Our Mission
We aim to enhance the wellbeing of our tenants and the wider communities of Ayrshire through high quality housing and related services.
Our Values
We Listen: to everyone we work for and with.
We Engage: as we actively involve our tenants, the community and our people in shaping our work.
We Show Respect: as we strive to provide equal and accessible services to all.
We Seek
Hello and welcome to our Annual Performance Report for 2023-24. This report tells you about our performance against the standards set out in the Scottish Social Housing Charter but also gives us an opportunity to reflect on the last 12 months and to share our some of our successes and challenges.
It has been another busy year for Ayrshire Housing with changes in senior staff, new build developments, continuing work supporting our communities and tenants as well as complying with the regulatory and financial standards. High inflation, high fuel costs and challenging economic conditions have made it a tough year for our tenants and suppliers as well as for the association.
We have had some significant changes in our staff team this year with the retiral of our long serving Director Jim Whiston and our Head of Finance Alan Park. I would like to thank Jim and Alan for their stewardship of the association over the last 21 years and wish them both a happy retirement.
We were delighted to appoint LesleyAnne Junner as our new Chief Executive in February 2024. LesleyAnne is excited to be here and is working hard to lead the association over the coming years.
We are pleased to note that a recent staff survey recorded very high levels of staff satisfaction, with staff saying that ‘the people they work with are the best part of working for Ayrshire Housing’. We are proud to share that our tenant satisfaction levels remain high, and this is reflected in our most recent independent tenant satisfaction survey where 83% of tenants confirmed they were satisfied with the service they receive.
We continued to support our tenants and communities through the financial challenges of the last year by offering support from our two Money Advice Officers as well as from our Energy Advisor.
One of our strategic objectives at Ayrshire Housing is Thriving Communities. We have had a bumper year of events in our fantastic community space: The Local, including Burns suppers, Valentines Day lunches, Christmas movie screenings and our very popular Wednesday Welcome Club which gave local people the opportunity to come together in a warm space to enjoy each other’s company with a hot drink and some Board games! We have extended
our partnerships with local charities including SeAscape and South Ayrshire Women’s Aid and many other local community groups are regularly using “The Local”. Over the past year we have supported local groups with over £8,000 worth of grants funded solely by Ayrshire Housing.
This is my final year as Chairperson, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Board and staff for their continued support, commitment and for the hard work they put into delivering positive outcomes for our tenants, customers and local communities.
Kind Regards
We were delighted to finish our Carrick Street development in 2023. This six-storey project is in Ayr town centre just across from the Gaiety Theatre. The £6M development was designed by ARPL and built by the JR Group, providing multigenerational, town centre living, with access to green spaces providing a sense of community. The development would not have been possible without grant assistance from the Scottish Government’s More Homes division.
We asked our tenants and the Gaiety’s supporters to suggest possible names for the development, and as a result the building was named Beattie Close in honour of the late Scottish actor and comedian, Johnny Beattie MBE. We were delighted that Maureen Beattie was able to attend to officially open the development in October 2023.
We are currently building in Tarbolton, with 25 properties under construction, these are a mix of bungalows, semi-detached and terraced houses. The bungalows have given us the opportunity to provide level access accommodation with adaptations to allow independent living for tenants with mobility issues. We anticipate them being available for rent towards the end of this year. These properties are designed with energy efficiency in mind with great insulation qualities and air source heat pumps, to reduce energy consumption and tenants’ fuel bills.
We are continuing to develop plans for additional new homes. However, it is challenging with cuts to Scottish Government funding, increasing build costs and other priorities such as maintaining and improving our existing stock which may restrict our ability to build new homes in the short term.
We do however have outline plans for a 32unit development in Ayr. This project remains at an early stage and will be dependent on grant funding levels.
We currently own and manage 1,696 properties across Ayrshire and our dedicated Property Services team works hard to ensure these homes remain at the highest standard possible.
We are continuing to carry out stock condition surveys to help us prioritise our investment plans and major works programmes in the properties that need it the most. By surveying the condition of various components such as bathrooms, kitchens, roofs and windows we can plan and schedule major upgrades more efficiently.
In 2023/24 we spent £1,295,000 on investment works despite the backlog of works from Covid, which continues to impact our planned investment programme.
£217,000 External Doors & Door Entry Systems
£206,000 Kitchens
£102,000 Boilers & Heating Systems
£64,000 Bathrooms
£263,000 Roofs
£228,000 Cavity Wall
£104,000 Lifts
£111,000 Other Works
Achieving compliance with our legal obligations and ensuring the safety of our tenants is very important to us. We have joined The Social Housing Health & Safety Network Scotland who work with housing associations to share skills, knowledge and experience to help us meet our statutory obligations in terms of tenant safety.
Damp and mould problems have been highlighted as an issue in the housing sector in recent years. To ensure an effective approach to identifying and managing damp and mould we have created a detailed Damp and Mould Policy and Procedure which includes clear timescales for dealing with issues, and processes to ensure strong communication with tenants where issues have been reported/identified.
If you are experiencing damp, mould or condensation in your home, it is important that you let us know as soon as possible. You can find our Damp and Mould policy on our website by clicking on the link: Damp and Mould Policy
All water tanks have undergone a Legionella Risk Assessment and will continue to be managed and assessed periodically according to the risk identified.
To comply with the changes to fire detection regulations in 2019, we updated all our properties with interlinked smoke and heat alarms to ensure tenants’ safety and our compliance with the fire safety regulations. These alarms will be renewed every 8-10 years.
To comply with updated legislation changes in 2015, all landlords must carry out electrical system inspections at intervals of no more than 5 years to help ensure that the electrical system in your home is in a safe condition. These inspections are a requirement, and you must allow access. Ayrshire Housing has a dedicated programme of EICRs and our contractors will be in contact to arrange access for those involved in this year’s inspection programme. As at 31st March 2024, 86.0% of our properties had a valid EICR.
We are committed to ensuring the safety of passenger lifts within our common areas. Our lifts undergo a thorough examination (LOLER) every 6 months in adherence with legislation. We also carry out periodic routine servicing to identify any remedial works required to ensure our lifts are kept to a high standard.
We check gas systems and appliances annually to ensure the safety of yourself, your family and your neighbours. Ayrshire Housing achieved 100% gas servicing compliance this year.
It is important that you allow access to our contractor for this check. We have a legal obligation to ensure it is completed and where necessary we will follow our process to gain entry to your property to complete the check. If we require to force entry to your home, you will be recharged for the cost of this work.
• We carry out surveys to properties and common areas built before 2000.
• Where repairs are required, we provide contractors with asbestos information for that property.
• If required, we carry out an asbestos check when one of our properties becomes empty.
• We maintain a register of all asbestos identified and assumed and where removals have taken place.
• If your home is known to have, or is at risk of having, asbestos we will let you know and will tell you what you need to do to either ensure asbestos is not disturbed, or have it removed.
We were absolutely delighted not only to attend the Scottish Home Awards 2024 but to celebrate a double win, taking home both Housing Association of the Year and Affordable Housing Development of the Year.
The past 12 months have been very challenging for our tenants between spiralling energy prices and the high cost of living. We recognise the impact that this has on our tenants and so we explored ways in which we could help alleviate some of these pressures. Last year we were fortunate to secure funding through the Scottish Government and SFHA to allow us to provide an energy advice service to our tenants. This was in partnership with other local housing associations and Citrus Energy. Through this partnership we were able to provide a bespoke service to our tenants where they can access help with bills, energy saving advice and access to assistance with fuel debt. The project was initially funded for 6 months and in this time Marc, our Energy Advisor, was able to reduce tenant fuel debt by just under £60,000 with over 100 referrals being made to the service in the first 6 months. This service is available to all our tenants, and we encourage you to get in touch if you need some energy advice, help with your bills or have high fuel debts.
To find out more about these services phone us on 01292 880120 or email us at info@ayrshirehousing. org.uk. You can make a self-referral to our Money Advice service through your MyHome account by clicking on the Money Advice panel on your home screen.
Our Money Advice team received 391 referrals in this 12-month period. They secured £1.37 million in benefit awards for our tenants which is just incredible! This is the best outcome for our tenants since the service started. 100% of our tenants who used this service felt a benefit and would use the service again.
Here is some of the feedback we have received from our tenants:
“Just knowing this service is available gives me peace of mind knowing I can use it again in the future.”
“I feel more confident dealing with other organisations knowing the money advice team are there to help”.
“Very helpful service, nothing was a problem, very caring and pleasant.”
“Having your money advice service is a lifeline to me. Thank you for your help!”
“Very professional and explained everything well.”
391 referrals
£1.37m benefit awards
“I have confidence in getting the right advice from the money advice service and would urge anyone to seek help. It is worth asking.”
Two of our staff members Shonya Gibson and Kirsten Anderson completed an Introduction to British Sign Language course which will help assist our deaf community.
Carol Craig and Emma McRae completed an HNC in Construction Management.
We have had some exciting changes to our Staff Team. In addition to our new Chief Executive Lesley-Anne Junner, we were joined by:
Greg Dunlop Technical Services Officer
Connelly Technical Services Officer
Quinn People & Culture Manager
Seivwright Administration Assistant
Kane Repairs Assistant
We welcome complaints, they give us valuable feedback, highlight where we haven’t got our service quite right and provide an opportunity to improve what we do and how we do it.
We have adopted the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) Model Complaints Handling Procedure, which is a two-stage procedure. We aim
Contractors’ attitudes towards tenants needs to improve.
As part of regular meetings with our contractors we will remind them of the conduct we expect.
to resolve your complaint at Stage 1, however if your complaint is complex, or you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint at Stage 1, we will deal with it as a Stage 2 complaint.
The key areas that our tenants have said they would like us to focus on, to improve their experience at home and in their communities are:
There is a lack of communication between tenants and the property services team when waiting on a repair being carried out.
Ensure our contractors have up-to-date contact information and report any delays to us as soon as possible.
The close cleaning has not been carried out to an acceptable standard.
Some repairs are taking too long to complete (out with target date).
Review our close cleaning contract and our staff will carry out regular inspections.
Continue to have regular meetings with contractors to discuss reasons why jobs are delayed and ensure they keep the tenant updated.
We receive many positive comments about the services we provide. Knowing when things are working well is just as important as knowing when things are not working as well as we would like.
During the year we received 33 recorded compliments compared to 42 for the same period last year.
Grass cutting contractors have left a mess in the area.
You waited over a year for payment towards upgrades in former property.
Contact the landscape maintenance contractor to report that their performance is not acceptable.
Communicate better with tenants when waiting on payments.
If you would like to give us feedback of any kind, please log into your MyHome account and go to the My Feedback tab, email us at info@ ayrshirehousing.org.uk or give us a call on 01292 880120
You can find out more information about our Complaints Handling process on our website Complaints
Ayrshire Housing is regulated by the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR). SHR’s role is to “safeguard and protect the interest of current and future tenants of social landlords, people who are or may become homeless, and people who use housing services provided by registered social landlords (RSLs) and local authorities”.
Their website has lots of information https://www.housingregulator.gov.scot/. You can:
• Compare our performance with other landlords
• View the information we reported on our Annual Return on the Charter
• Find out more about the Regulator’s role and how they work.
As a registered social landlord, we must follow strict rules and guidelines to ensure our tenants receive the best possible service in high quality homes that are safe, warm and affordable. Following submission of all our regulatory returns we received “compliant” status from the Scottish Housing Regulator which confirms we are meeting all the standards required. If you want to find out more about this, you can visit the “About Us” section on our website https://www.ayrshirehousing.org.uk/ about/.
If you are dissatisfied with our service, then you should let us know in order that we can investigate and let you know our decision. If you remain dissatisfied, you can report a significant performance failure to SHR.
Complaints and serious concerns – information for tenants and service users of social landlords | Scottish Housing Regulator
As a charity we are also regulated by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).
https://www.oscr.org.uk/
The Scottish Social Housing Charter sets standards and outcomes that we, as a landlord, should achieve. We are pleased to report our performance against these standards. As well as seeing how we have performed during the year, you will be able to see how we measure up against other local and national registered social landlords. Where we have not performed as well as expected, we will outline a
brief plan of work we will carry out over the year to remedy this.
SHR have created a comparison tool that makes it easy for you to compare our performance against others https://www.housingregulator.gov.scot/ comparison-tool/
73.9% 97.1% £101.06 80.3% 99.4% 6% of our tenants think their rent charge is value for money. of anti-social behaviour cases were resolved within timescales.
Average weekly rent in 2023/24 increased to of our tenants are satisfied with the quality of their home. of Stage 1 complaints were responded to within timescales.
Average rent increase applied in 2024/25.
of our tenants are satisfied with the service provided by Ayrshire Housing.
of our tenants are satisfied with the opportunities to participate in the work of Ayrshire Housing.
83.0% 153 81.9% 9 87.9%
Stage 1 complaints were responded to within timescales.
of our tenants feel that we are good at keeping them informed.
Stage 2 complaints were responded to within timescales.
We will continue to offer different methods of communication including – text, email, paper and MyHome.
We will survey our tenants to find out their preferred method of communication.
Our Senior Leadership Team will continue to monitor our performance each month to ensure that our targets are being met and take early action where necessary.
We will monitor our complaints performance and ensure that we provide feedback on how this has affected our service delivery.
of our tenants are satisfied with the quality of their home.
Medical Adaptations. Each year, we apply for funding from the Scottish Government to help us put adaptations into homes where tenants have mobility, sight, hearing or other ailments. Adaptations such as grab rails and level access showers make it easier for people to continue to live in their homes.
80.3% 7.5 days 150 77.0% 84.6% 6.7% 3.0hrs 28.7 days
to relet empty homes on average.
We completed 26 medical adaptations during the year. on average to complete non-emergency repairs. properties were let during the year. of our stock meets the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS). of our tenants were satisfied with our repairs service in last 12 months. of our stock became vacant throughout the year. on average to complete an emergency repair.
Our Senior Leadership Team will continue to monitor our performance every month to ensure that our targets are being met and take early action where necessary. Our
82.8% 99.4% 29.4% 83.0%
of our tenants are satisfied with the management of their neighbourhoods. of Stage 1 complaints were responded to within timescales. of tenancies offered were refused. of tenants were satisfied with overall services provided by us.
We will review our tenant participation strategy to ensure continued and committed engagement over the next 5 years.
We will implement our new tenant settling in procedure to help us continually assess the housing journey for new tenants.
We will work with our tenants to identify areas of concern within our communities and work in partnership with our stakeholders to reduce anti-social behaviour.
We will be visual within our neighbourhoods so our tenants can access tenant information and discuss the issues that matter to them.
101.2% 73.9% 0.7% 1.2% of rent was collected as a percentage of total rent due. of our tenants think their rent charge offers value for money.
rent was lost due to properties being empty during the year.
Proposed actions for this year to improve our performance:
We will carry out more preventative work with our tenants to reduce the number of properties being returned in poor condition.
We will work with wrap around support services to help tenants manage their tenancies.
How your rent is spent:
We will move to a paperless office to help reduce costs and be more environmentally friendly.
We will look at shared services with other local housing associations to help spread the costs.
Thanks for taking the time to read our Annual Performance Report. I am honoured to be taking over the leadership of Ayrshire Housing and am excited for the future, working with such a dedicated group of people. The full team at Ayrshire Housing have been working incredibly hard over the last 12 months to offer the best service to our tenants and customers. This is demonstrated not only in the great results shown in the report, but in the positive feedback we receive for the work we are doing.
We continue to focus on our repairs and maintenance performance and have made improvements in repairs response times and are currently reviewing our investment programme to catch up with delays in improvement works following the pandemic. We recognise this has been a challenging time for all our customers in the face of cost of living and energy price increases and we have offered support where we can from our Money Advice team and our Energy Advisor, services which have helped over 490 people access much needed help and support. We have continued to invest in our communities
through community grants and events and have offered support to neighbourhood and community groups who do amazing work supporting their local areas.
I have been out and about in some of our communities over the last 6 months, meeting our tenants and hearing about their hopes for Ayrshire Housing and I look forward to meeting many more of you as the year progresses.
I am happy to discuss any issues people may be having and can be contacted at l.junner@ayrshirehousing.org.uk
We are committed to promoting an environment of respect and understanding where diversity is encouraged, and discrimination is avoided. This commitment covers all areas of our work, as an employer of staff, as a landlord and provider of services. A copy of our Equality and Human Rights Policy can be found at www.ayrshirehousing.org.uk.
This report is digital by standard which helps us to provide value for money for tenants and reduces our impact on the environment. We will continue to make this report available on our website www. ayrshirehousing.org.uk and on MyHome. However, if you would like a paper copy, please contact our office.
We are always here to help:
Call: 01292 880120
Text: 07860 020 459
Email: info@ayrshirehousing.org.uk
Visit: www.ayrshirehousing.org.uk
Out of hours repairs: 01294 468113
Follow Us: @ayrshirehousing
Like: www.facebook.com/ayrshirehousing
On request, we can provide translations of all our documents, policies and procedures in various languages or other formats such as large print, Braille etc. These can be obtained by contacting our office.
We appointed three new Board Member at our AGM on 4th September 2024:
To tell us what you think about this year’s report and be in with a chance to win a £50 Asda Voucher, please complete our online survey through your MyHome account by 15th November 2024.
We would also love to hear if there is any information about our services and performance that you would like to know more about or if you have any ideas or stories for future newsletters.
If you don’t already have a MyHome account signing-up is quick and easy. Go to https://www. ayrshirehousing.org.uk/your-home/. You will need your 6-digit tenancy number. Or give us a call on 01292 880120 or email myhome@ayrshirehousing. org.uk and we will send you a link to the site. You will need a smartphone or other device with internet access.