Annual Review - 23-24 by communicationsbroadland

2023-24

April 2023 to March 2024

A year in review

2023 saw Broadland celebrate its 60th Birthday, probably under some of the toughest financial constraints we have ever been under. However, that did not dampen our ambition to keep on improving services for our residents, build much needed homes and create innovative partnerships. Our enduring purpose is as relevant today as it was back in 1966 when we built our first homes.

Broadland was not exempt from the cost of living crisis and the unexpected increase in interest rates. Our operational costs grew much faster than our income and we had to make some difficult choices on where we spent our money.

We could not do all we wanted in 2023/24 and had to delay some of our planned investments in our residents’ homes, as well as reducing the development of new homes.

Investing in our homes

Our asset management focus was on maintaining compliance with the Decent Homes Standard and meet the expectations of the Building Safety Act. This is alongside the new Regulator for Housing Consumer Standards. The results of our first tenant Satisfaction Measures, which were introduced in April 2023, are included in the Governance Section. We know that we have areas for improvement, using the Tenant Perception Survey results will enable us to focus our resources to effect the changes needed to deliver better services for our residents.

Sustainability

We were pleased to be re-awarded the Ritterwald Certificate for Sustainable Housing Label, confirming our ESG credentials. We also achieved Gold SHIFT (Sustainable Housing Index for Tomorrow) for the fourth time. We want to continue to demonstrate our progress in delivering our environmental commitments.

Working towards ending homelessness

Broadland remains an active member of Homes for Cathy, the national coalition of housing associations committed to ending homelessness. We also remain an active member of the Norfolk Strategic Housing Alliance. The partnership, which Michael is the current chair, is made of Norfolk local authorities, NHS, Norfolk Police, Ministry of Justice as well as housing associations and homelessness charities. The partnership aims to tackle homelessness in Norfolk through stronger joined up working and systems.

We are pleased to increase our provision of Hosing First homes with a further 6 homes in Norwich. We know that we have areas to improve, and by using the Resident Perception Survey results this will enable us to focus our resources more effectively and deliver better services. We continue our commitment to tenancy sustainment and only use eviction for arrears as a last report when someone refuses to engage with us.

New homes

Whilst we remain as ambitious as ever to provide new homes, financial pressures have meant we have had to temper our ambition. However we saw 64 new homes completed in the last year, 46 affordable rent and 18 shared ownership.

The reality is that we would not be able to provide these homes without Broadland St Benedict’s development of open market homes. The profits from the open market transactions are gift aided to Broadland and make our affordable homes financially viable. Last year we sold 31 new homes generating a surplus of £1.06million.

Listening and engaging

We have continued to grow the opportunities for residents to be involved and feedback to us on our services. We continue to have three resident board members on our board, ensuring a resident voice is heard at the highest level.

The Tenant Assurance Panel has continued to establish itself and has been reviewing Broadland services, including repairs, complaints and the tenant satisfaction measures. They have been providing the Board and Senior Managers with constructive feedback on our services.

Governance

Chris Ewbank finished his term as our Chair in September 2023. We are extremely grateful to him for his significant contributions over his 6 year term, in particular helping us navigate the Covid Pandemic.

Jenny Watson, CBE succeeded Chris as Chair. Jenny has had a significant non-executive career including chairing the Electoral Commission and Equal Opportunities Commission.

Gavin Tempest also retired from the Board in September 2023. Gavin has remained Chair of Broadland Meridian, our charitable arm, supporting mental health charities in Norfolk. Our heartfelt thanks for his valuable contributions go to Gavin.

Finally

The last year has not been without its challenges. But as a people business we are proud of our achievements in continuing to provide the best possible services we can afford to our residents.

We cannot do this without the support of the staff team. Everyone makes a contribution, whatever part of the organisation they work in. We want to take this moment in recording our thanks to the whole staff team. Without their continued commitment, energy and enthusiasm we would not be able to support our residents, provide homes for our residents or services. Thank you.

Jenny & Michael

Michael Newey, CEO, Caroline Pickering former chair and Jenny Watson, Chair

Nostalgic look back at Broadland

Governance

Corporate Strategy – 12 strands

Our Corporate Strategy 2022-26

Our Corporate Strategy steers us towards achieving our goals. A founding cornerstone of our strategy is our residents. We remain dedicated to improving our services, providing new homes for our communities, and supporting our residents - this commitment is at the heart of everything we do.

Executive team – who does what?

Michael Newey

Group Chief Executive

• Strategy

• Governance

• External affairs

• Executive services

• Human resources

• Corporate communications

Andrew Savage

Executive Development Director

• Development of new homes

• Delivery of new homes

• Planning and design of new homes • Shared ownership

• Home sales

Louise Archer

Executive Operations Director

• Asset Management

• Fire, health & safety compliance

• Housing and neighbourhood management

• Local delivery teams

• Planned maintenance

• Property surveyors

• Routine and emergency repairs

• Tenancy support

• Resident communication

• Resident participation

Iain Grieve

Executive Resources Director

• Business IT

• Customer services

• Digital services

• Facilities management

• Finance risk and assurance

• Procurement and tenders

• Rent collection

Regulatory rating

We were rated G1 (for governance) and V2 (for viability) in the most recent In Depth Assessment (IDA) by the Regulator of Social Housing in 2021. This shows that we are meeting regulatory expectations and can build on these sound foundations to continue improving our services and meet the challenges ahead.

Code of Governance

We follow the NHF Code of Governance 2020 and assess our compliance annually. We publish a ‘comply or explain’ statement in our Financial Review each year.

New Board Members

Our Chair, Jenny Watson was formally appointed to the BHA board at our AGM in September 2023 after being selected as Chair designate in May 2023. Jenny is an experienced chair with extensive experience as a nonexecutive director across many different sectors. Jenny’s expertise and vision are helping to galvanise the board as a team, improve the format of board meetings and reshape our committee framework.

Members Events

We provide our members with a range of opportunities to meet and engage with our staff team and board members. Our members events programme offers daytime social events as well as evening presentations on topics relevant to the housing sector which members can attend either online or in person. Residents are invited to become a member, please contact us, it is completely free!

The Regulator for Social Housing –Consumer Standards

The Regulator for Social Housing’s new Consumer Standards came into effect on 1 April 2024. Broadland have been working to ensure that we are compliant with the new standards, but recognise that there are areas that we want to improve and strengthen. Ensuring that our residents have a safe and secure home to live in is at the heart of our mission.

The areas we are going to be working to improve are:

• Improving the information we share with residents about their home and neighbourhood and the services you receive. Ensuring this information is accessible to all residents and you can scrutinise it and hold us to account.

• Improving our response times to complaints and achieving compliance with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code.

• Improving the way we identify and record when residents need reasonable adjustments from our service.

• Review the way residents can engage and be involved with Broadland. Ensure this information is accessible and residents have a clear understanding of how they can get involved and scrutinise our services.

• Our July edition of Door to Door magazine has provided more information about the Consumer Standards and what actions we taking to improve in these areas.

Tenant Assurance Panel members at the TPAS conference

Tenant Satisfaction Measures

Since April 2023, registered social landlords are required to collect a wide range of performance and resident satisfaction data. In May 2023, a pilot survey was issued to identify any potential challenges with collecting this data. Subsequently, a Tenant Perception Survey was issued to all residents in October 2023. The survey provided valuable insights into our residents’ needs and enabled us to improve our services to better address them.

Tenant Perception Survey Results

Taking everything into account, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the service provided by Broadland?

How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the overall repairs service from Broadland over the last 12 months?

How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the time taken to complete your most recent repair after you reported it?

How satisfied or dissatisfied are you that Broadland provides a home that is well maintained?

How satisfied are you that Broadland listens to your views and acts on them?

How satisfied or dissatisfied are you that Broadland keeps you informed about things that matter to you?

To what extend do you agree or disagree with the following “Broadland treats me fairly with respect”?

Have you made a complaint to Broadland in the last 12 months? If yes, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with Broadland’s approach to complaints handling?

How satisfied or dissatisfied are you that Broadland keeps these communal areas clean and well maintained?

How satisfied or dissatisfied are you that Broadland makes a positive contribution to your neighbourhood?

How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with Broadland’s approach to handling antisocial behaviour?

The action plan on how we are going to improve our services can be found on our website.

Tenant Perception Survey Results

The following measures are set out by the Regulator which we are required to report on. The data here reflects our performance as at March 31st 2024. These scores are combined for rented and shared ownership residents.

Proportion of homes for which all required gas safety checks have been carried out

99.9% 99.1%

Proportion of homes for which all required asbestos management surveys or re-inspections have been carried out

100%

Proportion of homes for which all required fire risk assessments have been carried out

Proportion of homes for which all required communal passenger lift safety checks have been carried out.

100% 1.1%

Proportion of homes for which all required legionella risk assessments have been carried out.

100% 26.1%

Number of anti-social behaviour cases, opened per 1,000 homes

Number of anti-social behaviour cases that involved hate incidents opened per 1,000 homes

Tenant Satisfaction Measures

Proportion of stage one complaints responded to within the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code timescales These scores are for rented residents only

Proportion of homes that do not meet the Decent Homes Standard

Proportion of emergency responsive repairs completed within the landlord’s target timescales

Number of stage two complaints received per 1,000 homes

0% 60.8% 1.7% 88.9% 80.1% 32.2% 42.5%

Proportion of non-emergency responsive repairs completed within the landlord’s target timescales

Number of stage one complaints received per 1,000 homes

Proportion of stage two complaints responded to within the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code timescales

Our residents at a neighbourhood event

Responsive repairs

During 2023, we cleared the backlog of responsive repairs that had accumulated after lockdown. This has allowed us to move forward with improvements to our services.

The financial constraints we have been under the last few years have meant that we had to review how we provide fencing. The financial constraints we have been under over the last few year have meant that we had to review how we provide fencing. This has only affected a small number of residents.

We have also reviewed our empty homes policy and procedure incorporating feedback from our Digital Panel. We have analysed all complaints relating to repairs and have implemented internal improvements,

which includes:

• Updated our system to include job headlines in email and text communications.

• Updated our systems so repair notes are mandatory to improve job completion.

• Developed our system to enable scheduling of repairs within local delivery areas.

• Implemented training for customer service teams to ensure repairs are handled effectively from the very first point of contact.

Number of repairs reported

22,682

First time fix 94% Repairs completed

20,497 Repairs completed within timescale

86%

Asset management

Building safety

We have completed 100% fire risk assessments for schemes with communal areas as well as installing 55 new fire doors. Ensuring that our residents are safe in their homes has been a top priority for us.

Alongside this we have also increased performance to 99% of asbestos surveys being completed. Electrical safety has also been a high priority with new legislation coming into effect. We have increased performance to 99% safety checks being completed (we are not always successful in gaining access to homes).

Compliance

44 Bathrooms replaced

138 Doors

70 Electrical upgrades 30 Roofs

8 Communal heating upgrades

52 Kitchen replacements

50 Windows

13 Electric re-wires

Aids and adaptations

5 External decoration 49 Fire risk assessments (FRA’s) (schemes) Level access showers

6 Over bath showers Other adaptation works

101 Smoke and carbon monoxide detector upgrades

Environmental responsibilities

As a member of Independent East, Broadland will receive funding from Wave 2 of the Government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF Wave 2.1) to improve the energy efficiency of its homes.

We delivered energy efficiency measures to 17 homes consisting of predominantly air source heats pumps and solar pv panels. The programme which comprises of a further 49 homes will be completed in 2024/25.

We successfully obtained the Ritterwald Certified Sustainable Housing Label, an independently verified external accreditation that requires us to demonstrate our sustainability performance against 40+ environment, social

and governance (ESG) criteria. We are the smallest UK housing provider to hold the label and were awarded “frontrunner” status.

We were also awarded the GOLD SHIFT (sustainability housing index for tomorrow) re-accreditation for our fourth successive year.

4,618

Broadland homes rated EPC C or above (at end of March 2024)

2,102

Additional C+-rated homes after planned improvements Home Condition Surveys

Iain Grieve receiving the Ritterwald certificate

Electric plug in already installed in new homes at Northrepps

Frontline housing management

As part of our ongoing work to improve service charge information for residents, we sent out more detailed actual service charge statements in September 2023. We are continuing to try and improve this information as we receive feedback from residents. We have been working with residents who have asked for help to see if there is any ways of reducing their costs and ensure that they are receiving the benefits they are entitled to.

Total number of new homes let

(including 12 new builds let on behalf of West Norfolk)

(Not including the 12 we manage on behalf of West Norfolk)

36 Supported re-lets

Number of ASB

231 General needs re-lets

117 Homeless households housed

Average standard general needs re-let time (days)

16.55

Arrears reduced by our Income Team

2.37%

Gross from 2.48%

Sustaining tenancies

£91,000

One-off benefit award payments

522

Residents supported, including one-off interventions

£479,000 £51,000

New annual benefit claims awarded

£57,500

Supported grants received (white goods, fuel vouchers etc)

Last year the Tenancy Support Team worked to support some of our most vulnerable residents. We worked with 25 victim/survivors of domestic abuse, 59 cases of adult or child safeguarding and 24 cases of self-neglect.

Our Welfare Benefit Officer supports residents to challenge welfare benefit decisions, claim the benefits they are entitled to, or support to increase a benefit when circumstances change.

We have been working with one resident for a few years with her experiences of hoarding. Following this work she took part in a video with us telling us about her experiences and the support she has received.

We use this video for training, and we also shared it when taking part in a Housing Provider event on Hoarding in November 2023. We have a few residents that have shared their experiences with universities to help the research into hoarding.

86%

Reduction in rent arrears after tenancy support intervened

First-time residents referred who remain a resident 12 months later 74%

First time residents referred not in arrears 12 months later

Case study A

Resident A asked for a check on her welfare benefits. Following a review by our Welfare Benefit Officer a revision of her benefits was requested and was back dated award of £17,000 was given.

Case study B

Resident B asked for help with her Universal Credit award. They requested a referral to the Welfare Benefits service. The Welfare Benefits officer worked with resident B for many months and attended a tribunal with her. Finally our resident was awarded over £7,000 in back payments and will be over £4,000 better off each year.

Complaints

We

are committed to continuously

improving how we handle

complaints,

with the overarching goal of enhancing the journey and experience for our residents.

Our self-assessment against the Complaint Handling Code gives us strong indicators of what we are doing well, not so well and where our focus is needed for improvements.

Feedback from our Tenant Perception Survey was taken into consideration when completing the assessment. Our Self-Assessment can be found on our website.

During 2023/2024, we have recruited additional resources to support the complaints service function with the introduction of a Complaints Manager and Complaint Handler. Over the next six months, the focus will be on ensuring compliance with the Complaint Handling Code. Our action plan to support this includes areas around timeframes, communication and repair wait times.

Performance 2023/2024

• The chart below shows the number of formal complaints received in the year by month and category (256).

• In the 2023/24 financial year we saw a 2% increase in the number of complaints, which is down from a 48% increase in the previous year.

• The priority area for reducing complaints is repairs and planned maintenance, which account for 76% (195) of all complaints (256).

• It is important to note that repairs will always account for the majority of our complaints, because it is the service accessed most by our residents. The number of complaints in comparison to the number of repairs completed is comparatively low.

• Communication between our residents and staff has also been identified as an area that needs improvement.

Learning from complaints

During 2023/2024, learning opportunities were identified from complaints and then used to inform an action plan to reduce repeat complaint trends. Five of the key learning opportunities and actions taken during 2023/2024.

Learning Opportunity

Repair Communications

Allocations Process

Post Inspection Adaptation Works

Damp and Mould

Action Taken

Further to complaints about appointment communication, appointment email and text messages now include a summary about the repair that is being attended and when.

Allocation process now includes informing residents of communal facilities amongst other information shared during the allocation process.

Two Planned Works Managers have been recruited and will carry out post inspections within 12 months of the repairs being carried out.

Damp and Mould Leaflet has been updated with input from the Resident Assurance Panel to help highlight causes of moisture, condensation and damp and mould.

Number of homes completed 2021/24 547

2021-24 completions

316 Affordable rent 152 79 Shared ownership Open market sales

New developments

In July 2023 we celebrated with North Norfolk District Council and Northrepps Parish Council with the start of building 19 new carbon friendly homes in Northrepps. The new homes, which are highly energy efficient, with triple glazed windows and solar panels will significantly reducing fuel consumption.

Number of homes under construction at April 2024 (including open market)

142

Pipeline (not including open market) 2024-25 97 2025-26 75 2026-27 75 Total 247

New pitches at Swanton Road

The 13 new pitches at Swanton Road traveller site have now been completed. The pitches allow more accommodation in the day rooms with larger kitchen, bathroom and living spaces.

The refurbishment of the existing site is now underway with residents moving across to the new pitches. It is anticipated that these will be finished in summer 2024 giving much more needed accommodation.

Solar panels at Northrepps

Northrepps in September 2023

Newly completed pitch at Swanton Road

Our partnership with North Norfolk District Council continued with the start on site of 5 new homes in Salthouse. This project has been 10 years in the making and will provide local people with operationally carbon net zero homes. The homes will have air source heat pumps, triple glazed windows and enhanced insulation features.

The style of the new homes is designed to blend in with the architecture of the village. During the public consultation a local resident said that the front the buildings should have flint, this feedback was incorporated into the final designs.

Celebrating anniversaries

Harriet Court celebrated its 20th Anniversary in 2023. Ida, who has recently moved to Harriet Court from her Broadland home which she has lived in since 1998, cut the celebration cake. Ida, recalled laying of the first bricks on the scheme, as she had been a member of one of the tenant panels at the time.

Shared Ownership

18 shared ownership completions in 23/24, 10 of which were delivered on 3 different sites via Section 106 Agreement with Norfolk Homes. Just under half of these completions were sold subject to contract by June 24.

New partnerships

Broadland have signed an exciting partnership with Great Yarmouth Borough Council and our Independent East partner, Orwell Housing. The partnership will deliver new homes over 5 years bringing to life GYBC’s vision of continued regeneration in the borough.

The first project will be at The Conge, which will see 82 new high quality homes. Demolition work on the south side of the site has already been completed. The project is currently in planning.

Architectural image of new home at Salthouse

Wendy Hendricks, Michael Newey, Andrew Savage, Victoria Holliday, John Smith & Jonathan Smith

Michael Newey, Ida and Joanne Norse Care team leader

Architectural Image of new homes at The Conge

Homelessness

We remain to be an active member of Homes for Cathy and the Norfolk Strategic Housing Partnership (NSHP), working closely with local council and charity partners to end homelessness, regionally as well as lending our voice nationally. Our Chief Executive servces on the Homes for Cathy board and is the Chair of the NSHP board.

Elm Road, Thetford is a good example of how having a home and access to the high quality support can help residents improve their lives. A year after moving in and with support from the Access Community Trust, we have seen residents successfully sustain their tenancies as well as access opportunities such as employment and volunteering.

We have also seen 5 successful move-ons from the Next Step Accommodation Programme/Rough Sleeper

Broadland hosted the Eastern Region Homes for Cathy and NSHP seminar in November 2023. The focus of the seminar was to continue to foster partnership working.

The seminar had speakers from the Trussell Trust, HM Prison & Probation Service, Norfolk County Council #Flourish campaign, Purfleet Trust and Norfolk County Council’s Public Health Principal Prevention talk about housing health.

117 Number of homeless households housed

Accommodation Programme homes from across 2 locations. We have faced some challenges this year, but have been able to rely on our partners for support to address any issues.

All of our Foundation properties remain housed with their original residents in them, which was the purpose of the project. The support is beginning to taper off which again was what was expected as the residents need less support to maintain their homes.

3 Evictions –rent arrears

3 Evictions –anti-social behaviour

Speakers at the Homes for Cathy/HSHP seminar

Involving residents

Tenant Assurance Panel

During 2023 the Resident Assurance Panel undertook a comprehensive induction programme. This enabled them to get a different perspective and understanding on how Broadland is run and the challenges we face as a housing provider.

They have been looking at the services we provide and feedback on a number of areas. They reviewed the Tenant Perception Survey results, complaints, repairs and timescales. They also held an additional meeting to review rent increases and financial resources to understand the issues being faced by both Broadland and their fellow residents.

The Panel also undertook a comprehensive review of our website. They worked with us to review the navigation and style of the website to ensure that this remains accessible and easy for residents to locate quickly the information they need.

They also look at our key performance indicators at each meeting, reviewing progress month on month and questioning missed timescales or areas of concern..

Listening and feedback

During 2023 we continued with our Community Conversations across the region. One of the re-occurring themes at these meeting was how our residents receive their repairs information. The text that is sent was not clear enough, this issue has now been resolved and residents should receive clearer communication from us.

We have been training additional Mystery Shoppers in the last year. They have been inspecting our empty homes before a new resident moves in. This has resulted in a number of issues being identified and rectified before the a resident moves into their home.

The Housing for Over 55’s Panel (HOP) have continued to discuss topics that are important to them. They have discussed how tenancy support can provide support and information, as well as hearing from external speakers with ways to help other residents in their situation.

TAP members

Visual representation of the meeting as drawn by one of the residents

Engaging in our neighbourhoods

The gardening competition in 2023 was hugely successful. There were some amazing gardens from the applicants, with some truly innovative designs and use of plants and shrubs in the spaces they had.

We held another successful out and about programme last year. We spoke to 276 residents at 31 schemes across the county.

Garden Competition

Tenants enjoying a community event

Elizabeth at Fry Road

People

During 2023/24 our staff

• continued to enjoy Challenge and Change (C&C) which has gone from strength to strength. C&C is our in-house Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and Wellbeing initiative, giving everyone the opportunity, twice a year, to take time to focus on their own awareness and wellbeing

• welcomed the ongoing support of our Mental Health and Wellbeing Champions who continued to support and remind staff on the importance of looking after our mental health whilst continuing to educate and break down the stigma.

• benefited from our CARE team continued to support colleagues

• continued to work towards our Domestic Abuse Alliance accreditation and hope to achieve this in 2024

Recruitment Process –EDI Enhancement

We implemented the anonymisation of CVs removing identifying factors to ensure no unconscious bias through the shortlisting process. Part of our ongoing commitment to EDI, with the formation of the Staff EDI action plan will focus over the coming year on promoting diversification within the recruitment process.

Living Wage Norwich launch

Broadland has been an accredited Living Wage Employer since 2016 and is proud to be founding members of the Norwich Living Wage City Campaign. One of our team, Jesse Manning, Cleaning Coordinator, was asked to speak again at this year’s anniversary event, about the positive impact the Living Wage had on his own life. Chief Executive Michael Newey was shortlisted for a 2023 Living Wage Champion Award by the Living Wage Foundation.

Best Companies

Staff took part in the annual Best Company Engagement Survey. We retained our rating as one of the top 25 Best Housing Associations in the UK to work for and one of the top 75 companies to work for in the East of England.

Staff celebrating our 60th birthday

Independent East

We continued to work with our Independent East partners to promote EDI. We offered shared talks on hoarding, alcohol harm and domestic violence. We continue to sponsor Norwich Pride in collaboration with Saffron Housing.

Apprentice of the Year

Congratulations Paul! Paul Kimber was named Apprentice of the Year for Technical Construction (Electrical Installations, Plumbing, Gas and Civil Engineering) by City College Norwich. This is the second year one of our apprentices won this top achievement. We continue to value and support our apprenticeship scheme.

Paul receiving his apprentice of the year award

Financial resources

Note: taken from financial statements pg18

Turnover, operating surplus and operating margin trend

2022

2023 2024

Our Group turnover increased by c£13.3m compared to last year largely as a result of more sales activity. Broadland Housing Association achieved 67 first tranche shared ownership sales generating a turnover of c£5.1m, which was significantly better than budget. Broadland St. Benedicts, our market sale development arm, sold a total of 31 homes during the year, generating sales receipts of c£8.5m, which was close to our budgeted turnover.

Surpluses generated by Broadland St. Benedicts will be gifted to Broadland Housing Association during the 2024/25 financial year to support its affordable homes development programme, with any additional surpluses being used to fund decarbonisation works on existing homes.

Extract from consolidated statement of comprehensive income

Our operating surplus before disposals increased by c£3.6m which, as explained above, is largely driven by sales activity. Our operating margin before disposal also increased, which is encouraging particularly in the light of continuing inflationary pressures and is testament to our focus on delivering the most value out of every pound we spend.

Our borrowing costs increased by c£2.5m as a result of interest rates reaching their highest levels in 15-years, which impacts on the cost of servicing existing debt and borrowing additional money to support our affordable homes development programme and re-financing activities.

Broadland

Housing Association Expenditure 2023/24 (£’000)

Staff salaries and benefits

£6,337

What it costs us to look after the communal spaces at our schemes

£4,311

The below costs are calculated as pounds per home *Bespoke in

Routine repairs and planned maintenance

£6,128

Major refurbishment works

£1,786

Development

£15,900

Investment in IT and other equipment

£663

Non-staff operating costs

£2,444

Repayment of bank loans

£16,780

Money loaned to BSB through the intergroup loan

£0

Net interest paid on bank loans

£9,576

Value for Money

We look to achieve value for money in our procurement activity by continuing to focus on the Five Es: Efficiency, Effectiveness, Environmental, Equity and Economy. This framework helps us put together our requirements, including key performance indicators (KPIs) that achieve value for money by delivering against the Five Es.

We operate in an environment where cost increases have been significant. Where possible we have continued to work closely with our suppliers and supply chain to mitigate any price increases. We hold contract management meetings with our key suppliers to ensure they are meeting our expectations and the agreed key performance indicators.

During 2023/24 we have worked with our energy consultant to try and ensure our energy contracts are competitively priced. During this time we have re-procured both the communal electricity and gas contracts which should result in more affordable personal and service charges in charges in 2024/25.

Our procurement team, we meet with our counterparts from Independent East to discuss current tenders, contracts and good practice. We continually look at potential procurement opportunities to work as a group to potentially save costs whilst maintaining quality.

During 2023/24 we have continued to work with our supply chain to understand their approach to carbon reduction and social value initiatives. This enables us to benchmark our suppliers as we strive for improvement in this area.