Chief Executive's Statement
Last year demonstrated once again that volatility seemed to be the new constant.
The societal and economic scars of the pandemic had barely had chance to heal before instability in the Ukraine, cost of living crisis and a disastrous mini budget last September weakened our economy. These challenges are caused by events way beyond our influence. Our response has to be to hold our nerve, focus on what we can control and remain true to our purpose – to help people who are struggling to find a place to live, to help our customers stay in their homes comfortably, so they can live the life they choose.
At settle this is driven by ensuring we are getting the basics right, being Basically Brilliant, investing in quality homes and neighbourhoods that residents can feel proud to live in. Basically Brilliant is all about getting this right day in and day out – working with residents, demonstrating we have listened and are driving improvement. This might be bringing together customer services and housing support teams into one customer service hub to ensure we respond to queries at the first point of contact or improving standards in the neighbourhoods in which we work. From November we completed actions days that involved half of our colleagues completing 1,365 hours of work in the process.
During the year, our focus on resident engagement has included setting up our Voice of the Resident Panel. From recruitment during the year through to the first full meeting in March. I am delighted that the panel is now in place, made up of ten residents who bring with them a diverse range of experiences and a great deal of enthusiasm for representing all tenants. The panel has decided that they want to work closely with settle colleagues, meeting regularly to discuss, shape and improve our services. We have also continued our Big Door Knock, now in its fifth year, speaking to 939 residents with a focus on how people are coping with the cost of living crisis.
Across the sector we have seen an increase in demand for support with cases related to damp and mould in properties. We remain committed to ensuring that no settle resident lives with ongoing condensation, damp or mould in their home. The Board has ensured that the resources are in place to provide a resolution in all cases, support and practical assistance when needed so that residents can live comfortably in their homes.
Along with repairs, investment in homes is one of the most important services we provide. We delivered as planned our increased spend in this area, on items such as new heating systems, windows, kitchens and bathrooms. We spent £14m, increased from £8.3m in 2021/22 and around £4m in 2020/21. Work on the new settle home standard is also well advanced and I look forward to completing work with residents this year.
The operating margin we recorded for the year was 28%, below the budgeted position of 30%. This is the second year where, in agreement with our Board, we have dipped below the targeted level of 30%. We consciously prioritised increased spend on repairs, increased investment in the quality of neighbourhoods and additional spend to proactively resolve damp and mould issues.
Gavin Cansfield, Chief Executive 20 July 2023
"During the year, our focus on resident engagement has included setting up our Voice of the Resident panel."
We’re driven by getting the basics right – investing in quality homes and neighbourhoods that residents can feel proud to live in.
With external cost and inflationary pressures showing no sign of reducing, we expect to maintain our operating margin at the slightly lower level for the next couple of years, with the target this year agreed with Board at 27%. This is the right thing to do, enabling us to maintain investment in quality homes and neighbourhoods. We know how important this is, and that to cut this investment would only create longer-term problems.
Like others we have been preparing for the introduction of the Tenant Satisfaction Measures. With requirements for data collection beginning from April 2023, I am pleased that we began this early – we published the first set of results gathered from settle residents on our website in November 2022, with ongoing updates available at www.settlegroup.org.uk/tenant-satisfaction-measures.
In a busy year we have also supported:
- Over 50 victims of domestic abuse;
- Over 250 residents in safeguarding and support cases including residents referred to our inhouse neighbourhood and tenancy support services;
- Residents to access free data sim cards – saving customers on average £75;
- The introduction of ‘Pocket Power’ reducing residents’ bills by on average £423;
- 150 residents through our tenancy ready project, supporting new residents with affordability checks;
- 322 residents were supported with 1,074 issues through our inhouse Citizens Advice service – achieving financial outcomes of £415,000; and
- 120 elderly or vulnerable residents to apply for government support with energy costs.
These may often be small interventions, but they all have the potential to transform lives.
Are there reasons to be cheerful? The timely launch of the Better Social Housing Review by the Chartered Institute of Housing and National Housing Federation has helped put us on the front foot and regain our collective voice. We fully support the Review, which chimes with many areas we have been focusing on for some time at settle.
We remain focussed on investing in sustainable homes and made great progress towards this. We ended the year with a successful funding bid to the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund [SHDF] as part of our Greener Herts partnership with B3 Living, Dacorum Borough Council and Watford Community Housing. We have secured over £5m through the SHDF to invest in energy-efficiency improvements in 677 settle homes, with additional measures through our ongoing planned investment programme, such as replacement windows and roofs, enhancing the performance of other properties.
As we close this reporting period, we see the increasing focus on professionalism underpinning the work of the housing sector. This is of fundamental importance for residents who rightly require us to get things right for them. Professionalism ensures we get things right more of the time.
Professionalism is important but it is how we do things that makes the lasting difference. I am proud of our culture at settle and our focus on ensuring we treat residents with respect, care and compassion. That great culture is supported by really strong relationships with our numerous partners and guided by our excellent Board. Whatever challenges we face in 2023/24 I look forward to working with colleagues, the Board, residents and partners to continue delivering the best possible impact for residents.
Our Chair refers to the viability regrade in 2022/23. We know we have a vital role to play at settle, providing quality homes our customers can live in comfortably and increasing the supply of affordable new homes. We continue our focus on this, doing so in a responsible way that ensures we maintain our financial resilience as an organisation. Being V2 and continuing our investment is a balance that we feel is right because it means we are doing the right thing by future and current residents.