Minutes:
Rob Mills, the Regional Housing Director, Accent South gave a presentation on the Accent Group, its governance, the work of the Group in Surrey Heath and local initiatives/joint working with the Council.
The Accent Group’s structures were functional rather than geographical, with 3 Directorates and a single Accent Board and Executive, leading to quick and clear decision making.
A Regional Customer Services Committee focussed on service delivery, value for money, improvements to property management/maintenance and influencing local decision making. Councillor Colin Dougan was an active member of this committee.
In terms of the Group achievements in 2013/14, Rob Mills reported that Accent had launched a national repairs contact centre and five local contact centres. New staff structures had been introduced, including “patch based” officers and dedicated home ownership officers.
A number of residents had been recruited to local customer services committees and measures were in place to assist residents through welfare reforms. In 2013, overall resident satisfaction had been recorded at 79%, with 77% satisfaction with home quality, 78% on repairs, 61% on listening to views and 72% on keeping residents informed.
In terms of its customers, Rob Mills reported that Accent was committed to provide a named local housing officer and contact centre, extra help and tailored tenancy support and improved services. Greater consistency, better use of IT, staff training and a simplified approach to service provision would lead to higher quality services.
The Group Business Plan for 2014 and onwards to 2020, aimed to improve performance, efficiency and resident satisfaction, improve sustainability, growing modestly with an incremental approach to development and re-investment and securing more funding.
Accent Group was working jointly with partner agencies in Surrey Heath on a Joint Housing Register / Allocations policy, temporary accommodation and down-sizing projects including the establishment of a ‘Home Swap’ shop.
The Group had jointly funded a Money Advisor with the Borough Council and CAB and had worked with a number of partners in St Michaels Ward on projects including Community First funding for employment support and the development of a multi-use games area (MUGA).
Accent had been heavily involved in the Old Dean Community Group and was working closely with the Family Support Team.
The Group had 3,165 properties in the Borough, all of which were tenures. In 2013/14, there were 392 lettings, with 77 families in temporary accommodation and 46 in sheltered housing. Of the evictions during that period, 6 had been of single people, 4 were couples and 4 were families.
Accent had engaged on 2 down-sizing projects, seeking to free up larger properties and trigger more movement through temporary accommodation.
Accent had actively worked with Job Centres Plus to provide interview assessment facilities at Station House, to assist residents’ employment prospects. However, the Group reported a number of challenges, including the impact of welfare reforms, the lack of new affordable housing and the number of vacant garages, many of which were in poor repair. Up to 30 houses could be built on garage sites that could not be let.
There had been 77 complaints in 2013/14, 40 of which had related to repairs and maintenance and 6 complaints had continued to Stage 2 of the Group’s complaints procedures. There had been 36 empty properties at year end, of which 3 had been unavailable due to major works and targets had been missed on rent loss, turnover, repairs and re-let times. Members noted that the majority of complaints that they received related response times for maintenance.
The vast majority of Accent properties in the South were in this Borough, but the Group had previously purchased properties in Thanet. It would now be looking to sell those properties and use the capital receipts to develop more properties in its core area.
Residents’ concerns over poor communication could be eased by a new initiative to engage with people through Facebook and Twitter.
Mr Mills noted concerns about elderly residents in Chobham having fears of being moved out of the area in any downsizing process, but stated that Accent gave tenancies for life and no resident would be forced to move. The development at Windsor Court, which had previously been bed-sit accommodation couldn’t be let and had been demolished to create 8 three-bedroom houses.
In response to Members’ questions on links with the Police and concerns on the lack of action taken to tackle anti-social tenants, Mr Mills explained the complex processes required for dealing with anti-social residents, areas where Accent worked well with the Police and others where he felt that Accent could have a greater input. He recognised the critical role of all partners in managing risk.
RESOLVED, that the presentation be noted and that the Accent Group be invited to provide an update to a future meeting.