As England moved in and out of national lockdowns, we temporarily stopped most of our repairs and maintenance services to keep everyone safe in line with the government restrictions. Our Repairs Centre was closed for all but emergency repairs for about three months during the year. Stopping the service for so long has affected our performance scores about our repairs service but that is to be expected following such an unusual year. You often tell us that our repairs service is the most important service we provide, so it’s a top priority to make sure we can get back to our usual high standards in 2021-22.
We hope you understand our main focus was to keep everyone safe. We worked hard to make sure we booked appointments for all the repairs we had to cancel within three months of the service restarting. Unfortunately the supply of materials and tradespeople we need to complete some works are still being affected, but we’ll do all we can to keep you up to date about any repairs that might take longer to complete as a result.
During the year, our Independent Resident Scrutiny Panel conducted an in-depth assessment of our planned works processes and have made several recommendations about how we can better involve residents in the development of our policy and the decisions of our re-investment panel, with new positions being offered to involved residents.
The pandemic required us to work differently in the short term but it also gave us a chance to think differently about how we manage our homes and estates for the long term. We now have a dedicated team who spend more time out and about to monitor the condition and cleanliness of our estates, complete block inspections and ensure fire safety best practice is in place.
We launched a new Property Lettings service in June 2020. Leaving Peterborough City Council’s Choice Based Lettings scheme, we agreed a new direct allocation process to reduce the amount of time vacant homes stand empty. We also began allocating 25% of homes that become available in Peterborough to existing residents who have told us they want to move. The project forms part of our strategy to make sure that all new and existing residents are offered appropriate, well maintained homes that suit their current needs. At a time when most letting services shut down due to Covid-19, we were able to offer more than 700 people a new affordable rented home, including over 100 existing CKH residents who were looking to move.
Performance statistics
Repairs performance
Percentage of residents satisfied with repairs and maintenance
| 2018/19 | 2019/20 | Top housing associations (2019/20) | This year | Compared to top housing associations |
| 87.93% | 85.93% | 86.33% | 85.93% | Nearly there |
Percentage of routine repairs completed within target time
| 2018/19 | 2019/20 | Top housing associations (2019/20) | This year | Compared to top housing associations |
| 99.64% | 94.1% | 99.5% | 96.1% | Nearly there |
Percentage of emergency repairs completed within target time
| 2018/19 | 2019/20 | Top housing associations (2019/20) | This year | Compared to top housing associations |
| 100% | 99.15% | 99.75% | 99.63% | Nearly there |
Percentage of urgent repairs completed within target time
| 2018/19 | 2019/20 | Top housing associations (2019/20) | This year | Compared to top housing associations |
| 99.86% | 96.5% | 99.5% | 98.03% | Nearly there |
Appointments kept as a percentage of appointments made
| 2018/19 | 2019/20 | Top housing associations (2019/20) | This year | Compared to top housing associations |
| 99.83% | 89.44% | 99.43% | 96.03% | Amber |
Average energy efficiency rating of dwellings (SAP 2009)
| 2018/19 | 2019/20 | Top housing associations (2019/20) | This year | Compared to top housing associations |
| 82.65 | 82.83 | 74.75 | 83.34 | Where we want to be |
Percentage of dwellings with a valid gas safety certificate
| 2018/19 | 2019/20 | Top housing associations (2019/20) | This year | Compared to top housing associations |
| 100% | 100% | 100% | 99.96% | Nearly there |
Percentage of homes failing to meet Decent Homes Standard
| 2018/19 | 2019/20 | Top housing associations (2019/20) | This year | Compared to top housing associations |
| 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | Where we want to be |
Lettings performance
Average re-let time (calendar days) – General Needs and Retirement accommodation
| 2018/19 | 2019/20 | Top housing associations (2019/20) | This year | Compared to top housing associations |
| 21.34 | 18.7 | 19.08 | 20.57 | Nearly there |
Percentage of dwellings vacant and available to let – General Needs and Retirement Housing
| 2018/19 | 2019/20 | Top housing associations (2019/20) | This year | Compared to top housing associations |
| 0.29% | 0.33% | 0.22% | 0.24% | Nearly there |
Percentage of rent lost through dwellings being vacant – General Needs and Retirement Housing
| 2018/19 | 2019/20 | Top housing associations (2019/20) | This year | Compared to top housing associations |
| 0.67% | 0.55% | 0.58% | 0.56% | Where we want to be |
Retirement Housing average re-let time
| 2018/19 | 2019/20 | Top housing associations (2019/20) | This year | Compared to top housing associations |
| 27.36 | 25.38 | 24 | 27.43 | Need to improve |
Percentage Retirement Housing properties vacant/available
| 2018/19 | 2019/20 | Top housing associations (2019/20) | This year | Compared to top housing associations |
| 0.34% | 0.52% | 0.35% | 0.53% | Need to improve |
