Annual Report - 2023/24
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Welcome | Pages 4 to 5 Discover Our Purpose | Pages 6 to 7 Our Communities | Pages 8 to 13 Our People | Pages 14 to 15 Our Impact | Pages 16 to 19 Our Partnerships | Pages 20 to 21 Our Contribution Counted | Pages 22 to 29 Governance | Pages 30 to 33 Registration Details | Page 34
In 2023/24 we proudly fulfilled our mission to create opportunities and change lives.
Throughout the financial year, we continued to work together with our involved customers to help us meet challenges, improve our services and provide a positive customer experience.
This year, our dedicated collaboration with our established Customer Empowerment Panel informed delivery improvements and enhanced the services we provide.
You will notice some changes in our reporting for 2023/24, aligning with the Government’s newly implemented Consumer Standards. These standards have and will continue to be a guide for us, on how to deliver services and inform customers on matters important to them.
Furthermore, investment in our communities remained central, making a significant contribution to the communities across the Liverpool City Region reinvesting in current homes and building new properties whilst creating meaningful opportunities.
During the year, we proudly unveiled 23 quality Rent to Buy homes in the heart of Liverpool, breathing life into a local community through a £3.4m deal with Liverpool City Council.
We also strengthened our partnerships with local authorities and agencies, such as Merseyside Police, launching a new scheme to keep our customers and communities safe.
Our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion continued into 2023/24, as we report 58% of our customers are from minority ethnic background, promoting positive cultural cohesion and vibrant communities for all to thrive.
As the cost-of-living crisis continued, we ensured our customers and communities received the support required to face unprecedented times. Financial pressures continued to put a strain on our customers, with our support being well received, ensuring the customers health and wellbeing was prioritised.
The year also witnessed the launch of Discover our Purpose which highlighted the ongoing success of our people, impact, communities and partnership; helping inform customers on matters important to them.
Our purpose to create opportunities and change lives continued, as we improved our services, delivered on our commitment of delivering quality and affordable homes and responded to our customers needs.
We thank all those involved in creating and maintaining the thriving and inclusive communities our customers call home.
Steve Gow Chair of the Board
Ian Mitchell Managing Director of Housing
David Brown Director of Operations - Pine Court
In 2023/24 we were proud to launch Discover our Purpose; spotlighting our people, communities, impact and partnerships.
To mark the launch of the campaign, we partnered with parent company, The Sovini Group to proudly sponsor Cash for Kids Mission Christmas 2023; which supports almost 500,000 children across the UK each Christmas.
We shared insightful information and stories that celebrated our purpose and recognised the pivotal role our colleagues and customers play in improving our services. We also highlighted the incredible contributions and impact made to the communities we work in along with the partnerships we proudly hold.
Through the innovative campaign, customers have been supported with meaningful advice and guidance; with tips on how to lower their bills, keep warm through winter and access much needed support.
To support colleagues through these unprecedented times, we have focused on their physical, financial, mental and social wellbeing, recognising that they are integral to delivering high performing services and a positive customer experience.
Discover our Purpose continues, as we highlight the ongoing success of our people, impact, communities and partnership; helping inform customers on matters important to them.
£6.7M SOCIAL VALUE GENERATED*
*Data calculated using the Housing Association Charitable Trust (HACT) Social Value Tool Kit.
At Pine Court Housing Association we are driven by our vision to create a better future and recognise our role as a key contributor to the social and economic development of the Liverpool City Region.
We were established in 1986 as a registered social landlord, with a mission to provide quality homes and inclusive housing services for those in need.
We are committed to creating diverse, inclusive communities and work hard to reduce anti-social behaviour and hate crime for our customers.
Our Housing Officers work closely with Merseyside Police and partner agencies to identify and tackle anti-social behaviour and hate crime problems, helping victims, witnesses and vulnerable people.
82%
SATISFACTION WITH OUR APPROACH TO HANDLING ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR*
Today, 58% of customers living in our homes are from minority ethnic backgrounds, and we continue this mission, with a commitment to positively promote cultural cohesion across our diverse communities.
Together with partner agencies we enforce a variety of preventative measures, such as:
• Mediation
• Warning letters
• Acceptable behaviour contracts
• Youth diversionary activities
• Increased security measures for homes and estates
• Injunctions and evictions.
*Tenant perception taken from the 2023/24
Tenant Satisfaction Measure surveys
Our Come and Chat community drop-in sessions offer customers the opportunity to speak with Bilingual Housing Officers regarding:
• Housing and your tenancy
• Repairs
• Getting involved
• Financial support
As one of Liverpool’s leading minority ethnic housing associations, our aim is not just to provide quality homes and services for our customers, but also to nurture diversity and inclusivity in the communities we serve.
• Translation
• Reporting anti-social behaviour and hate crime
We work closely with customers and local partner organisations to break down social, economic, and cultural barriers, so that our customers have access to all the services and amenities that will help them lead fulfilling lives.
We continued to create opportunities and change lives through providing quality, safe and affordable homes for our customers. A summary of the homes that we own and manage is provided below:
415 SOCIAL RENT HOMES
67 AFFORDABLE RENT HOMES
20 RENT TO BUY HOMES
38 INDEPENDENT LIVING HOMES
3 HOMES PROVIDED TO SUPPORT LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL CHILDRENS SERVICES
We calculate our social rented homes through a Government process which considers factors like location, property size, and local earnings to ensure they are fair and affordable.
Our affordable rents are set at 80% of the typical market rent for the area and property
Our Independent Living Service goes beyond just providing a home. We offer a range of personalised support designed to help customers maintain their independence. This includes:
We believe in creating opportunities for local people to get onto the property ladder and our Rent to Buy customers benefit from affordable rent at around 20% less than the market price. This enables
size. We offer a wide range of affordable rented homes, which are let to those eligible through a transparent process.
We provide comfortable, affordable housing for a wide range of customers, building diverse, thriving communities.
• Independent Living
• Cultural activity programme
• Aids and adaptations
customers to save towards a deposit and buy the home they live in through Shared Ownership or an outright purchase.
We have acquired 23 homes on Tunstall Street in a £3.4 million deal with Liverpool City Council.
Breathing new life into the once derelict street in Picton, with 20 homes being offered to local people through Rent to Buy.
We are committed to helping our customers to gain a place on the property ladder and become homeowners. Our Rent to Buy homes enable eligible customers to rent at an affordable rate for a period of five years, whilst committing to save for a deposit.
Rent to Buy is a Government scheme designed to help people transition from renting a property, to buying a home.
With more affordable rent (around 20% less than the market price) customers will be able to save towards a deposit and buy the home through Shared Ownership or in some circumstances, an outright purchase.
“Before moving into Tunstall Street we lived in market rent properties and found it impossible to save for a deposit. The whole process has been seamless and has provided us with security we never thought we would have, it’s changed my life.”
“Pine Court has been incredible and I would recommend them without hesitation. I love living here, there is a real community feel as we all moved in at the same time, and everyone is sociable which is lovely.” Claire, Liverpool
The knowledge and insight of our customers is invaluable to us in our quest to continuously improve the services we deliver.
We recognise that customer involvement improves the effectiveness with which services are delivered, bringing the benefits of new skills and increased confidence for customers. We are committed to making sure that our customers have every opportunity to get involved and play their part in shaping and improving the award-winning services we deliver.
There are a number of ways our customers can get involved, depending on their interests and the amount of time they have available.
Our Customer Empowerment Panel is made up of customers who volunteer their time to meet monthly and share their ideas and insight regarding our services. The panel remained instrumental throughout 2023/24 in helping us identify areas of service improvement. Across this period, the panel considered and approved the Community Development Fund applications, discussed our internal targets and complaints process, and reviewed a number of our policies.
In 2024/25 we will continue to amplify our customer voice, understanding what matters most to our tenants and how we can work collaboratively to improve our services.
Interested in joining our Customer Empowerment Panel? Why not get involved today by visiting our website, calling 0151 709 6878 or emailing us direct at contactus@pinecourt-housing.co.uk
Martin Chung has been named Tenant of the Year at the Northern Housing Awards following our nomination for his work in the community.
Martin regularly volunteers his time to make a positive impact and is a well-known figure in Liverpool’s Chinese community. The prestigious award celebrates Martin’s dedication to creating a better future for his neighbours and the wider community.
Martin is a member of Liverpool Chee Kung Tong, Liverpool Chinese Business Association and is a valued member of our Customer Empowerment Panel and Chairman of the Resident’s Association.
In addition to arranging customer gatherings and recreational activities for his neighbours, the retiree dedicates his time to supporting the local community across a range of initiatives. Championing equality for elderly Chinese residents, Martin helps the community access funding and services, regardless of language or physical barriers.
The judges at Northern Housing Awards said: “Martin is going above and beyond to build a better future for thriving and inclusive communities across the Liverpool City Region. His extreme kindness, selflessness, and commitment makes Martin a worthy winner of Tenant of the Year.”
David Brown said: “We are thrilled that Martin has been recognised for the valuable work he does across our communities, creating an inclusive environment for, and celebrating, our diverse customers. An incredible accolade for an incredible man who represents our vision of a better future. Well done, Martin!”
With a dedicated team of colleagues Pine Court Housing Association has a track record of contributing to regeneration across the Liverpool City Region; through the creation of local employment, quality housing and ongoing community development.
We believe in success through collaboration and work hard with colleagues from across The Sovini Group to create thriving, inclusive and diverse communities.
We promote a positive culture of valuing and celebrating diversity and accepting and including people regardless of their personal characteristics or circumstances. Whoever you are, you can expect to be treated fairly, with respect and free from discrimination. Our work environment is welcoming, friendly and a place for all our colleagues to thrive in.
We’re dedicated to supporting our colleagues’ professional development. During this period, we’ve invested in professional development qualifications and our existing team members completed a total of 50 hours of training
This commitment ensures they have the knowledge and skills to excel in their current roles and progress in fruitful careers, making a real impact in their field of work.
We proudly provide safe, well-managed, and high-quality homes for our customers. This commitment aligns with the Government’s Decent Homes Standard, with 100% of our homes compliant.
We are proud to share that in 2023/24, we invested circa £1.3m repairing and improving our existing homes.
Our aids and adaptations service enables customers to live independently in their own homes. During 2023/24, we invested circa £27k as we continued to deliver a highquality supportive service to customers.
91.5% OF CUSTOMERS SAID THEY WERE SATISFIED WITH OUR REPAIRS SERVICE*
100% OF OUR PROPERTIES HOLD A VALID GAS SAFETY CERTIFICATE AS OF 31ST MARCH 2024
*Source: Tenant Satisfaction Measures survey 2023/24
Social value is a way of measuring the additional benefit to the wider community, over and above the delivery of our standard service. We use the HACT (Housing Associations Charitable Trust) UK Social Value Bank which is a social value tool that measures and demonstrates the positive impact our services have on people. We adopted this methodology in 2014 and each year we are provided with a verification and certification of our social value contributions. We also measure the effectiveness and social value of the community initiatives we support through our Community Development Fund via HACT’s Social Value Calculator.
Our Community Development Fund supports local projects that enhance the quality of life for our customers and the neighbourhoods they live in.
Individuals, resident’s groups, community groups, charitable organisations, and social enterprises throughout the communities we work in, are eligible to apply to the fund.
In 2023/24, the Community Development Fund benefitted a number of local community initiatives, including:
ENCOURAGING CULTURAL COHESION AND WELLBEING
We worked with the Chung Hok House Residents Associations to offer a range of wellbeing initiatives to customers in a bid to tackle social isolation.
The programme of events was supported by a grant from the Community Development Fund and included day trips, Tai Chi sessions, weekly coffee mornings and cultural celebrations.
As part of an ongoing partnership with Chinese Wellbeing, a grant from our Community Development
Fund supported the delivery of wellbeing activities for residents.
A programme of physical and mental wellbeing initiatives were delivered to reduce social isolation, increase cultural awareness and improve wellbeing during the winter months.
Sessions including Nordic Walking, Senior Happy Bingo and Tea House Reminisce, alongside a cultural exchange trip, were delivered for residents of Chung Hok House.
We are proud supporters of the annual Liverpool Chinese New Year celebration, which attracts over 25,000 visitors to Chinatown and the surrounding areas.
The cultural extravaganza includes a street parade with dragon and lion dancing, martial arts demonstration, musical performances, street market, funfair and a range of art and cultural events for the whole community.
Vital food and care packages were distributed to families and individuals across the Liverpool City Region at Christmas, thanks to a donation from our Community Development Fund.
Working in collaboration with local community centres – The Florrie and the Joseph Lappin Centre – we were able to ensure that families in need across the region received support during a time of year which can prove challenging for many households.
£6.7M
We
are on a mission to create opportunities and change lives, but
we can’t do it alone.
Our unique Group model offers an integrated supply chain solution for the housing sector and a culture of collaboration is ingrained in our organisation.
During 2023/24, we proudly partnered with likeminded organisations as we strive to create a better future for our customers and the communities we serve.
To create thriving, inclusive communities for residents, a strategic partnership between Pine Court Housing Association and Merseyside Police has been established. Together, we continue to enhance community safety practices across the Liverpool City Region, implementing measures that prioritise the needs of the diverse communities we serve.
Both active members of the CitySafe Partnership, Disarm L8, which involves joint agency meetings promoting collaborative working to prevent and reduce crime and disorder, improving community cohesion.
Additionally, neighbourhood walkabouts are conducted within communities across the Liverpool City Region by officers on patrol who engage with residents and assess security measures are in place.
Regular coffee mornings are hosted at Chung Hok House, a sheltered accommodation scheme, where residents are invited to meet with representatives from Pine Court Housing Association and Merseyside Police. This provides an informal setting for residents to ask questions, share any concerns, and discuss issues, hate crime experiences, or anti-social behaviour they may be experiencing in their community.
Azizur Rahman, Inspector for Merseyside Police Community Engagement Unit, said: “Thanks to our partnership with Pine Court Housing Association, we have held several local community drop-in sessions covering topics such as online fraud, hate crime and personal safety. These events help to raise awareness of how to report a crime and what steps can be taken to prevent becoming a future victim. They also provide a great opportunity to engage with residents, so we can hear their issues or concerns directly.”
We have proudly partnered with Pagoda Arts to provide essential support services and cultural cohesion for Liverpool’s Chinese community.
Our Bilingual Housing Assistants provide valuable translation services for day-to-day essentials, supporting residents with hospital appointments, meter readings, filling in forms and accessing their benefit entitlement.
£6.7M
SOCIAL VALUE GENERATED BY PINE COURT HOUSING ASSOCIATION*
With our continued support and grants from the Community Development Fund, Pagoda Arts can offer ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) to residents from the local Chinese community to increase independence and promote cross-culture learning.
£56M
SOCIAL VALUE GENERATED BY THE SOVINI GROUP’S COMMERCIAL ENTITIES**
We are committed to offering excellent value for money in the services we provide to our customers. In 2023/24, we continued to explore new ways to improve our offer so that we can provide better quality and more efficient services to our customers.
Our strategic approach to value for money planning and reporting means that we are compliant with the Regulator of Social Housing’s VFM Standard. This robust approach has enabled us to generate circa £6.9m in efficiency savings (as of 31st March 2024) since joining The Sovini Group.
Every year we produce a selfassessment and statutory accounts that detail our approach to value for money, achievements and future plans.
Find out more here
Our annual income for 2023/24 was £3.56m, with the majority collected from customer rent and service charges. Our income enables us to continue to reinvest in our existing properties and to build new homes, as we actively strive for a better future.
Our expenditure for 2023/24 was £5.94m. The purchase of homes at Tunstall Street using external funding, and the investment in our existing homes accounted for the highest proportion of this. We spent this on the following priorities: 79.73%
56.44% DEVELOPMENT 12.26% INVESTMENT IN HOMES 10.35% ROUTINE PLANNED REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE
6.42% SERVICING OF FINANCE AND LOANS
5.10% EMPLOYEE DIRECT COSTS
3.54% BUILDING COSTS
3.34% CORPORATE SERVICE AGREEMENTS
2.55% OTHER OVERHEAD COSTS
We want our customers to understand how we perform against similar organisations. In addition, we continually measure our performance against set organisational targets. The following information details our performance for 2023/24:
increase in performance since 2022/23 maintained performance since 2022/23 decrease in performance since 2022/23
benchmarked against top performing organisations we are a top performer
Our customers remain at the heart of everything we do, as we continue to strive for excellence. We measure our performance using industry benchmarks and are committed to continuously improving customer experience.
*2023/24 Housemark benchmarking information.
*In the majority of cases, a partially upheld complaint would be a multi-faceted complaint in which the investigating officer may agree with some elements of the complaint but not all of them.
TP03
TP07
of respondents who have received a repair in the last 12 months who report they are satisfied with the overall repairs service
Proportion of respondents who have received a repair in the last 12 months who are satisfied with the time taken to complete their most recent repair
of customers who report that they are satisfied that their landlord listens to their views and acts upon them
of customers who report that they are satisfied that their landlord keeps them informed about things that matter to them
BS01 % of homes for which all required gas safety checks have been carried out
BS02 % of homes for which all required fire risk assessments have been carried out
BS03 % of homes for which all required asbestos management surveys or reinspections have been carried out
BS04 % of homes for which all required legionella risk assessments have been carried out
BS05 % of homes for which all required communal passenger lift safety checks have been carried out
(2) Number of ASB cases that involve hate incidents opened per 1,000 homes
Proportion of homes that do not meet the Decent Homes Standard
RP02
The Housing Ombudsman is an independent complaints regulator, established to impartially resolve complaint disputes between Registered Providers of Housing and their customers.
We are compliant and work in line with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code. This helps us to resolve 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.
During 2023/24, some of the improvements we made include:
• To provide feedback to repairs and maintenance provider, Sovini Property Services, to ensure adequate time is allocated to repair works, and parts required to complete the repairs are readily available.
• To ensure quality checks are carried out by Sovini Property Services upon completion of works undertaken by sub-contractors.
YOU CAN CONTACT THE HOUSING OMBUDSMAN VIA:
Housing Ombudsman Service PO BOX 1484 Unit D Preston PR2 0ET 0300 111 3000 info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk
Governance criteria considers our internal practices and procedures, creates transparency and ensures we adhere to industry best practice with factors including:
• Leadership
• Board composition
• Executive compensation
• Internal controls
• Audit committee structure
• Shareholder rights
• Bribery and corruption
• Lobbying
• Political contributions
• Whistle-blower programmes
As a responsible landlord, we assess and monitor those threats (risks) which, if not managed effectively could have a negative impact upon the services that we provide to our customers and our resources. Often, we cannot control these threats as we do not cause them. They include changes in government policy and legislation, such as building safety, planning permission and repair standards. Also, changes in the economy and/or threats that are faced by all businesses e.g. higher interest costs and inflation etc and the potential of a cyber-attack.
This requires us to balance our priorities and resources and make choices in the short to medium-term, whilst planning for the future. These choices could include
deciding how much we can afford to spend building new homes, whilst ensuring that we continue to repair, improve and increase the energy efficiency of our existing homes. Also, ensuring that we protect the health and safety of our customers, staff and contractors. Listening to their views and using this feedback to improve our services.
For us to continue to achieve our purpose, our Board regularly test how effectively we can recover should a threat or multiple threats occur at the same time. This is called stress testing. In most cases the impact of a threat, is that we have less money to spend on our priorities. Should this happen we always have a plan, and this plan is designed to protect, where we can, any adverse impact on customer services.
From 1st April 2023, the Regulator of Social Housing introduced a new set of Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM’s), to assess how well social housing landlords are doing at providing good quality homes and services. The measures are aimed at helping improve standards for people living in social housing, by:
• Providing visibility, letting tenants see how well their landlord is doing and enabling tenants to hold their landlords to account.
• Giving the Regulator insight into which landlords might need to improve things for their tenants.
During 2023/24, we surveyed all customers and received 131 responses, across various locations, property types and age ranges to gauge satisfaction across five key areas:
1. Keeping properties in a good state of repair.
2. Maintaining building safety.
3. Respectful and helpful engagement.
4. Effective handling of complaints.
5. Responsible neighbourhood management.
If you would like to become an involved customer and help shape our services, there are many ways in which you can do so, please visit the Get Involved section on our website for more information.
More information about our performance can be found here
We are governed by a board consisting of six members, five non-executive directors and one executive director.
The board are responsible for defining the strategic direction of the organisation and through the application of sound governance, risk and performance management arrangements, they ensure the efficient running of the business. This includes, monitoring that our vison is achieved and that we continually strive to create a better future.
We are governed within the National Housing Federation’s 2020 Code of Governance and the Board has certified compliance for 2023/24.
Steve Gow Non-Executive Director (Chair)
Julia Emelogu Non-Executive Director
Gill Ditchburn Non-Executive Director
Jim Currie Non-Executive Director
Mike Parkin Non-Executive Director (Chair of Risk and Audit Committee)
Roy Williams Non-Executive Director (Sovini Group Chief Executive Officer)
Pine Court Housing Association Unit 1, Heysham Road, Bootle, Merseyside L30 6UR
Regulated by Regulator of Social Housing Reg No: L3692
Communities and Benefit Society Reg No: IP25192R
VAT Reg No: 997330871
INTERNAL AUDITORS
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Weightmans Solicitors, 100 Old Hall Street, Liverpool L3 9QJ
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