Page 6 - Housing Solutions Annual Report

Members, Executives and Advisors
CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT
This has been a year like
no other. The Covid-19
pandemic undoubtedly
has had a profound impact
on all our lives with far
reaching implications,
and I am proud of how
well Housing Solutions
has responded to the
challenges it presented and continues to present. It
struck in the last quarter of our financial year, and
in this report, we also celebrate all we achieved
before the global crisis took hold. Our response to
the pandemic was founded on some of Housing
Solutions’ key strengths: our close relationship with
our residents, our ability to build local partnerships,
and our committed staff. We’re truly rooted in
the communities we serve. This, along with the
dedication of everyone at Housing Solutions,
enabled us to provide essential services for all our
residents, and in particular more than 800 of the
most vulnerable.
I’d like to thank all our staff for their ongoing
commitment and selfless determination in
overcoming the challenges presented by this
unprecedented event. I’d also like to thank them
for all their work before the pandemic. We’ve made
great strides in so many areas that strengthen us in
the long term.
We continued building new homes, investing £27m
and constructing 203 during the year. These range
from the wonderful supported housing at Brill House
to much needed three-bedroom houses for local
families. We’re committed to providing high quality
affordable homes that people are proud to live in
and have fully funded plans to build more than 500
in the next five years.
As we build and continually upgrade our existing
stock, sustainability is at the forefront of our minds.
Housing has a key role to play in averting another
global crisis, climate change, and we recognise
our responsibility to act in the interests of those
living in our homes now and for future generations.
During the coming year we will bring our passion
and drive for innovation to bear more in this area
as we define our medium and long-term emissions
reduction targets and press on at pace with our
asset management and sustainability strategy.
Thinking and planning for the future does not
detract from our primary responsibility which is to
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16645.02 HS Annual Report 86pp A4 v10.indd 6 10/11/2020
the residents we serve right now. Maintaining their
homes and supporting those who are vulnerable or
struggling financially is always our top priority and is
particularly important during economically turbulent
times. We’re also keen to boost our residents’ ability
to shape the services they receive. That’s why we’re
strengthening their voice and influence by setting up
a leaseholder led residents’ group in addition to our
Resident Service Improvement team. Both will have
direct links to the Board.
As part of our drive to improve our services we’ve
continued to invest in digital innovation, making it
easier for residents to carry out day-to-day tasks.
This also enabled us to move quickly to remote
working during lockdown. I am delighted that in
recognition of our progress we’ve been nominated
as a UKHA finalist in the Innovator of the year:
Technology category.
We’ve continued to improve in other important
areas too. Our residents form a diverse community
and it is vital we understand their diverse needs and
also that we reflect that diversity in our workforce.
With this in mind we established a Diversity and
Inclusion Group in 2019. Towards the end of the
year we ran workshops for all our staff to broaden
their knowledge of the issues and how to play their
part in tackling them. In 2020 we also introduced
Inclusion Champions into the organisation.
The goal is to create a workplace where open and
honest discussions can happen and to make sure
our policies and services are inclusive. Looking
ahead we’ll build on this by creating an inclusion
network with other local organisations and housing
associations. We’ll also explore how to extend this
network to residents and actively take part in events
such as Inclusion Week.
Underpinning all we do is our strong team and
financial position. We’ve maintained our G1 V1 rating
with the Regulator of Social Housing and, for the
fourth year running, our A+ rating with S&P Global
Ratings. We have also enhanced our leadership
team with additional experience and expertise.
I was delighted to welcome two new members to
the executive team, Steven Brookfield as Director
of Housing & Asset Management and David Joyce
as Director of Finance. We also welcomed Nick
Whittaker to the role of Chairman of the Audit and
Risk Committee.
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