Welcome to the Tenants’ Annual Report 2019. This is our third digital Annual Report and we hope
to build on last year’s report which was a finalist in the Best Resident Involvement Initiative
at the Northern Housing Awards and finalist in the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Team of the
Year and at the Housing Heroes Awards.
We hope that you find the information accessible and easy to digest. The report is divided into
sections which highlight what services have been up to during 2018/19. Paper copies of each
section of the report are available on request for people who are not yet online. To request a
copy call 0300 123 66 33.
Each year tenants from across South Tyneside join together to help write the Annual Report by
examining performance information and assessing how South Tyneside Homes is performing. Through
our role as tenants we are independent and are able to provide you with a balanced report on how
South Tyneside Homes is performing and more importantly where there is room for improvement
going forward. This is why it is important that the Annual Report is written by tenants for
tenants.
Why Do We Need a Tenants’ Annual Report?
Why Do We Need a Tenants’ Annual Report?
The Regulator of Social Housing is the regulatory body responsible for social housing in England
and setting out what is expected of registered housing providers. The standards which have been
set are outlined in the Regulatory Framework for Social Housing.
South Tyneside Council, in
partnership with South Tyneside
Homes, is responsible for ensuring these standards are being met in a clear and
accountable way and must work with customers to set out how services will be delivered.
It is really important that we continue to meet the standards set by the regulator as it
indicates how well we are doing as an organisation and more importantly, how well the
organisation is delivering services to you as a customer. The Annual Report sets out the
standards and shows how South Tyneside Council and South Tyneside Homes work with customers to
ensure that the standards are being met.
The View from the Organisation
The View of the Organisation
2019 sees the 100-year anniversary of the Addison Act, which paved the way for large-scale
council house building. South Tyneside Council has a long history of providing decent,
secure and safe homes for residents and the centenary of the Act gives us an opportunity to
celebrate what council housing has achieved to date.
At the same time, the celebrations also give us a chance to look forward and examine what
more needs to be done to ensure social housing delivers secure homes for future generations.
Government and the media have been guilty in recent years of stigmatising social housing,
but it cannot be denied that social housing provides the stability of a permanent home and a
chance for families to lead safe, healthy and happy lives.
Following the tragic events at Grenfell, the Government issued a consultation paper ‘A ‘New
Deal’ for Social Housing’ in which it aims to tackle the stigma, improve building safety,
ensuring customers live in a decent home, strengthen regulation and most importantly empower
customers.
Over the past two years we have had a significant focus on building safety and during 2019 we
will be developing our approach to resident engagement. We will continue to put customers at
the heart of everything we do and ensure that customers are offered a wide range of
opportunities to give their views and help us improve the services we offer to customers in
the future.
Councillor Ed Malcolm Chair of South Tyneside Homes’
Board
Councillor Mark Walsh Lead Member for Housing and Transport
Paul Mains Managing Director of South Tyneside Homes
Involvement and Empowerment Standard
What The Regulator Says Landlords Should Deliver Under This Standard
Provide opportunities for customer involvement and empowerment
Support customers in their ability to scrutinise and improve services
Understand and respond to the diverse needs of customers
Have a focus on good customer service, choice and complaints that is clear, simple and
accessible to customers
The Involvement and Empowerment standard covers the following services. Please click below to see
the relevant section or read
an overview of performance against this standard.
Customer Involvement
Customer Involvement
During 2018/19, the organisation launched a new digital engagement opportunity for customers to
give their views and shape services. YourView allows customers to take part in online surveys
and consultations and receive rewards in return for participating. The platform has proved
successful so far with 98 customers taking part. The early success will be built on further
during 2019/20 with a number of consultations planned. To see how this will work and to get
involved, visit the YourView page
of the website.
Involvement groups have also supported a number of improvements across the organisation during
the year spending a total of 1036 volunteer hours working with service areas to improve
services. The Scrutiny Panel and Tenant Inspectors reviewed three service areas during the year
which led to a total of 56 recommendations and 38 improvement actions to make a difference to
the services which customers receive.
To improve their skills and knowledge, a number of training and development opportunities were
offered to customers including dementia awareness, equality and diversity and awareness sessions
facilitated by Change4Life.
In the next year, a new Involvement and Engagement Strategy will be developed in partnership with
residents to ensure that customers are able to give their views and influence services in a
number of ways. A new Involvement Framework will be created to ensure these views are listened
to and acted upon by senior managers and the Board.
To ensure that services remain accessible and inclusive for all customers, an equality review is
planned on the organisation’s key policies, procedures and strategies.
For further details on what involvement groups have been working on and how you can get involved
in shaping housing services, visit the Involvement
section of the website.
Customer Services
Customer Services
The Customer Services team strives to handle customer queries as efficiently and effectively as
possible. Last year, over 80% of calls were dealt with at the first point of contact with an
average call handling time of three and a half minutes. This means that customers can get their
queries resolved without being passed to other teams or waiting for an answer from another
member of staff.
Call waiting times was a challenge with just 51.9% of calls answered in 30 seconds. To address
this, a new process mapping tool has been implemented to provide better consistency and handling
of enquiries for customers on a range of services. The new tool includes security prompts and
clear guidance and information to help staff deal with queries more efficiently.
The Live Chat service has been expanded to other services including Housing Solutions, Income and
Welfare Support offering an additional way to deal with these departments. This led to over
10,000 chats during the course of the year.
Following consultation with customers, a new website has been launched to make it much easier to
navigate on a phone or tablet. Further improvements will be made in the coming year to modernise
and enhance the range of digital options for customers including a new customer portal with a
new range of self-service features and improved web chat service.
The new website is a 100% improvement; it is very welcoming and easy to use. I’m currently
using my iPad which I couldn’t do before as the site didn’t adapt. Love it well done.
Stephen, South Tyneside Homes customer
Customer Feedback
Customer Feedback
There are a variety of ways that customers can contact the organisation to give feedback to
suit their needs and preferences. This includes phone, email, LiveChat, social media, face
to face, letter, pre-printed form, in other languages and formats, or from a third party
acting on behalf of a customer.
South Tyneside Homes has a three stage complaints procedure which was relaunched last
year following a review by our involved customers. The procedure clearly explains each
stage of the process and includes what a customer can expect at each stage including
timescales for a response. The procedure also explains how a customer can escalate a
complaint to the Ombudsman if they are still unhappy with the complaint response. Last
year, 89.5% of customers found it easy to make a complaint.
Refresher training has been delivered to all teams within the past year to ensure
that staff can log a complaint and investigate a complaint effectively and
efficiently. 93.56% of complaints were responded to in timescale.
There were a total of 668 complaints and 657 compliments last year, which is a
huge increase from the 464 compliments received during 2017/18. You can see a
breakdown of these below.
Customer Feedback 2018/2019
Team
Total Complaints Logged
Total Percentage (%)
Total Compliments Logged
Total Percentage (%)
Total
668
100%
657
100%
Area Management
113
16.92%
48
7.31%
Repairs & Maintenance
220
32.92%
180
27.40%
Handy Estates
130
19.46%
85
12.93%
Housing Solutions
86
12.87%
167
25.42%
New Build & Major Works
25
3.74%
62
9.44%
Decent Homes
1
0.15%
5
0.76%
Housing Plus
4
0.60%
25
3.81%
Asset Management
6
0.90%
0
0
Income
12
1.80%
2
0.30%
Anti-social behaviour (ASB)
44
6.59%
4
0.61%
Customer Services
16
2.40%
36
5.48%
Welfare Support
5
0.75%
41
6.24%
Housing Ventures
5
0.75%
1
0.15%
Other
1
0.15%
1
0.15%
Tenancy Standard
What The Regulator Says Landlords Should Deliver Under This Standard
Allocate properties in a fair, transparent and efficient way
Have ways for customers to mutually exchange
Provide services that will support customers to maintain their tenancy and prevent unnecessary evictions
Publish clear and accessible policies which outline their approach to tenancy management, including interventions to sustain tenancies
The Tenancy Standard covers the following services. Please click below to see the relevant section or read an overview of performance against this standard.
Moving Home
Moving Home
A number of improvements have been made to procedures through the Tyne and Wear Homes partnership, including a shortened application process. This will make it quicker and easier to apply for a home. The sign-up procedure has also been shorted from 90 minutes to around 45 minutes and can now be done at the same time as viewing the property when it is ready to let.
Performance in the service has continued to improve with the amount of rent lost through the empty homes process reducing by £160,000 last year. The average number of empty properties also reduced from 195 in 2017/18 to 157 in 2018/19. The average re-let time increased from 41.96 days to 44.5 days; however a number of properties which had been empty for a long period of time were let during the year following some targeted work. Without these properties, average re-let time was 20.6 days for the year. This is important to ensure that the organisation makes best use of the housing stock and income can be maximised and spent as wisely as possible.
To support veterans and ex-service personnel, a new housing option consisting of a block of nine apartments has been created in South Shields. This accommodation allows individuals to receive additional assistance and support including help into training and employment by specialist partner organisations. The scheme has proved successful with four customers moving on to more settled accommodation. During 2019 South Tyneside Homes will be working towards achieving the Armed Forces Employee Recognition scheme which recognises the company’s commitment to armed forces community.
In the coming year, further improvements will be made across the service to make it speedier and easier to move properties. This will include the introduction of electronic sign-ups which will mean customers can complete paperwork online so they can move into their new home quicker. Improvements will also be made to the mutual exchanges processes to make this easier for customers to swap properties and move without following the traditional application process.
The South Tyneside Homes allocation process was great, staff were very friendly and considerate. I was really pleased with the property and having recently moved to South Tyneside, I absolutely love the area.
Ms O’Callaghan
Paying Your Rent
Paying Your Rent
Despite the rollout of Universal Credit in South Tyneside in 2018, 99.77% of rent was collected last year. This is an increase from the 99% collected during 2017/18. To help customers who are claiming Universal Credit, the organisation has been awarded “Trusted Landlord status” which allows the team to verify housing costs for a customer online and speed up their claim.
New software has also been introduced to support the team, which automatically contacts customers in rent arrears allowing staff to deal with cases more efficiently. The system has proved to increase contact with customers and the cases targeted saw an arrears reduction of 5% on average.
Although rent collection performance has been good, collection of former arrears (rent arrears from previous customers) has decreased. In the coming year, a new policy will be developed in partnership with customers for rent and former tenant arrears. This will improve the collection of all income to the organisation and include clearer guidance for customers and staff on setting up direct debits when a customer signs for a new home.
Supporting You In Your Home
Supporting You In Your Home
There are a number of ways that South Tyneside Homes supports customers in their home and discuss any issues which they may have. A total of 1,297 new customer visits were carried out last year to make sure that customers can manage in their homes and offer any appropriate support and assistance to those who need it. Housing Plus customers receive personal support plans to ensure that they can remain independent in their homes.
I can’t thank my Neighbourhood Officer Cait enough, the help and support she has offered has always above and beyond, truly grateful.
Miss Johnson, Jarrow Resident
Further support can now be given to customers who need this before they move into a new home from the Pre-Tenancy Support team. Additional help can be given to a customer from making an application through to moving into their property to ensure that they can sustain their tenancy. A total of 338 customers were supported last year.
A new internal group was developed allowing the organisation to work with other partners to support customers, create sustainable communities and reduce the need for formal action wherever possible. This improved way of working has led to a reduction in legal notices from 97 to 55 and the number of introductory tenancies (new customers) ending due to rent arrears, reducing from 33 in 2017/18 to 25 in 2018/19.
Close working relationships have been developed with the Council’s Adult Social Care team and Public Health. A closer partnership approach has been developed to allow for a more holistic approach to support vulnerable customers at an earlier stage. This ensures that any help/support can be identified and put in place to improve their personal wellbeing and allow them to manage their home.
In the coming year, a more focused approach to supporting customers will be developed. This in turn will allow visits to be put in place for customers who may be at risk to ensure that those individuals can be better supported.
Welfare Support
Welfare Support
The Welfare Support team is the first point of contact for specialist welfare benefits and money advice in South Tyneside with the team continuing to provide free impartial advice to all residents. The team supported many residents to apply for a variety of benefits as well as helping them with their welfare benefit appeals. The team secured over £3.2million of additional income for customers using their specialist knowledge and expertise. Specially trained debt advisors can also help customers negotiate with creditors and look at ways to support the customer to manage their debts.
A Local Welfare Provision scheme is delivered on behalf of South Tyneside Council which provides both crisis support and community care support to customers who are in difficult circumstances. Residents who face times of crisis can access help for food and utilities and eligible applicants may be awarded provision of household items such as white goods and furniture.
Last year the team had hoped to develop a new range of online self-help options to improve the information available to customers and reduce waiting times to speak to staff. Unfortunately this did not progress as well as expected but will be a priority area for 2019/20. Improved links will also be developed with digital and employability agencies in South Tyneside to better help residents to access training and support services.
My advisor was very understanding and patient and I was just WOW!
Anonymous resident following successful benefits claim
Home Standard
What The Regulator Says Landlords Should Deliver Under This Standard
Provide quality homes that meet the Decent Homes Standard
Provide a cost-effective repairs and maintenance service to homes and communal areas
Provide a repairs service which has the objective of completing repairs and improvements right first time
Meet all applicable legal requirements that provide for the health and safety of the occupants in their homes
Provide an adaptations service that meets tenants’ needs
The Home standard covers the following services. Please click below to see the relevant section or read an overview of performance against this standard.
Investing in Homes
Investing in Homes
South Tyneside Homes has a strong approach to investment to ensure that attractive, good quality, affordable homes can be provided to customers.
Investment programmes have been developed to ensure that properties are sustainable and meet customers’ needs. During 2018/19 over £15m has been invested in a range of work which included:
Investment in Housing 2018/2019
Type of work
Spend (£m)
Total
15.5
Decent Homes Internal Upgrades
5.2
Roofing and Structural Programme
2.2
Door and Window Programme
2.1
General Refurbishment
1.6
Health and Safety Works
1.4
Empty Homes Refurbishment
1.3
Adaptions
0.9
Insulation Work
0.8
The investment shown above keeps the houses at the South Tyneside Standard for our customers. The work also helps South Tyneside Homes contribute to its priorities of providing quality homes and regenerating neighbourhood by delivering Great Homes in Great Places.
What the Investment has Delivered
What the Investment has Delivered
The Decent Homes internal upgrade investment of £5,212,000 means that customers have high quality kitchens and bathrooms installed. All rewiring is to current regulations. The boilers we install are “A” rated to minimise a customers’ heating bill. This investment has delivered:
Internal Work Delivered 2018/2019
Type of Work
Number delivered
Total
1070
New Kitchen
399
New Bathroom or w/c
358
A Rewire
168
A New Heating System or Boiler
145
The door and window investment of £2,103,000 means that customers benefit from “A” rated windows, again to minimise their heating bills. The doors are “Secure by Design” to keep our customers safe. This investment has delivered:
Door and Window Work Delivered 2018/2019
Type of Work
Number delivered
Total
896
New UPVC windows
569
New composite doors
327
The roofing and structural investment of £2,221,000 means that customers’ homes are kept warm, safe and secure. This investment has delivered:
Roofing Work Delivered 2018/2019
Type of Work
Number delivered
Total
301
Replacement roofing
119
Finlock gutter replacement programme
182
The health and safety investment of £1,408 is made to keep customers safe within their home. This work includes the installation of sprinkler systems in high rise buildings, replacement fire alarms and emergency lighting installations and maintenance of fire safety measures.
The investment in insulation of £764,000 is made to make customer’s homes warm and energy efficient. This work includes renovation works to non-traditional homes which were previously expensive to heat. There have also been 150 properties where the cavity wall insulation has failed and therefore been replaced.
The general refurbishment investment of £1,567,000 is made to continue to maintain quality neighbourhoods and to ensure the communal buildings managed by South Tyneside Homes continue to meet the needs of the customers using them. This work included refurbishment of communal rooms at Lakeside Hall and Byron Avenue Housing Plus schemes, development of sensory gardens and the installation of sprinkler systems in high rise blocks.
Adaptations
Adaptations
South Tyneside Homes works closely with South Tyneside Council’s Let’s Talk team to deliver adaptations work to help customers remain independent in their homes. A total of 427 adaptations were installed last year with 99.20% of installations completed on time. The table below shows the range of adaptations that were delivered.
Adaptations Work Delivered 2018/2019
Type of Work
Number delivered
Total
427
Level access shower or wet-room
80
Minor adaptations
80
Ramps
55
Stair-lift or chair-lift
113
Steps or handrails
99
The empty homes refurbishment investment of £1,322,000 is made to continually offer quality homes to new customers. This work includes similar elements as those described above; however, this investment is made while the property is empty to ensure that where possible new customers are given quality homes without South Tyneside Homes needing to inconvenience the customer further once they have moved in.
My new wet-room is easy to look after and very convenient to use. I couldn’t fault it! To be quite honest, I wouldn’t know how I would live life without it.
Anonymous, South Shields Customer
Planned Maintenance Improvements
Planned Maintenance Improvements
To ensure that customers continue to receive an excellent service, the team has introduced customer journey mapping into the service. This allows customers to give feedback on their experiences during major improvement works and help the team identify areas for improvement throughout the process.
The team also manages all property information, using stock condition surveys to develop and inform future programmes of work, ensuring our properties are maintained to a high standard and keep our customers safe. This has helped the organisation to reduce the number of responsive repairs carried out, making better use of resources, improve planning and provide an improved service for customers.
In the coming year, computer systems will be upgraded to allow surveyors to access more information while at a customer’s home. This will allow the team to carry out full stock condition surveys and input their data directly into the asset management database whilst on site. The gathering of full stock condition information will allow future planned maintenance programmes to be developed more effectively.
The team is working closely with South Tyneside Council to develop future programmes to maintain garage blocks to a good standard. A budget has been set aside for the refurbishment of full blocks wherever possible. This will help to reduce the number of responsive repairs carried out, making better use of resources, improve planning and provide an improved service for customers.
Keeping You Safe
Keeping You Safe
South Tyneside Homes has a number of dedicated teams to keep customers safe in their home and ensure that the organisation complies with all statutory requirements. A Tenant’s Safety Handbook has been developed and is given to customers when they sign for their home. This information is also available to view on the website.
Gas
For the eighth year in a row, an annual gas service was completed at every property. Legal action is taken against those customers who do not allow access to their homes. Thankfully this number is relatively small. Last year, 14 customers were taken to court for not allowing access to their property.
Following some delays, a new system will be introduced which will allow customers to receive their annual gas safety certificates electronically. This will also improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the team and deliver a better service to customers to improve customer satisfaction which was 90.12% for the year.
Electrical
An electrical inspection and testing programme is also in place with 1,301 homes receiving a check last year. Following the completion of an electrical test, further work is carried out where required to ensure that electrical safety can be maintained in customers’ homes.
Asbestos
All buildings are fully compliant with asbestos regulations. The organisation carries out annual inspections to communal areas of buildings. Asbestos information is held for 99.96% of properties which is used to protect customers and staff.
Water
All buildings have a water management regime in place to ensure water safety is maintained. A management programme has been developed and commenced to carry out risk assessments to domestic properties where water systems are inspected. As part of the process, customers are provided with fact sheets to ensure that their water systems are used in a safe manner.
Fire safety
All buildings and communal areas have a fire risk assessment, fire alarms and emergency equipment. These are regularly tested to ensure that these are maintained to the required standards. Sprinkler systems are being installed in the four high-rise blocks in South Tyneside following consultation with customers. Neighbourhood Officers have carried out checks on the 379 blocks of flats that the organisation manages – this equates to 2,876 tenancies.
Lifts
Where lifts are installed within buildings, these are regularly inspected, tested and maintained to ensure that they remain compliant with legislations. Any repairs or faults are dealt with in a timely manner.
Repairs and Maintenance
Repairs and Maintenance
Repairs teams have continued to perform well in the past year. A total of 78,856 repairs were completed during the year, with 99.88% of routine repairs and 99.93% of urgent repairs completed within timescales. Customer satisfaction also increased slightly from 91.02% to 91.26% demonstrating that customers receive a good repairs service.
Due to recent performance and service improvements, the team was successful in winning the prestigious national CIH Maintenance Team of the Year at the Housing Heroes Awards and were runner-up in the Best Service Team (Construction and Building Services) at the APSE awards in 2018.
Performance on emergencies narrowly missed the target with 98.63% of repairs completed within timescale against a target of 99%. All of these jobs were completed in a short timeframe outside of our agreed targets but the team are striving to improve this in the coming year by evaluating working practices and putting necessary improvements in place.
Some of the recent efficiencies of the team, have allowed more planned maintenance work including fencing and guttering programmes to be carried out across South Tyneside which is making better use of resources and helping to maintain homes to a high standard.
To improve customer choice, a new online repairs reporting system was planned for last year allowing customers to book their own repairs and appointments online at any time. Unfortunately, this was not implemented, due to technical difficulties that would enable customers to book their own appointments and remains a priority for this year.
Neighbourhood and Community Standard
What The Regulator Says Landlords Should Deliver Under This Standard
Keep neighbourhoods and communal areas clean and safe
Work with relevant partners to promote social, environmental and economic wellbeing
Work with partners to prevent and tackle anti-social behaviour
The Neighbourhood and Community Standard covers the following services. Please click below to see the relevant section or read an overview of performance against this standard.
Keeping Your Community Clean
Keeping Your Community Clean
The last year has seen a huge focus on the development of a new campaign aimed at encouraging residents to take pride in where they live. The #lovewhereyoulive has been developed as part of the Love South Tyneside campaign and has included a total of 88 campaigns to address concerns around fly-tipping, litter and dog fouling. Staff are able to issue Fixed Penalty Notices to those who commit these offences and have had over 100 positive contacts with residents to reinforce the message on how to look after the area.
A total of 1,929 tonnes of waste was collected last year, representing a further reduction on previous years and demonstrates that residents are taking pride in where they live. A number of local schools have been visited to deliver educational messages on the impact of litter on the environment. This work will continue in 2019/20 to deliver the message to more schools and influence the actions of friends and parents as well as the children themselves.
To improve the weed treatment programme, additional machinery has been purchased to remove weeds more efficiently and reduce the amount of herbicide used in the process.
The teams continue to support local events, festivals and concerts and maintain the beaches’ Blue Flag status which has been awarded for the 13th successive year. The Great North Run clean-up operation was completed in just 3 hours 25 minutes last year which is a record and allows local roads and facilities to reopen as quickly as possible.
During 2019/20, a new mobile app will be launched which will allow staff to report issues whilst on site which will make the service run more efficiently. Some customer engagement will also take place to understand how the app could be used by residents in the future. The organisation will also be investigating ways to provide information and support to customers who have lost pets.
Keeping Your Community Safe
Keeping Your Community Safe
Tim Richardson Photographer
Following a successful trial, the NoiseApp has been introduced as a permanent tool which can be used by customers to gather evidence on and send to the team as part of an ongoing noise nuisance case. Early feedback from customers has been positive and evidence can be used by the team to take necessary action against perpetrators, including legal action where required.
South Tyneside Homes works in partnership with a number of organisations including Northumbria Police and the Council’s Environmental Health team to tackle anti-social behaviour. The team works with residents in all areas of South Tyneside including council tenants, owner occupiers and those who rent their home privately or through a housing association. Last year there were a total of 1,142 anti-social behaviour cases reported to the team, with 99.22% responded to within agreed timescales. This represents an 18% increase in cases from the previous year. Just 61 of these cases were serious anti-social behaviour, with the majority of the other cases being low level and sometimes simply requiring a discussion with staff around being a good neighbour and considering other residents nearby.
A range of powers are used to tackle issues – last year this included 380 warning letters, 45 legal notices and 4 evictions to keep communities safe. There are also a number of support options available to victims of anti-social behaviour. The team offer all victims a referral to Victim Support who can provide practical support through volunteers who work closely with the team to those who need this.
The team is working to establish the reasons for the increase in caseload and are exploring options to address this in the coming year. Some customer journey mapping will also be carried out to understand a customer’s experience when dealing with the service.
The existing Neighbourhood Management Policy is due for an update later this year. The policy will be reviewed in partnership with customers and there will be a number of opportunities available for residents to give their views.
I was suffering from ASB issues and did not know who to turn to before I found out about the ASB team. The staff are lovely and friendly, and I would not hesitate in using the ASB service again if needed to.
Ms White, Jarrow Resident
Promoting Social, Environmental and Economic Wellbeing
Promoting Social, Environmental and Economic Wellbeing
South Tyneside Homes works closely with Community Area Forums (CAFs) to deliver a number of local improvement and regeneration projects across South Tyneside to improve the environment and the lives of local people. Projects included:
Fencing and wall programmes
Improvements to communal gardens including block paving
Demolition of the Reading Rooms in Laygate
Communal door replacements
Installation of bollards and other schemes to reduce anti-social behaviour
In Housing Plus accommodation, residents get involved in a number of social activities which are on offer to prevent loneliness and isolation – this includes themed evenings and armchair fitness among many others. Activities are run by residents based on the individual requirements and demands of each scheme.
A traineeship programme has been developed which supports the work of operational teams. Opportunities have focused on grounds maintenance and construction trades which allow our trainees to gain valuable work experience whilst maintaining and improving neighbourhoods.
The programme is still in its early days and has already become an important part of the organisation’s operations with 11 trainees involved in the programme.
In the coming year, a garden works team will be set up which will give customers the opportunity to receive a chargeable low cost service to help them maintain their gardens and ensure that residents love where they live.
I find living at Davies Hall very secure and friendly. We have a choice to join in with social events and I have made many friends. I have also been given the chance to continue with my hobby of gardening.
Since moving in, I have received nothing but good help advice and assistance from the staff.
C Legg, Davies Hall, Hebburn
Performance
Customer Satisfaction
Service Area
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
Anti-Social Behaviour
97%
94.2%
89.2%
Decent Homes Programme
89.2%
100%
100%
Gas Servicing
No data*
86.3%
90.12%
Making a Complaint
91%
85.5%
89.5%
Responsive Repairs
89.03%*
91.02%
91.26%
* The way in which satisfaction data is collected for this service
changed during 2016/17 and is now collected via a text survey.
Anti-Social Behaviour
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
Number of ASB complaints
960
964
1142
% of complaints responded to within timescale
99.60%
99.45%
99.22%
Complaints and Compliments
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
Number of compliments received
497
464
657
Number of complaints received
844
678
668
Housing Solutions
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
Average number of empty homes
186
195
157
Percentage of empty homes as proportion of housing stock
1.27%
0.94%
0.87%
Average re-let time
28.21 days
41.96 days
44.5 days
Percentage of rent lost through re-let process
1.4%
1.58%
1.36%
Rent Collection
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
Proportion of rent collected (excluding arrears)
99.77%
99%
99.77%
Percentage of rent arrears
2.97%
2.9%
2.93%
Percentage of former tenant arrears
2%
2.44%
2.6%
Repairs
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
Number of routine repairs
43,678
36,875
40,211
% of routine repairs delivered within 20 days
99.59%
99.66%
99.88%
Number of emergency repairs
15,057
14,526
14,720
% of emergency repairs delivered within 4 hours
97.12%
97.63%
98.63%
Number of urgent repairs
24,479
20,828
19,144
% of urgent repairs delivered within timescale
99.64%
99.76%
99.93%
To see how the company performed against the service standards, visit the performance page of the website.
Making Sense of the Money
Financial Overview
South Tyneside Homes manages around 18,000 homes on behalf of South Tyneside Council. In 2018/19 income was £67.1million. Below is an overview of how rent was spent during the year.
2018/2019 Spending
Total
67.1m
100%
Capital Charges
29.3m
43.6%
Repairs and Maintenance
15.8m
23.6%
Housing Management
11.6m
17.3%
Central Services
5.9m
8.8%
Rents, Rates and Taxes
2.1m
3.2%
Estate Management
1.3m
2.0%
Income Management
0.6m
0.9%
Anti-social Behaviour
0.4m
0.5%
Tenant Involvement
0.1m
0.1%
Focus On Income
Most of the income comes from rent but tenants and leaseholders are also charged for services and facilities that South Tyneside Homes provides. The contributions come from various sources such as the fee for collecting water rates from tenants:
2018/2019 Income
Total
£66.2m
100%
Property rents
£61.6m
93.0%
Charges for services and facilities
£2.5m
3.7%
Contributions towards costs
£1.1m
1.7%
Garage and shop rents
£1.0m
1.6%
Did you know, for every £1 of rent you pay...
44p is paid out for capital charges (this is the interest paid on borrowing
the money to provide the properties)
23p is spent on repairing properties
17p is spent on managing tenancies
9p is spent on central services such as the warden call service
4p is the cost of specialist housing services
3p is spent on miscellaneous costs including rent, rates and taxes
Councillor Ed Malcolm Chair of South Tyneside Homes’
Board
Councillor Mark Walsh Lead Member for Housing and Transport
Paul Mains Managing Director of South Tyneside Homes
