Welcome

A message from our Chief Executive

“We are always looking ahead to ensure that our local communities have the high-quality homes they need. Last year we had great success as we continued to build new homes, including the completion of our programme of homes for social rent, delivering great new homes at the most affordable rent level.”

Welcome to our annual report to residents, which sets out how we performed during 2022/23, along with our main achievements across the course of the year.

2022/23 was a challenging time for people up and down the country, with the cost-of-living crisis affecting every household. We know that many of our tenants are feeling the impact of high prices and increased bills, so our focus throughout the year was on providing all the help we could.

Alongside our Welfare Fund, which provides direct financial assistance to people who need it, we put extra resources into our services. This meant that we could provide more one-to-one support, helping people to manage their money, claim all the benefits they are eligible for and access advice and services from other trusted organisations.

Social housing across England has been in the spotlight over the last few years, with housing providers coming under scrutiny for how they deal with issues like repairs and cases of damp and mould. We worked hard during 2022/23 to make sure we are delivering for you, especially in these key areas. 

While we are performing well in comparison to many other housing providers, we know we don’t get it right every time. We’ve focused on identifying cases where we need to do more, so we can work with tenants to tackle damp and mould, and ensure every home is in a good state of repair. 

It was announced in 2022/23 that there would be a new system for housing providers across the country to monitor customer satisfaction, and this will help us to make sure we’re getting it right for every one of our tenants. The new Tenant Satisfaction Measures use a standard set of questions which make it easier to compare different providers and highlight where we should concentrate our efforts.

Ahead of the introduction of the new system, we carried out surveys which have already identified three important areas for us to focus on, based on your feedback – repairs, complaint-handling and dealing with anti-social behaviour – and we have already taken steps to address these and improve our services. 

We are always looking ahead to ensure that our local communities have the high-quality homes they need. Last year we had great success as we continued to build new homes, including the completion of our programme of homes for social rent, delivering great new homes at the most affordable rent level. And, through our Greener Herts partnership, we secured government funding which will allow us to carry out insulation works to hundreds of homes, making sure they are fit for the future.

Tina Barnard, Chief Executive

A message from the Chair of our Gateway Membership Team

“I am particularly proud of Watford Community Housing’s Welfare Fund. Over the last twelve months there has been a cost-of-living crisis and people’s bills have been increasing, so it’s really important that we put plans in place to help alleviate some of the problems that tenants have been facing.”

In the wake of the pandemic there have been some areas where Watford Community Housing has needed improvement, but by working with the Gateway Membership Team (GMT) and other tenants they have taken positive steps to address any issues and we are very pleased with the outcomes we’ve managed to achieve together. 

One thing I am particularly proud of is Watford Community Housing’s Welfare Fund. Over the last twelve months there has been a cost-of-living crisis and people’s bills have been increasing, so it’s really important that we put plans in place to help alleviate some of the problems that tenants have been facing. This fund is available to those who need it most and has made a huge difference to people’s lives. 

We’ve also worked closely with senior staff to conduct a full review of damp and mould, looking at how many of Watford Community Housing’s homes are experiencing it and how it is dealt with. We’re really happy with how this was handled – staff have been really good and took on board our thoughts and comments, leading to improvements in the way damp and mould cases are looked at. 

The GMT have also been involved with looking at how customers are supported to move to a more suitable home, pet policies, other funding for local organisations, customer service phone lines, and much more. We’re incredibly proud to represent tenants and by working more closely with Watford Community Housing’s Group Board we are kept at the heart of what they do.

Chris Blackett, GMT Chair