Report 2012 - Wishaw and District Housing Association

2
Chairman’s
Foreword
As you read
through this
annual report,
you will see how
Wishaw and
District Housing
Association have
been performing
in our main aims
and aspirations
during 2011/2012, particularly as a
landlord.
Our Board of Directors and staff take
our responsibilities very seriously and
continue to perform well in terms of
quality and efficiency.
I am proud to say that our rent
collection levels, the swift re-letting of
vacant houses to ensure minimum loss of
rent revenue, and repair response times are
among the best, and that our rent levels
remain competitive and affordable.
We are also proud of our ongoing
home improvements which have brought
new kitchens and bathrooms, new roofs
and external doors, and upgraded
paintwork and central heating systems. We
are continually looking for ways to improve
and extend our services.
As we look to the future, I believe
that we approach the coming year in a
strong position but times are changing and
there are some challenging situations
ahead.
We know that there is little in the way
of grant funding and this means we are
unlikely to build many new houses in the
next few years. However we hope there will
soon be some positive news about the
plans for the large site at the bottom of
Main Street, Wishaw.
There is also uncertainty about how
welfare reform will affect our tenants and I
know the proposed changes are causing
concern. We are doing everything we can
to prepare ourselves and help those
affected by these changes.
Please don’t hesitate to contact the
Association’s staff if you wish help, advice
or more information.
I hope you find this report interesting.
Edward Mullen
Chairman
Our Board of
Directors
Last year, at our AGM in July 2011, four
board members were due to stand down
having served for the three years that
the Rules allow. All of these members, Cath
Brown, Bill Graham, Charles Keeper and Liam
McCabe, opted to stand again and were
unanimously re-elected.
Kash Arshad, who had been co-opted
during the year, was also elected at the AGM,
but unfortunately Kash left us later in the
year as personal commitments meant that he
could not attend as often as he felt he
should. Additionally we had two nominations
from the general membership and Jim
Robertson and Frank McKay (who is also a
Councillor and was formerly the Council’s
representative to our Board, but who now
serves in a personal capacity) were also
elected.
As reported during the year in our
newsletter, ‘Association Matters’, we lost our
long time board member and Secretary, John
Forbes, in October 2011 when he died just a
few weeks short of his 90th birthday.
Although we continue to miss John, the
position of Secretary has been ably filled
through the appointment of Helen Russell.
We welcomed to our ranks Councillor
Sam Love, who became our local authority
representative after the election of the
previous incumbent, Councillor John
Pentland, to the Scottish Parliament.
Following the 2011 AGM the board reelected
Edward Mullen to serve once again as
Chairperson, and Bill Graham as Vice
Chairperson. Our Rules say that normally a
Chairperson will serve for a maximum of three
years. However, in view of the current