A YEAR IN REVIEW - 2024/25 - ANNUAL REPORT
DETAILS
If you need assistance understanding the information in this document, or require a different format, please contact us on 0151 709 6878 or email us at contactus@pinecourt-housing.co.uk The information inside this report was correct at time of publication date.
the most up-to-date information, please visit pinecourt-housing.org.uk
As we reflect on another year, we are pleased to share our 2024/25 annual report, which highlights our continued commitment to creating a better future.
Throughout 2024/25, we remained focused on delivering excellent customer service, providing safe, sustainable homes, and supporting our diverse communities, including those from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.
We are proud to have maintained 90.1%* overall customer satisfaction with the services provided by our dedicated teams. We’ve worked collaboratively with our Customer Empowerment Panel and invested in our multilingual team to ensure our customers voices are heard. This collaborative working approach has been instrumental in helping us navigate challenges, continually improve our services, and ensure a consistently positive customer experience.
Consumer Standards set by the Regulator of Social Housing remain a guiding principle for us, shaping how we deliver services and keep our customers informed on matters most important to them.
To further support our commitment to customers, we’ve made significant investments in our colleagues. We continue to supporting aspiring talent through our apprenticeship pathway. In 2024/25, our team remained committed to their professional development and sector best practice through training courses and as members of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH).
These achievements would not be possible without the engagement of our customers,
hard work and dedication of our colleagues and the invaluable support of our partners.
Looking ahead to 2025/26, we remain committed to delivering quality, affordable homes and building thriving, inclusive communities for all.
Thank you for your continued support, we remain committed to listening to our customers and communities, to shape the future of Pine Court Housing Association.
Steve Gow Chair of the Board
Ian Mitchell Managing Director (Housing)
We remain a key contributor to the social and economic development of the Liverpool City Region, driven by our vision of creating a better future.
Established in 1986 as a registered social landlord, our mission was to provide quality homes and inclusive housing services for those in need. Today, we are proud that 58% of our customers come from minority ethnic backgrounds, and we remain committed to positively promoting cultural cohesion across the diverse communities we serve.
We are committed to setting rents that offer excellent value, ensuring our customers benefit from accessible, affordable, and quality housing. Our social rents continue to meet Government and regulatory standards, ensuring we provide affordable homes for those who need them most.
Our affordable rents remain competitive, typically at 80% of the market rent for the area and property size. On average, our three-bedroom properties are over 20% cheaper than the market rate. This approach allows us to provide quality and affordable homes for a wide range of customers.
“Our commitment to providing quality homes and fostering inclusive communities is as strong as ever. We’re proud of the positive impact we continue to have in the Liverpool City Region, ensuring everyone has the opportunity to thrive.”
- David Brown, Director of Operations.
We are working hard to reduce anti-social behaviour (ASB) and hate crime in our communities.
Our multilingual colleagues collaborate closely with Merseyside Police and wider partner agencies to effectively identify and tackle cases of ASB and hate crime, ensuring crucial support for victims, witnesses, and vulnerable individuals.
Together with our partners, we actively implement a range of preventative measures, including:
• Mediation
• Warning letters
• Acceptable behaviour contracts
• Youth diversionary activities
• Increased security measures for homes and estates
• Injunctions
In 2024/2025:
• 100% of reported cases received a response within 24 hours
• Customers reported 82% satisfaction with our approach*
• 87.8% of customers expressed satisfaction that we make a positive contribution to their neighbourhoods*
*Source: Tenant Satisfaction Measure surveys
“Since Pine Court Housing Association dealt with the reported ASB, it has been so peaceful in our street.”
“Neighbours in the street all confirm how safe the neighbourhood has become.”
Our Independent Living service offers more than just a place to live; it’s a comprehensive approach to empower our customers. Our multilingual housing team regularly visit customers, ensuring they maintain their independence while having access to support when needed. This dedicated service encompasses crucial areas such as independent living skills, safeguarding measures, access to essential aids and adaptations, and a vibrant cultural activity programme designed to enrich their lives.
We are committed to creating opportunities and changing lives through providing quality, safe and affordable homes for our diverse customers. In 2024/25, we provided:
415 SOCIALLY RENTED HOMES
67 AFFORDABLE RENTED HOMES
20 RENT TO BUY HOMES
38 INDEPENDENT LIVING HOMES
3 HOMES PROVIDED TO SUPPORT LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL’S CHILDRENS SERVICES
We proudly create opportunities for local people to secure homeownership. Our Rent to Buy scheme offers an accessible pathway onto the property ladder, allowing customers to benefit from affordable rent set at approximately 20% below market price. This significant saving empowers our customers to save towards a deposit and ultimately purchase the home they live in, either through Shared Ownership or an outright purchase.
We believe that customer involvement enhances the effectiveness of our services, while also empowering them with new skills and increased confidence. We are therefore dedicated to ensuring our customers have lots of opportunities to get involved and play a key role in shaping our services and improving what we do.
We are committed to providing the highest quality housing services and customer experience. To ensure we uphold this commitment, we have established a Code of Behaviour that guides our colleagues actions and interactions. We ensure:
• Professional Competence – Delivering services to the highest standards
• Respect – Treating everyone with dignity and equally
• Honesty – Being truthful and transparent in communications with our customers
• Accountability – Taking responsibility for our actions
• Pride in work work that we’re proud of
We value feedback on our services and actively encourage customers to share their thoughts. Customer insights help us ensure we consistently meet these standards as we strive to build a better future for our communities.
Our Customer Empowerment Panel is a group of involved customers who generously volunteer their time to help us improve. Throughout 2024/25, their insights were instrumental in shaping our services. The panel regularly met to:
• Approve Community Development Fund applications
• Discuss performance and refine our complaints process
• Review key policies, ensuring they meet customer needs
In October 2024, we hosted a training session with our Customer Empowerment Panel, aimed at strengthening the partnership with our involved customers. The event reinforced the critical role our customers play in shaping the services we provide.
These opportunities are vital as they help us align our operations more closely with the needs and expectations of our customers.
One participating customer remarked on the success of the day:
“The interactions during the training session highlight the power of community input in shaping the way we manage and improve our services. We’re excited to continue this journey with our customers and extend our thanks to all who took part.”
-
Shaun
Williams, Senior Housing Officer
“The close interaction between colleagues and the community was evident. It was refreshing to see genuine recognition for the contributions of customers, and I found the day particularly constructive.”
We are proud to support the professional development of our colleagues, ensuring they have every opportunity to succeed. During 2024/25, we created a new apprenticeship opportunity and proudly invested in professional development qualifications for our existing colleagues.
This commitment ensures our people have the knowledge and skills to excel in their roles and progress in their careers, making a positive impact on the customers and communities they proudly serve.
We proudly retained the Investors in People (IIP) Platinum accreditation and We Invest in Wellbeing Gold accreditation, as part of The Sovini Group. Investors in People assess corporations across 66 countries, and for every 50,000 organisations assessed, only a few achieve Platinum status, the highest level awarded by the workplace accreditation company.
We’re incredibly proud of this accomplishment, and we’re committed to continuing to create a thriving workplace where our colleagues can flourish.
In 2024, we were thrilled to welcome our newest recruit and apprentice, Helen Lin, whose enthusiasm and fresh perspectives have already made a significant impact. Helen joined the team as part of our commitment to nurturing talent and fostering professional growth.
Helen was awarded the Traditional Apprentice of the Year Award at The Sovini Group’s Apprentice Awards 2025. Held during National Apprenticeship Week, the ceremony recognised Helen’s incredible growth and her pivotal role in enhancing our services, from improving gas safety compliance to enriching customer interactions.
“It’s been great getting to meet new people and customers.
Some of the highlights so far are attending and helping with the events.
One that has stuck out for me is the Chinese New Year celebration at Pagoda Arts, I was able to celebrate the new year together with my colleagues and our customers, enjoying good food, music, performances, and lion dancing.”
- Helen Lin, Apprentice
We prioritise providing safe, well maintained homes for our customers. This commitment aligns with the Government’s Decent Homes Standard, and we’re proud to report 100% of our homes are compliant.
In 2024/25, we invested £1.2m repairing and improving our homes.
100% OF OUR HOMES MEET THE GOVERNMENT’S DECENT HOMES STANDARD AND WE CONTINUE TO INVEST IN OUR PROPERTIES
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 2025
Social value captures the positive impact we create in our communities, extending beyond our core housing services. We measure this using the HACT (Housing Associations Charitable Trust) UK Social Value Bank, a trusted tool that quantifies the tangible benefits of our work. Since adopting this methodology, our social value contributions have been independently verified and certified annually.
We also apply HACT’s Social Value Calculator to assess the effectiveness and community benefits of initiatives funded through our Community Development Fund.
Our commitment to social value is central to our mission of creating opportunities and changing lives. By maximising value for money, we ensure our efforts translate into a lasting, positive impact for all our customers and communities.
In 2025/26, we’ll continue to deliver positive impacts for our customers and communities, helping to foster financial stability and wellbeing. By partnering with local organisations and offering vital support, we’ll work to build a better future.
IN 2024/25, WE GENERATED A SIGNIFICANT £558K IN SOCIAL VALUE
FOR EVERY £1 SPENT, WE GENERATED £15 IN SOCIAL VALUE
As a proud member of The Sovini Group, we are on a journey towards achieving net-zero carbon emissions. This crucial commitment shapes our daily operations and how we sustainably manage our homes, all with the goal of creating a healthier environment for everyone.
The Sovini Group’s carbon footprint saw a remarkable 71.49% reduction compared to our 2021/22 baseline. This means our emissions per full-time employee (FTE) in 2024/25 were just 3.97 eCO₂ tonnes.
Our commitment to achieving net-zero carbon remains a fundamental driver, ensuring we build a more sustainable future for both our customers and communities.
71.49% SINCE 2021/22 WE HAVE REDUCED OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT BY
Our Community Development Fund supports local projects that enhance the quality of life for our customers and the neighbourhoods they live in. Individuals, resident groups, community groups, charitable organisations, and social enterprises are eligible to apply to the fund. In 2024/25, the Community Development Fund supported a number of impactful local community initiatives, including:
We worked with the Chung Hok House Residents Association to offer a range of wellbeing initiatives in a bid to tackle social isolation. The programme of events included:
• A range of Christmas activities at Chung Hok House, designed to enhance the wellbeing of customers and bring people together during the festive season.
• A wellbeing-focused event facilitated by Chinese Wellbeing, including a variety of activities designed to uplift both physical and mental health. From a captivating GuZheng performance to chair exercises and interactive games like bingo, the event was a resounding success.
• The Mid-Autumn Festival celebration, also known as the Moon Festival, brings together families and communities.
We proudly hosted our Lunar New Year celebration at Pagoda Arts Community Centre, marking the beginning of the Year of the Snake through a splendid array of festivities and cultural performances.
The celebration featured authentic Lion Dances, martial arts showcases, dance performances, and guests enjoyed a traditional meal, fostering community bonding and cultural appreciation among customers and colleagues.
The event was part of our commitment to integrating diverse cultural experiences into our community engagement efforts, ensuring that all customers feel valued and included.
“It’s these moments that reinforce our commitment to fostering a supportive and inclusive community where everyone can thrive.”
- Shaun Williams, Senior Housing
Officer
Over the Christmas period we once again joined forces with The Florrie and The Joseph Lappin Centre to provide support to vulnerable people in our communities.
A financial donation to The Joseph Lappin Centre was used to support the local community over the festive period; enabling the distribution of Christmas hampers containing essential groceries, toiletries, baby items, clothing, and festive treats, to those who need it most.
“The team enjoyed being involved with the centre, packing the hampers and witnessing the positive impact it has, ensuring families don’t go without at Christmas. Our partnerships with organisations like The Joseph Lappin Centre are vital in making a real difference.”
-
Wilson Lau, Bilingual Housing Assistant
“It was an absolute pleasure to see our customers and colleagues come together to welcome in the Year of the Snake. The event provides an opportunity for us to bring customers together to celebrate our heritage and in a bid to reduce social isolation, with many of our residents living alone.”
- David Brown, Director of Operations
Our mission to create opportunities and change lives is a collaborative effort – we can’t do it alone! Our unique Group model provides an integrated supply chain solution for the housing sector, fostering a culture of collaboration across all partners in The Sovini Group.
BRINGING COMMUNITIES TOGETHER FOR A BETTER FUTURE
The inaugural Pine Court Community Cup was a resounding success, powerfully demonstrating our collaborative vision for a better future. More than just a football tournament, this event was designed to break down cultural barriers, tackle isolation and foster positive social engagement.
Recognising football’s universal appeal as a unifying force, we worked collaboratively with stakeholders to create an accessible and engaging event that united customers, partners and neighbours from all backgrounds. The tournament itself was a vibrant display of community spirit. Teams, made up of individuals from cultural backgrounds, competed
with passion and compassion. We saw new friendships forged on the pitch, leading to a reduction in feelings of isolation and an increased sense of belonging amongst players.
The day wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication of our incredible partners, volunteers, and colleagues. A huge thank you to David Liu from the Liverpool Chinese Football Club whose tireless efforts were instrumental in organising and delivering a successful event.
David Brown, Director of Operation expressed the importance of the event:
“It was a great honour to support and sponsor our first football cup. This event truly showcased the inclusive and diverse spirit of our communities. We were thrilled to bring people together from different backgrounds to enjoy a day of football and fun.”
£25.4M SOCIAL VALUE GENERATED BY ONE VISION HOUSING*
£55.8M SOCIAL VALUE GENERATED BY THE SOVINI GROUP’S COMMERCIAL ENTITIES**
Throughout 2024/25, we proudly partnered with a diverse range of likeminded organisations, all striving to create a better future for the communities we serve. Here’s a look at some key collaborations:
Our multilingual colleagues provide valuable translation services for day-to-day essentials, supporting customers with hospital appointments, meter readings, filling in forms and accessing their benefit entitlement. With our continued support and grants from the Community Development Fund, Pagoda Arts provides essential English classes for residents from the local Chinese community. This initiative significantly increases independence and promotes vital cross-cultural learning.
For over 130 years, The Florrie has been the heart of the diverse Liverpool 8 community. More than just a hub for art and heritage, it’s a lifeline offering crucial social support, cultural enrichment, and other services. Their Food Support Programme has become a beacon of hope for families facing food poverty. Over the festive period, we were honoured to support The Florrie’s efforts, ensuring their Christmas hampers were overflowing with groceries, toiletries, baby essentials, warm clothing, and festive treats for those in need.
The Joseph Lappin Centre proudly serves Liverpool’s Old Swan community and surrounding areas, dedicated to improving residents’ quality of life through social, physical, and educational wellbeing. Our financial donation supported the distribution of Christmas hampers to the local community during the festive period.
We proudly supported the Lunar New Year event, organised by Liverpool Chinese Business Association, with a donation from the Community Development Fund. Attracting thousands of people to the city, the free celebrations were a series of vibrant events and activities welcoming the Year of the Snake. This established partnership underscores our dedication to supporting community initiatives that enhance cultural understanding and cohesiveness.
Our strategic partnership with Merseyside Police continues to significantly enhance community safety. This year, we hosted a successful dropin session where our customers could meet directly with police and Liverpool City Council representatives to voice their concerns about community safety. This engagement resulted in tangible improvements, including more frequent police patrols and the installation of new lights and cameras in key areas.
Achieving Value for Money (VfM) is a key priority. By fostering collaboration and innovation among our customers and colleagues, and in partnership with The Sovini Group, we’ve created a strong Value for Money Strategy focused on delivering excellent services across these objectives:
1. Maximising our social value
Best use of our assets and resources
Customer voice
Ensuring good governance, compliance and risk management
5. Maximising opportunities through procurement
Every year we produce a self-assessment and statutory accounts that detail our approach to value for money, achievements and future plans.
6. Cooperation and collaboration through self delivery
7. Excellent performance and customer satisfaction
We undertake an annual assessment to compare our costs and performance, both regionally and nationally, and to ensure VfM is embedded into our culture.
Find out more and view our financial statements here
In 2024/25, 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 VfM 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 2025) since joining The Sovini Group.
Our annual income for 2024/25 was £3.9m, with the majority deriving from social rent income. Our income enables us to continue to invest in our properties and communities, as we actively create opportunities and change lives.
Our expenditure for 2024/25 was £2.89m*. The investment in our existing homes accounted for the highest proportion of this.
We compare our performance against internally set targets, as well as benchmarking some measures against ‘top performing’ organisations in our sector. The following tables detail our performance for 2024/25. KEY
increase in performance since 2023/24 maintained performance since 2023/24 decrease in performance since 2023/24
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.
*2024/25 Housemark benchmarking information.
*In the majority of cases, a partially upheld complaint means the investigating officer may agree with some elements of the complaint but not all of them.
Proportion of respondents who have received a repair in the last 12 months who report that they are satisfied with the overall repairs service.
of respondents who report that they are satisfied that their landlord listens to tenant views and acts upon them.
Proportion of respondents who report that they are satisfied that their landlord keeps them informed about things that matter to them.
TP08 Proportion of respondents who report that they agree their landlord treats them fairly and with respect.
TP09
TP10
TP12
Proportion of respondents who report making a complaint in the last 12 months who are satisfied with their landlord’s approach to complaints handling.
Proportion of respondents with communal areas who report that they are satisfied that their landlord keeps communal areas clean and well maintained.
Proportion of respondents who report that they are satisfied that their landlord makes a positive contribution to the neighbourhood.
Proportion of respondents who report that they are satisfied with their landlord’s approach to handling antisocial behaviour.
*Tenant perception results and targets taken from the 2023/24 Tenant Satisfaction Surveys. As a housing provider with fewer than 1,000 homes, the requirement is to carry out a perception survey every two years. Next survey to be conducted in Autumn 2025. **Benchmarked against 2024/25 Housemark results.
(2)
Proportion of homes for which all required asbestos management surveys or re-inspections have been carried out.
stage one
of stage two complaints responded to within the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code timescales.
**This is a data only KPI
The Housing Ombudsman is an independent, impartial, and free service for social housing residents, established to impartially resolve complaint disputes between Registered Providers of Housing and their customers.
We are compliant 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 selfassessment, 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 HOUSING OMBUDSMAN VIA:
Housing Ombudsman Service PO BOX 1484 Unit D Preston PR2 0ET 0300 111 3000 info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk
Throughout 2024/25 we have continued to report on Tenant Satisfaction Measures, to assess our services and overall performance.
The measures are aimed at helping improve standards for people living in social housing by:
• Providing visibility, letting customers see how well their landlord is doing and enabling them to hold their landlords to account.
• Giving the Regulator insight into which landlords might need to improve things for their customers.
To meet new regulatory requirements, we surveyed our customers 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
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.
BOARD MEMBER CATEGORY
We are governed within the National Housing Federation’s 2020 Code of Governance and the Board has certified compliance for 2024/25.
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 Executive Director (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
Beever And Struthers One Express, 1 George Leigh Street, Manchester, M4 5DL
BDO LLP Eden Building Irwell Street Salford Manchester M3 5EN
Royal Bank of Scotland
Merseyside, Cheshire & North Wales, Corporate Banking, 1st Floor, 2-8 Church Street, Liverpool, L1 3BG
Weightmans Solicitors, 100 Old Hall Street, Liverpool L3 9QJ
pinecourt-housing.co.uk
contactus@pinecourt-housing.co.uk
If you need assistance understanding the information in this document, please contact us on 0300 365 1111.
Chinese – 如果您需要幫助了解本文檔中的信息，請致電 0300 365 1111 與我們聯繫。
Lithuanian – Jei norite, kad Jums kas nors padėtų suprasti šiame dokumente pateiktą informaciją, prašome su mumis susisiekti tel 0300 365 1111
Polish – Jeśli potrzebujesz pomocy, by zrozumieć informacje zawarte w tym dokumencie, skontaktuj się z nami pod numerem 0300 365 1111
Portuguese – Caso necessite de assistência para compreender a informação constante neste documento,
deverá contactar-nos através do 0300 365 1111
Russian – Если вам требуется разъяснение
0300 365 1111
Turkish – Bu belgede verilen bilgileri anlama konusunda desteğe ihtiyaciniz olursa lütfen bize ulaşin 0300 365 1111