Welcome to Housing Matters

When the lockdown started last March, none of us, if we are really honest, expected the Covid-19 restrictions to last more than a year. In that time the world has changed and the post-pandemic normal - when it comes - will be different to 2019.

We had to review the priorities identified in our 2019-2023 Corporate Strategy and the short-term plans we adopted last April, immediately after the pandemic started. It was time to take a slightly longer-term vision. In November the Broadland Board adopted and agreed a new interim strategy. You can download it here. Later this year, subject to the state of the pandemic, we hope to be consulting our tenants, staff and stakeholders on a new 4-year Corporate Strategy, for the Board to agree in November 2021.

Restricted services

In the meantime, as the pandemic continues, we continue to run a restricted service. We are encouraging our tenants to engage with us via Tenants Online, and we are using Microsoft Teams or a telephone call instead of face-to-face meetings, unless these can be done in a Covid-secure way. Longer term, we continue to develop Tenants Online and once we are beyond the pandemic restrictions, tenants will be able to schedule their own repair visits.

On the maintenance side, we are focusing on emergency and urgent repairs, gas compliance and health and safety checks. We are hoping to resume a full maintenance service, including routine repairs and planned maintenance works (kitchens and bathrooms) when it is safe to do so – in March or April – and we will make every effort to catch up with the backlog then. Meanwhile we are asking tenants to report routine repairs on Tenants Online if possible, so it will be easier to schedule the backlog.

Supporting tenants

Supporting tenants is a really important focus for us, especially with the uncertainty of the pandemic. Tenancy failures are really bad news and it is much better for tenants and for us if they are given time to sort out their finances. We are maintaining our strategy of not evicting tenants for arrears if they are actively engaging with us. Investing our energies in helping people stay in their homes is a vital part of what we do.

Another priority is to continue undertaking stock condition surveys and maintaining our compliance with the Decent Homes Standard. There is also new legislation coming on building safety, learning the lessons from the disaster at Grenfell. We need to make sure that we are ready and that we can comply.

Tackling fuel poverty is another important priority for us, so that people on low incomes can live comfortably in their homes. We need to carry on investing in energy efficiency measures in our properties. By 2050 our housing stock should be carbon neutral.

Tackling homelessness in the East

During the pandemic we have been working closely with our local authorities and other partners to tackle rough sleeping. We have some exciting projects in King’s Lynn, Norwich and Great Yarmouth to provide new homes for people who are homeless and people leaving prison. We are active members of the new Norfolk Strategic Housing Partnership. This group comprises all the local authorities in the county, together with health, police, probation services and two other housing associations. The vision of this group is to eradicate homelessness in Norfolk, starting with rough sleeping.

As a member of Homes for Cathy, we organise regional events and workshops. It has been fantastic that during the pandemic these have kept going on Zoom and Teams. We're having great engagement from a wide variety of social landlords across the east of England. Recently we welcomed over 30 people to a 2-hour workshop with Your Own Place, a community initiative to help people sustain their tendencies by having the right knowledge and skills to live independently.

Building new homes

The reality is that a huge number of people are in housing need: rough sleepers are just the tip of the iceberg. There are millions of people living in very poor conditions, living in overcrowded accommodation, sofa surfing or in a property where they are experiencing domestic abuse or with huge insecurity as to whether they will lose their home soon. The list goes on.

It is really important that we build more new homes to help meet housing needs. We want to be able to rent out more homes to people as well as selling shared ownership homes to people who can afford to be on the property ladder, but can only do it with some help. To do this, as Government grants are not high enough, we have to build other properties for sale, reinvesting the profits into making the new affordable homes financially viable for us. Our aim is to build 599 new, environmentally sustainable, affordable homes by April 2025, including 80 in the 2021-2022 financial year. (See Broadland’s new mixed-tenure developments at Binham and Edgefield, Norfolk below).