Report 2012 - Wishaw and District Housing Association

Recommendations

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4 Mrs Hendry and Mr Kelly, good neighbours at Russell Street, Wishaw.
Managing Tenancies Common Housing Register At the end of March 2012 there were 2,821 applicants on the common Housing Register looking for housing from Wishaw and District Housing Association. Allocations Set against the 2,821 applicants above, we had only 67 properties available for let last year, of which: 16 24% Were allocated to existing tenants of the Association whose housing was no longer suitable. 50 75% Went to applicants on the Association’s waiting list. This includes nominations from North Lanarkshire Council. 1 1% Were allocated to households referred to the Association under the agreement we have with the Scottish Refugee Council. We continue to operate a 25% Nominations Agreement with North Lanarkshire Council and to accept Section 5 referrals of homeless households. New Tenant Visits We offer all new tenants the opportunity of a home visit within six weeks of moving in to help people settle and provide continuing advice and information. However, if people don’t have the time or feel they do not need a visit, then we respect their wishes. Of the 49 visits scheduled to be carried out this year: 29 59% Were carried out within the six week target. 2 4% Were carried out later on a date and time more convenient for the tenant. 18 37% Declined our settling-in service. Void Management Last year the average timescale for carrying out all repairs and re-letting the 67 properties vacated was 17 days. 37 56% Were re-let within two weeks. 17 25% Were re-let within two to four weeks. 11 16% Required more extensive repairs or multiple offers and were re-let within five to eight weeks. 2 3% Required more extensive repairs or multiple offers and took more than eight weeks to relet. A clear corollary of the low void period is a correspondingly low 0.3% loss in rental income which compares very favourably with other landlords: Average void rent loss for the RSL sector* 1.1% Average void rent loss for our ‘Peer Group’ of similar size and type landlords* 0.5% Our target maximum rent loss 0.3% WDHA actual void rent loss for 2011/12 0.3% *Based on Registered Social Landlord Statistics 2010/11 Rent Levels Like everyone else, the Association has to accept rises in costs and, as our main source of income is from rents this inevitably means an increase in rents. However we are also very aware of the financial burden many of our tenants are facing and therefore we sought to minimise the increase for this year. We are pleased that for the second year running our increase of 4% was less than inflation at the time it was decided upon. After the increase was applied our average weekly rents were: 2apt 3apt 4apt 5apt+ £54.18 £60.48 £69.78 £74.07 Comparison with other local landlords, and particularly with those in our peer group, indicate that our rents continue to remain amongst the lowest, and, through our prompt payment scheme, tenants have the opportunity to reduce their final bill still further. Our Prompt Payment Scheme The Association’s Prompt Payment Scheme paid out to over 350 tenants. The scheme makes a cash payment to tenants who ensure that their rent is paid every month on time. 15
Page 1 and 2: Wishaw & District Housing Associati
Page 3: Chairman’s steadfast commitment,
Page 7 and 8: Living With Neighbours The occasion
Page 9 and 10: Maintenance News Scottish Housing Q
Page 11 and 12: The Cost of Maintenance Works Betwe
Page 13 and 14: People and Communities We believe t
Page 15 and 16: Our Little Patch of Green - Easter
Page 17 and 18: Our capital expenditure this year o
Page 19 and 20: Staff Team Our staff team is now: C

Report 2012 - Wishaw and District Housing Association

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