Report 2012 - Wishaw and District Housing Association

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16 Managing Tenancies continued... Rental Income Last year the Association had an annual rental income of £3,160,921, the breakdown of sources being: Rent paid via housing benefit £1,628,516 51.52% Rent paid directly by tenants £1,402,297 44.36% Sharing owners’ occupancy charges £129,266 4.09% Garage rents £842 0.03% Rent Collection Last year we collected 97.6% of all rent due and our arrears performance continues to be comparable with that of other social sector landlords: Average rent arrears of the sector* 3.2% Average rent arrears of our ‘Peer Group’ of similar size and type landlords* 3.6% WDHA rent arrears target 3% WDHA actual rent arrears 2.4% *Based on Registered Social Landlord Statistics 2010/11 Unfortunately we had to take legal action against 46 tenants, and take nine cases to court seeking repossession. Despite being given every assistance one household failed to maintain repayment arrangements and very sadly we carried out one eviction. Estate Management Happily, the vast majority of our residents continue to take a pride in their homes, gardens and living environment and help to make our estates pleasant and attractive places to live, and we wish to help this majority by encouraging the minority who do not appear to share this aim. Last year one tenant was issued with a legal notice because of the unacceptable condition of their property. We are delighted that they worked with us to make the improvements required to bring their property back to an acceptable standard.
Living With Neighbours The occasional thoughtlessness of a few residents inevitably causes distress to their neighbours, and last year we received complaints about twenty of our tenants. However, it is important to note that we manage over 1,500 dwellings so those residents that do display anti-social behaviour are very much in the minority, at around 1.3%. Additionally, virtually all of these complaints were of a relatively minor nature and most were resolved quickly and amicably. We are committed to keeping a zero tolerance approach to anti-social behaviour and last year we issued notices to five tenants advising that legal action would be taken against them if their behaviour did not improve. To demonstrate our support for residents that do suffer from the behaviour of others, we once again renewed our agreement with North Lanarkshire Council who provide advice and practical assistance outwith office hours. Leases and Partnership Working Women’s Aid The Association has been working with Women’s Aid for almost five years and continues to lease two flats to their organisation. This partnership has allowed the Association to assist Women’s Aid to support vulnerable women and their children to leave a violent situation by providing them with a safe haven until they are ready to start their new life in accommodation of their own. NLC’s Homeless Service The Association has been working in partnership with North Lanarkshire Council to assist them meet their legal obligation to homeless households. We currently lease one property to the Council for temporary accommodation and we are exploring ways to extend this much needed provision. Sustaining Tenancies – Other Social Landlords We continue to look at new ways we can work with other organisations and agencies to provide much needed support services to vulnerable tenants. We are currently working with partner social landlords to explore the possibility of a tenancy sustainment project that will offer intensive, tailored support to tenants struggling to maintain their tenancy. Ownership Matters Property Management Service We continue to look at opportunities to improve and expand the services we offer to the 527 owners that reside in our areas. We are pleased to note that our efforts seem to be being recognised and more owners are co-operating with the Association. In particular, the timeous payment of property management invoices has improved and formal debt recovery action has only been required in a very small number of cases. However we did refer fourteen owners to a debt collection agency and two wage arrestment actions were taken after court decrees were obtained. Right to Buy Sales During the year just two properties were sold under the old rules governing Right to Buy. The Association successfully applied for a ten year extension to the suspension of the Modernised Right to Buy which was due to expire in September of this year. This will assist us to protect our stock for future generations who wish to rent. Shared Ownership As a result of a further three sharing owners buying the remainder of their property and two recent ‘buybacks’ on the open market for relet as fully rented properties, the Association now has only 63 properties on the shared ownership tenure. The conveyancing of the three properties bought by their occupiers was all carried out within the target timescale of 90 days, taking an average of 78 days to complete. 17
Page 1 and 2: Wishaw & District Housing Associati
Page 3 and 4: Chairman’s steadfast commitment,
Page 5: Managing Tenancies Common Housing R
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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