DearTenants,Welcome to your2008/09 AnnualHousing Report.

In this report, we have includeddetails of how Winchester City

Council, yourlandlord, hasperformed in theyear to 31 March2009. We hopeyou find theinformation useful.

Key AchievementsThe year has been dominated by theDecent Homes programme, which weare committed to completing by 2010.Key achievements last year included:

� Decent Homes – Only 15properties (0.3%) now remainclassified as “Non Decent”. Thesehomes will be brought up to theGovernment’s standard by March2010 - a year ahead of schedule.

� Empty Properties – were re-letwithin 42 days (on average)compared with 53 days in2007/08. “General Needs”properties were re-let within anaverage of 26 days, althoughSheltered properties took longer,averaging 56 days. This is asignificant improvement onprevious years, although we planto reduce this further.

� Rent Arrears – were 1.08% of allrent collected in March 2008. Thisexcellent performance remainsone of the best in the country andreflects the very good payment

records of tenants across thedistrict – thank you!

� Tenants Compact – Theagreement between the Counciland tenants ensuring that a rangeof opportunities for tenants to beinvolved in setting servicestandards, agreeing priorities andmonitoring performance wasreviewed and updated.

� Tenants Satisfaction –Satisfaction with Housing servicesincreased from 82% in 2007 to86% in 2009. Satisfaction withSheltered Housing was evenhigher, at 91%.

The Coming YearThe Council is facing significantfinancial pressures this year and asannounced in the March edition of onthe house a number of elements withinthe Repairs programme have beensuspended until further notice,including internal decoration, externalpainting, kitchen replacements andwindow replacements.

Essential “Decent Homes” work willcontinue. Despite this pressure ofservices to tenants, the Council iscommitted to ensuring that all otherLandlord Services are maintained andimproved where possible. We aregrateful for the understanding andsupport from all tenants’ groupsconsulted on these pressures, and arecommitted to lobbying Government toensure a fair settlement for Winchesteron the current review of nationalhousing finance. Ongoing priorities forthis year include:

Decent Homes – all properties will bebrought up to this standard by March2010 whilst ensuring all that arecurrently “Decent” are at leastmaintained at that standard.

Housing Options – The Council will becompleting a review of futuremanagement options in light of thelatest Government announcements onthe future funding of Council housingand potential for Councils to build newhomes once more. Further informationwill be published in future editions ofon the house.

Sheltered Housing and Extra Care –The Council is currently modernising itssheltered housing provision to ensurethese tenants receive a consistent levelof high quality support. We are alsoplanning to adapt one scheme toprovide additional “Extra Care” homes,providing elderly residents with extracare and support whilst allowing themto maintain independent living.

Resident Involvement – As part ofthe Tenants’ Compact, the Council iscommitted to extending residentinvolvement to ensure there are moreopportunities for tenants to getinvolved as and when they wish. Thiswill include new tenant groups inareas not represented currently such asBishops Waltham and Wickham, moreestate walkabouts and focus groups onkey issues important to tenants.

The next two pages contain generalinformation on our performance overthe last year which we hope will be ofinterest to you.

If you feel anything is missing from thereport, please let us know and we willtry to include it in future years.

Cllr Tony Coates

Richard Botham

page i

Richard Botham,Head of LandlordServices

Cllr Tony Coates,Portfolio Holderfor Housing

LANDLORD SERVICES annual report 2008/09

LANDLORD SERVICES annual report 2008/09

page ii

Performance

Last year’s figures are inbrackets for your interest

0 500 1000 1500 2000 0 20 40 60 80 100

0 50 100 150 200 2500 30 60 90 120 150

Our housing stockOn 31st March 2009 we owned and managed 5,076(5,109) properties for rent. The breakdown is as follows:

Bedsits 79 (98)

4+ bedroom 53 (57)

1 bedroom 1618 (1614)

2 bedroom 1685 (1695)

3 bedroom 1641 (1645)

RentsDuring the year we collected a total of £20.7 (£19.4)million in rent and service charges. The average rentincrease for 2008/09 was 6.5% (5%) for existing tenants.

Bedsits £55.34 (£50.35)

1 bedroom £64.48 (£59.30)

2 bedroom £74.60 (£68.92)

3 bedroom £86.39 (£80.82)

4+ bedroom £94.05 (£88.52)

The total cost of landlordservices for 2008/09 was£21,590,000 (£19,950.000)broken down as follows:

Sheltered Housing£1,191,000

Subsidy Paymentto Govt. £8,429,000

Note: Average rents are actual rents charged in the lastchargeable week in March 2009 and include rents fortenancies which started after April 2008 where theformula rent applies. This explains the average increasebeing more than 6.5%

Mutual Exchange 69 (65)

Joint Tenancy to Sole 0 (0)

Succession 4 (0)

Transfer 116 (135)

Waiting list 178 (206)

Other 2 (3)

Temporary moves 3 (2)

Bedsit 10 (19)

1 Bed Flat 118 (109)

2 Bed Flat 65 (89)

3 Bed Flat 1 (2)

1 Bed House 51 (46)

2 Bed House 48 (65)

3 Bed House 75 (79)

4 Bed House 3 (2)

5 Bed House 1 (0)

landlord services cost 2008/09

LettingsThe 372 (411) lettings were made to the following typesof property:

The 372 (411) lettings for the year can be broken downinto the following categories:

LANDLORD SERVICES annual report 2008/09

page iii

Major works

Rent CollectionProportion of rent collected (% of total income)

98.92%(99.25%)

Proportion of tenants in arrears1.86%

(1.92%)

No. of tenants with arrearsgreater than £200 at March 2009

292 (225)

No. of tenants with arrears greaterthan £1000 at March 2009

58 (39)

Evictions due to rent arrears9

(12)

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000

Call out 1065 (1143)Kitchen and bathroom 156 (346) £0.65m (£1.17m)modernisations

Heating and insulation 392 (372) £0.9m (£0.57m)upgrades

Door and window 218 (297) £0.11m (£0.24m)replacements

Other works £2.35m (£1.82m)

Emergency 3491 (3839)

Urgent (5 days) 5929 (5883)

Routine (12 days) 3338 (3893)

Routine (30 days) 6260 (6787)

PRIORITY NUMBERNumber Cost

Responsive RepairsDuring the year 20,083 (21,545) repair orders werecompleted in the five main repair priorities. 93%(96%) of this work was completed within target.

Other Key StatisticsStatistics relating to the re-letting of empty properties and otherkey elements of the service are detailed below:

Capital Costs£3,885,000

Tenancy Services£2,275,000

General Repairs & Maintenance(inc. voids) £4,806,000

General Management£1,004,000

Proportion of non-decent council homes0.5%

(0.5%)

Tenants’ satisfaction with overall service 85.7%

(84.0%)

Energy Efficiency of Housing Stock 78

(78)

Proportion of repairs completed on target 93%

(96%)

Proportion of repairs appointments made andkept

99% (100%)

The % of homes with current gas servicingcertificate

99.7%(99.28%)

No. of tenants receiving adaptations524

(397)

Rent lost through dwellings becoming vacant£294,499

(£277,786)

Average re-let time for General Needsproperties (days)

32.61 (37.03)

Average re-let time for Older Persons properties(days)

59.43 (67.6)

Expenditure for major works during the year wasincurred on the following projects:

Our Pledge to YouThe Council is committed tomaintaining the highest standards ofcustomer service and to involvingtenants in all that we do. Last yearLandlord Services was awarded theGovernment's Customer ServiceExcellence Award. Full details of ourcommitment are set out in the firstsection of your Tenants Handbook. Inaddition we aim to meet the followingstandards:

� Respond to letters, faxes andemails within 10 working days,using plain English, giving a namedcontact and telephone number.

� Answer telephone calls within 20seconds or 7 rings stating clearlythe name of the service and theperson’s name answering the call.Answer phone messages will beresponded to by the end of thenext working day.

� Accessibility - Strive to makeservices easily accessible toeveryone who needs them,including access to buildings.Provide information about ourservices through 24-hour webaccess with our telephone lines andreception open from 8 am - 5pmMonday to Friday.

� Reception Areas will be wellsignposted, clean, tidy andcomfortable, with a play area forchildren, including privateinterview facilities available onrequest. Reception staff will be welltrained, welcoming andapproachable and deal withvisitors' enquiries efficiently and asquickly as possible.

� We will make an appointmentwhen making visits to a customer'shome or property, and contact youif we are delayed whereverpossible. We will show an

identification card and whereverpossible let you know what follow-up action you can expect.

� Putting things right - We willpublicise our complaints leafletwhich sets out the procedures andwill try to deal with the complainton the spot. Otherwise we willrespond within 10 working daysand wherever possible find anacceptable remedy and strive toimplement positive suggestions.

In ReturnWe expect our staff to be treated withcourtesy and politeness by you, yourcolleagues or others to whom weprovide services.

Your ViewsThis is your housing service and yourviews on all matters concerningLandlord Services are always welcome.The feedback we receive helps toprovide an even better service for you.If you wish to:

� Make your views known - pleasespeak to an officer in LandlordServices, or contact your localcouncillor.

� Make a complaint - write initially toRichard Botham, Head of LandlordServices. If his reply is notsatisfactory, contact your localcouncillor.

� Ask for more information on anyhousing matter, ring LandlordServices on 01962 840 222, orwrite to:

Richard Botham

Head of Landlord Services

Winchester City Council

Colebrook Street

Winchester

Hampshire. SO23 9LJ

page iv

ComplaintsBetween April 2008 and March 2009, the Council’s Landlord Servicesdivision recorded 429 (499) formal complaints about the services itprovides. Of these, 346 (421) related to the Repairs service and theremainder were in relation to general estate management andtenancy issues.

Repairs – Of the 346 (421) complaints recorded, 149 were made viareturned customer care cards. The remainder were received by phone,letter or in person. The Council paid for 23,159 repair jobs in 2008/09,so the level of complaints related to less than 1.49% of all paid jobs.The complaints were all reviewed with the contractors and have made a very positive impact on improving this service over the last year.

Other Complaints – Of the 83 (78) other formal complaints received, 4 (1) have been referred to the Local Government Ombudsman althoughhe has yet to make a final decision on the matter.

The Council takes complaints about the services it provides veryseriously. We try to deal with all complaints immediately but willotherwise respond within 10 working days and wherever possible findan acceptable remedy and strive to implement positive suggestions.

Now turn the magazine over to read

LANDLORD SERVICES annual report 2008/09