2021/22 Annual Report | One Vision Housing by SoviniGroup

SHAPING

OUR COMMUNITIES

ANNUAL REPORT - CONTENTS

CONTENTS 01

INTRODUCTION

WHAT WE DO

OUR COMMUNITIES

OUR HOMES

OUR ENVIRONMENT

VALUE FOR MONEY

OUR FINANCES

PERFORMANCE

GET INVOLVED

GOVERNANCE

REGISTRATION DETAILS

If you need assistance understanding the information in this document, or require a different format, please contact us on 0300 365 1111 or email us at enquiries@ovh.org.uk Information is correct at time of publishing.

ANNUAL REPORT - INTRODUCTION

Shaping communities across the North West

01 INTRODUCTION Welcome to our 2021/22 Annual Report, which details how we have strengthened our offer and services for our customers across the last financial year. Following the constraints of COVID-19, this year the world returned to a new normal as we continued to provide excellent services, whilst building high quality affordable homes for those who need them most.

Over 2021/22, we created 45 new job opportunities, including one apprenticeship in the local community. As part of The Sovini Group, in April we were recognised for the third time by Great Place to Work as the UK’s Best Workplaces™.

In addition to building 251 affordable homes, during 2021/22 our Development Team also broke ground on three new developments, which will see over 260 quality homes offered to the local community in the near future.

Our customers are at the heart of everything we do at One Vision Housing, and we pride ourselves on offering more than bricks and mortar. We remain committed to providing safe and secure communities, excellent customer services and will continue to develop strategic partnerships in order to create opportunities and change lives.

On average, our three bedroom properties are 42.7% lower than in the private rented sector, and 21.69% lower than the local housing allowance. Our Rent to Buy and Shared Ownership tenures helped local families take their first step onto the property ladder.

Dr Roy Williams, Chief Executive Officer, One Vision Housing, Part of The Sovini Group Peter Crosby, Chair of the Board, One Vision Housing

ANNUAL REPORT - WHAT WE DO

02 WHAT WE DO Creating opportunities and changing lives With a commitment to creating opportunities and changing lives for our customers, we presently own, manage, and maintain in excess of 13,600 homes across the North West.

Independent Living We have over 1,000 Independent Living (IL) properties across the Liverpool City Region, including seven purpose built Retirement Housing schemes. Our IL services provide customers who require additional assistance with the support they need to live independently in their homes, including: • Supported housing provision • Safeguarding, protection and support • Furnished tenancies • Aids and adaptations

Social and affordable housing We are committed to setting affordable rents that offer value for money for existing and prospective customers. Social rents are set in accordance with a formula determined by the Government, which considers location, condition, property size, and local earnings. Affordable rents are set at 80% of the gross market rent and considers location and property size. We also offer a range of other tenures, which include: • Rent to Buy • Shared Ownership • Private Rent • Flat Leaseholders • Shop and Garage Leaseholders

ANNUAL REPORT - WHAT WE DO

New developments Seeking to create thriving, inclusive communities through our development framework, we’re combating high housing costs with the delivery of over 1,000 good quality, affordable homes within the next five years. During 2021/22, we invested £30.5 million into building 251 new homes across the North West, available through Affordable and Social Rent, Rent to Buy and Shared Ownership tenures. In addition, we also started work on three new development sites across Wirral, Sefton and Lancashire. Managing Director of Housing, Ian Mitchell said:

We are driven by our purpose to create opportunities and change lives, and our new developments enable hundreds of people to take their first step onto the property ladder, whilst providing hundreds more with quality affordable rental properties.

Conway Point

Birkenhead, Wirral

Morris Meadows

Netherton, Sefton

Barton Brook Green

Garstang, Preston

Our home ownership services saw continued growth during 2021/22. We expanded our offer with a new service, designed to support Shared Ownership customers throughout their journey with us. The re-sale service was created to help customers sell shares of their property directly through One Vision Housing, when the time comes to move on to their next home. Through ‘staircasing’ our Shared Ownership customers were able to purchase more shares of their homes. In 2021/22 the number of customers who staircased doubled and generated an additional £296k income that will be reinvested into the community.

Barton Brook Green Garstang, Preston

Learn more about our new developments and register your interest today.

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ANNUAL REPORT - OUR COMMUNITIES

03 OUR COMMUNITIES As part of The Sovini Group, we are driven by our purpose to create opportunities and change lives, and recognise our role as a key contributor to the social and economic development of the North West. We are central to the creation of thriving, inclusive communities across the region, but our role doesn’t stop there! Our dedicated Stakeholder Engagement Team work hard to support local volunteering and community groups to achieve their goals, through an annual commitment to our Community Development Fund.

During 2021/22 we were incredibly proud to have reached over 5,200 beneficiaries, whilst generating over £22 million in social value through our fund and corporate social responsibility initiatives.

£22m SOCIAL VALUE

GENERATED

5.2k

BENEFICIARIES

SUPPORTED

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ANNUAL REPORT - OUR COMMUNITIES

Docklands Trail In the summer of 2021, we helped bring Liverpool’s shipping history to life, as we partnered with our colleagues from across The Sovini Group to provide support for the Docklands Trail. The specially customised shipping containers take visitors on a historical tour of Waterloo, Stanley, Huskisson, Canada, Gladstone and Seaforth docks. Les Ellis, Chair of Trustees of the Dockland Trail, said:

I would like to thank OVH and other members of The Sovini Group for helping support the Docklands Trail. It’s our hope that as a tourist attraction we will sustain the trail for the benefit of our local communities, who will be able to use the facility for educational, local interest and job awareness purposes.

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ANNUAL REPORT - OUR COMMUNITIES

Anti-social behaviour We are committed to ensuring our customers enjoy their homes and have a dedicated team who work hard to make our communities a better place, without anti-social behaviour. We received 88.5% customer satisfaction for case handling and outcomes during 2021-22, and our team have helped to:

Thank you to my Community Safety Officer, who kept me going when I was at my lowest. I really appreciate all the help and support that he gave me.

• Tackle anti-social behaviour, including hate crimes and domestic abuse • Help victims, witnesses and vulnerable people dealing with anti-social behaviour issues • Improve neighbourhoods • Develop community spirit

If you are being affected by anti-social behaviour, please call 0300 365 1111 or email asbteam@ovh.org.uk

£3m

SOCIAL VALUE

GENERATED

1495 BENEFICIARIES

SUPPORTED

Christmas activities We were pleased to generate over £3 million in social value over the festive period, with 1,495 beneficiaries across Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral.

• Young people were supported with pallets of toys donated to Livingstone Street Play & Community Centre and Netherton Park Neighbourhood Centre.

• Food and hygiene pallets were delivered to combat food poverty through St Leonards Church Foodbank, Veterans HQ, Wirral Foodbank, Sefton Opera, Light for Life, The Brunswick Youth & Community Centre and Victoria Centre.

• Kindfulness Café were awarded a grant through the Community Development Fund which allowed them to purchase toys and food for their own project.

• Veterans in Southport were served a hearty Christmas dinner.

• Afternoon tea was hand delivered to residents across our retirement schemes including Brooks Court, Mill Spring Court, St Johns Court, Orrell Lodge, Kenyons Lodge, Fernley Grange and Bishops Court.

Know a community group in need? Apply for funding from our Community Development Fund.

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ANNUAL REPORT - OUR HOMES

04 OUR HOMES Investing in your homes In line with the Government’s Decent Homes Standard, we are proud of our good quality homes that are maintained to a high standard, safe and well managed. We continue to build, maintain and enhance the quality of our homes and have an extensive maintenance programme planned, which will see a further investment of £184m over the next five years. In 2021/22, we invested £36m repairing and improving our existing homes and over £28m developing new homes. We also work in partnership with local authorities to install aids and make adaptations to our properties, ensuring customers are able to remain in their homes and maintain a good quality of life.

During 2021/22, we invested £735k in aids and adaptations including:

£454k Wet rooms

£166k Minor adaptations

£63k Ramps

£52k Stair lifts

OVH have been so supportive. They made sure my flat was safe and adjusted to help my mobility, with rails and a bathroom conversion when I returned from time in hospital. - Arthur

IN 2021/22 WE INVESTED

£36m TO IMPROVE OUR

HOMES

The safety of our homes has been improved immensely thanks to the recent refurbishment project. - Bernard

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ANNUAL REPORT - ENVIRONMENT

05 OUR ENVIRONMENT Promise for a better future At One Vision Housing, part of The Sovini Group, we are committed to reducing our environmental impact and are striving towards net-zero carbon emissions. We value our customers and communities, which is why we’re focussing on factors that not only affect our ecosystem, but also on a local scale with issues that directly impact you. By transforming our working practices, we have already reduced our carbon footprint by 64% since 2010/11 and made efficiency savings of £10.5m that will be reinvested into our communities.

Existing homes

New homes

Thanks to an initial allocation of funding from the Government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, we are working to improve the energy efficiency of our homes through an initiative that will enable our customers to reduce their energy use at a time when costs are set to rise to an all-time high.

In line with The Future Buildings Standard (2021), developments commissioned by One Vision Housing and delivered by Sovini Commercial will take a ‘fabric first’ approach.

An extensive net-zero carbon programme is also planned over the next eight years which will see:

£6.9m invested to improve the energy efficiency of circa 1,700 existing homes.

Through this approach we will look to maximise performance of components and materials selected during construction and aim to reduce energy consumption, such as thermal efficiency and running costs. With a planned investment of £129.8m, we are looking to build over 1,000 new homes to an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) standard of B between 2021 and 2026. These homes will feature environmentally efficient specifications where possible – from low carbon heating and sustainable drainage systems to smart metres, solar panels and charging points for electric vehicles.

Environmental, social and corporate governance We are striving to drive positive change within the housing sector and our robust Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) propositions play a vital role in setting our strategic direction.

During 2021/22, we were proud to create a real impact for those living within our homes, the wider community, businesses across the region, and the economy.

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ANNUAL REPORT - ENVIRONMENT

Environmental Environmental criteria considers how we use energy and manage our environmental impact. Factors include: • Energy efficiency • Climate change • Carbon emissions • Biodiversity • Air and water quality • Waste management

100%

64%

In 2021/22 we recycled 100% of construction waste from refurbishment and development projects.

Since 2010/11 we have worked hard to reduce our carbon footprint by 64% and are striving towards The Sovini Group’s net-zero carbon commitment.

Social Social criteria examines how we foster our people and culture, and how that has a ripple effect on our broader community. Factors include: • Inclusivity • Gender and diversity • Employee engagement • Customer satisfaction • Data protection and privacy • Community relations • Human rights • Labour standards

In April 2021 we were named as the UK’s Best Workplaces™ for the third time and hold accreditations from:

Governance Governance criteria considers our internal practices and procedures, creates transparency and ensures we adhere to industry best practice. Factors include: • Leadership • Board composition • Executive compensation • Internal controls • Audit committee structure • Shareholder rights • Bribery and corruption • Lobbying • Political contributions • Whistle-blower programmes We are compliant with the National Housing Federation’s ‘Excellence in Governance 2015 Code’, ensuring transparency and confidence in our activities. Our management systems are also UKAS accredited to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 standards.

As part of our commitment to corporate social responsibility, we complete a voluntary self-assessment annually across the Environmental, Social and Governance reporting framework. This enables us to report on our performance in a transparent, consistent and comparable way.

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ANNUAL REPORT - VALUE FOR MONEY

06 VALUE FOR MONEY Value for Money (VFM) is a high priority for One Vision Housing. Through the collaboration and innovation of our people, from colleagues to customers, we have developed a robust strategic plan to achieve VFM and excellence in the services we offer across the following objectives:

Maximising our social value

Best use of our assets and resources

Collaboration through self-delivery

Regulatory compliance and customer involvement

Maximising opportunities through procurement

Excellent performance and customer satisfaction

£10.5m

IN 2021/22 WE ACHIEVED

£10.5m

EFFICIENCY

SAVINGS

Since our inception in 2006, we have made over £134m in efficiency savings. During 2021/22 we have achieved efficiency savings of £10.5m including:

In 2021/22 our Financial Inclusion service supported 2,560 customers, helping them to access benefits which they may have otherwise missed out on.

• £4.2 million grant assistance from Homes England which was applied to build new homes

As a result of our Investment Policy, we earned £384k which will enable us to build and let a further three affordable homes. We will continue to reinvest our investment returns to improve services and build new homes.

• £353k procurement efficiencies

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ANNUAL REPORT - OUR FINANCES

07 OUR FINANCES Income

Our annual income from 2021/22 was £68,697,000

87.91%

0.03%

DWELLING RENTAL INCOME

RECHARGEABLE REPAIRS

5.25%

1.30%

SERVICE CHARGE INCOME

COMMERCIAL INCOME

3.34% SALE OF ASSETS

0.21% GRANT INCOME

0.80%

0.11%

OTHER MISC INCOME

1.06% INVESTMENT PROPERTY INCOME

GROUP SERVICE AGREEMENT

Expenditure

Our annual expenditure during 2021/22 was £98,991,000*

28.66%

5.40%

DEVELOPMENT

CORPORATE SERVICE AGREEMENTS

20.80% INVESTMENT IN HOMES

15.59% ROUTINE AND PLANNED MAINTENANCE

9.79% SERVICING OF FINANCE AND LOANS

1.93% BUILDING COSTS

10.71% CENTRAL OVERHEADS

0.69% EXCEPTIONAL COSTS

6.42% EMPLOYEE COSTS

*Note: circa £31m has been funded from loans.

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ANNUAL REPORT - OUR PERFORMANCE

08 OUR PERFORMANCE We are always transparent about our service performance, so that you know the ways in which we are working hard to improve the quality of your home and community.

Customer Care Charter Through our Customer Care Charter (CCC), developed in partnership with the Customer Voice Group, we strive to: • Provide excellent customer care • Respond to all enquiries within 48 hours • Respond to emergency repairs within 24 hours Customer Care Charter

• Respond to reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB) within 24 hours • Keep homes safe by following health and safety regulations

Target

Performance*

1. % satisfied with overall services

95%

95.1%

2. % of enquiries responded to within 48 hours

100%

93%

3. % of emergency repairs completed within 24 hours

100%

4. % of ASB cases responded to within 24 hours

100%

99%

5. % of compliant properties

100%

99.9%

*Year end 2021/22

Following a review by our customers, it has been agreed that ‘% of calls resolved at first point of contact’ will be a new CCC performance indicator from 2022/23.

The CCC is reported quarterly and is available to view on the website.

Annual performance We also collate data on our performance across key service areas annually, and benchmark this against top performing organisations in the industry.

Key increase in performance since 2020/21 maintained performance since 2020/21 Repairs and maintenance

decrease in performance since 2020/21 we’re a top performer Target

Performance

10.54

% of customers satisfied with repair service

99%

96.4%

% of customers satisfied with gas service

99%

99.2%

% of properties with valid gas safety certificate

100%

99.99%

% of emergency repairs completed within 24 hours

100%

Average number of days to complete a repair

Trend

The operative that attended to complete my repairs did so in a very professional manner. He was very personable, a pleasure to talk to and his politeness shone through. - Margaret

Rent % of rent collected % of current rent arrears

Neighbourhoods Average number of days to re-let a property % of rent lost due to empty properties % of customers satisfied with neighbourhood % of compliant properties

Target

Performance

100%

99.90%

2.78%

Target

Performance

5.8%

0.30%

90%

100%

99.99%

Trend

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ANNUAL REPORT - OUR PERFORMANCE

Anti-social behaviour (ASB)

Target

Performance

N/A

335

% of cases responded to within 24 hours

100%

% satisfied with case handling

90%

88.5%

Number of cases

Trend

My Community Safety Officer was so supportive and went above and beyond.

Accommodation quality % of dwellings that meet the Decent Homes Standard

Target

Performance

100%

Trend

Customer service and complaints We are compliant with the Housing Ombudsman’s complaints code and in 2021/22, we received a number of awards and accreditations:

Our customers are at the heart of everything we do, and we continue to strive for excellence as we set industry benchmarks through our innovation and long-term commitment to continuously improving customer experience.

• Customer Contact Association Global Standard© Silver • Customer Service Excellence • HouseMark Complaints Accreditation Target

Performance

% satisfied with customer service

96%

99.1%

% satisfied with overall services

95%

95.1%

% of enquiries responded to within 48 hours

100%

95%

% of enquiries resolved at first point of contact

86%

85%

% of complaints resolved within 10 working days

100%

99%

8.8

% satisfied with complaint handling

75%

61%

% satisfied with complaint outcome

75%

54%

80%

Average time to respond to a complaint

% satisfied that we listen and act on customer views

One Vision Housing always treat me with respect. - Bernard

Complaint Type

Everyone I’ve spoken to is very friendly, they always respond quickly. - Claire

Trend

The customer service staff are pleasant and helpful 5* treatment - Ann

Number

Target

Upheld

Partially Upheld

Not Upheld

Stage 1

457

N/A

38%

21%

41%

Stage 2

46%

30%

24%

Ombudsman

N/A

*Six service failures and one redress. Redress = errors made by One Vision Housing were put right during the complaints process.

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ANNUAL REPORT - OUR PERFORMANCE

Housing Ombudsman The Housing Ombudsman (HO) is an independent complaints regulator, set up to impartially resolve complaint disputes between Registered Providers and their customers. We work in line with the HO’s complaint handling code. This helps us to resolve your complaints fairly, quickly and effectively in line with best practice, whilst providing data to set industry benchmarks. We are committed to providing an annual self-assessment, to ensure we remain compliant, enabling a positive complaint handling and improvement culture across the organisation. This self-assessment is reported to our Board members and is also available to read on our website.

You can contact the HO via: PO Box 152, Liverpool L33 7WQ 0300 111 3000 info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk

Over 2021/22, we made the following improvements to our complaints service: • End-to-end review of complaints that result in a dissatisfied survey response or have been escalated to stage 2 are conducted to improve the journey for customers and highlight employee training requirements. • Service review meetings about performance data for complaints and satisfaction has enabled the creation of quality action plans that drive valuable change across the organisation. • Working with our repair and maintenance contractor, we have implemented new processes to ensure repairs are completed in a timely manner.

• Investigating Officers across the organisation have completed Equality and Diversity, and Complaint Handling training. • Introduction of bespoke Property Pool Plus complaints process to ensure customers are correctly signposted in the first instance, resulting in reduced delay.

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ANNUAL REPORT - GET INVOLVED

09 GET INVOLVED Customer voice Our customers are our top priority, and we pride ourselves on offering more than bricks and mortar. We strive to create opportunities and change lives of those living within our thriving, inclusive communities. We recognise that you, our customers, can help to shape our services, and this is why we would love for you to get involved!

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ANNUAL REPORT - GET INVOLVED

Join our Customer Voice Group today There are a number of ways you can get involved, depending on your interests and the amount of time you have available.

Low level involvement This involves the least amount of time but still provides us with lots of useful information: • Meetings and events • Walkabouts • Hot Topic Group

• Customer feedback and surveys • Community Development Fund Panel

Medium level involvement This involves a moderate amount of time and provides a medium level of influence. • Residents’ Group • Tenant Policy Review Group

• Independent Tenants Panel (complaints)

High level involvement This level of involvement means you will be dedicating several hours of your time each month; with the highest level of influence including: • Board membership

• Service Review Group

• Scrutiny team

• Brand Group

• Tenant inspectors

To get involved, visit ovh.org.uk/customer-voice, or email customer.voice@ovh.org.uk

Share your feedback We understand that sometimes things don’t go to plan, and our services may fall below your expectations. We want you to know that your feedback is invaluable and helps us to focus our efforts on things that matter most to you. One customer who recently used our Financial Advisory service said:

As a member of the Customer Voice group, I get to share my opinion to help solve problems. - Bernard

To share your suggestion, give a compliment or make a complaint, please call 0300 365 1111 or email feedback@ovh.org.uk.

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ANNUAL REPORT - GOVERNANCE

10 GOVERNANCE Our board Our board consists of six non-executive and two executive members. Our members set the strategic direction of our business and monitor the achievements we make through our purpose of ‘creating opportunities and changing lives’ as we shape our inclusive, thriving communities. The board scrutinise and evaluate our services to ensure we remain well governed and financially viable through effective leadership and quality services to customers.

Board member