How are we performing?

This is how we invested our funds to improve your services in the last financial year, 2008/09.

 

If you have any questions about this information, please contact our customer services team on 0800 294 2280, or email enquiries@accentpeerless.co.uk and they will be happy to answer them.

 

You can also download a copy of our annual report to residents 2008/09 which has more information you might find interesting.

How many homes do we have?

 

We own and manage 3,443 homes:

  • 2,766 general homes.
  • 239 sheltered homes.
  • 59 temporary homes.
  • 173 shared ownership homes.
  • 164 leaseholders.
  • 42 homes rented at market value.

Average relet times

The time it takes us on average to relet a home is 20 days for general housing, and 73 days for sheltered housing.

Day-to-day repairs

We aim to complete our repairs in three set timescales:

  • Emergency 24 hours
  • Urgent Seven (7) days
  • Routine 28 days

 

The amount of repairs completed in these timescales were:

  • Emergency 95%
  • Urgent 87%
  • Routine 91%

 

The number of routine repairs completed on time went up (from 70%). We constantly monitor our repairs service and we are continually looking at ways of improving it. 

Home improvements

We spent over £2 million on improving our homes.

  • 100 new kitchens.
  • 74 new bathrooms.
  • 63 new sets of windows.
  • 144 new entrance doors.
  • 83 new external canopies.
  • 20 sets of rewiring.
  • 117 new boilers and/or central heating installations.
  • 250 digital television updates.
  • 28 insulations
  • 687 external decorations.

How each £1 of our income is spent

  

Managing our homes 31p
Interest on our loans 27p
Repairs 16p
Major work (kitchens, bathrooms etc) 14p
Services 7p
Depreciation 4p
Rent loss on empty properties 1p

Where each £1 of income comes from

Rent 91p
Service charge 4p
Supporting people income 2p
Garages 2p
Sundry income 1p

Audit Commission Inspection

In June 2009, we were inspected by the Audit Commission, an independent public body that makes sure public money is spent properly. The Audit Commission works across housing, local government, health, community safety and the fire and rescue services.

 

Inspectors spent a week talking to residents, and interviewing staff and board members. The report of what was found was published in September 2009.

 

The report awarded us with one star and assesses the overall service we provide is ‘fair.’ Our prospects for improvement were rated as ‘promising.’

 

Some of our strongest service areas were:

  • Gas servicing.
  • Void turnaround times.
  • Face-to-face service with customers.
  • Well maintained homes (with 100% meeting the Decent Homes Standard.
  • Well maintained estates.

 

There were some areas we needed to improve in, and we have already begun to address these. We will report on our progress in our residents’ magazine, Housing Headlines

 

A copy of the full report is available on the Audit Commission’s website.