Welcome to the Residents Report 2022-23. This report has been designed by Involved Residents to give an insight into how CKH performed and supported residents between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023.
Last year, we developed the Residents Performance Dashboard which sits at the heart of this report. The dashboard is updated four times a year to let you track how CKH is performing against key responsibilities. The information for 2022-23 is now available. As Involved Residents we hold CKH to account as our landlord on behalf of all residents, but every resident has the right to review this data and have a say on how to improve services. In 2022-23, the Residents Board received updates on a wide range of topics from health and safety to value for money. We approved the Older Person’s Strategy, Service Charge Policy, Resident Involvement Strategy and a Scrutiny Panel report into repairs.
CKH sets targets against the top performance of housing associations which are members of PlaceShapers (a group of more than 100 housing associations nationally) So, the red, amber and green ratings do not just tell you how well CKH did in 2022-23 but also how they compare to other similar providers.
Remember, there are lots of ways you can let CKH know how they are doing – from taking part in surveys to using the feedback form on the contact us page of the website. If you are interested in becoming an Involved Resident and working with us on next year’s Resident Report, take a look at the get involved page to learn more.
We hope you find this report useful and will be back to share more insights next year!
Karen and Terri
Chair and Vice Chair of the Residents Board
2022-23 Performance
Using the dashboard
Please accept all cookies on our website to view the performance dashboard, choosing to accept essential cookies only may mean you cannot view this information. To help keep our website working as well as possible, the dashboard will only load when you tell it to. When you’re ready to look at our performance information, just click the button that says ‘View interactive content’.
Then click on the topic you are interested in: Repairs, Complaints and Feedback, Our Homes, or Health and Safety. You can browse the performance information related to that topic - there are several different numbers that we report on for each topic.
Understanding the dashboard
We use a red-amber-green rating to show how well we are doing:
- Green means we're on target
- Amber means we're nearly there
- Red means there is more work to do to make sure we're achieving the standards and quality we want to.
Repairs
| 2022-23 performance | Target | Compared to target | |
| Total no. repairs | 39,521 | - | - |
| Appointments kept | 99.54% | 98.5% | Where we want to be |
| First fix: repairs resolved on first visit | 94.95% | 98.5% | Nearly there |
| Emergency repairs completed within 24 hours |
99.98% | 100% | Nearly there |
| Urgent repairs completed within 7 days | 92.93% | 99.5% | Nearly there |
| Routine repairs completed within 28 days |
94.23% | 99.5% | Nearly there |
We did not do as well as we wanted to while delivering your repairs service. In part, this is due to the number of repairs we reported towards the end of the year as part of our approach to tackling damp and mould. We asked Mears to visit every home where there was the slightest sign of mould. As a result, we recorded 2,500 repairs a month between January and March (an extra 700 repairs each month compared to the average number of repairs reported throughout the rest of the year).
Although we missed our targets, generally we did improve compared to last year when the service was still impacted by the ongoing effects of the pandemic and a shortage of parts and workers. This year, we hit our target for appointments kept and came very close to hitting our target to complete 100% of emergency repairs within 24 hours, only missing this timeframe twice during the year.
We meet with Mears every month to talk about the service and how to make sure works are completed on time and to the high standard you expect. We have set high targets again for 2023-24 and are working closely with Mears to make sure their operatives attend appointments on time and communicate well with you about the work that needs to happen.
Health and Safety
| 2022-23 performance | Target | Compared to target | |
| Homes with valid gas safety certificate | 100% | 100% | Where we want to be |
| Homes with an electrical safety check in the past 5 years |
99.3% | 100% | Need to improve |
| Required homes with a fire risk assessment in place |
100% | 100% | Where we want to be |
| Homes with high risk asbestos | 0% | 0% | Where we want to be |
| Outstanding lift inspections | 0 | 0 | Where we want to be |
| Legionella tests completed | 100% | 100% | Where we want to be |
We will never be complacent about our health and safety responsibilities. Every year, we set our targets high because nothing is more important than safety in the home. The one area we did not hit our target was electrical safety. The law states we must check the electrical safety of your home once every 10 years but we aim to complete safety inspections every five years. We did not quite meet our five year target but all our homes have certificates in line with the legal requirements.
In addition to our fire risk assessments, we aim to support all residents to be aware of the importance of fire safety at home. Always remember to check your smoke alarm regularly and let us know about repairs that may be a fire risk as soon as possible. Fire safety law changed in 2023, so if your front door is a fire door we must complete an inspection every year. Find more information about how we keep you safe on our safety in your home page.
About our homes
| 2022-23 performance | Target | Compared to target | |
| Homes meeting Decent Homes Standard |
100% | 100% | Where we want to be |
| Average no. days taken to relet a home | 14.5 days | 18 days | Where we want to be |
| Average score shown on energy performance certificates (called a SAP rating) |
83 | 83 | Where we want to be |
| How much rent is owed as a % of the total rent for the year | 1.3% | 1.4% | Where we want to be |
We ended the year with a very good arrears performance. That means that there are very few residents with debt on their accounts. We take a firm but fair approach. When you signed your tenancy agreement you agreed to pay your rent in full and on time, so we are here to talk to all residents who need support to keep their account on track and proactively contact residents who miss a payment.
Compared to other housing associations, we already have really high standards of energy performance in our homes. We aim to continually improve the efficiency of our homes to help fight fuel poverty and to be more eco-friendly. In early 2023, we received a grant from the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund to make sure all our homes have an Energy Performance Certificate of C or above. You can check the Energy Performance of your home online.
Complaints and feedback
During the year, we recorded 46 formal complaints, 43 of which were resolved at stage one. Three complaints were escalated and resolved at stage two. Over the year two were escalated to the Housing Ombudsman. Learn more about the role of the Housing Ombudsman and how they support residents.
Any time you share negative feedback about your experience of a CKH service, we record that information as a ‘Right First Time’. We call it that because we aim to get it right first time, every time and believe your feedback can help us. We will contact you about your Right First Time feedback to see if there is anything we can do to improve things for you as an individual. We also look at all the feedback shared to see if we can make improvements for everyone.
In 2022-23, as a direct result of your feedback we:
- Started completing all our property condition inspections in person to make sure we spot any repairs needed before a new resident moves in, maintaining our high standards for everyone.
- Improved the way we send out automatic messages about arrears to make sure they do not go to residents who are paying their rent on time but whose payments can take a little longer to show up in our system.
- Used the information we had about recent boiler repairs to spot boilers which were breaking more often than they should. We identified 1,000 boilers to replace to make sure those residents had consistent heating and hot water as well as helping to reduce the number of boiler repairs reported.
- Started calling residents who we have not heard from in the last 12 months to complete a welfare check and make sure there were not any potential repairs that had not been reported yet.
- Created storage areas for residents at Branston Rise and Redmile Walk, so that bikes and pushchairs would no longer be left in communal areas. We have a zero tolerance approach to items left in communal areas because of the risk of potential fire hazards.
- Renovated the Cobden Street estate with a design to help reduce problems with anti-social behaviour (ASB) and waste management. The security of the blocks has been improved, an alleyway which was attracting ASB has been closed off, there are improved bin storage solutions and the project has lifted the general look and feel of the estate.
| 2022-23 performance | Target | Compared to target | |
| Right First Time responded to within 2 working days | 93% | 93% | Where we want to be |
| Complaints responded to within 5 working days | 100% | 100% | Where we want to be |
| No. complaints referred to Housing Ombudsman | 2 | - | Where we want to be |
| Net Promotor Score (how likely residents are to recommend CKH) | 61.2 | 60 | Where we want to be |
| Customer satisfaction score | 4.5 | 4.4 | Where we want to be |
| Repairs satisfaction score | 4.4 | 4 | Where we want to be |
Karen says:
Did you know that Involved Residents play a part in the CKH complaints process? If you make a formal complaint and are unhappy with the outcome, you can ask to move your complaint to stage two. Then, members of the Resident Board review the complaint and make recommendations about the best way to resolve the problem. We try to take a fair and balanced approach to understand what went wrong and what a reasonable solution could be.
The whole process is detailed in the Complaints Policy and Procedure. Every year CKH also complete a self-assessment of our complaints process in line with best practice guidance from the Housing Ombudsman, which is approved by our Residents Board.
Resident satisfaction
You said you were satisfied with most services you received during the year and would be likely to recommend CKH to friends and family.
Throughout 2023-24, we will be gathering your feedback about our services as part of a new requirement for all housing associations called Tenant Satisfaction Measures. Each year, we will contact a sample of residents to share feedback on topics set by the government. Your satisfaction scores will be an essential part of how we measure if we are performing well enough. In 2024, we will report the scores you gave alongside the other important performance information in this report. We will also let you know what we are doing with your feedback to improve our services. You can expect lots more information about that in next year’s report.
Terri says
Did you know that CKH Involved Residents had a chance to review the Tenant Satisfaction Measures as part of the government’s consultation? Our feedback was shared with the Regulator of Social Housing while they were deciding what to introduce as a requirement for all Housing Associations. We are really looking forward to seeing the results of the satisfaction surveys next year, we will use the scores you share to help us decide which topics we should focus on. If you are asked to take part in a survey, please take the time to share your experiences honestly. There are no right or wrong answers, just tell CKH what you think is done well and what could be better, and together we will use your feedback to create better experiences for everyone.
Tackling damp and mould
No one should live with damp and mould. Over the last few years, we have been working hard to make sure all residents know we are here to help. First, we reviewed our general approach to damp and mould to make sure whenever you report signs of damp or mould that we visit, deal with the problem, and follow up within two months. Then in 2022, we decided to visit every resident at home to check the condition of their property. In just a few months we visited almost every single one of our homes and asked Mears to complete appointments to clean and treat any sign of mould, no matter how small, as well as other repairs to help prevent damp or mould developing in the future, for example leaks. At the end of March 2023 there were a small number of homes who had not allowed us access. We will not stop contacting those residents to arrange this an inspection and complete this essential check. Looking to the future, we are making plans for how we can complete these checks annually from now on to make sure we don’t miss any early signs of damp or mould that can be dealt with promptly.
Karen says:
CKH has taken a proactive approach to finding and dealing with damp and mould and it is good to see our landlord taking their responsibility so seriously. The Scrutiny Panel has been proactive too and made damp and mould the topic of investigation in early 2023. CKH used the initial feedback from this excellent piece of work to help plan their visits this year. The full report will be ready later in the summer, but generally the findings have been positive. We will be sharing our recommendations on the small changes CKH can make to make sure damp and mould is tackled as efficiently as possible and all residents understand the support that is available.
Green space for good mental health
Have you visited the Mental Health Garden in Dogsthorpe? The wellbeing garden on Olive Road opened in 2022 thanks to the support of a great team of volunteers who helped to transform an unloved patch of earth into a blossoming green space. Gardening and spending time with nature has been proven to improve mood and help people to feel better. If you want to get involved and see if gardening can give you a boost, come and join us at the garden every Wednesday afternoon 1pm-3pm and every Thursday afternoon 1.30pm- 3.30pm. You can help with all manner of tasks, from light weeding, planting and watering, to some of the bigger building projects. The garden is there for everyone, not just experienced gardeners!
How we spend every pound 2022-23
We invest the money you pay in rent to provide homes and services in our communities. That is why it is important to us to make sure we get the most value for money out of every investment we make. Your Involved Residents told us that showing how we spend every pound is a useful way of understanding how much it costs to deliver our services. The full CKH Financial Statements 2022-23 will be published to our website in September.
Spotlight on Planned Works
For 2022/23, we budgeted around £10million to complete Planned Works that keep our homes safe and in good condition. We plan ahead for the next 30 years and use the regular surveys of your home that we complete every five years to decide what works need to happen and when. During our surveys, we look at the condition of all areas and functional components of your home, such as kitchens and bathrooms. We look at their current condition as well as considering factors like how long they are typically expected to last.
During 2022-23, we completed:
- 232 roof covering replacements
- Window replacements at 210 properties
- 43 kitchens
- 64 bathrooms (including level access shower rooms and downstairs WCs)
- 1,242 boiler replacements
- 414 flat fire doors
- 57 communal block upgrades
- 48 garage roof replacements
- Major lift repairs at Cumberland House
- Fire alarm replacement at Redpoll Place
- A warden call upgrade at 8 Retirement Housing communities.
Inside the Indigo development
We started construction at our largest development in Peterborough to date in 2022. Indigo is set to provide 315 affordable homes in the centre of Peterborough along with two retail units. We hope the well-designed development will offer affordable, sustainable, contemporary city centre living. The Indigo site was awarded full marks in its first Considerate Constructors Scheme assessment this March. The scheme considers things like the community and environmental impact of a development and how it is managed. Willmott Dixon, our construction partner for Indigo is offering a Skills Bootcamp in Construction programme that’s being run at the job centre. The programme is designed to help unemployed individuals find employment, and we’re thrilled that they have already found one person work on the site as part of this initiative.