Responsive Repairs and Void
Maintenance Strategy
Renewal:
Nov. 2012
Contents: Page:
1. THE VISION 3
2. INTRODUCTION 3
3. DEFINITIONS 4
4. DELIVERY OF THE STRATEGY 5
5. TARGETS AND OBJECTIVES 6
6. MONITORING 6
7. SUMMARY 7
8. REFERENCE AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION 7
9. EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT 8 - 12
9. Appendices
RESPONSIVE REPAIRS AND VOID MAINTENANCE STRATEGY 1.0 THE VISION
To provide quality homes and services involving people in building communities where they choose to live within Shropshire and Herefordshire.
The vision will be delivered through the Associations 6 “pillars” of activity. The most relevant pillars to an excellent service are responsive repairs and void maintenance.
To provide excellent service to our customers
To continually improve our performance 2.0 INTRODUCTION
The effective and efficient maintenance of Shropshire Housing Group’s bricks and mortar asset is fundamental to providing an excellent service to our customers. This strategy outlines our approach to our customers most valued service.
A quality responsive and void maintenance service contributes to the overall vision for the housing stock namely:
Be in good repair
Be achieving decent home plus as explained within the Asset Management Strategy
Be achieving decent estates
Be energy efficient and cost effective in terms of utility bills for our customers
Be viable both financially and as a product of choice in the longer term
Be a product our customers aspire to live in
Shropshire Housing Group owns and manages over 4,400 properties predominantly located within Shropshire, but outlying stock exists in Herefordshire and the bordering county of Worcestershire. Our new homes ambitions are likely to increase this stock to 4,900 by 2012 (reference to the New Homes Strategy). High quality service to our existing customers is paramount, we have no ambition to expand our stock outside this
geographical area and over the life of this strategy no intention to rationalise stock numbers or locations.
The age of the stock consists of some of the oldest properties in Shropshire with historic timber frame 18
thcentury construction, however the majority of the stock consists of post war and newly constructed properties.
Most of our homes are much sought after, given the social and economic difficulties faced by rural communities. However some remain difficult to let and we will carry out options appraisals on these properties with disposals not being ruled out
Across the Group, we re- let around 400 homes and undertake 17,000 repairs annually.
Shropshire Housing Group complies with all relevant statutory requirements relating to repairs and maintenance including the most recent Landlord and Tenant Act, Housing Act and Defective Premises Act.
Shropshire Housing Group is responsible for keeping the structure and exterior of its dwellings, sheltered schemes, communal facilities and leasehold properties in good repair and for maintaining heating, sanitation and service installations. Appropriate annual financial provision is made within the business plan.
3.0 DEFINITIONS Responsive Repair
A responsive repair is by its nature a response to a customer request for a repair.
Shropshire Housing Group details within the tenancy handbooks issued at the
commencement of tenancies the type of work which will be undertaken as a responsive repair and which items are the responsibility of the tenants to maintain and/or repair. We break down responsive repairs into categories, these are:
Emergency (out of working hours)
Emergency (within working hours)
Urgent
Non Urgent
Batch/Planned Void Maintenance
Shropshire Housing Group has published “Lettable Standards” which details the quality of a property that has become void and will be relet. We will review these standards with tenants at regular intervals.
A void property is an empty property from the time the tenancy ends to when a new tenancy begins. Challenging targets have been set to ensure void turn around times are kept to an absolute minimum .
Shropshire Housing Group will ensure maintenance to their void period is appropriate to minimise rent loss, but to maximise the advantage to undertake planned maintenance without disrupting the customer.
We will advertise our vacancies through Shropshire Homepoint to ensure customers are
informed of forthcoming vacancies.
4.0 DELIVERY OF THE STRATEGY
The Managing Director of South Shropshire Housing Association is accountable for
delivering the strategy, and for regular reporting to Shropshire Housing Group’s Boards of Management.
The Head of Property/Asset Management of the registered provider subsidiaries will be responsible for developing and implementing policies and procedures so that we fulfil the objectives of this strategy and regular reports to the subsidiaries Board’s of Management.
Shropshire Housing Group is committed to the provision of a locally delivered responsive repair and maintenance service, supporting local employment for tradesmen. The Group have a Limited Company known as Total Response, whose primary function is the
delivering of maintenance across the Group. Both South Shropshire Housing Association and Meres and Mosses Housing Association have developed service level agreements with Total Response Limited to deliver this service. The agreements will be monitored on a quarterly basis to ensure the service agreement is being delivered
Detailed below are 9 statements which explain what the service will feel like:
An excellent repair and void maintenance service, which will contribute to the Group’s overall aspiration to achieve a 2 star with excellent prospects rating as assessed by the Audit Commission.
A service shaped around tenants needs and convenience, including repairs that are done right first time and by appointment.
Manage the process of letting empty properties in an effective and efficient manner, minimising rental loss, whilst returning a quality property to meet the Group’s lettable standards.
Performance at least in accordance with agreed performance standards.
Excellent and well managed communication between both Housing Associations and Total Response Limited and any external repair contractors we use to provide the service.
Rewarding staff experiences in service delivery
Well maintained stock of good quality materials for use in responsive repairs which contributes to an efficient service and is informed by useage.
A service which uses Information Technology effectively to enhance performance, efficiency and service to customers.
A service that rewards customers for well maintained properties and take sanctions on those who misuse the service.
Value for Money
Shropshire Housing Group recognises that it needs to provide an excellent, efficient customer focussed, cost effective repairs service. We will do this by:
i) Delivering the service via our in-house works team
ii) Using local tradesmen our customers know and trust
iii) Developing a service where cost and quality that can be easily benchmarked with other organisations.
iv) From time to time market testing certain repair works
v) Carrying out regular and targeted satisfaction surveys and by using this feedback to improve service.
vi) Post inspecting a percentage of higher cost works
In order to reassure Boards of Management and tenants that our response repairs service is delivering value for money we will engage in internal audits of the service, we will act on the recommendations within the audit reports and will report progress to the appropriate Management Boards and performance committee. We will carry out critical appraisals of the service in consultation with the service user. We will report our benchmarking
exercised to our internal value for money group to enable open and transparent scrutiny of the costs of the service. We will report regularly to Boards of management and
performance committee on our KPIs Customer Service/Access/Involvement
As the most important service our customers receive it is essential that customers drive our continuous improvement in this area. In order to accomplish this we will establish
responsive repair champions within our customer base and hold forums to discuss the service. We will review the lettable standards annually at budget setting time, report performance and customer satisfaction to tenants groups within the annual report and at six monthly intervals. Set targets with repair champions and involve residents in quality checks of responsive repairs and void maintenance.
Our customers inform us that they contact us mainly via the telephone for responsive repairs (Status Survey 2008). We will continue to monitor and obtain information from our tenants on how we can continuingly improve this area of the service. We will provide
frontline staff trained in repairs diagnosis and able to use supportive information technology to receive, process and complete responsive repairs and voids maintenance.
We will take account of all the diverse needs of our tenants and amend the service to suite these needs.
5.0 TARGETS AND OBJECTIVES
We will agree annually, performance targets with our tenants and Performance Committee for this service. Ensuring the service is achieving the ambitions outlined in section 4.0.
We will utilise repairs data to inform our stock condition database and to aid the investment decisions to our stock.
Overall, in terms of financial investment, we will balance the cash spent on planned
maintenance to 70% of the overall responsive, planned and void maintenance budgets.
Appointments
Over time and in consultation with our customers our aim is to develop a Groupwide, consistent approach to an appointment system that suits our customers varying needs.
This system will include appointments early evening and Saturday mornings, appointment slots and could provide compensation for missed appointments.
6.0 MONITORING
A suite of performance measures will be developed. The key objectives and target performance measures are detailed above. The Boards of Management will monitor the progress towards these targets and objectives annually. The operational performance indicators will be reported to Shropshire Housing Group’s Performance Management Group on a monthly basis and to tenants groups at appropriate stages.
Continuous improvement, efficiency and value for money
We will strive for continuous improvement by:
Investing in information technology.
Listening to our customers and responding by changes to delivery as appropriate.
Undertake bench marking and market testing work
Engaging in performance management for all involved within the maintenance process
7.0 SUMMARY
This strategy enables the Group have a clear vision on how the responsive repair and void maintenance will be delivered in the forthcoming years.
8.0 REFERENCE AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
Shropshire Housing Group manages the responsive and void maintenance through the Universal Housing Management Software.
Total Response Limited manages the responsive and void maintenance through
Limesoft Software.
QUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT FORM
Strategy / policy / procedure / service / function being assessed
Responsive repairs and void maintenance strategy
Stage 1
Staff conducting assessment
Asset Management Team
Date of assessment 13
thJuly 2009
Date for next review
July 2011
Reason for assessment
New strategy document
Lead officer of policy, process or service
Managing Director of South Shropshire Housing Association
Date for new policy, process or service approval
Stage 2
Aims of the service / function / policy under assessment
The effective and efficient maintenance of Shropshire Housing Group’s bricks and mortar asset is fundamental to providing an excellent service to our customers. This strategy outlines our approach to our customers most valued service.
Main stakeholders / beneficiaries
MMHA and SSHA Asset management and housing management teams and all our tenants,
leaseholders and shared owners
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Stage 3
Collect and evaluate the evidence
Key questions Positive
impact
Negative impact
No specific impact on any one group
Evidence Does the policy or service have a
positive or negative impact on any racial groups?
Describe how and which.
Yes The strategy aims to deliver a service that is totally customer focuses where customers are involved in the development and monitoring of the service
ensuring that account is taken of all their diverse needs
Does the policy or service have a
positive or negative impact on particular minority ethnic communities?
Describe how and which.
Yes The strategy aims to deliver a service that is totally customer focuses where customers are involved in the development and monitoring of the service
ensuring that account is taken of all their diverse needs
Does the policy or service have a
positive or negative impact on women or men? This includes Transgender people / Trans people. Describe how and which
Yes The strategy aims to deliver a service that is totally customer focuses where customers are involved in the development and monitoring of the service
ensuring that account is taken of all their diverse needs
Does the policy or service have a
positive or negative impact on women or men in particular communities? This includes Transgender people / Trans people. Describe how and which
Yes The strategy aims to deliver a service that is totally customer focuses where customers are involved in the development and monitoring of the service
ensuring that account is taken of
all their diverse needs Does the policy or service have a
positive or negative impact on all people with disabilities? Describe how and which
Yes The strategy aims to deliver a service that is totally customer focuses where customers are involved in the development and monitoring of the service
ensuring that account is taken of all their diverse needs
Does the policy or service have a positive or negative impact on people with particular disabilities? Describe how and which
Yes The strategy aims to deliver a service that is totally customer focuses where customers are involved in the development and monitoring of the service
ensuring that account is taken of all their diverse needs
Key questions Positive
impact
Negative impact
No specific impact on any one group
Evidence Does the policy or service have a
positive or negative impact on people of a particular age? (eg children, young people, older people). Describe how and which
Yes The strategy aims to deliver a service that is totally customer focuses where customers are involved in the development and monitoring of the service
ensuring that account is taken of all their diverse needs
Does the policy or service have a positive or negative impact on people with particular sexuality / sexual orientation? Describe how and which
Yes The strategy aims to deliver a service that is totally customer focuses where customers are involved in the development and monitoring of the service
ensuring that account is taken of all their diverse needs
Does the policy or service have a positive or negative impact on people with a particular religion or belief?
Yes The strategy aims to deliver a
service that is totally customer
focuses where customers are
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