A leading provider of housing care and support in Sussex Easy Read Annual Report for Tenants 2017-18 We are a specialist housing association committed to preventing homelessness and supporting vulnerable people s health, wellbeing and independence. We are a not-for-profit organisation and exist for the benefit of local communities. www.southdown.org 1
CONTENTS Page Welcome from Jim Aspdin 3 Welcome from the Tenant Quality Team 4 About Southdown 5 Southdown as a Landlord 5 Tenancy Sustainment Service 6 Our Tenant Charter 7 Highlights from the Year 2017-18 10 Tenant Involvement 12 Tenant Satisfaction Survey 14 Tenant Quality Team 17 Managing Money Matters 18 Value For Money 21 Plans for 2018-19 21 How to Contact Us 23 2
Welcome from Jim Aspdin Southdown s Director of Housing Welcome to our 2017-18 Annual Report for Tenants. This report will tell you what we have done to support our tenants in the last year And also what we plan to do this year. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about anything in this report. You can also write to us what you think about the services you receive from Southdown. 3
Tenant Quality Team We are the Tenant Quality Team (TQT), a team of tenant volunteers who care passionately about improving services for tenants. We give feedback on services and help to gain feedback from other tenants. We really enjoyed taking part in the job interviews for the new Housing Director post and other staff in the Housing Division. We have also had the opportunity to develop our skills and received training. It s like having a job. It s really going to make it easier to move into work - which is eventually what we want to do. We hope you enjoy reading this annual report. If you have any ideas for improvements, please let us know! 4
About Southdown We were formed in 1972 and are the largest notfor-profit specialist provider of care, support and housing services for over 9,000 vulnerable people in Sussex. We are a landlord for 646 tenants. Southdown as a landlord As a landlord we provide a variety of different kinds of accommodation. 5
Focus on: Tenancy Sustainment Service We launched a new Tenancy Sustainment Service in 2017. An early intervention and preventative service, its aim is to support our tenants to keep their tenancy in the long-term by providing: A yearly wellbeing visit to all tenants to check the safety of their home, review any support needs, provide information and referrals to ongoing support. Specialist help to address issues such as hoarding, money management, anti-social behaviour or other issues affecting their tenancy A review of Welfare Benefits and help understanding the benefits system 6
Practical help to set up and use email accounts and use the internet safely Support with budgeting, including energy switching and other money saving options Our Tenant Charter Housing Officers We will prove a named Housing Officer for all tenants to raise issues with and liaise around tenancy issues in addition to other support tenants receive from us. Anti-Social Behaviour We will respond to complaints of anti-social behaviour within 2 days of a Housing Officer being informed. We will offer home visits to all tenants making complaints and tell them what action we are talking to help resolve the issue. 7
Shared Ownership We will offer a yearly visit from the Housing Officer following issue of the service charge statements. We will include all shared owners in regular organisational updates from us. Tenant Involvement Tenants will be provided with twice-yearly themed tenant focus groups and a yearly tenant survey to tell us how we have performed as a landlord. Property Inspection Tenants will be notified of property inspections and be provided with opportunities to tell us about any concerns they have for individual flats or the communal areas of the property. Carpets and Curtains We will provide carpets and curtains as standard in all properties that we let at the point of move-in. 8
Post Work Inspections We will post-inspect at least 15% of day-today maintenance jobs raised and 100% of major, cyclical and planned works to ensure our tenants are getting a good quality maintenance service. Repairs Tenants will be offered 3 choices of appointment times for repairs. Value for Money We will publish an annual Value for Money self-assessment report that shows how we are making best use of available resources. 24 Helpline for Properties Where we are responsible for repairs, we will provide a free out-of-hours emergency helpline for tenants needing to report emergency or urgent repairs outside normal working hours. 9
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE YEAR 2017-18 1 in 4 of our tenants received support from our Learning Disability services 29 of our tenants were supported to move on to independent living. This meant we could use our supported housing for other people that needed it. Personalised support our Housing Officers work with fewer tenants than some other housing associations. 162 of our tenants lost their linked support service because of local authority funding cuts. Our Housing Officers and Tenancy Sustainment Service have been there to support our tenants when they ve had nowhere else to turn. All of our tenants have been happy with our dayto-day repairs to their homes. 10
We bought two Supported Living schemes to provide homes for 10 people with learning disabilities in Brighton and Hove. All of our safety compliance checks were completed on properties where we are the landlord. All of our rents were collected. We appointed a new Housing Director, Jim Aspdin, to help us develop more affordable Supported Housing in Sussex. In the next five years, we plan to invest 4.3 million to build more homes. We invested 1,812,000 to develop and maintain affordable housing for vulnerable people in Sussex. 11
We received planning permission to develop six Supported Living flats in Brighton for people with learning disabilities and complex needs. The homes are due to be completed in 2019. Tenant Involvement Involvement is how we describe the many ways we ask our tenants what they think about our service. We will: Make it as easy and as quick as possible for you to tell us what you think. Make it easy for as many tenants as possible to tell us what they think. 12
Make sure our tenants know how useful their feedback is to us. We will act on what you tell us to make our services better and we will tell you what we have learnt and changed because of what we have been told. There are different ways you can get involved. All of the details are on our website. www.southdown.org/client-involvement You can also ask your Housing Officer. Get in touch We want to hear from you. If you want to report a repair, make a complaint or leave some feedback, please get in touch. Our contact details are on the back page of this report. 13
Tenant Satisfaction Survey In 2018, we asked our tenants to complete a satisfaction survey to let us know what we are doing well and where we need to improve. 25% of tenants responded and the feedback was very positive. 89% of tenants said they were satisfied with the condition of their home 89% of tenants said they were satisfied with the housing and repair service 92% of tenants said they understand their rights and responsibilities 14
93% of tenants (without a learning disability) said they know who their Housing Officer is and how to contact them 92% of tenants said they knew how to report antisocial behaviour Because of what you ve told us we are going to do these things We will support our staff to provide services tailored to your needs 15
We will make it easy for you to let us know what you think about your service We will provide opportunities for you to be involved in saying what you want from our services We will make sure that tenants with learning disabilities are able to read and understand information about their property We will support more tenants to know who their Housing Officer is and how to contact them We will give all of our tenants the chance to have their say in our 2019 satisfaction survey 16
Tenant Quality Team Our Tenant Quality Team make sure all our tenants have their say and are involved in telling us how to deliver our services. They have helped to set up our Tenancy Sustainment Service so we can support people to stay in their homes. They have helped to improve our tenant newsletter and our letters to tenants. They have phoned people to find out how well day-to-day repairs have been carried out. 17
They helped to recruit the new Director of Housing and Financial Inclusion Officer. They have helped us to produce a new Tenant Handbook and Annual Report. Managing money matters Managing your money is really important so that you are able to pay your rent and keep your tenancy. It can also help you get out of debt and stay out of debt. It can help you to organise your benefits. Welfare Reform Over the past year we have seen the continued rollout of Universal Credit across Sussex. You don t need to do anything until you hear from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about moving to Universal Credit, unless your circumstances change. If you want to know more you can go to our website: www.southdown.org/welfarereform 18
Maximising Money and Budgeting As well as talking to your Housing Officer, there are other ways to help you manage your money. Credit Unions Credit Unions are a bit like a bank but these organisations are owned and operated by their members. The East Sussex Credit Union has a account they call Jam Jar. You can have your benefits or wages paid into your account and then the amounts you need to pay your rent and bills are put aside. Only you can access the money that is left. Bank Accounts It is important to open a bank account if you don t already have one. Most benefits and wages are paid directly into a bank account. Budgeting Tips It is good to manage your money carefully. You could keep a diary for a month, making a note of all the things you spend money on. 19
Make sure you are getting what you should Speak to your Housing Officer about having a benefit check to make sure you are getting everything you should be. Can you reduce your bills? Comparison websites are useful to look at costs of utilities, telephone bills, insurance costs etc. Prioritise Debts If you owe money it is important to think about which ones you should pay first. If you are struggling with your money, speak to your Housing Officer and they might be able to help you to organise your finances. 20
Value for Money We think that giving value for money is by providing services at quality standards in the most cost efficient and effective way. We are always looking at how much money we spend on our housing and property activities and aim to improve every year, both in terms of quality and costs. Plans for 2018-19 Develop specialist flats in Brighton and Hove for 6 people with high support needs to live independently in the community. To help more people find the right home to meet their housing and support needs, we will get at least 10 new flats for use as Supported Housing. 21
We are already working with local authorities across Sussex to find new accommodation choices for people moving on from homelessness. To provide the best possible service for our tenants, we will be introducing a new Housing computer system early in 2019. We will be looking for a responsive repairs contractor and an electrical safety contractor who are able to meet the needs of our tenants over the next 5 years. 22
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