Housing Management...Housing Management Annual Report 2009/10 3Annual Report 2010–2011 3 Foreword Welcome to Ealing Council’s first annual report, developed in partnership with

1Annual Report 2010–2011 Housing Management Annual Report 2009/10 1

Housing ManagementAnnual Report 2009/10

2 Housing Management Annual Report 2009/10

Ealing Council owns or manages 13,000 rented homes and 5,000 leasehold flats.

The council’s housing management service is provided by Ealing Homes, an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) set up in 2004 to manage the council’s housing stock and to complete the Decent Homes programme of improvement works.

This report is produced in partnership with Ealing Homes.


Foreword

Welcome to Ealing Council’s

first annual report, developed in

partnership with our residents

and Ealing Homes, our housing

management provider.

This report sets out our performance as a landlord and our commitments to council tenants and leaseholders up to the 31 March 2011.

This year promises to be an exciting and opportune one in housing. We have just received the results of our resident Test of Opinion on proposals to bring the housing service back under direct council control. You have given your support to our plans which we

believe will allow us to make further improvements on Ealing Homes’ already high performing service, bring key council services closer together and eliminate unnecessary duplication in services.

As the Cabinet member for housing I want to see council housing services shaped around the needs of residents and their priorities for improvement. I would like to thank all those residents who have taken time to fill in surveys or attend consultation events or workshops. This has given us vital information to help develop local standards for key services in the coming months.

“As the Cabinet Member for Housing I want to see council housing services shaped around the needs of residents and their priorities for improvement.”Councillor Hitesh Tailor

Councillor Hitesh Tailor, Cabinet Member for Housing in Ealing


From the 1 April 2010 the Tenant

Services Authority took over

responsibility for the regulation of

all social housing and published

National Standards that we now

have to meet. One requirement is

that on the 1 October each year

we have to publish an annual

report to tenants.

These new standards also include a requirement to develop “local offers” which are agreements between the landlord and residents on the standard of services to be provided.

This is an opportunity for us to tailor services to your needs based on what you have told us are your priorities. We have used the term “local standards” in the remainder of this report as you have told us you prefer this to the term “local offers”. This report is the result of ongoing resident consultation on the customer experience with the council’s housing management service, provided by Ealing Homes.

To develop this report the council and Ealing Homes have been working with residents to refine the objectives and plans for local

standards in the coming months, and plan how residents will be involved in this process.

The consultation with residents on the future of the housing management service has shown that there are four clear areas of importance that residents see as priorities:• Repairs and maintenance• Tackling antisocial behaviour• Cleaning and maintenance of

communal areas (including grass cutting and shrub bed maintenance)

• Tenant involvement and empowerment.

We will prioritise these four services and will develop local standards in partnership with residents by the 31 March 2011. Our aim is to make sure:• You know what level of service to

expect• We get things done right first time• Our services are easily accessible

and cost effective• There is good regular

communication about what we are doing.

Our plans for developing local

standards

Our aim is for residents to be at the heart of the development of local standards, with project teams involving tenants and leaseholders leading the process. We will also make sure we consult with residents as widely as possible to give everyone the chance to comment and shape their services.

We recently conducted borough wide consultation about the future of the housing service. You told us you wanted standards to apply throughout the borough, rather than having different service standards for different areas. Therefore we will develop local standards that apply equally to all areas.

Where possible we have linked the development of local standards to the letting of contracts, for example, the new repairs standard will start at the same time as the new repairs contracts on 1 April 2011.

This report is a summary of our plans for developing local standards (the detailed plans are available on the Ealing Council website www.ealing.gov.uk).

Developing this Report


Working with residents

We have agreed with the Resident Council that when developing local standards we will:• Work closely with residents’ working groups*,

for example, the Antisocial Behaviour Working Group and the Repairs Working Group, including detailing how performance will be measured and reported to residents

• Consult with various residents’ consultative groups, including the Resident Council, the Diversity Forum, the Disability Forum, the Campaign for Action in Sheltered Housing (CASH), the Ealing Homes Independent Leaseholder Association and the Elder Persons’ Forum

• Involve younger people • Publicise all local standards to tenants and

leaseholders before the date they are due to come in

• Provide regular “You said, we did” reports to tenants and leaseholders

• Ensure residents are involved in scrutinising our performance against the standards

• Include all agreed local standards in new contracts we are letting.

* A full list of the residents’ groups and how they get involved is available on the Ealing Homes website (www.ealinghomes.net/getinvolved).

Audit Commission Inspection Report

Ealing Homes went through a comprehensive inspection from the Audit Commission in June 2010 and has been judged a two star “good” service with promising prospects for improvement.

The judgment was made following a thorough two-week inspection in which a number of service strengths and weaknesses were identified. The strengths of the service provided by Ealing Homes outweighed the weaknesses.

The positive report sets a clear performance benchmark for the council’s housing service and the recommendations in the report provide a pathway for further improvement. We will ensure that the overwhelming strengths of the service are maintained and that weaknesses are eradicated by acting on recommendations in the report.


The council believes that asking

residents about their experience

helps us to provide a service that

better meets their needs.

We will continue to agree our aims and targets with you through the annual report and publicise our performance on our website and in Key Issues magazine so you can see how well we are doing.

Residents across the borough are currently involved in a range of initiatives that help them to engage in the work of Ealing Homes and Ealing Council. As a result of this involvement we have seen improved service delivery.

We want to build on this success, devise local standards for individual services and develop new ways for residents to scrutinise our work.

The Audit Commission said in their

inspection report:

“There are a range of initiatives which help resident engagement in the work of the ALMO and it is possible to identify a number of improvements as a result of resident involvement.”

The new Tenant Involvement and Empowerment Standard cuts across all of the new standards and will lead to residents having more influence over the services they receive. Over the next six months residents will play a key role in devising local standards in repairs and maintenance, antisocial behaviour and the cleaning and maintenance of communal areas.

Timeframe: Implementing the Tenant Involvement and Empowerment Standard:Stage 1 (July/August) Devise resident consultation plan

Stage 2 (July – October) Repairs and Maintenance local standard consultation

Stage 3 (October – December) Antisocial Behaviour local standard consultation

Stage 4 (January – March 11) Cleaning and Maintenance local standard consultation

Stage 5 (January – March 11) Involvement and Empowerment local standard agreed with residents.

April 2011: Launch local standards.

Some 65% of you think that your views are taken into account.

Tenant Involvement and Empowerment Standard

Housing Management Annual Report 2009/10 7

We are committed to improving opportunities for residents to be involved in scrutinising the services they receive. To do this by the 31 March 2011 we will:• Learn from good practice to create new

structures and approaches that make us more accountable to the communities we serve and improve the opportunities for residents to get involved

• Ensure these structures have the authority to examine the effectiveness of service delivery and policy

• Ensure new groups are representative of the resident profile by monitoring their membership

• Encourage residents who have never been involved before and those from underrepresented groups to help shape future services

• Monitor the effectiveness of resident involvement and benchmark against similar high performing landlords

• Publish details of the training we will provide for residents.

Want to get involved?

Getting involved is not just about attending meetings; you can:• Take part in training or volunteer• Become a resident inspector• Join interview panels for staff and contractors• Learn new skills• Meet new people.

If you are interested in getting involved in shaping services please contact:Strategic Involvement TeamEaling HomesFREEPOST LON16139London W5 2BRTel: FREEPHONE 0800 328 3632Email: [email protected]

Repairs and MaintenanceThe council understands how important a good repairs and maintenance service is to you, and this was highlighted in resident consultation as a key area. That’s why we have made improving the service and developing a local standard our top priority. With the current repairs contracts coming to an end in March 2011, we have also taken the opportunity to ask for your views on the service. Your feedback will provide the detail for the new contracts and the basis of the new local standard.

We are committed to improving

our repairs and maintenance

service to you. By the 31 March

2011 we will:

• Agree a local standard for repairs and maintenance with residents

• Develop local resident involvement in monitoring the standard and continue to monitor performance, costs and how well we compare to other landlords

• Publish the dates and findings of estate inspections

• Work with residents to improve the number of repairs carried out right first time.

Timeframe: Implementing the Repairs and Maintenance Local Standard (Home Standard)Stage 1 (July/August) Initial consultation with service improvement, diversity and staff groups (Resident Council, Repairs Working Group, Resident Inspectors, Diversity Forum, Disability Forum, Elder Persons’ Forum and CASH)

Stage 2 (August) Repairs survey sent to all residents (tenants and leaseholders)

Stage 3 (September) Contract specification and local standard workshop (Ealing Town Hall)

Stage 4 (October – March) Agree local standard with residents

Stage 5 (January – March) Publicise the standard through Key Issues, the Ealing Homes website and the LivEaling website.

1 April 2011: Repairs and Maintenance Local Standard comes into effect.

In 2009/10 we completed 83% of jobs “right first time” and our aim for this year is to increase this to 95% of jobs.

Home Standard


9Annual Report 2010–2011

Decent Homes

Presently 84% of homes have received Decent Homes works with the remaining works to be completed by March 2011. You have rated the quality of the Decent Homes work very highly with 97% satisfaction scores for materials and workmanship.

High intervention regeneration estates

In 2007, Ealing Council conducted a review of 34 of its largest estates to gain a better understanding of the regeneration needs and opportunities on each of these estates. The findings categorised eight estates as in need of “high intervention”. This meant the required improvements – such as large-scale structural changes – would be above what was possible under the Decent Homes programme.

We have worked closely with residents to develop their own brief for their estate before inviting tenders. Where developers have been selected, we continue to support their work with residents and offer choices on the work being carried out.

Decent Homes works are not carried out on properties scheduled for demolition. Instead a programme of interim or “meanwhile” works has been developed in consultation with residents to maintain properties in a decent condition until they are redeveloped.

On estates where regeneration works are agreed with residents we have also developed a communications and consultation strategy for that estate, which includes a resident steering group, regular newsletters, community events and drop-ins.

Sheltered Housing

We have started to look at our sheltered housing service and found that some blocks are no longer suitable to the specific needs of some older people; for example some blocks are in the wrong location. Also the amount of sheltered housing we have is greater than the number of people wanting to live in it.

We have been meeting with residents in sheltered housing schemes since January 2009 to ask their views about changing the use of some schemes, to discuss their housing needs and answer any questions. We have now met with every scheme affected by this proposal. The meetings have been well attended and we have heard a variety of views and opinions.

Residents felt the following were important:• That people can remain in their homes• The provision of clear information on housing

services • Choice in support services.

We will build on this information by carrying out further consultation with sheltered residents to develop proposals for a new sheltered housing service; whilst this is happening we will continue to carry out Decent Homes and repair work in sheltered schemes.


ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

Both the council and Ealing Homes take the problem of antisocial behaviour (ASB) very seriously and by working with partners through the Ealing Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership we have taken positive steps to reduce levels of ASB. Using a range of measures including firm action, mediation, education, and diversionary activities we are tackling the issue head on.

Last year our ASB teams dealt with 765 new cases, launched a new out-of-hours telephone service and worked with partners on developing a new approach to dealing with domestic violence. The Positive Futures Project has worked with 400 young people offering sport and leisure activities across the borough. This said, we still need to improve the levels of satisfaction with the service as last year only 62% of residents who made a complaint about ASB were satisfied. We plan to work with you to put measures in place, including local standards, and regularly update you on the progress of cases you report.

We are committed to improving our ASB services to you. By the 31 March 2011 we will:• Ensure residents are involved in

developing and improving our approach to ASB

• Agree a common approach with partnership organisations to tackle ASB across the borough

• Agree a local standard for tackling ASB.

Timeframe: Implementing the ASB Local Standard (Neighbourhood and Community Standard)Stage 1 (October) Review of current ASB priorities and reporting procedure (ASB staff and senior managers)

Stage 2 (October) Initial consultation with stakeholders, diversity and staff groups (LBE Housing, Environment Group, West London LGBT Forum, REC, Youth Service, Resident Council, Resident Inspectors, Diversity Forum, Disability Forum, Elder Persons’ Forum and CASH)

Stage 3 (November) Local standard workshops with residents (Ealing Town Hall)

Stage 4 (December) Agree local standard with residents

Stage 5 (December) Publicise the standard through Key Issues magazine, the Ealing Homes website and the LivEaling website.

1 April 2011: Antisocial Behaviour Local Standard comes into effect

Some 62% of residents who made a complaint about antisocial behaviour were satisfied; we want to improve this to 87%.

Neighbourhood and Community Standard

The Neighbourhood and

Community Standard comprises

three distinct areas.

These are:• Antisocial behaviour• Neighbourhood management• Local area co-operation.



NEIGHBOURHOOD MANAGEMENT –

cleaning and grounds maintenance

Making the borough cleaner and safer for all residents are two of Ealing’s main priorities. For the housing management service this means making sure our estates are kept clean and the environment in and around them is maintained.

Ealing Homes’ caretakers are one of the most visible front line services, carrying out daily tasks on your doorstep. The council and Ealing Homes will be working with you to set local priorities and standards for cleaning and grounds maintenance. We want to keep up the high standards we have set for graffiti removal and estate sweeping and litter picking.

The Audit Commission said: “There is a swift response to estate management incidents and arrangements for grounds maintenance are satisfactory.”

Satisfaction with cleaning and grounds maintenance was up to 72%. But we want to improve it to 77%.

We removed 99% of graffiti on estates within one working day.

We are committed to improving our cleaning and grounds maintenance service. By the 31 March 2011 we will:• Develop a new local standard in

partnership with residents and Ealing Homes

• Review and improve communication with residents on standards and estate inspections

• Encourage involvement in estate inspections

• Carry out and report on resident satisfaction with grounds maintenance.

Timeframe: Implementing the

Cleaning and Grounds Maintenance

Local Standard (Neighbourhood and

Community Standard)

Stage 1 (December) Analysis of Estate Services survey sent quarterly to residents (tenants and leaseholders) and complaints received about cleaning and grounds maintenance to identify issues

Stage 2 (January) Initial consultation with stakeholders, diversity and staff groups (LBE Housing, Environment Group, Resident Council, Resident Inspectors, Diversity Forum, Disability Forum, Elder Persons’ Forum and CASH)

Stage 3 (February) Contract specification and local standard workshop (Ealing Town Hall)

Stage 4 (March) Agree local standard with residents

Stage 5 (March) Publicise the standard through Key Issues magazine, the Ealing Homes website and the LivEaling website.

April 1 2011: Cleaning and Grounds Maintenance Local Standard comes into effect.

LOCAL AREA CO-OPERATION

Ealing Council works closely with the police service, NHS and a number of other public bodies to join up services and develop long-term plans. This co-operation and partnership extends from working with other west London boroughs on key issues, to working with Ealing Homes on crime and disorder committees. We are also working in partnership with developers to build new council homes in the borough and helping our housing association partners to develop new affordable homes for rent or shared ownership.



Regeneration of estates

In 2008 eight estates across Ealing were identified for regeneration. Since then the Regeneration Team has worked with residents and developers to ensure each scheme is tailored to local needs. With some schemes more advanced than others, we have involved residents in the plans for estates to make sure their views have been considered.

For example, on the South Acton Estate residents participate in a steering group that oversees the work of the partner developers, London & Quadrant Housing Association and Countryside. As well as physical redevelopment, one of our other partners, Catalyst Communities, has a training and employment scheme on the estate. There are also a variety of community development, social and cultural activities that are also run through the Oaktree Community Centre and Bollo Brook Youth Centre.

The Green Man Lane estate in west Ealing brings together a partnership of the council, relevant partners and residents all working together. Rydon and A2 Dominion were selected as the preferred development partners and the Green Man Lane Tenants’ Association is now working closely with them to make further plans for the estate.

The Rectory Park resident steering group has just selected a developer partner, Network Housing Group, and the remaining estates are expected to reach this stage by July 2011. Work is ongoing to establish resident panels to steer the regeneration programme on each estate.

In Ealing the demand for social

housing outweighs supply. It is

therefore vital we make best

use of the homes we have and

fill empty council properties as

quickly as possible.

The council uses the LOCATA choice based lettings scheme, a system that allows applicants to bid for properties that meet their needs. We listened to your comments and now those with no housing need will be allowed to move if they wish; for example people who are in the right size property but want to move to another area can do so. We will also offer incentives to tenants to downsize their homes.

The tragic events in Camberwell where six people lost their lives in a tower block fire emphasised the importance of health and safety across our estates. Last year we continued our programme of fire risk assessments and carried out a scheme of fire safety works on high priority blocks.

Ealing Homes Tenancy Management Team has strong working relations with many other council services to provide a bespoke service to new tenants. There are, however, improvements we can make to the service. We will reduce the time it takes to carry out visits to new tenants, improve occupancy checks and encourage residents to report anyone subletting illegally.


our approach to tenancy services.

By the 31 March 2011 we will:

• Review our use of LOCATA to make it quicker and more efficient to use

• Introduce online self assessment to cut waiting time for new applicants

• Review our procedure for new tenants to make sure we capture support needs and keep this under review

• Ensure that occupancy checks are carried out and encourage residents to report illegal subletting in confidence.

Tenancy Standard

Empty properties were let in 21.37 days on average compared to the target of 23.5 days.

In 2009/10 we let 567 empty properties.



People 1st (Slough)

Hillingdon Homes

Ealing Homes (2

008/09)

Sutton Housin

g Partnersh

ip

Homes in Havering

Ealing Homes (2

007/08)

Kensington and Chelse

a TMO

Lewisham Homes

Newham Homes

Ascham Homes

Hounslow Homes

Homes for H

aringey

Brent Housin

g Partnersh

ip

Barnet Homes

Homes for Is

lington

H & F Homes

Hackney Homes

Redbridge Homes

Making the best use of public

money is one of the council’s

corporate priorities. We aim to

reduce our costs and continue

to make improvements in the

services we provide.

We believe that by bringing the housing management service back under direct council control and re-tendering the repairs contracts we’ll achieve better value for money and make savings by eliminating duplication and streamlining services.

We know that for many of you 2009/10 was a difficult year because of the recession and we have worked with partners such as Ealing Credit Union to provide financial advice and assistance where needed. The council will continue to focus on achieving better value for money and we await further news from the government following their review of rent policy for social rented homes.

When compared with similar organisations, Ealing Homes is amongst the least expensive in London for management costs.

This has largely been due to efficiency savings of £3.7 million over the last four years and we are reducing our budget by another 7% this year. By combining Decent Homes contracts we have also produced savings in the region of £2 million per year.


value for money in the services we

provide to you. By the 31 March

2011 we will:

• Bring the housing service back under council control to eradicate duplication and improve the service

• Re-tender the repairs and maintenance contracts to achieve greater value for money

• Continue to challenge the cost of the service compared to other similar landlords.

• Continue to encourage residents to pay rent in the most cost effective ways such as Direct Debit.

Value for Money Standard

We have made efficiency savings of £3.7 million over the last four years.



0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

People 1st (Slough)

Hillingdon Homes

Ealing Homes (2

008/09)

Sutton Housin

g Partnersh

ip

Homes in Havering

Ealing Homes (2

007/08)

Kensington and Chelse

a TMO

Lewisham Homes

Newham Homes

Ascham Homes

Hounslow Homes

Homes for H

aringey

Brent Housin

g Partnersh

ip

Barnet Homes

Homes for Is

lington

H & F Homes

Hackney Homes

Redbridge Homes

Source: HouseMark, Summary of Benchmarking Results, October 2009

Ealing Homes cost comparison table with other housing management organisations

Housing management organisation

Cost

per

pro

pert

y (£

)D

irect

hou

sing

man

agem

ent


During 2009/10 we improved

the way in which telephone calls

are dealt with by introducing a

Customer Service Centre and by

promoting freephone numbers.

Our aim is to improve upon the results of the 2009 satisfaction survey in which 68% of you said you were satisfied with the telephone arrangements.

During 2009/10 94% of Stage One complaints were dealt with on time, which was just short of the target, but was an improvement on the figure of 90% achieved in 2008/09.

One of the highlights of 2009/10 was that Ealing Homes received a Customer Service Excellence award in February 2010 to recognise its commitment to providing services that meet your needs.

Working with a diverse resident

population

The council works hard to ensure that the services it provides, or those provided by its partners, are as open and accessible as possible for people of any age, religion or belief, gender, including transgender, sexual orientation, ethnicity or those with a disability or care/support needs.


how services are delivered to

residents with diverse needs.

By the 31 March 2011 we will:

• Continue to monitor and record information on our residents, and keep this information up-to-date to ensure we can communicate with people in the most suitable way

• Work with our partner organisations inside and outside housing to establish new ways to engage with groups we do not always work with

• Ensure all staff are fully trained and understand the council’s equalities and inclusion policies.

Customer Care Standard

Some 67% of tenants are an ethnic minority and satisfaction with overall landlord services is 76% (status survey 2009)



Customer Care Standard

Target Achieved

2009/10

Percentage of phone calls answered within 15 seconds 85% 93%

Percentage of correspondence answered within six working days 97% 97%

Stage One complaints responded to within 10 working days 96% 94%

Income for the management and maintenance of council housing 2009/10

Financial InformationHousing Revenue Account Income and Expenditure 2009/10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Charges to Capita

l £25.4m

Repair and Maintenance £14.3m

ALMO Fee Housing Management £

12.5m

LBE Retained Housing Costs

£5.8m

Property and Esta

tes £4.4m

Estate Regeneratio

n £0.8m

Provision fo

r Bad Debts £

0.2m

Home Ownership Service

s £0.2m

£ m

illio

n

Dwelling Rent £

57.2m

Service Charge – Te

nants £4.9m

Service Charge – Leaseholders £

1.9m

Non-Dwelling Rents £

1.2m

HRA Subsidy £1.0m

Interest on Balances £

0.6m


0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Expenditure on council housing 2009/10

£ m

illio

n

Charges to Capita

l £25.4m

Repair and Maintenance £14.3m

ALMO Fee Housing Management £

12.5m

LBE Retained Housing Costs

£5.8m

Property and Esta

tes £4.4m

Estate Regeneratio

n £0.8m

Provision fo

r Bad Debts £

0.2m

Home Ownership Service

s £0.2m


EALING COUNCIL

Ealing Customer ServicesPerceval House,14/16 Uxbridge Road, Ealing

Opening hours: Mon–Fri, 9am–5pmPlease note: On the second Wednesday of each month we open at 10am

Tel: 020 8825 5000 Email: [email protected]

EALING HOMES

Area Offices West (Greenford, Northolt, Perivale and Southall) EAST (Acton, Ealing and Hanwell)

301 Ruislip RoadGreenfordMiddlesex UB6 9SE020 8825 [email protected]

Reception ServicePerceval House14-16 Uxbridge RoadEaling W5 2HL020 8825 [email protected]

Opening hours Monday, Tuesday and Friday: 9am –4:30pmWednesday: 10am – 4:30pmThursday: 9am – 6pm

Monday to Friday: 9am – 5pm

Phone service Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday: 9am – 5pmThursday: 9am – 6pm

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday: 9am – 5pmThursday: 9am – 6pm

Customer Service Centre

Tel: 0800 181 744 or 020 8825 5682 Email: [email protected]

Housing Management Contacts



24 Housing Management Annual Report 2009/10Published October 2010

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0800 181744

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Documents

Housing Management...Housing Management Annual Report 2009/10 3Annual Report 2010–2011 3 Foreword Welcome to Ealing Council’s first annual report, developed in partnership with