We want everyone to feel safe and comfortable in their neighbourhoods. In 2024/25 we worked closely with our residents and partners to ensure that our neighbourhoods remain a priority.

Improving biodiversity

We took part in the national ‘No Mow May’ campaign, which aims to encourage pollinators and increase the biodiversity of our neighbourhoods by leaving certain green areas to ‘rewild’. 

In November, Accuro gave us 200 plant bulbs so our independent living residents could spruce up their own gardens and make their communal areas more inviting.

In March, we also worked with Sunnyside Rural Trust to repurpose a beech tree in Abbots Langley that had been knocked down during Storm Darragh earlier this year. The trust used the remains of the tree to craft coasters, chopping boards, and several benches for the residents of School Mead to use. A new tree has also been planted in its place.

Improving communal spaces 

This year we continued to work with our partners to create cleaner and more vibrant communities. Using funding from Watford Borough Council’s Neighbourhood Grant we made improvements to our Foxhill play area. This year we were awarded further funding to upgrade the playground on Croxley View, creating a more enjoyable and inclusive space for families and children. We also worked with Three Rivers District Council to improve the communal garden at the Lincoln Drive temporary accommodation scheme.

Across our communities, residents are also stepping up to make a difference. At our independent living schemes, Hollytree House and Swanston House, neighbours came together to transform their communal gardens and turn their shared spaces into sources of pride and connection

Tackling anti-social behaviour

Tackling fly-tipping remains a key priority for us and we created an action group to ensure we are taking proactive steps to address it. We’ve introduced a dedicated app to help staff log incidents, giving us more data about when and where rubbish is dumped. Three mobile cameras were set up to cover fly-tipping hotspots and have proven to be a strong deterrent, helping to keep our neighbourhoods clean. Where fly-tippers have been identified they have been issued fixed penalty fines and warning notices.

We continued to work closely with the Community Safety Partnership and the Police across Watford and Three Rivers and have recently widened this to include St. Albans. Working in partnership has been vital in tackling and reducing anti-social behaviour and making our estates a safer place to live.

We’ve also begun working on gaining an accreditation from the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) which will help us to support customers experiencing domestic abuse and assist us in improving our strategy to meet legal and regulatory requirements.

Investigating tenancy fraud

As well as continuing to deliver wide-ranging support to customers, our Housing team had a particular focus on tackling tenancy fraud in 2024/25 – especially cases where tenants were found to be unlawfully subletting their homes while living elsewhere.

This type of fraud not only breaches tenancy agreements, but it also deprives people in genuine need of access to safe and secure housing. There are currently 1.33 million households on housing waiting lists across England, so preventing tenancy fraud is more important than ever. 

Where subletting has been confirmed we have sought to recover the properties so that they can be allocated to individuals or families that need them most. 

Delivering more

It’s important to us to make sure that all our neighbourhoods are maintained to the standard that our residents expect. With this in mind, we restructured our Estates team and hired two new staff members to cover the areas where we have acquired new homes over the last year. Team members also undertook a training course on fly-tipping to ensure that they are equipped to support our residents and can stay up to date on best practice.

In order to be able to provide a better service to our customers, our Housing Officers started focusing on new community areas. This change ensures there is enough support for each area and gives Housing Officers the chance to learn more, face new challenges, and bring fresh ideas to the way we support all our residents.

In line with the government’s initiative to professionalise the housing sector by ensuring senior staff are suitably qualified, nine members of staff passed their Chartered Institute of Housing qualification in 2024/25, and two more are currently working towards achieving it.

We also managed to reduce the average time between a property becoming empty and new customers moving in from over 80 days in 2023/24 to just 54 days. By carrying out repairs works and making them ready to let more quickly, we are ensuring that people in need of a home can move in sooner.