Maintaining our homes

Providing homes that are fit for purpose – both now and for the future – has always been one of our top priorities. In 2022/23 we worked hard to improve our repairs service and secured funding to make our homes more energy-efficient. 

We know that our repairs service is one of the most important that we provide, and we’re aware that it hasn’t always been meeting the high standard that you – and we – expect. At the end of 2022, a new management team came on board with the aim of improving the performance of our repairs team and providing a better overall experience for customers. 

Some of our services are still feeling the after-effects of the Covid-19 pandemic – with a repairs backlog being one of the main issues – but by focusing on building a stronger, more robust and more highly skilled team of operatives, we were able to slash the number of outstanding repairs in half over the course of 2022/23.  

We’ve worked to boost staff morale, which has led to happier, more effective colleagues and reduced staff turnover. This helps to save money in the long term as it is far more expensive to recruit and train a new member of staff than to provide support and training to an existing one. 

We also identified that some contractors who carry out repairs on our behalf could do more to communicate effectively with tenants, so we are working with them to improve communications as well as delivering high-quality repairs.

Improvements and upgrades        

As well as our normal works to improve kitchens, bathrooms and other areas of people’s homes, we also upgraded the communal bathrooms, kitchen and heating system in our Harebreaks Community Hub, and redecorated and modernised the furniture in the communal areas of our independent living facility at Summer Place.

In 2022 we formed a new partnership with Premier Kitchens which means our customers now receive a more modern, higher-quality style of kitchen unit that is quicker and easier to install – reducing any inconvenience for the customer! 

Read more about that here.

Improving the energy efficiency of your home        

In early 2023 it was announced that our Greener Herts partnership – which was formed when we joined forces with fellow housing associations B3Living and settle, and Dacorum Borough Council – made a successful bid to the second wave of the government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF). 

This means that over 1,500 social housing properties in Hertfordshire will benefit from home improvements, increasing their energy efficiency and helping to save our customers money. This funding reflects a combined pledge of £25m from the four partner organisations with an additional £14m provided by the SHDF.

Read more about our successful bid here.

We also commenced works to improve homes using funding secured through the first wave of the SHDF, in partnership with Watford Borough Council, Three Rivers District Council and Thrive Homes. This funding will see 57 social rent homes enhanced with external wall insulation in total, with nine of these being completed in 2022/23.