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 2008 this had been increased to 60% 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:

• 7499 kitchens
• 4864 bathrooms
• 8273 electrical improvements
• 6110 mechanical improvements
• 4930 window renewals/ improvements
• 4770 properties benefiting from new/ improved roofs

The 2007-9 programme has been agreed and it is estimated that this will deliver the following:

• 3197 kitchens
• 1911 bathrooms
• 4517 electrical improvements
• 3386 mechanical improvements
• 1771 window renewals/ improvements

There are also indicative programmes of work for 2009/10 and 2010/11 and annual programmes to improve street properties from 2007 to 2011.

From April 2004 to March 2008 HFI have spent £320m and will be spending a further £300m 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 and invest £4.5m per year on these initiatives.

Delivering the work

The 2007/8/9 programme is being delivered by 6 constructors under partnering arrangements.

• Apollo London Ltd
• Balfour Beatty Construction Ltd
• Kier Islington Ltd
• Mansell plc
• Mulalley & Company Ltd
• Murphy Group

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 2007/08 over 2500 residents were invited to give their views and 37 % responded. The results of the 2007/08 survey showed that 91% were satisfied with the way HFI delivered the work and 91% with the way the Constructor delivered the work. The levels of ‘very satisfied’ respondents has also increased, with 51% of respondents saying they were ‘very satisfied’ with the way HFI delivered the work and 54% of respondents saying they were ‘very satisfied’ with the way the Constructor delivered the work.

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

 

Homes for Islington want to increase satisfaction levels, and want as many residents as possible to be not just ‘satisfied’ with the work but ‘very satisfied’, and we will be looking to improve on these results over the coming programmes. Please spare a few minutes to complete the survey if you are asked, as this will help us improve our service to you.