About us
Established in 2003 Ayrshire Housing is a key provider of social housing across Ayrshire.
We provide over 1,700 homes for social rent and pride ourselves on offering affordable, safe and warm homes within connected communities. Our previous business plan helped navigate the organisation through the extraordinary period of Covid where restrictions prevented business as usual and required Ayrshire Housing to work under difficult circumstances to deliver for our customers.
This new 5-year Business Plan is an ambitious strategy for future growth and improvement, putting our customers at the heart of everything we do.
We are living in increasingly difficult times with rising costs, reduction in social services and a lack of affordable housing for many and housing associations are playing an everincreasing part in supporting tenants and communities in areas well outside of social housing such as social care, environmental services and services to older people. Through delivery of the plan, we hope the outcome for our customers will be the opportunity to live in quality homes, experience excellent customer service and feel connected to their local community.
Our Vision for 2030
An empowered and professional staff team delivering excellent customer service Up to date affordable homes which are warm, safe and well maintained
Dynamic and efficient customer service, tailored to the needs of customers
Inclusive and vibrant communities with Ayrshire Housing as a community anchor
Vision, Mission and Values Mission
Vision
Our People Delivering Excellence for our Customers and Communities.
To create a culture of excellence by investing in our people, places, properties and processes, which leads to our customers feeling valued, listened to and included in their communities.
Strategic Priorities:
People
Our people are values led, are well trained and empowered to provide excellent service.
Properties
Our properties are up to date, efficient and a place of wellbeing for our customers.
Places
Our places, partnerships and communities are thriving and inclusive, where people feel safe and secure.
Processes
Our processes are economic, efficient and effective, and we are open to innovation to continuously improve customer service.
Our Home Values
empat H y
empatHy
We understand and respond to the needs of our tenants, customers and colleagues, fostering a supportive and compassionate environment.
inn O vate
co M mit
innOvate
We embrace creativity and change, continuously seeking better solutions to ways of working, allowing us to drive long-term success.
b E long
coMmit
We take ownership and accountability, following through on what we say we’ll do to provide a high-quality service.
bElong
We value everyone in our community, promoting an inclusive environment, encouraging collaboration and diversity.
People
Colleagues
We believe People are at the heart of everything we do – our colleagues who deliver services and our customers who receive the service.
We believe a well-trained, empowered and motivated staff team will deliver an excellent service for our customers. Our colleagues will have opportunities to develop their careers and be offered training and development opportunities to excel in their role. We will look to gain accreditation as an Investors in People Platinum member, highlighting the excellent practice in our People and Culture processes.
Customers
We believe customers should receive excellent service as standard and we will work as an organisation to gain accreditation in customer service, ensuring we have the best processes and policies driving forward excellence. This includes:
• Tailored and timely communication
• Accessible services for all
• Customer voice is valued and listened to
• Opportunities to influence future plans and priorities
• Additional services including financial wellbeing as standard
Properties
We are doubling the investment in our homes over the first 2 years of the plan to meet customer expectations and enhance our reputation as an excellent provider of affordable homes. This increased investment will be informed through stock condition surveys and will target the investment in the homes needing it the most.
The planned investment in our existing properties spend over the next five years is £11.4m with:
New Homes - 141
The housing crisis has been well documented, and Ayrshire Housing is proud of its past record in delivering new, efficient homes in Ayrshire. Our new business plan continues this passion for new build delivery, and we aim to deliver 91 new build homes over the period of the plan across Ayrshire, including our rural communities, as well as the acquisition of 50 existing properties to bring them into our ownership for social rent.
Our 8 Strategic Objectives
1. 2. 3. 4.
Develop and empower our people to live our values and deliver excellent customer service
How we will do this
• Excellent training and development for colleagues
• Excellent internal and external communication
• Development of a Customer Excellence Charter
• Work towards customer excellence accreditation
What does success look like
• Low staff turnover
• Increased staff and customer satisfaction
• Increased opportunities for learning and development
• Customer excellence accreditation
• Fewer complaints
To provide an inclusive, respectful and responsive service where customers feel valued and have confidence in Ayrshire Housing to deliver
How we will do this
• Embrace change and encourage diversity through our Equalities and Human Rights strategy
• Improve customer intelligence to enable enhanced and tailored service delivery
• Improve customer engagement and feedback opportunities
• Improve customer experience and customer satisfaction through creation of a Customer Service Improvement Group (SIG)
What does success look like
• Tailored services to customers depending on need
• Improve access to support increasing satisfaction
To be invested in Ayrshire and work collaboratively with local partners to be a trusted community anchor
How we will do this
• Establish a dedicated Community Engagement team
• Promote The Local as a third sector collaboration space
• Work with like-minded community organisations to enhance the wellbeing of customers and communities
• Actively seek grant funding for community projects
• Work with local schools and colleges
What does success look like
• Improved holistic service for customers through signposting
• Tailored approach to working across our geographical areas to improve and better support our communities
Provision of wellmaintained, warm and efficient properties that people are proud to call home
How we will do this
• Up to date stock condition data to allocate resources most effectively
• Robust and accurate existing stock investment programme
• Effective management of reactive repairs service
• Cyclical maintenance programme investing in properties
What does success look like
• Properties well maintained with fewer reactive repairs
• Lower energy cost for customers
• Be the landlord of choice providing well maintained, affordable homes
• Increase in Customer satisfaction
5. 6. 7. 8.
Provide a place where customers feel safe, secure and have a sense of wellbeing in their home and community
How we will do this
• Additional support for communities with specific challenges
• Increased visibility in our communities
• Community engagement services such as financial wellbeing and energy advice part of core offering
What does success look like
• Reduction in ASB complaints and better community cohesion
• Improved customer satisfaction
• Improved tenancy sustainment
Innovate and invest in digital technologies to improve and enhance the customer experience.
How we will do this
• Creation of a Digital Strategy and increased usage of digital communication where preferred by customers
• Support digital inclusion
• Using cloud-based technology to drive efficiencies in administrative processes
What does success look like
• Services available when customers want and need them
• Customer self service via website/ tenant app
• Improved digital skills of staff and customers
• Enhanced real time communication
• Redirection of resources to those most in need
Embed
robust processes of governance and financial management to ensure our future sustainability
How we will do this
• Continue to strengthen our approach to the Annual Assurance and ARC processes
• Development of Board succession planning policy
• Training and development programme for Board
• Effective system to meet regulatory requirements
• Timely and accurate financial data for business decisions
What does success look like
• Confidence in our governance by Scottish Housing Regulator
• 5–30 year financial plans show long term sustainability
• Effective, well-trained and engaged Board
• Accurate information for business decisions
Promote a well-being economy where environmental sustainability and equality is central to our core operations.
How we will do this
• Create, implement and embed Equalities and Human Rights Strategy
• Assess carbon footprint of organisation and look for ways to be more sustainable
• Move towards energy efficient technologies in support of SHSNZ
What does success look like
• Conscious business decisions with environmental sustainability a key consideration
• Equalities and Human Rights priorities embedded in organisational practices
• Efficient homes embracing technology
• Reduction in carbon footprint
• Improved EPC performance in properties
Places
We believe that the community you live in is an important contributor to overall wellbeing and we have a vision for connected communities that our customers feel part of, and included in. We have a vision of more community-based services offering our more rural customers the opportunity to have a say in the services we offer and meet the team in their own neighbourhood.
We are putting in place a dedicated Community Engagement team who will be working to provide connected services and engaging with local partner organisations to ensure our customers know how and where to receive support when they need it.
Our work will focus on long term benefits for communities and will include developing activities, amenities and positive environments based on feedback and suggestions from local people and partners.
Processes Systems Innovation Data
Many of our customers have busy lives and are looking for a responsive service at a time that suits them. By embracing technology, we have a vision of 24 hour self-service allowing customers to access services at a time that suits them. By offering automated services to those that want them, we will have more resources to spend time with our customers who prefer a more traditional in-person face-to-face service, either in our offices or in their local communities.
Our new business plan includes detailed stock condition surveys ensuring we have accurate and up to date information on all our properties and a project of data cleansing ensuring efficient processing of customer information so we can ensure the right information is getting to the right people at the right time.
One of our key priorities is to innovate. We plan to embrace emerging AI technologies to improve the efficiency of some of our manual operations. We will explore how it can free up colleague time to focus more on customer interaction and delivery of excellent service. Using AI for repairs diagnosis and reporting of repairs or for the most frequently asked questions will offer a more dynamic and efficient service to customers.
Move to Digital
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
Follow Us: @ayrshirehousing
Like: www.facebook.com/ ayrshirehousing
Equality & Human Rights Statement
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.
Other Formats
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.
A Scottish charity no: SC027906. A company limited by guarantee registered in Scotland no: 185652, Registered with the Scottish Housing Regulator no: 304. The Scottish Property Factor Register ID: PF000260.