Housing Annual Report 2023/24

West Lancashire Borough Council – Housing Annual Report 2023/24 (plain text version)

Please note: You can download the full colour and downloadable PDF version of our Housing Annual Report 2023/24 here

Welcome Messages

Joan Killey

Tenant Member, Landlord Services Working Group said:

"I have been a tenant with West Lancashire Borough Council for 43 years and am a tenant member of the Landlord Services Working Group. I would like to welcome you to our 2023/2024 Housing Annual Report.

In the early 80s I was asked if I wanted to be involved in a new group in my area. I liked the idea and said yes and that was the start of my journey.

During my time volunteering for West Lancashire Borough Council, I have had the opportunity to take part in scrutiny reviews, mystery shopping, policy reviews and a wide range of consultations. I wanted to see changes and I believe they can be achieved by working together and having our voices heard. During 2023, I heard some exciting news that a new Tenant Voice team was starting and I, along with other interested tenants, had the opportunity to be involved and work with the new team to refresh the opportunities tenants and leaseholders had to get involved.

Since then, I've been involved in a number of consultations, challenges and reviews, including the rent statement and anti-social behaviour reviews. By being involved in these activities I was able to give my feedback and make recommendations.

My role as a tenant member of the Landlord Services Working Group is to consider reports and recommendations from our housing teams as well as assurance about service delivery. I can see the evidence were tenants and leaseholders' feedback and recommendations have been used to understand how we are performing as a landlord.

With Tenant Voice and the involvement opportunities, I would reassure any tenant or leaseholder that there will be plenty of support and training available.

West Lancashire Borough Council provides a good service but there is always room for improvement and that’s where we, as tenants, come in.

As tenants and leaseholders, we can influence the delivery of our housing services. If you think you would like to make changes, use your voice and make a difference, I would definitely encourage you to get involved"

Councillor Nicola Pryce-Roberts

Lead Member for Housing and Chair, Landlord Services Working Group said:

"I am pleased to present the Annual Report for Tenants and Leaseholders 2022/23. I hope that you will find the information useful and of interest.

Looking back, it was a very busy year. The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 became law in July 2023 and introduced new responsibilities that all social landlords must meet.

Although we have already achieved a great deal, we are committed to being the best landlord we can be and this means there's still more to do to improve our performance and your homes.

Over the coming months and years, you will see positive changes to the way we do things, bringing direct benefits to you, the tenants. It’s a journey we’re fully committed to and we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to meet these new standards of service in the short and long term. This ongoing work will strengthen your communities and improve the lives and opportunities of all our customers and residents.

Looking after your home remains our top priority. The Improvements and Repairs section of the Report shows what we achieved in 2022/23. Working in partnership with our contractors and the Council’s Tawd Valley Developments, we remain committed to improving your homes and your neighbourhoods and will do this by investing in existing homes, building new homes and regenerating communities.

I’m delighted that our Tenant Voice has been strengthened. The past twelve months have been about listening and sharing – listening to our customers, sharing their experiences and suggestions. What we have learned will shape how we do things in future. I encourage you all to continue to share your experiences with us, so please get in touch. I would personally like to thank all our customers who have given their time in working with, and feeding back, to the Council – we hear you!"

Alan Leicester

Director of Housing and Environment West Lancashire Borough Council said:

"Looking back over the past 12 months, we have achieved a great deal within our housing services here at West Lancashire Borough Council.

But we can always strive for better. A key area of focus for this is our response to the Tenant Satisfaction Survey results, which we published earlier this year. Whilst we were pleased with some of our results, we recognise that there is room for improvement and we will continue to work hard to improve the service you receive based on the feedback you provided. I look forward to informing you next year that we have achieved significantly better results, together.

Key to our improvement is your feedback, and we now have a dedicated Tenant Voice Team. We wanted to create a way to have honest conversations with you so you can share your thoughts, feelings or ideas; whether you have concerns or compliments, we want to hear about them.

There's a range of ways you can engage with us and have your say, including estate walkabouts, advisory groups, digital champions, and mystery shoppers. Tenant involvement directly influences the decisions we make and the services you receive.

If you want to know more or are interested in getting involved please contact the Tenant Voice Team and find out just how much of a difference your voice can make.

Another new addition to our service is the Damp Team. They are responsible for implementing specialist damp cleaning regimes while also being a direct point of contact for our tenants experiencing damp and mould in their homes.

We have also built on the foundations already in place with Council-owned Tawd Valley Developments (TVD). We have seen the handover of eight revolutionary new bungalows, the first of their kind for West Lancashire Borough Council. The bungalows are part of the latest phase of TVD's Fairlie project, which will see a total of 50 new homes built in Skelmersdale. There's more to come too; creating safe, eco-friendly and affordable homes to enhance our communities is a top priority for us.

We are also excited to start the Fairhaven Park project, which will see a range of council services and external partners join forces with community volunteers and skilled young people to transform outdoor spaces. It will become wildlife haven and a safe space for families to enjoy, with new additions such as graffito tableau artwork, anti-vandalism benches and a modernised MUGA (Multi Use Games Area).

We remain in challenging economic times, with the cost-of-living crisis causing difficulties for many in our communities and neighbourhoods. But I am proud of the work our officers have done to support our tenants. The Financial Inclusion Team are here to offer confidential advice, without judgement, to anyone who is struggling financially. They are here to help and you can read about how they have done just that for tenants in this report.

Our decisions and motivations are shaped by our shared vision – West Lancashire together the place of choice to live, work, visit and invest. Providing safe, high-quality, affordable homes is one of our key areas of focus. We will continue to look for ways to build resilience, embrace change and deliver on our objectives while keeping our tenants and communities at the heart of what we do."

Tenant Voice

It's been an exciting time in Tenant Voice over the last 12 months where we have been making lots of improvements to the way we deliver tenant involvement and the opportunities you have to be involved with us.

We wanted to ensure that we put our tenants and leaseholders at the heart of everything we do, so we created a new Tenant Voice Team appointing a Tenant Voice Manager and Customer Engagement Officer.

Working with our tenants and leaseholders, we refreshed our approach to tenant involvement. This resulted in developing a new menu of opportunities for our tenants and leaseholders to take part in.

Since September 2023, we have increased the number of tenants and leaseholders in our involvement opportunities to 53.

Our tenants and leaseholders came forward to give us their feedback and recommendations in a number of areas including:

Rent Statement Review
Draft Repairs Policy
Draft Decoration Allowance Policy
Draft Disrepair Policy
Draft Tenant Alteration Policy
Independent Living consultation sessions
Damp & Mould Policy
Tenant Engagement Consultation
Damp & Mould Leaflet Consultation
Draft ASB Policy Review
Tenant Voice Webpage Review
Draft Goodwill Discretionary Payment Policy Review
Lease Holders Service Charge Review
Service Commitments Review
Housing Strategy Review
Financial Inclusion Strategy Review
Housing Awareness Session
Tenant Satisfaction Measures Survey
Recharge Policy Review
Empty Home Policy Review
Domestic Abuse Policy Review
Repair Priorities review

We Also:

Delivered an introduction to scrutiny and induction sessions with our newly recruited Tenant and Leaseholder Advisory Group.

Developed a programme of outreach sessions to take us out into our wider communities to speak to our tenants and recruit new volunteers.

Gave opportunities where our volunteers gave us

259 hours of their time.
Attended 22 outreach sessions.
Recruited eight Staff Tenant Voice Champions.
Took the opportunity to review last year's Housing Annual Report and tenant and leaseholder input led to the design and content you are reading today.

Alex – Customer Engagement Officer said:

“As the Customer Engagement Officer working for the Tenant Voice Team, my role involves giving tenants and leaseholders the opportunity to have their voices heard, challenge the way we do things and hold us to account.

I am responsible for facilitating all consultations, focus groups, scrutiny reviews and feedback sessions with our tenants and leaseholders and I ensure I give them every possible opportunity to engage with us.

I am passionate about delivering meaningful involvement opportunities for our tenants and leaseholders and I always put the customer at the heart of what I do.”

You said, We did

Some of our ‘You said, we are doing’ Highlights

Satisfaction Survey & Environmental Day Feedback

"There is too much fly tipping taking place"

CCTV fitted - Reduction in fly tipping since being installed and 79 fixed penalty notices issued

"We need more information around Damp and Mould"

Damp/mould leaflet developed with tenant input and published on our website and social media. A team of three surveyors have been recruited specialising in damp so we are able to attend properties sooner and more thoroughly see works through to completion. Tenant choice of design for the leaflet/poster used.

"Improve tenant involvement and information about repairs"

New Tenant Voice Team and involvement opportunities introduced. Engaged tenants/leaseholders to be part of policy consultation undertaken by repairs team including Damp & Mould Policy/leaflet; Repairs Policy; Decoration Allowance Policy; Disrepair Policy; Tenant Alteration Policy.

Review of Rent Statement Letter to Tenants

"Need to review the content and information tenants are receiving"

We have added a key to explain what the abbreviations used throughout the document stand for. We have been more thorough in the breakdown of transactions to include more detail, such as payment method, debit value and credit value. We have also added an account overview section at top of the document which shows the current state of the account (whether in credit or arrears).

"Not clear if there is a web page for getting involved – could only find link to Your Voice West Lancs"

Created a new "Have Your Say" - Tenant Voice webpage with its own tab. The new page is titled Have your Say - Tenant Voice - West Lancashire Borough Council (westlancs.gov.uk)

Our performance

Our 2023/24 headline performance at a glance.

Tenant voice

53 tenants involved
22 consultations held

Compliance

3% of homes have a valid gas certificate
100% of homes have completed communal area safety checks
4% of customers satisfied with repairs

Customer feedback

293 complaints have been received
17 comments have been received
19 compliments have been received

Rents

£29.3m of rent collected
£141,000 of former tenant arrears debt collected

Repairs

19,663 repairs completed
Over £4m spent on repairs
4% of customers satisfied with repairs

Investment

50 new build homes have been built
£4.5m has been invested in homes

Customer services

50,158 calls received by customer services
3,611 enquiries received via the website

Neighbourhoods

354 homes let
39 homes bought through right to buy
149 anti-social behaviour cases logged
6 community action days held
20 estate walkabouts taken

Your repair service

Over the year, we have worked in partnership with Wates, our housing maintenance provider.

146 New Kitchen Installations
16,858 Repairs to property
23 New bathroom Installations
1422 Electrical checks

To address damp and mould, we employed a specialist Damp and Disrepair Team consisting of surveyors and a mould wash team to tackle damp and mould in our homes.

We changed the way our surveyors carry out their roles – our surveyors moved to deliver their work to an area-based approach so that you can report issues to the same surveyor who will then have a better understanding of you and your home.

Paula, Tenant Voice Member, says:

“I have been a tenant with West Lancashire Borough Council for over 25 years. I joined Tenant Voice as I wanted to make a difference, not just for myself, but neighbours and other tenants.

As a member of the Tenant & Leaseholder Advisory Group, I get to speak directly to the managers who deliver our services to tell them what they do well but also where things could be done better. I am pleased that I am told how my feedback has changed things that will benefit all tenants.”

How we keep you safe (compliance)

We treat your safety, as well as that of your home and any communal areas as a priority.

Fire safety

In our independent living schemes we:

Completed full compartmentation surveys.
Conducted sample intrusive surveys.
Conducted fire door surveys.
Completed compartment plan lines.
Measured floor plans.

Gas safety

We implemented a new gas contract to service and maintain all forms of heating as opposed to just Gas. Now the contact covers solid fuel and air source heat pumps too! Meaning all sources of heating can be serviced, fixed and maintained.

Linda, Tenant Voice Member, said:

“It's really good that West Lancs have tenants involved and it's important that we are given the chance to talk to different officers and teams about our homes and our communities.

I love taking part and meeting other volunteers who want to make things better for all tenants.”

Investing in homes

Our Property Services Investment Team have continued to invest in your homes.

Disabled Adaptations

We completed 171 adaptations funded through

Disabled Facilities Grants
The cost of the work was over £1.5m.

Tawd Valley Developments

Working with Tawd Valley Developments, our property development company we:

Delivered our first rent to buy homes: 13 home at Fairlie were let on the new Rent to Buy Tenure. Tenants of these two and three bed family homes can rent for five years whilst they save up a deposit to purchase their home.
We built 50 new affordable homes that included enhanced insulation, triple glazing, air source pumps and underfloor heating.

Ozzi, Trainee Surveyor, said:

“As a Trainee Surveyor, I deal with lots of queries on a daily basis and it is my priority that our tenants are given the best possible service when it comes to repairs and property maintenance.

From my experience working in the council, communication with our tenants is vital to our success and I am always looking for ways to improve my customer engagement to ensure our tenants are left feeling happy and satisfied with our work.”

Digmoor Revival

We are relocating residents of six blocks of flats in Blythewood and Banksbarn. The blocks will then be demolished to make way for 45 new council homes.

Your Neighbourhoods

Your neighbourhood teams were busy delivering many of your services including homelessness, allocations, independent living, tackling anti-social behaviour, and neighbourhood management.

Neighbourhoods

We also:

Carried out 20 Estate Walkabouts with partner agencies, customers and ward Councillors.
Worked with teams across the Council and partners to support the Bright Sparx and Community Impact Days.
Two sites have benefitted from the signage on the car park floor being refreshed.
The repairs contractor is scheduling a series of surgeries within the schemes to meet tenants.
The Lifeline service staff are to attend surgeries to build their relationship with tenants.

Independent Living Schemes

We delivered sessions in all our independent living schemes to understand the views service users have about our Independent Living Scheme Service. We took their feedback and from it:

Two environment projects are being delivered to benefit communal lounge areas with carpets cleaned, decor being refreshed and new furniture.

Homelessness

We also:

Provided advice and support to 489 people at risk of homelessness.
101 were provided with emergency accommodation.
Introduced a package of support for those in our temporary accommodation.
Prevented 55 people becoming homeless by negotiating with their landlords, family etc.
Helped 108 homeless people find a place they could call home.

Letting our homes

We also:

Assessed 2298 new requests for housing.
Awarded priority to 160 customers in urgent need including those fleeing domestic abuse. Responded to 5484 online messages from housing applicants.
Introduced a new Allocations Policy.

Moving in

We also:

Let 354 homes.
Signed up new tenants within three calendar days of the property being ready to let.
Gave 173 new tenants a paint pack to help them decorate their new home.
Created 138 new furnished tenancies, ensuring that customers have the essential items needed to move into their new home.
Following feedback from tenants, we introduced new furnished tenancies packages providing just white goods or carpets to complement our existing full package.

Anti-social Behaviour

We also:

Investigated 149 ASB cases.
Worked closely with police and other agencies.
Worked with a focus group of tenants to update our Anti-Social Behaviour Policy and developed a Domestic Abuse Policy.

Matthew, Housing & Property Management Apprentice, said:

“Being an apprentice has meant that I have worked in most teams across Landlord Services. This has given me the opportunity to speak to lots of tenants about a range of issues.

I was involved in our Digmoor Revival project and as a lead officer, I was in regular contact with the tenants who were affected by the project. I gave advice and reassurance about the moving process and helped find them a new home. Tenant engagement was important for me as was giving a great customer experience to ensure we could find our tenants the homes they wanted.”

From homelessness to a new life in Fairlie

Phil recently moved into one of the council’s new-build properties in Fairlie. It is a fresh start for the 71 year old, who started the year homeless. Living in his car, his future looked bleak.

Desperate and unsure of where to turn for help, Phil reached out to the council’s Homeless Team. It was the start of his journey to turning his life around. Phil, who moved into his flat in March, explains: “My home here in Skelmersdale is absolutely superb. From being homeless to ending up with a brand new apartment, it is something I didn’t even dare to dream of happening.

“I suppose it is a rags to riches story – you can’t beat it. Paul [Homelessness Advice & Prevention Officer] told me I’d never sleep in my car again – and since then I haven’t. He organised accommodation for me, first in a hotel, then in Skelmersdale.

“Paul went out of his way and everyone I’ve met at the council has been brilliant. If you tell them you have a problem, they’ll do what they can to help you.

“I accepted the flat without even looking at it. I didn't need to – no one had lived in it – and I’d never had anything brand new in my life. It’s quiet and I have lovely neighbours.”

Phil was determined to give something back to his community and is starting to see the impact his involvement is having. He adds: “Because the council has been so good to me, I wanted to do something for the next person coming along, so it would be a bit easier.

“I spoke to the Homeless Team and made some suggestions on what to do in their temporary accommodation, such as swapping tiles with carpet tiles to make it warmer, while they’re also easy to replace. They told me that I should share my ‘great ideas’ and join the tenants committee.

“I had a realisation that I could really do something. I’d asked for a notice board in all temporary accommodation with information such as emergency numbers, gas and electricity suppliers, and I was told that it would be happening. I walked out of that building feeling brilliant, because now somebody's life is going to be a lot easier.

“You can choose to sit around and watch daytime TV or go along to these interesting meetings and we can see a point at the end of it. You might only be one person, but the numbers are growing. We are being listened to and people are asking me to speak on their behalf. I’m also approached to offer advice and use my experience of being homeless.”

Your Rent

Our teams are responsible for ensuring we collected your rent so we can deliver your housing services, but we do more than that. Our income and financial inclusion teams supported our tenants by giving money advice to make sure they were receiving all benefits they were entitled to. We also provided food vouchers and fuel support.

Income Team

We focused on early intervention to support tenants falling into arrears and avoid debt escalating. The work by our Money Advice officers helped tenants receive additional £195,000 in benefits.

We consulted with tenants and used their feedback to improve the look and feel of their rent statement making it easier to understand.

Money Advice & Financial Inclusion

Working in partnership to support our tenants and communities we delivered:
Health promotion sessions.
Events at West Lancs Family Hubs.
A Boat Dwellers consultation & health and wellbeing event.
Provided Money Advice to 1568 tenants and residents.
Issued 694 food vouchers.
297 tenants received fuel support.
Used £10,000 hardship fund to help with funeral costs and to prevent evictions.
Supported tenants with their Household Support Fund & DHP applications.
Extended use of Refernet to improve referrals to our partners.

Lauren, Income Management Officer said:

“As an Income Management Officer for West Lancashire Borough Council, my role involves managing rent accounts that are in high level rent arrears. I am responsible for contacting tenants regularly who are in arrears to offer advice and support on how to manage their debt and to set up repayment plans. Representing WLBC in court possession hearings, carrying out evictions and face to face visits are also part of my role.

It is important to me that the tenants I communicate with feel heard and supported in times of hardship. I ensure that referrals are made to our Money Advice Team and NEST (Networking, Employability, Support and Training Team) for support with employment opportunities where needed. I take personal responsibility for tenants in the area that I manage and make it my aim to build relationships where they feel comfortable discussing any hardship they may be facing within the household.”

Customer Services

The Customer Service team are the first point of contact for all enquiries and can support you with a range of housing enquiries including repairs and neighbourhood & tenancy related enquiries.

They can also support you with complaints, housing benefit, council tax and council tax support as well as other Council services such as refuse & recycling, pest control and bulky waste collections. They will also provide advice and assistance and guide you to the most appropriate support for your enquiry.

The team are committed to providing high standards of customer service and will explore all possible solutions, to ensure you receive the best outcome for your enquiry.

They work closely with our Housing Service teams to ensure our tenants receive the correct advice, guidance, and where possible resolve queries at the first point of contact.

Dan – Service Improvement Officer said:

“As part of my role as service improvement officer I look at numerous ways in which we can improve as a Council. Using the tenant engagement meetings I can record and understand feedback given by our tenants to ensure that their voices are heard, and their recommendations listened too.

Providing tenants with a continuously improving and evolving service is massively important to me personally. Knowing that I have had a positive impact on tenant's day to day living makes me strive to improve every day.”

Customer feedback

We are committed to consistently providing an excellent service to all our tenants. We value all feedback about our services and see this as an opportunity to learn, adapt and improve, so that our customers can have confidence in us to deliver a high-quality standard of service. Our Customer Feedback policy sets out how we handle feedback which includes, Comments, Compliments and Complaints. The policy also adheres to the requirements of both the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling code and the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

We welcome all feedback. The quickest and simplest way to make a comment, compliment or complaint is to complete an online customer feedback form.

Call our Customer Services team on 01695 577177

Visit one of our Customer Service Points:

52 Derby Street, Ormskirk L39 2DF
Unit 142, The Concourse Shopping Centre, Southway, Skelmersdale WN8 6LN

Or write to us at: Customer Feedback, Business Support, West Lancashire Borough Council, 52 Derby Street Ormskirk, Lancashire L39 2DF

You can read more our Customer Feedback Policy on our website: www.westlancs.gov.uk/about-the-council/contact-us/customer-feedback.aspx

Compliments

Our officers regularly receive compliments on the work they do with our tenants – here are just a few. We would like to thank you to our tenants for taking the time to send them in.

Denise & Deb, Housing Services – Quick action, regular updates, caring, unbelievable staff
Paul, Homelessness Advice – Amazing help, credit to the Council and a lovely man.
Jonathan, Housing Strategy & Development – Treated with dignity and respect, appreciated the time and effort providing information and support on applying for a home.
Jo and Hannah, Repairs Team – For their professional approach to my situation.
Rebecca, Financial Inclusion – Thank you for your support with Dot. I can't say how much relief she felt after seeing you, she was like a different woman when she left.
Sara, Property Services – Dealt with our problem in a very prompt, caring, empathetic and professional manner which in these days is very refreshing and welcome.
Independent Living Team, especially Janet – Extremely helpful, friendly and its nice to know they are there to help should I need it.
Angela, Housing Options – Staff here report that Angela has been very supportive.
Gillian & Peter, Cleaners (Damp and Mould Team) – Went out to do the mould wash and they did a fantastic job.
Marie, Housing Options – Was fabulous when I spoke to her. She really helped me.
Lettings Team – I am beyond happy, Thank you and everyone at the council for helping me, thank you so much.
Amanda & Lynn, Income and Rents – Offered 10/10 service, customer very happy with them both.

The Council would like to thank all councillors, staff, tenants, residents and stakeholders for the use of their images.

For further information please email comms.team@westlancs.gov.uk or telephone 01695 577177

West Lancashire Borough Council

52 Derby Street

Ormskirk

Lancashire L39 2DF

westlancs.gov.uk