Repairs & Improvements

Improvement works

Information about HFI's improvement works

Homes for Islington (HFI) started in April 2004. One of the main purposes of HFI was to make sure that all its housing stock met the Government's decent homes criteria by the target date of December 2010. The Council and HFI have secured an additional £176m to help achieve this and commenced a £620m programme in 2004.

HFI have set a standard above the decent homes standard, particularly in relation to renewing kitchens and bathrooms and will renew all kitchens which are over 30 years old and all bathrooms over 40 years old.

In 2004 38% of the tenanted stock met the decent homes standard. As at April 2010 this had been increased to 95% and we are on target to meet the standard by 2010.

Decent Homes progress

% homes meeting Decent Homes standard
	2004/5	2005/6	2006/7	2007/8	2008/9	2009/10	2010/11
Original projection	38	42	50	60	75	95	100
Actual/(projected)	45	51	55	60	75	95	(100)

Since April 2004 HFI have commenced programmes to deliver:

• 14,000 kitchens
• 9,000 bathrooms
• 16,000 electrical improvements
• 14,000 mechanical improvements
• 8,400 window renewals/improvements
• 5,600 properties benefiting from new/ improved roofs

There are also indicative programmes of work for 2010/11.

From April 2004 to April 2010 HFI have spent £495m and will be spending a further £125m up to 2011.

As well as spending money to meet the decent homes standard, money is also spent on other areas of work which are outside the decent homes standard but are priority areas for investment, such as lift improvements and security improvements.

Delivering the work

The 2010/11 programme is being delivered by 4 constructors under partnering arrangements.

• Apollo London Ltd
• Balfour Beatty Construction Ltd
• Kier Islington Ltd
• Mulalley & Company Ltd

In the past each job had to be separately tendered and the lowest price accepted, this meant that there was a lot of work and time spent on doing this and a lot of contractors were used with varying degrees of customer satisfaction. Under the 'Partnering' arrangements we have constructors who have been involved in a lengthy selection process, which included local residents. These contractors have been selected based on not only a competitive price but also how they will deliver a consistently high level of work and liase and consult with our residents with the aim of delivering a high quality service to our residents.

By working with these constructors we aim to deliver

- a quicker and smoother delivery of works
- works are carried out consistently to the agreed standard
- a strong working relationship with each constructor
- involve residents in decisions
- higher customer satisfaction

Consultation

All residents due to receive improvement work will receive a copy of the ‘Getting it Right’ booklet before any works start. This will tell you what to expect before works start, during works and after works are completed. It will also give information for leaseholders. Please keep this safe so that you can refer to it during the various stages of the work programme. The booklet will also include a form for you to complete and return which will help us get more information about the condition of your home.

Resident satisfaction

After each job is completed, all residents are contacted by an independent research company (Kwest) to get resident views on how the job went. This includes consultation, the work itself and the way the work was done.

In 2008/9 over 4670 residents were invited to give their views and 31% responded. The results of the survey showed that 91% were satisfied with the way HFI delivered the work and 91% with the way the Constructor delivered the work.

Residents have expressed improvements in satisfaction levels since 2003/4 as illustrated in the following tables: