Home
These are the performance indicators for the regulator’s ‘home’ standards.
| Performance measure | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | Target 2022-23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average days to complete a responsive repair | 15.8 | 11.57 | - |
| Percentage of repair appointments kept | 89.84% | 88.41 | >=95% |
| Percentage of residents satisfied with last repair | 81.21% | 84.27 |
|
| Percentage of homes with a valid Landlord’s Gas Safety Certificate | 96.37% | 99.91 | 100% |
| Tenant satisfaction measure | 2023-24 |
|---|---|
| Tenants - satisfaction with repairs service over last 12 months | 62.34% |
| Tenants - satisfaction with time taken to complete most recent repair | 63.10% |
|
Tenants - satisfaction that Kensington & Chelsea provides a home that's well maintained |
63.96% |
Tenants - satisfaction that Kensington & Chelsea provides a home that's safe to live in |
66.83% |
How we are doing and what we need to work on
Earlier this year we completed the first of our newly built blocks, Kelso Cochrane House, which contains 38 new homes (28 at social rent and 10 at intermediate rent for key workers). It will also have a medical centre and supermarket for the local community.
We completed our Hewer Street scheme in September 2023. This development contains 20 flats, including 10 for key workers.
Work is underway on another three schemes at Silchester Arches, Acklam Road and Barlby Road. Acklam Road is due to be completed this year and offers 20 social rent homes alongside 12 market rent homes and community facilities. Four of these homes will be fully accessible wheelchair homes.
Silchester Arches which is due to complete at the start of next year offers 11 social rent homes and Barlby will provide 83 new homes – 38 for social rent and 10 for key workers. The remainder will be for market rent. The scheme also includes a brand new purpose-built sports centre.
Find more information about our new homes.
Repairs
We recognise that overall satisfaction with the repairs service last year could have been stronger, but we were encouraged to see from the surveys we send out after each repair that ‘resident satisfaction with their last repair’ rose to 84.27%. Also, the average days to complete a responsive repair reduced by four days.
We have been working hard to over the past year to clear the backlog of outstanding jobs and are now in a better position to address new repairs. We have streamlined the way jobs come through to the planning team creating better ownership of work, and helping managers to supervise more effectively and efficiently. We are also evolving the system and our reporting to enable us to spot trends and take preventative measures before the need to simply react.
In 2023-2024 we moved the majority of our agency staff onto permanent contracts which has improved ownership and accountability. An area of improvement we are currently working on is our communication with residents and the information we give them when initial appointments are booked or if an operative needs to re-attend their property. We have already started to use ‘what happens next’ cards and providing written copies of surveyor/supervisor assessments/inspections. We believe improving our communication will help us build better a relationship with our residents.
Capital Works programme
In 2023/2024, we invested £75m in our Capital Works Programme. The projects carried out by the team are large scale refurbishment and redecoration work, to provide our residents with warm, safe, and modern homes.
The programme’s work in 2023/2024 included:
- replacing 1,635 windows with double glazing - reducing residents’ heating bills, and improving energy efficiency
- starting a new text wave service for urgent messages and added more digital methods to connect with QR codes, to improve resident liaison
- commencing the improvements at Silchester Estate, the largest project in the programme, which will be delivered over two years
- improving and decorating communal walkways and other shared areas
- replacing and repairing lifts at various locations
- improving communal and emergency lighting in 15 blocks
- replacing communal door entry systems
- replacing fire rated front doors at 774 homes
On the Lancaster West Estate, our programme of work has included:
- 60% of internal refurbishments now being completed
- Treadgold House works are now underway
- works on walkways are now underway
- the Notting Dale Heat Network has been approved
Social value in our Capital Works programme
Whenever we work with a contractor on a large project in our Capital Work programme, we ask them to provide extra benefits for the residents and local community. This is called social value, and it can come in many forms including jobs for local people, free work on communal gardens or playgrounds, or contributions towards events or local charities, to name a few.
This year £248,407 of social value was delivered across the borough, including:
- estate improvement projects
- donations to local schools
- sponsorship of events to promote social cohesion and local culture
- employing residents as Resident Liaison Officers, electricians and trainee surveyors
- providing work experience placements
- providing driver and van support for the North Kensington Community Kitchen
- donations to various local charities such as St. Mary Abbots Rehabilitation and Training (SMART)
- providing Christmas hampers to residents
- sponsoring and organising the 70th Anniversary Event at Henry Dickens Court Estate
Using the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, we managed to secure financial commitments from our Capital Programme contractors for the year ahead, to a total value of £1,800,347.
Asset management
Project Union - to improve efficiency and value in our procurement processes, we have developed a targeted procurement programme to enable better delivery of works and services to our housing stock. This work includes major refurbishments, minor works, retrofit works, adaptations, civil engineering works, extensions, internal fit-out, demolition, groundworks, maintenance, and repairs projects.
Stock condition surveys – we’ve started commissioning surveys to review the condition of all Housing Management properties. We’ll analyse the results to identify the level of investment required to achieve and maintain the government’s Decent Homes standard. This will be used to plan the future cyclical works required to your homes.
Health and safety
In 2023/24 our Health, Safety and Resilience team continued to work with all other housing Management departments/teams to improve health and safety for our residents. For each of the last four years, the team has written to residents ask if they would require help in the event of an emergency, residents who responded were then offered a person centred-fire risk assessment. We shared this information with the London Fire Brigade, so they could identify who would require assistance in the event of a fire or similar emergency.
Gas compliance
The number of homes with a valid Landlord Gas Safety Certificate has risen to 99.91%, with only a handful of properties not checked due to access issues. Servicing of domestic gas heating systems was 99.9%. We had some challenges with the repair of these systems, which has now settled down and through ‘lessons learned’ exercises we are now working to improve the service for next winter.
Aids and adaptations
Last year our Aids and Adaptations team completed 167 major adaptations for residents across the borough. We also carried out several communal projects to improve access to residents’ homes. While some residents are still waiting for their adaptations we are working hard to reduce the waiting list times, and working with Adult Social Care to improve the customer journey. When we complete an adaptation we send residents a satisfaction survey; last year satisfaction was 89%.
Net-zero/sustainability
As part of our commitment to creating more energy-efficient and comfortable homes, we undertook comprehensive ‘Retrofit Assessments’ at over 500 homes, evaluating energy performance, ventilation, and potential moisture risks. We also completed boroughwide rooftop solar panel primary studies. Based on the findings, we’ve developed improvement plans tailored to the specific requirements of each home. In 23/24 we surveyed nearly 700 properties boroughwide, with the purpose of utilising central government grants to improve energy efficiency of our homes under Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.
Through these retrofit plans, residents can expect reduced energy bills through improved insulation and energy efficiency upgrades. Based on the assessments we’ll address moisture issues to reduce the risk of damp and mould, and improve ventilation systems to enhance air quality creating more comfortable living spaces.
In October 2023, we launched two projects focused on sustainable living, ReStore and ReWired. ReStore is about stopping good quality furniture from being thrown away and redistributing it to other local residents. ReWired is a new electrical waste recycling scheme in Notting Dale. We also hosted monthly repair cafes in Notting Dale, diverting over 1254 items and saving 1.5 tonnes of CO2e.
This past year has been hugely successful for our sustainability ventures in working to create a cleaner borough. Activities included:
- saving 10 tonnes of co2 (per year ongoing) through switching to induction hobs and electric ovens and removing gas meters
- launching our Green Skills Academy which trained 66 people across the year
- securing £1,320,000 of Future Neighbourhoods Phase 3 funding, for projects across Notting Dale ward, including solar panels at two sites and garden and sustainable urban drainage projects
- launching our Energy Advice Service, to support residents to reduce their energy usage, emissions and energy costs
- a 16% reduction in emissions on the Lancaster West estate since 2018.