Written with tenants for tenants Edition 27 October 2014

Housing Annual Report

2013-2014 houseSpecial Edition

O c t o b e r 2 0 1 4

e d i t i o n 2 7

� A Summary of the Year

� Tenant Involvement and Customer Care

� Maintaining Your Home

� Tenancy Services

� Neighbourhood andCommunity Services

� Older Persons Housing

� Value for Money

� The Tenants’ View

This Issue...

Win aniPad mini –see page 15

H o u s i n g L i n e0 1 9 6 2 8 4 8 4 0 0

If you have any particular needswhich affect how you are able touse or be involved in our servicesor how you would like to receive

information - for exampletranslation, interpreters, Braille,

audio tape, large print, sign language - please contact theCustomer Service Centre either bytelephone: 01962 840 222 or by

email: customerservice@winchester.gov.uk

Winchester City Council, City Offices, Colebrook Street,Winchester, SO23 9LJ.telephone 01962 848 400 fax 01962 841 365email housing@winchester.gov.uk website www.winchester.gov.ukTelephone calls may be recorded.Printed on 75% recycled paper.

TEXTPHONEThis facility is available for readerswho are deaf or hard of hearing.Please telephone 01962 878 982.

thebigwordtelephone interpreting service

The Council uses a 24-hourTelephone InterpretingService, which also provideswritten or recordedtranslations.

If you, a relative or aneighbour would like to talkto the Council through aninterpreter, please contactyour Area Housing Manageron 01962 848 400.

Dear Tenants

on discOn the house is available

in large print or on CD (audio). Pleasecall Tenant Involvement on Freephone 0800 716 987.

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Despite the current climateof public sector pressuresand cuts, the Council hascontinued to increaseinvestment in Housing and 2013/14 saw a number of really positiveimprovements to services.Many tenants felt the impact of welfare reform changes but I am really pleased to note thatthose affected have sought thehelp of Council staff and other agencies.New services, such as the WiseMove incentive scheme andMoney and Benefits advicehave helped tenants cope withthe changes. It is reallypositive to see that rentarrears actually reduced lastyear, when the national trendhas seen large increases.Programmes to repair andmaintain existing homes and tobuild new housing haveprogressed well. I would alsolike to thank all tenants forallowing access to your homesso we could complete ourStock Condition Survey. The information we havegathered is currently beingreviewed and will help makesure future repair programmesfocus on the most importantareas. In the last year, we have also concentrated onnew programmes to helpimprove the health andwellbeing of our residents.

The Exercise Referral schemeand outdoor activities, such ashealth walks, outdoor gymsand sports events have seenmuch greater participation byCouncil tenants. Trainingprogrammes which helptenants with key skills, such aswriting CVs, interviews andgenerally preparing foremployment, have all provedreally popular.My predecessor, CouncillorTony Coates, was always sucha positive advocate forimproving Council housingservices and I intend tocontinue his good work. We desperately need moreaffordable housing. Whilst Iam keen to ensure that existingservices continue to improve, Ido intend to focus efforts onbuilding more homes andhelping those in housing needimprove their prospects ofsecuring a tenancy.

Cllr Ian Tait Portfolio Holder for Housing Services

Annual Report 2013/2014

Summary of the Year

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The Council is embarking on the biggest house buildingprogramme for decades and some delayed projects, suchas the Loft Conversion programme and the StanmoreEstate Improvement programme, will move towardscompletion. We will continue to offer advice on benefitchanges, including the introduction of Universal Credit

and and helping tenants who want to downsize, throughthe Wise Move incentive scheme. We will continue our mission to involve tenants more,especially in the rural parts of the District and we are ‘going digital’ with a self-service ‘app’ for tenants to download onto their devices.

Looking Ahead

Bourne Close after

Bourne Close before

Party in the Park

Building New Homes – 13 brand new homes were built in the year as part of a plan to build at least 300new Council Homes by 2024. Repairs – £12 million was spent on repairs orimprovements to your homes. This included 472upgraded central heating systems, 470 upgradedkitchens and 395 bathrooms also upgraded. Rent – 99% of all rent was collected with a surprise drop in arrears to 0.9% from 1.2% last year.Tenant Involvement – Welfare reform matters, such asthe benefits cap and benefit restructure on those with extrabedrooms, were the main themes again this year.Improving Estates – The council spent £200,000 on a variety of improvements across our estates.

Disabled Adaptations – 522 adaptations were made to properties.

Tenant Satisfaction – Tenants are generally happy withthe service they receive from the Council. The surveycarried out in February 2013 had a response of 63% ofall tenants and of those that took part 88% were satisfiedwith the overall housing service.

The Council’s LocalStandards – Our Offer to you

The local standards agreed with you areset out in the Tenants Handbook. Theyare also summarised in a leaflet that isavailable on our website or at theCustomer Service Centre. To receive a free copy, please callFreephone 0800 716 987.

The 4 national standards for social housing are:� Tenant Involvement and Empowerment – including customer service,

choice and equality� Home – including quality of homes, repairs and maintenance� Tenancy – including allocations, mutual exchanges and tenure issues� Neighbourhood and Community – including managing local areas, joint

working and addressing anti-social behaviour

Once again, tenants have worked with us to ensure the report is readable and accurate. A formal response from those involved is included on page 14.

This report sets out how your Housing Services have performed in the year 2013/2014against the national standards expected of all social landlords and also standards that theCouncil has agreed with you, the tenants.

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Tenant Involvement & Customer Care

Tenant Training

We aim to provide tenants with accessible, relevant and timely information about ourservices, how we perform and how tenants can get involved with making our services better.

Scrutiny Groups

Tenants have continued to scrutinise the Council’s Housing services. 4 Scrutiny Groups have met regularlywith officers to review and challenge services to tenants.

Why not get involved and help improve services to tenants? If you would like more information, please contactthe Tenant Involvement team on Freephone 0800 716 987.

� Housing Management Scrutiny Group – This grouphas focussed on how quickly we re-let emptyproperties and also how we have helped tenantsaffected by welfare changes.

� Repairs and Maintenance Scrutiny Group – This grouphas monitored how effectively repairs are carried outand how the Council’s Customer Service deals withenquiries from tenants. They have challenged theCouncil to improve the quality of the service it provides.

� Sheltered Housing Scrutiny Group – This group isreviewing how older persons’ services arechanging and the impact of Hampshire CountyCouncil’s Supporting People funding cuts ontenants in sheltered housing.

� Landscape Scrutiny Group – The Group continues towork with officers and has also met with Councillorsto find ways of improving the Grounds Maintenancecontract. We are all too aware that this remains acause for concern in many areas.

We held a variety of Life Skills classes in February 2014 whichwere well attended and worthwhile to tenants taking part. The five classes which took place were:� Cooking on a Budget� Basic Computer Skills� Employability for Job Hunters� Confidence Building� First Aid

Because they went down so well, we plan more later this yearso watch this space!

Meeting Tenants’ Diverse Needs The Council recognises the huge diversity of itstenants. Our officers are trained so they have theskills to adapt services to meet various needs.

Training sessions have included Deaf Awareness,Dementia Awareness, Mental Health Awarenessand a briefing on Former Service Personnel.Housing officers are not specialists, but will havethe details of groups that can provide specialistsupport if needed.

We are also improving how we work together withsupport groups such as the Drug and AlcoholRecovery Service at Georges’ in Winchester and theWinchester Young Carers’ project.

Involvement and Empowerment

The Council continues to support tenant involvement inmany ways, including supporting tenant groups,organising focus groups, estate walkabouts,street meetsand summer events.

Tenant representatives make comment on every housingreport considered by Councillors.

The Council’s whole approach to promoting residentinvolvement has been formally reviewed by tenants.

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Complaints

What you think of usGeneralTenants’Response

Older Persons’Response

OurNational Rank

% of respondents veryor fairly satisfied withthe services/overallservice provided by us

86% satisfied 94% satisfiedAboveAverage

% of respondents veryor fairly satisfied thattheir views are beingtaken into account by us

67% satisfied 74% satisfied Average

www.facebook.com/WinchesterTenants

Customer Service and Choice

"I have been Chairing theLandscape Scrutiny Group forabout 18 months. As ScrutinyGroups are tenant led, it gives

them the opportunity tomonitor how both the

Council and their contractorsperform and to make

suggestions on how they canimprove performance and get

value for money."

Monica Gill Chair of the LandscapeScrutiny Groupsaid:

Looking Ahead

Tenant Comment

Responding to You

In 2013/14, our average time to respond to a letter was 9.8 days

62% of letters were answered within 10 days

87% of letters were answered within 20 days

50% of calls were answered within 20 seconds

We are aware of delays you may have had in getting throughto the Council switchboard and we are taking action to makesure this improves in the near future.

Youth FootballFor another year we ran footballcoaching at several venues,including Highcliffe and Winnall.Lots of children came along totake part, with the tournament atthe end rounding things off nicely. We held sessions in February, April and August in 2014.

We will continue to monitor andupdate the information on TenantSatisfaction from data collected back in2012. We also welcome our newResident Involvement Staff, TrevorLynas and Heather Wensley. We arekeen to build on our changes to howwe involve residents and reach even

more tenants, both in the City andmore rural areas. We are very excitedabout a new app that we hope tolaunch before Christmas. Whether on an iPhone or an android,tenants will be able to access their rentaccount and update their personalinformation and contact details.

We know we don’t always get it right and wecertainly want to hear from tenants when they feelthings are not going well. This really does help usto monitor and improve the service we give.

Last year we received 111 complaints, of which 45 wereupheld and 2 were escalated to the Ombudsman. Our target of responding is 10 days, but wemanaged an average of 13 days.

Maintaining Your HomeWe shall ensure all our homes continue to meet the Government’s minimum Decent Homesstandard, provide cost-effective repairs and maintenance and work with other partners toensure homes are adapted to meet customer needs.

Spending More on Your Home

DisabledAdaptations522 households receiveddisabled adaptations,improving access to theirhomes. These included:� Number of level access

showers installed 233� Number of stair

lifts installed 25� Number of assisted

access works completed 42

Where have we spent your money? Amount

Kitchens, bathrooms and central heating systems etc £6.2 million

Small works (day to day repairs) £3.6 million

Disabled adaptations £0.8 million

Estate/Environmental Improvements £0.25 million

Other works £1.15 million

Updating your HomeNumber of upgradescompleted during the year:� Heating 472� Kitchens 470� Bathrooms 395� Insulation 132� Doors 650

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Stock Survey

Thanks to everyone for allowing theCouncil to complete surveys of yourhomes. We carry out the full stocksurvey every ten years and this time ateam of ten surveyors spent six monthson the project surveying between eightand ten homes each day. They visited93% of the 5,000 homes inWinchester. The information is beinganalysed so we can draw up long terminvestment plans for futuremaintenance. The aim is to identifywhat needs doing, when it needs tobe done and how much it will cost.This will be used to assess futuremaintenance programmes.

Monitoring Qualityof Repairs Works

Our monitoring suggests tenants aresatisfied with works completed in 98% of cases. Would you agree? Do you complete your “green customer care card”?

It is essential that cards are returned asthis is the best way of ensuring worksare completed to your satisfaction. Last year, 32% of cards were returned.We have been working with the Repairsand Maintenace Scrutiny Group toprovide a better follow up of negativecomments on Green Cards. This yearwe introduced a new system torespond to your comments providingfeedback from both the council and thecontractor. Let us know how we get on!

Government changes introduced in April 2012 mean that councils that stillmanage housing can invest properly in maintaining and improving homes,as well as building new homes. This has meant we have been able tospend twice as much as last year on maintenance, as well as start buildingnew homes for the first time in 20 years.

The table below shows how we have spent your rent money on improvingyour homes. We aim to invest similar amounts every year for the next 10years and you will all see real improvements over this time.

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Weather Delays/Winter StormsIn the winter months we experienced some of the most extreme weatherever seen in the area. Storms at Christmas caused significant damage tofencing, roofs and property. We are still working through the backlog ofwork caused by the storm and the floods that followed. Thank you to alltenants affected for the patience you have shown.

Looking Ahead

How we are Performing

“I’m pleased withthe overallservice but wouldlike a response ifI raise a negativecomment on agreen card”.

Miss Arthur, ofHighcliffe said:

Tenant CommentHow we performagainst our standards Target 2012/13 2013/14 Comment

Responsive Repairs - % ofjobs completed withintarget

90% 90.4% 86% Under review

Responsive Repairs -average time to completea repair

8days

10days

8.5days Under review

Gas Servicing - % ofhomes with a current gasservicing certificate

100% 99.9% 99.9%1 certificate

outstanding atend of the year

Repairs completed withinone visit 80% new

target 81%

95% werecompletedwithin two

visits

% satisfaction for repair jobs 95% new

target 97% 32,164 jobscompleted

Investment plans

In addition to kitchens and bathrooms,the maintenance priorities for theCouncil this year are roofs, windowsand walls.

Upgrading heating and insulationat the Winnall flats

We had hoped to complete this projectlast year but there was an unavoidabledelay when our initial partnerwithdrew from the contract. Work isunderway again and we have found a

new partner for the project, which isnow awaiting planning permission.

Work is due to start next spring but it depends on European Funding still being available.

Building new homes

The Council is really excited aboutbeing able to build new council homesfor the first time in over 20 years. We are looking ahead to buildingmore homes for young people,families and pensioners.

2,143 people were registered on the housing waitinglist - that’s a reduction of 42% on last year. The reasonfor the big drop was because of the changes to theHampshire Home Choice Allocations Framework whichcame into effect in April 2013. The table belowshows the number of people on the waiting listbroken down by the band they are in and the size ofproperty they need:

So how long does someone have to wait to get a home?The average time for someone who has a high priority.(Band 2), is 1 year 4 months. For a medium priorityapplicant (Band 3), the time from being included on thewaiting list to getting a home is a minimum of 3 years.

Letting our Empty Homes

Average Wait Time

TenancyWe will let our properties in a fair, open and efficient way, charging affordable rents whilst stickingwithin government policy. We are also here to support tenants in maintaining their tenancies.

Allocations

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1 bed 2 bed 3 bed 4 bed Total

Band 2 118 53 8 17 196

Band 3 1081 426 137 41 1685

Band 4 229 23 8 2 262

Total 1428 502 153 60 2143

Houses remained empty for an average of 20 days aftersomeone moved out. In other words it took less than 3weeks to re-let a property. 249 of our empty homeswere advertised on Hampshire Home Choice and wereceived an average of 74 bids per property. Our mostpopular property was a one bed first floor flat inFivefields Road which had over 345 bids. The successfulapplicant was in Band 2 and had a priority date of08/03/2012.

Benefit Reform and Wise MoveWise Move was launched in April 2013 and has been extremely popular. Over 100 tenants have been helped to move to smaller accommodation. The help included a payment of up to £1,000 which canhelp with removals, carpeting, decoration etc. The otheradded benefit of course is that when someone frees up alarger family home, a family that badly needs the spacemoves in. A win win!

The scheme was initially promoted to tenants affected bythe Government changes to the Housing Benefit system.Tenants who have been faced with a reduction in theirHousing Benefit, due to the new size criteria rules forhaving ‘spare’ bedrooms, have been given priority forhelp under Wise Move and other housing policies.Nearly half of those who have downsized werepreviously affected by the size criteria regulations. The moves have helped these tenants to improve theirfinancial circumstances through eligibility for HousingBenefit, together with other benefits of living in smalleraccommodation, such as reduced bills and having ahome that’s easier to manage.

Rents

Bedroomnumber Bedsit 1 bed 2 bed 3 bed 4 bed

& above

No. ofproperties 32 1626 1663 1603 52

Average weekly rent

£74.64 £87.33 £100.89 £115.47 £125.64

Our average rent is£98.99 a week

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“My wife has back trouble,and I had leg problems andstairs were a problem. Theflat is lovely, just right. Wecouldn’t ask for anythingbetter. I am back to around200 yards from where I wasborn! The council organised

new carpets and theremoval people. We havesettled in very well!”

Mr and Mrs Smithdownsized from a twobedroomed house to a ground floor one bedroom flat. Mr Smith said:

Tenant Comment

Direct Debits – making it easier to pay your rent

From January 2015, we are making it even easier to pay your rent by Direct Debit with our new improved paperlesssystem. Tenants will be able to contact us by phone to set up a Direct Debit, rather than waiting for us to send out aform for you to complete and send back to us. Direct Debits are simple, convenient and safe a way to pay your rent ifyou have a current account with a bank or building society. If you would like more information, please contact the RentAccounting team on 01962 848 400 who will be pleased to help you.

� Getting ready for Universal Credit� Managing money and budgeting, including

a Housing Benefit Check� Finding work� Accessing and using the internet� Moving to a smaller or larger property

Look out for future events and publications on these topics.

Looking AheadThere’s a lot going to be happening over the next year. We will be acting on information sent to us by tenantswho kindly filled in our Tenant Information Forms last winter. We will contact all those who asked for adviceand help with matters such as:

Why not pay your rent by Direct Debit?

Over 40% of tenants already do. At the end of thisyear, all those who pay by Direct Debit will be enteredinto a prize draw to win £100 “Love to Shop”vouchers. If you want to switch to Direct Debit,contact the Rent Accounting team on 01962 848 400.

Neighbourhood and CommunityWe will work with other agencies to make our estates and homes clean, safe and have apeaceful environment for people to live in.

Estate Improvements

Estate Maintenance

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Greyfriars Cromwell Road The Valley Wavell Way

Communal AreasRegular meetings are held with CityCleaning to discuss performance and anyconcerns with the cleaning contract.

Following the article in a previous editionof On The House, Housing Services arecontinuing to implement a new approachto managing items in communal areas.The aim is to ensure communal areas arekept clear and tidy and to reduce risksassociated with cluttered areas. Thegood news is that we are seeing positiveresults being achieved already.

We know that many of you are not happywith the standard of grounds maintenanceprovided by our contractor. The LandscapeScrutiny Group, chaired by Monica Gill, aCouncil tenant, is meeting regularly withCouncil Officers and client officers at EastHants District Council, challenging theperformance of the contractor, TheLandscape Group (TLG).

Around 40 tenant ‘monitors’ are helpingkeep tabs on the contractor’s performanceand comments, good and bad, are fed backto us from all over the district. We are takingaction. Tenants and council officers, alongwith representatives from TLG, made threeroad trips, with the aim of highlightingspecific areas of concern. Representativesfrom the Group also attended the Council’sOverview and Scrutiny Committee to presenttheir concerns about the performance toCouncillors. Housing Services is continuingto work with the Joint Client team to ensurethat improvements are being made.

The Estate Improvement Programme continues to be extremelypopular. Lots of positive and beneficial improvements have beenmade across the district as a result of suggestions from tenants,Councillors and Housing staff. These included: � Additional parking at Meryon Road, Alresford� Additional parking at Cromwell Road, Stanmore near the shops� Installation of parking at the junction of Wavell Way and Wolfe

Close, Stanmore� Provision of lay by parking at the bottom end of The Valley,

Stanmore� Additional parking at Beech Grove, Owslebury� Lighting at Wykeham Field, Wickham � Door entry system at Woodrow House, Central Winchester� Improved parking at Greyfriars, Central Winchester � Parking at Churchfields, Twyford

We have been working in partnership with Victim Support, an independent national charity which helps people find their strength again after crime and anti-social behaviour. In 2013/14, tenants accessed the service with very positive outcomes. The scheme has been extended for a further year due to the success and the help it provides to tenants.

Estate Events

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“Parking is aproblem across theStanmore estateand it’s good tosee a number of

improvements nowbeing made.”

David Chafe,Vice Chair ofTACT said:

Neighbourhood Management

Tenant Comment

Looking Ahead

For the rest of the year and into 2015/16, the EstateImprovement Programme is packed with exciting schemes:� Winnall high rise flats - we will be demolishing garages and

installing open air parking.

� Refurbishing and replacing the fencing on some parts of theHighcliffe estate.

� Regeneration work at Woolford Close, Stanmore, which includes anew pedestrian route (the introduction of a public stair case toconnect Woolford Close with Thurmond Crescent/Road),improvements to the parking and highways layout, soft landscapingand improved amenity space, creation of additional communalaccesses to two of the blocks and additional bin stores.

Estate walkabouts took place during 2013/14 in anumber of areas across the district. Residents andofficers identified estate issues, such as carparking, grounds maintenance, damaged fencesand fly tipping.

Street Meets were held at Stanmore, Highcliffe,Weeke, Alresford, Denmead, Wickham, Swanmoreand Bishops Waltham, offering fun activities forchildren and an opportunity for residents to talk toofficers about any issues.

Other community events included Party in the Park,Spring into Action, Winnall estate and heatingimprovements consultation event, Woolford Close,Stanmore estate refurbishment consultation event,Easter Eggstravaganza and a Wise Move downsizingevent. We will be holding further events, so look outfor details on what will be happening near you soon.

Older Persons’ HousingSheltered HousingThe Council provides dedicated housing for older people at15 sheltered housing schemes across the district. We alsoprovide over 800 bungalows, which are generally let to over60 year olds.

Why Sheltered Housing?The schemes provide a warm and welcoming environmentfor older people. They allow independent living, but withthe added security of a 24 hour emergency alarm service, aswell as additional support when it is needed.

Most schemes have lovely, well maintained grounds witheasy access for all residents to enjoy them. Common roomsand other community facilities mean residents can getinvolved in social activities as they choose.

Extra CareSchemes include:� Richard Moss House, St Peters St, Winchester� Hyde Lodge, Worthy Lane, Winchester� Hyde Gate, Winchester� Eastacre, Bereweeke Rd, Winchester� Godson House, Lawn St, Winchester� Lawn House, Lawn St, Winchester� King Harold Court, Christchurch Rd, Winchester� Mildmay Court, Eastgate St, Winchester� Chester Court, Water Lane, Winchester� Simonds Court, Chaundler Rd, Abbots Barton� Normandy Court, Station Rd, Wickham� Greens Close/Blanchard Rd, Bishops Waltham� Makins Court, Windsor Rd, New Alresford� Spring House Close, Colden Common� White Wings House, Ashling Park Rd, Denmead

Our Schemes

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“I have livedin sheltered

housing for 11years and havemade some verygood friends.”

Miss BarbaraJacques, ofDanemarkCourt said:

Tenant Comment

Looking Ahead

The Council is planning to build anew Extra Care scheme in centralWinchester. The Government andHampshire County Council haveboth agreed grants towards the

cost and a local resident also lefta significant bequest to helpbuild the scheme. If planningapproval is given, building willstart in 2015.

With Winchester residents living longer, the demand for “Extra Care” housing is increasing.Extra Care housing provides all the benefits of sheltered housing, but with the added benefit of a 24 hour on site care team providingspecialist care and support as it is needed.

There are currently two schemes in the city centre,providing 55 homes for older tenants who have anassessed care need.

In the last year, the Council has invested significantly inupgrading the scheme at Matilda Place to ensure it meetsall the requirements of a modern Extra Care scheme.

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Value for Money

“Value for Money” is a balance of good performance with reasonable costs. Wehave shown you our performance and what you think of the services we providein the earlier pages. The table below shows how our costs compare with the unitcost for services provided by other social landlords in the South East of England.

HousingServices(incl. estatemanagement,

tenancyservices, etc)

Maintenance& New Build(incl. repairs,adaptations &improvements)

OverheadsStaffing

DebtRepayments

(cost of borrowing)

12p48p 21p 11p 8p

We will explain how tenants’ rents are spent and howtenants can get involved in prioritising our spending.

How Your Rent is Spent

We compare our costs andperformance with hundreds of otherlandlords. A “Dashboard” showinghow we compare for all services canbe viewed onwww.winchester.gov.uk/housing/council-housing-tenants/performance

Our Costs in 2013/2014

In the last year, each £1 ofrent you pay has been spent

in the following areas:

Looking Ahead

Annual cost per propertyOur Average

CostLocal Average

CostHow we compare locally

Housing Management £330 £426 Top 25%

Resident Involvement £26 £44 Top 25%

Repairs and Empty Property Servicing £635 £802 Top 25%

Estate Management £79 £150 Top 25%

“It’s really goodto see the Councilinvesting more inHousing and thenew homes builtlast year arefantastic!”

JudithSteventonBaker, Chairof TACT said:

Comparing with Others

Tenant Comment

We will be testing tenantsatisfaction again early in 2015.Housemark, an independentHousing Benchmarkingorganisation, will continue to

review our costs and comparethem with other landlords. Allresults will be published on ourwebsite and in next year’sAnnual Report.

Judith Steventon Baker, John Bond and David Chafe, haveused our places on Cabinet and Housing Cabinet to ourbest advantage. We have made TACT comments, forinclusion in many papers which affect tenants and arepresented to the Council. We are also fortunate to have aChair who is willing to allow us to make verbal commentsat the Cabinet meeting.

During the course of the year, TACT has continued to beinvolved in the City Council’s New Council Homesprogramme. We saw the cutting of the ribbon, inpartnership with the Winchester Housing Trust, of newhomes in Micheldever in March and were in attendancewhen the first tenants were able to move into their homes.

Then even better, in July we were in attendance when theMayor and former Mayor, Neil Baxter, cut the ribbon toopen the first new Council built homes at Baxter Cottages,Itchen Abbas and a month later at The Terrace inOtterbourne. The homes are designed to be homes for life,with room for a pram and then for a wheel chair, not tomention provisions for a lift if it were ever to be needed.

We are pleased to see that Winchester City Council ismaking use of smaller sites and are building higher quality,more economical houses that fit the needs of local people.

We are glad that older housing stock has started to beupgraded and that areas on the housing estates in andaround Winchester are being improved.

Apart from this, we have been involved with the WelfareReform Group, to help those tenants who are affected bythe changes in the way benefits are paid. We also workedwith the Wise Move Group, helping tenants to understanddownsizing and its benefits - we even got on televisionwith this message!

We have continued to strengthen our working relationshipwith our Service Providers. Osborne was awarded theWinchester Excellence Award for Community Relations,which confirmed to us that we had the best people lookingafter us and they had the award to show for it!

During the year, we have had to cope with the loss of bothour Tenant Participation staff. Heather Wensley left inFebruary 2014 and then David Lumby left in April 2014.

We were fortunate that members of the HousingDepartment were able to step in and help to keep us goingwhilst new appointments were made. In July, HeatherWensley rejoined us and Trevor Lynas was also appointed,as Tenant Involvement Officers. We are looking forward toworking together and hopefully re-shaping andstreamlining TACT.

The Tenants’ View – A Response

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TACT has continued to work hard on behalf of fellow tenants.

TACT Management Group

COMPETITIONWould you like the chance to win an iPad mini? Have you read this report? The answers to all four questions are included somewhere. Can you find them?

1. How many scrutiny groups do we have?

0 3 4 5

2. What was the level of repairs completed within one visit in 2013/14 by the Council?

66% 71% 81% 99%

3. How many 2 bed homes does the Council manage?

504 780 1663 1618

4. How many sheltered housing schemes are there across the district?

8 15 17 21

5. How many pennies in the pound are spent on maintenance and new build?

46 48 50 53

Just circle the answers you think are correct, then cut out this page, fold as indicated in thenext page and send back to us by 16 November 2014.

Name:....................................................................................................................

Address:..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

..............................................................................................................................

Tel:........................................................Email:..................................................................

Tell us what you think of this Annual Report..............................................................................................................................

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September 2

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ity Council

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