The table below outlines how we compare to other similar stock transfer associations who manage between 5,000 and 20,000 properties.(a total of 31 associations are included within this benchmark).


Service Cost per home Performance Value for money (VFM)(2008 / 09)

Anti-Social Behaviour £52 We are 11th out of 31 associations in terms of costs. Cost Quality

It costs us less than others to deal with anti-social behaviour. 79% of those who reported anti-social behaviour are satisfied with how their case was handled which is slightly worse than other associations.

Tenancy Management £63 We are 8th out of 31 associations in terms of costs. Cost Quality

This includes monitoring estates, day to day support for tenants in their homes , mutual exchanges, enforcing tenancy conditions and sign-ups for new tenants. It costs us less than others to provide this service.

8.5% of our tenants moved out of their homes in 2008/09 which is worse than other associations.

Repairs £332 We are 6th out of 31 associations in terms of costs. Cost Quality

Our costs for repairs are low when compared to others. Satisfaction is high at 84% putting us within the top 25% of associations.

Customer Access £23 per hour While it costs us slightly more to run our One Call contact Cost Qualitycentre, 98% of calls were answered in 2008/09, which means that we perform well compared to others. Overall 93% are satisfied with the service provided.

It takes us on average 8 seconds to answer a call, with 93% answered within 5 rings.

On average 51 calls are answered per One Call advisor per day – which is above average nationally.

“As a panel we review the cost and

quality of each service area to ensure

that it is providing good value for

money to tenants. We have identified

managing empty homes as an area for

review in 2010/11 and will be working

closely with Helena to improve

performance in this area.”

Karen Forrest – Customer Excellence Panel member


Appendix - Detailed Performance InformationHow we performed locally

100

90

80

70

60

50

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30

20

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% of Emergency Repairs Completed within Target Time

2007/2008 2008/2009 Quarters 1-32009/2010

97 90* 99

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

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% of Urgent Repairs Completed in Target Time

2007/2008 2008/2009 Quarters 1-32009/2010

90 88* 98

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

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% of Repair Appointments Kept

2007/2008 2008/2009 Quarters 1-32009/2010

87 80* 87

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

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% of Routine Repairs Completed in Target Time

2007/2008 2008/2009 Quarters 1-32009/2010

96 96* 97

*Performance dipped in 2008/09 due to the implementation of the Optitime appointments system. Satisfaction remained high however during this period – see page 6 for details.


How we performed against others nationally

Helena Helena Performance Target2007/2008 2008/2009 against

target

% Rent collected 99.78 99.25 100.00

% Rent arrears 4.3 3.9 4.2

Percentage of rent collected within the year & percentage of rent arrears

Our rent arrears performance has improved over the past few years. In 2007/08 we werejust over our target of 4.2%, meaning that we had a higher level of rent arrears than wewanted to. As you can see, this figure has been reduced to 3.9% which is very positiveand demonstrates that we are moving in the right direction.

Helena Helena Performance How the best National2007/2008 2008/2009 against associations or Local

target are performing Benchmark

Average timetaken to let an 38.5 45.2 26.1 Nationalempty home days days days

% turnover of people leaving 8.1 8.4 8 Localour homes

% of empty homes as at 2.9 1.6 1.3 National

Managing empty homes


What do you think of this report?

Is there too much or too little information? Could we havepresented the information in a different way that would havebeen easier to understand? Is there anything you were expectingto read about that we didn’t include?

You can send your comments by one of the following methods:

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: 01744 63 73 83

Write to us: Communications TeamHelena PartnershipsHead OfficePrescot RoadSt HelensWA10 3TT


If you would like a copy of this document in larger print,another language or on audio tape, please contact us.

For more information about Helena Homes,visit our website,www.helenahomes.co.uk or contact us:

By phone: 01744 63 73 83

By email: [email protected]

By post: Helena Homes, 3rd Floor, Court Building,Alexandra Park, Prescot Road, St Helens,WA10 3TT

If you would like a copy of this document in larger print,another language or on audio tape, please contact us.

Helena Homes is part of Helena Partnerships Limited.

Helena Partnerships is a company limited by guarantee.

Registered in England and Wales.

Company Registration No. 4141767

Tenant Services Authority No. L4340

Registered Charity No. 1107073

March 2010

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Documents

2008-09 Annual Performance Report to Tenants