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Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26

Contents Delivering continuous improvement

Equality, diversity and inclusion

Bringing our iCare Values to life

How are we performing?

Learning from Complaints

The year at a glance

10-11

Engagement & Communication

Working with residents to improve repairs

Tackling Damp and Mould

14-15

Keeping you safe

16-17

Green Spaces on estates

Anti-Social Behaviour

19-20

Supporting our tenants

How we spend your rent and service charges

Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26

Delivering Continuous Improvement This year has seen continued progress across our Housing Service Improvement Programme. We have focused on strengthening compliance, improving our understanding of homes and residents, enhancing resident engagement, improving data quality and reinforcing assurance arrangements. While significant progress has been made, we recognise that improvement is an ongoing journey. We remain committed to learning, adapting and building on the work completed so far to ensure residents receive safe, high-quality and responsive housing services. Everything we do is underpinned by a commitment to continuous improvement and delivering better outcomes for residents. The progress made throughout the year demonstrates our determination to strengthen services, improve accountability and ensure we are well placed to meet both resident expectations and regulatory requirements. By continuing to invest in our people, systems and services, we are building stronger foundations for the future and creating a housing service that residents can have confidence in. 3

Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26

Equality, diversity and inclusion Housing Services manages around 9,390 Council properties and 2,531 leasehold properties across the borough of Havering. Leaseholders are not required to provide their personal information, but we collect demographic and equalities information on our tenants. This is captured when a tenant signs up for their tenancy and includes the household’s ethnicity, gender, age and disability. Understanding Our Residents Providing excellent services starts with understanding the needs of the people who live in our homes. Throughout the year, we have improved the information we hold about residents, including household circumstances, support needs and vulnerabilities. Having better information enables us to tailor services more effectively, provide appropriate support where needed and ensures we are better equipped to respond to the diverse needs of our communities. We have a large population of older tenants with

46%

Of those who have provided their ethnic background

15%

aged over 60 years old

of our tenants are from a BA~ME background

63%

84%

of our tenants are

are from a white background

female 4

Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26

Bringing our iCare Values to life Our values guide our approach to working with residents, partners and colleagues. Havering Council demonstrates its commitment to iCARE values by acting with integrity through transparent decision-making, showing care when supporting vulnerable residents, displaying ambition by continuously improving services, treating residents with respect, and ensuring everyone has a voice through consultation and engagement. We do this by involving residents in service design, providing support through housing services, and delivering accessible, resident-focused services.

Integrity We are honest, trustworthy and reliable, we communicate openly and take responsibility for our actions.

Creativity We find ways to solve problems and make things better, we look for new ideas and opportunities to innovate and are flexible and open to change.

Ambition We focus on making Havering the best place anyone can live, work and do business, we take pride in our work and are committed to improving and developing ourselves.

Respect We treat people with courtesy and compassion, we listen to the ideas and perspectives of others and stand up to discrimination, bullying and harassment.

Everyone We collaborate and co-produce to deliver results, we support each other and give constructive feedback and celebrate success and recognise everyone’s contribution. 5

Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26

How are we performing?

The Regulator of Social Housing has a set of indicators to measure the performance of all social housing landlords. The indicators are known as the Tenant Satisfaction Measures or TSMs and cover issues of importance to tenants such as satisfaction with services, performance on repairs, safety and complaints. The TSMs help us to understand our performance and where we need to improve. We have worked with Housemark, a specialist housing performance organisation, who help us understand and measure our performance relative to other landlords. Housemark telephoned a large number of our residents to get their satisfaction feedback. We have compared our performance with the mid-point or ‘median’ for other London councils. Here are the TSMs and our performance against them:

Performance and Accountability We are committed to using performance information to drive improvement and deliver better outcomes for residents. During the year, we have strengthened our approach to performance monitoring, reporting and assurance, enabling managers and leaders to make more informed decisions and take action where improvement is required. This work supports greater transparency, stronger accountability and a clearer focus on delivering a high-quality service.

Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26

How are we performing? Satisfaction survey TSMs

Havering year end 2025/26

Housemark London median benchmark

Overall service from the landlord

70.8%

59.0%

Landlord listens to tenants’ views and acts on them

60%

51.2%

Landlord keeps tenants informed

71.4%

63.1%

Landlord treats tenants fairly and with respect

80.6%

66.9%

Their home is well maintained

73.8%

59%

Overall repairs service over the last 12 months

74.7%

63%

Time taken to complete their most recent repair

72.8%

59.9%

Their home is safe

79.1%

65.2%

Landlord makes a positive contribution to the neighbourhood

67.2%

60.5%

Landlord keeps communal areas clean and well maintained

73%

61.6%

Landlord’s approach to ASB case handling

55.9%

54.4%

Landlord’s approach to handling complaints

28.9%

25.6%

Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26

Havering year end 2025/26

Housemark London median benchmark

Number of ASB cases opened per 1,000 homes

44.9

30.9

Number of ASB cases that involved hate incidents opened per 1,000 homes

0.9

0.7

Non-emergency repairs completed in target time

96.8%

85.8%

Emergency repairs completed in target time

96.5%

94.8%

Proportion of homes that don’t meet the Decent Homes Standard

2.71%

7.65%

Fire risk assessments

100%

Gas safety checks

100%

99.7%

Lift safety checks

100%

98.35%

Water safety checks

100%

Asbestos safety checks

98.10%

100%

Management information TSMs

Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26

Learning from complaints This chart illustrates the top ten leading themes for complaints within housing for 2025-2026. Whilst the top three themes are consistent with previous years, there was a substantial decrease in volumes. Repair Replacement decreased by 31% from 144 cases, to 99. ASB Handling dropped 29% from 75 to 53 and the largest decrease was Heating/Hot Water which fell by 63 cases (58%) from 2024-2025 volumes.

Stage 1 Leading times

Repair Replacement 53

ASB Handling 46

Heating/Hot Water 34

Leaks Tenancy Issue

Capital Works

25 19

Damp and Mould Health and safety

Electrical

11 11

Compliance - Gas/Fire/Asbestos/Legionella 0

100

This graphic represents 336 of the 624 Stage1complaints due in the financial year 2025-2026. It does not include complaints where no theme was applicable, or complaints that fell outside of the top 10 themes. Targets

100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Miss

Hit

4331

Mar 8 5953

Stage 1 complaints decreased by 11% compared with 2024–2025, reducing the monthly average from 59 to 52. Volumes rose steadily between July and October before falling sharply in Q3 to their lowest level, then increased significantly in Q4, with March 2026 recording the highest volume of the year. Performance against targets remained strong, with target achievement at or above 90% in eight months of the year. Resident feedback is an important driver of service improvement. Throughout the year, we have strengthened our approach to complaints handling, monitoring and governance to ensure that concerns raised by residents help inform service development. By reviewing complaints, identifying themes and acting on lessons learned, we are improving services, strengthening accountability and ensuring that residents’ experiences help shape future improvements. 9

Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26

The year at a glance What have we delivered over the last 12 months? We responded to 27,768 emails sent to our dedicated Resident Services email box. We answered 75,030 Housing related calls in our Contact Centre. We have completed 30,000 responsive repairs. We reduced arrears to 1.75% We provided over 2,000 free meals to residents. We delivered over 176 events for residents. We dealt with 408 new ASB cases. We completed 21,737 block cleans. We removed 2,569 fly tips from our estates. As part of Havering’s Decent Homes programme we: • Replaced new doors or windows for 958 properties. • Replaced 169 Communal Fire Doors. • Replaced 98 Block Entrance Doors. • Replaced 128 Kitchens. • Replaced 73 Bathrooms & Shower Rooms. • Replaced 396 Roofs. • Decorated 1,727 properties externally. • Fitted 71 properties with Solar PV Panels.

Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26

25 events for Young People with 1,408 attending basketball, youth art sessions and West Ham FC tournaments.

13 Family events attended by 1,080 residents including family fun days and seasonal events.

82 events to engage with isolated residents with 2,502 attending armchair exercise classes, social events and health roadshows.

Monthly estate visits with staff and resident representatives engaging with residents to listen to their concerns and identify areas for improvement.

The Family Welcome Centre which provides safe temporary accommodation with 74 flats for homeless Havering families.

46 Sheltered housing events with 524 residents joining quizzes, seasonal events and health roadshows. 11

Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26

Engagement & communications Residents play a vital role in helping us understand what is working well and where services can improve. Throughout the year, we have continued to strengthen opportunities for residents to provide feedback, influence decision-making and participate in scrutiny and engagement activities. By listening to residents and acting on their views, we can ensure services remain responsive, accountable and focused on what matters most to the people we serve. Part of Havering’s Resident Engagement and Participation Strategy include the following six key principles:

1 We ask 2 We listen and involve 3 We know ‘one size doesn’t fit all’ 4 We learn 5 We come to you 6 We are open, honest and accountable We have introduced new ways for residents to influence the housing service. No matter how much time you can spare, we have an opportunity for you in a way that suits you. Contact Resident Engagement by email: getinvolved@havering.gov.uk The Resident Participation Panel meets quarterly with various ad hoc sub-groups. The group is formed of local tenants and leaseholders to review policies, strategies and help shape our services. We carry out regular estate inspections to check the cleanliness and site management of our estates. Residents are welcome to join these inspections held throughout the year, check ’At the Heart’ for an event in your area. The Council’s Senior Housing Managers walk around our estates monthly and would like to invite residents to join these walkabouts. If you can spare some time, email: getinvolved@havering.gov.uk Youth Activities for our younger residents are held throughout the school holidays including football, netball, music, drama and the healthy food project.

Your voice counts! We engaged with

I would like better communication and relationship between my housing officer and tenants

1,080families 12

The ground workers and cleaners on my estate are amazing!

Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26

Working with residents to improve repairs We are always looking for new ways to improve our tenant customer experience and streamline our repairs operations. Having accurate and up-to-date information about the condition of our homes is essential to delivering effective housing services. During the year, we have continued to invest in stock condition surveys and asset management activities to improve our understanding of our housing stock. The information gathered helps us make better decisions about maintenance, investment and future improvement programmes, ensuring resources are targeted where they can have the greatest impact and helping us maintain safe, decent and sustainable homes for residents. We have now moved our out of hours repairs call handling from Pinnacle to Mears, our repairs contractor. We have implemented much stricter call answering target times of two minutes (95% of time) and we have achieved this target. Mears daytime call centre receives over 1,000 calls per week on average, with 97% answered within 30 seconds. Our Asset team have been conducting stock condition surveys while visiting properties. This has significantly reduced the number of visits required. Our Repairs and Capital Works teams are now providing customer satisfaction survey cards with QR codes to collect feedback directly from residents, aiming to collect more data and improve service. The satisfaction rate is 96.05%. We provide concessionary decorations for residents and will decorate up to two rooms free of charge. We encourage more residents to take this up. We provide a free Handyperson service to vulnerable residents and will build flatpack furniture, put up blinds and shelves. Residents can request this service through the Customer Service phoneline. 13

Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26

Tackling damp and mould Havering Council has reaffirmed its commitment to providing safe, healthy homes for all residents by implementing robust measures to comply with Awaab’s Law, which came into force in October 2025. Under the new regulations, social landlords must: • Make emergency hazards safe within 24 hours of becoming aware of them. • Commit to investigate all damp and mould reported within 10 working days. • Provide residents with a written summary of findings within three working days following the identification of a significant hazard. • Complete safety works within five working days of confirming a hazard or offer temporary accommodation if the home cannot be made safe. These requirements aim to protect tenants from serious health risks and ensure timely action on housing hazards. To meet these obligations, Havering Council has: • Approved a new Damp and Mould Policy (June 2025) aligned with Awaab’s Law, the Housing Act 2004, and the Decent Homes Standard. • Introduced a Damp MOT approach, ensuring surveyors attend properties promptly to check for penetrating or rising damp and provide lifestyle advice for condensation prevention. • Introduced automatic resident notifications with clear timelines and guidance following inspections. • Established specialist damp and mould repair codes tracked through our Housing Management System for full transparency. • Committed to pre-inspections within 14 days and prioritised emergency mould cases within 10 days. • Enhanced resident communication and published guidance online and in print to help households understand causes and prevention of mould growth. Council tenants are encouraged to report any signs of damp or mould immediately via the resident portal or by calling 01708 434000

Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26

Condensation We cannot always completely remove condensation linked to the fabric of historic building design. The surveyor will give advice and tips on how to minimise condensation. They will signpost residents to advice and support with energy bills. Prevention is always better (and faster) than ‘cure’ when it comes to damp and mould control. Whilst we will take all reasonable steps to rectify any problems, many helpful tips on how to control and combat damp and mould are given in the Council’s booklet entitled ‘A guide to treating mould growth’. If our maintenance services cannot resolve a damp and/or mould issue, due to building design, it will be included in our major works programme moving forward. Vulnerable tenants Some residents, including young children and people with some health conditions, such as respiratory issues or immune deficiencies, and those with disabilities, are potentially more vulnerable and at greater risk because of damp and mould. When damp and mould issues are identified we will prioritise these repairs. All Council staff visiting homes, including those from Children’s and Adults Social Care, will be asked to look for mould and report back any issues to us making clear if tenants have vulnerabilities, disabilities and health conditions.

Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26

Keeping you safe The safety of our residents remains our highest priority. Throughout the year, we have continued to strengthen our approach to compliance, property safety and housing condition management. This has included improving our understanding of property risks, completing safety inspections and strengthening processes to ensure issues are identified and addressed promptly. These improvements help provide greater assurance that homes remain safe, support compliance with regulatory requirements and reinforce our commitment to protecting residents and maintaining high standards across our housing stock. This includes implementing the Building Safety Act and Fire Safety Act with a particular focus on high-rise buildings and fire safety across all types of property. We comply with all regulatory requirements and meet the highest standards of inspection and associated works. We want to involve our residents in why and how we do things. Our High-rise Building Resident Engagement Strategy outlines how we will inform residents about safety procedures, involve them in decision-making, and make it easy to share concerns with us. This strategy is built around four primary objectives to ensure resident engagement and safety are prioritised: Empowerment Equip residents with the tools, knowledge, and opportunities to contribute to building safety decisions and express concerns. Participation Encourage active involvement through inclusive and accessible pathways tailored to resident’s preferences. Resident interaction Build strong, two-way communication channels that prioritise transparency, collaboration, and responsiveness. Information accessibility Ensure that all residents can access safety-related information in formats that meet diverse needs and preferences.

This strategy offers you a greater say in the safety of your home. Key benefits include: • Access to detailed safety information about your building. 16

Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26 • Regular updates on building safety measures, procedures, and assessments. • The opportunity to raise concerns, provide feedback, and contribute to safety decisions. • Inclusion in discussions about significant projects, such as fire safety improvements and planned maintenance. Proportion of homes that don’t meet the decent home standard

2.71%

Fire risk assessments

100%

Gas safety checks

100%

Lift safety checks

100%

Water safety checks

100%

Asbestos safety checks

98.1%

How residents can be heard The Building Safety Team use a range of ways that residents can get involved with building safety matters in high-rise residential buildings: • We will arrange periodic resident safety meetings on all our high-rise estates, which will be a mix of in person events, via Teams or hybrid events to encourage as much participation as possible. • Take part in estate walkabouts or drop-in sessions with the Building Safety Team. • Complete online surveys. • By contacting the Building Safety Team directly: Email: firesafetyproject@havering.gov.uk Telephone: 01708 434343 Ask for the Resident Safety Team Website: www.havering.gov.uk Information for tenants – Council Tenants – Resident Safety

Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26

Green Spaces on estates Our estates include communal gardens and green spaces. These are regularly maintained and well cared for. Havering Council has officially granted Village Green status to 14 green spaces, securing long-term protection for valued community spaces. For many residents, these locations are not just open land, but key parts of community life where families, children and neighbours come together.

Garage Sites Improvements Over the last year we undertook a large project to improve and refurbish garages in our housing estates. We refurbished around 120 garages improving the overall look for the estate. Residents can rent garages for storage or car storage via our website. For further information or assistance in completing the application form please email: garages@havering.gov.uk

Havering in Bloom Another great year with over 100 entries to this wonderful competition, which continues to demonstrate the creativity of Havering residents. The winners for 2025 were presented with gift vouchers and certificates from the Mayor of Havering. 18

Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26

Anti-Social Behaviour Anti-social behaviour (ASB) can severely affect residents’ quality of life and sense of safety in their communities. That is why we collaborate closely with the Council Enforcement Team and the police and other key services both within and outside the Council to address residents’ concerns. In the last 12 months, we have: • Responded to 408 cases of ASB in Housing. • Carried out daily and weekly patrols with our Enforcement Team responding to reports of ASB. CCTV upgrade We have been upgrading our borough-wide CCTV network, replacing analogue equipment with high-definition digital cameras. This gives us much better visibility of ASB on our estates. We also use our deployable cameras that enable us to target specific areas of ASB. We will take enforcement action and work to support vulnerable residents in addressing the underlying causes of ASB when necessary. Information on how to report ASB can be found on our website: www.havering.gov.uk/ community-1/anti-social-behaviour-community We carried out regular crime prevention Days of Action with Community Police and Environmental Enforcement Officers. 19

Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26

Anti-Social Behaviour (continued) Neighbourhood and Community 2026-year end Tenant satisfaction with the landlord’s approach to handling anti-social behaviour Number of anti-social behaviour cases opened per 1000 homes Number of anti-social behaviour cases that involve hate incidents opened per 1000 homes

55.9% 44.9% 0.9%

Junior Citizens The Havering Junior Citizen programme is an annual safety education initiative for Year 6 pupils preparing to move from primary to secondary school. It is organised by Havering Council in partnership with the Metropolitan Police, London Fire Brigade, Safer Transport Police, and other local agencies. The project is funded by The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC). The programme teaches practical life skills and personal safety awareness to help children become more independent. Pupils take part in interactive scenarios and roleplay exercises covering real-life situations they may encounter. Key topics include: • Safe travel on buses and trains • Road safety • Knife crime and the risks of drugs and alcohol • Fire safety and emergency response • Personal safety, peer pressure, and online safety • Environmental responsibility, such as preventing littering Around 2,500 Year 6 pupils from schools across Havering participate each year. 20

Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26

Supporting our tenants We are here to support our tenants, help people to maintain their tenancies and live comfortably and safely in their homes. We set out to treat everyone with respect and fairness and make sure our services are easy to access and meet people’s needs. We know that people’s circumstances are different, and we have been working hard to improve the way we support vulnerable people. Our Contact Centre has been ensuring our records are up to date to help understand tenant support needs and any reasonable adjustments required. The Council aims to adapt services for vulnerable tenants, for example by changing communication methods, providing additional support during tenancy-related processes, and making adjustments to help residents access housing services. Financial Advice Managing household finances can sometimes be challenging and tenants experiencing financial difficulties can be assisted by our Income Services team by: • Discussing affordable repayment arrangements for any rent arrears. •C hecking whether you may be entitled to benefits or additional financial

support.

• Referring you to debt advice and money management services. •P roviding information about Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) and

other local support schemes.

For more information, please visit: Havering Money Advice web page Our Hoarding Pathway Coordinator The Council’s dedicated hoarding officer supports more than 40 active cases across the borough. Addressing hoarding is not a one-off intervention; even once properties are made safe, residents often need ongoing, tailored support to help manage underlying challenges such as mental health, physical health, and social isolation. Residents concerned about hoarding - either for themselves or someone they know - are encouraged to seek help early. For more information, please email residentservices@havering.gov.uk 21

Housing & Property Services Annual Report 2025-26

How we spend your rent and service charges The Council keeps a separate account of income and expenditure for managing the housing stock and providing housing management services. This is known as the Housing Revenue Account (HRA). The main sources of income are rents and service charges from tenants and leaseholders. The main items of expenditure are management and maintenance costs, major repairs, loan charges, and depreciation costs. Where our money comes from: HRA Income (£m)

How we spend our money: HRA Expenditure (£m)