Annual Report 2020-21
Throughout this year I have been inspired by the commitment of all our teams.
Les Clarke, Executive director of housing and care
Ron’s a lockdown hero
Supporting the award-winning BeConnected project in Stafford borough, Gnosall resident Ron’s telephone bingo sessions brought some very welcome laughter into the lives of people who could experience particular feelings of loneliness in lockdown.
Income
Total rent collected during the last year was
£86,583,837
Total percentage of rent arrears across the Group was
1.59%
against a target of 3%.
Rent arrears of
£1,355,815
were outstanding from current tenants.
Rent arrears of
£827,627
were outstanding from former tenants.
Customer support
Our support helped customers secure
£1,616,492
in additional income.
568 customers
were supported by the employment and money advice team, helping them to reduce debt, maximise income and budget efficiently.
Our debt counselling service helped customers make savings totalling
£30,566
Customers’ savings included
£17,349
in water bills and other utilities.
Making a positive difference
Supporting tenants to claim benefits, often for the first time
28 people
secured volunteering or work placements and were supported into education or training.
11 people
people were helped into employment.
Severnside Housing answers emergency appeal
Shrewsbury Foodbank at Barnabus makes a big difference to the lives of people and families in crisis. So when the food bank needed help, we were delighted to step in.
Customer involvement
100 involved customers
have been recruited.
Giving us a total of
372 involved customers
across the Group.
Our 372 involved customers
regularly share their views to help us improve services
4,876 surveys
were carried out to get customers' views on our services.
Kind hearted Betty is neighbourhood hero.
Betty is the winner of a very special national Frontline Stars Award from the Housing Quality Network (HQN)
The customer-led scrutiny panel volunteered
244 hours
of their time to give feedback on our services.
15 actions
were implemented from their recommendations...
...in
four key projects
Allocations
1,272
new tenancy agreements were signed.
1,139
empty properties were returned to a lettable standard.
91.47%
of tenants sustained their tenancy for more than 12 months.
Housing Plus Group launches community grants initiative
We remain committed to making a positive difference to homes, lives and communities in the areas we serve and this mission is set to receive a practical boost with the launch of a new grant scheme.
Customer satisfaction
357
compliments were received.
753
complaints were received.
70%
of complaints responded to in 10 day target.
14 days
Average time to respond to a complaint (service level agreement - 10 working days).
89%
of complaints received resolved at stage 1 of the complaints process
Customer services
118,395
answered calls from our customers.
72%
of queries resolved in single contact.
92%
of customers were satisfied with service provided at call centres.
Thousands of customers benefit from reassurance calls
Housing Plus Group steps up its efforts to support vulnerable people in the communities we serve.