How we are doing

CEO Jeff Skipp

Overview of the Financial Year

It has been a busy year for Ability Housing Association. With the Social Housing (Regulation Act) becoming law in July 2023, we have been reviewing ways we can further improve our offer to residents and ensure our services meet and exceed the new requirements. A key area has been how we involve residents at an individual, local and organisational level and during the coming year we will be working with the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) to make sure we get this right. Involving residents in defining their own support and including their views and wishes in our future plans will be a key part of this approach.

We have reviewed our housing management service and in particular the support we offer to tenants to sustain their tenancy and remain valued members of their community. To achieve this, we have enhanced our housing support plans to allow our Housing and Support Officers to better tailor the support we give individuals, maximising their independence.

During the year we experienced a drop in the quality of the repairs service provided by a large repairs contractor. This was because they struggled to recruit and retain skilled tradespeople, which meant repairs took longer to complete.

To make sure residents’ repairs and void works were completed in a reasonable time, we asked other repairs contractors to work with us. Our main contractor has resolved the issue and is now able to deliver repairs to the timescales we require. We will be continuing to monitor the performance of this firm closely to ensure a good quality service is delivered to residents.

Meanwhile, our Care & Support department has delivered high quality services as judged by the Care Quality Commission and local authority contract monitoring. Our customer survey demonstrated satisfaction with our services above 90 per cent in all areas.

We have been looking to increase the number of services we deliver across the south east of England and have been accepted onto a number of local authority framework agreements. This will give us the chance to develop and increase the number of services we provide for people with a disability.

During the year, the Ability board also agreed our three-year corporate plan, Better Together. This identifies how we continue to improve in how we engage with residents, provide the best possible service, and support people to maintain independence and live in high quality homes.

We will also be looking to grow our care and support services over the next three years, increasing the number of people we support across the south east of England.

March 2024