How did we do this year?
Welcome!
Here is an overview of our performance relating to our finances, homes, communities and customers. An important part of our journey this year has been our rebrand to Livv Housing Group, simplifying our business structure and creating a brand that represents our commitment to being a great housing provider, ensuring our focus is on what matters to you and our values. You, our customer, are truly important to us and key to helping us define our services of the future. We have recruited a ‘Quality and Improvement Panel’ with members from across Knowsley, who will act as champions for other customers and make sure everyone’s voices are heard. We have introduced a new feedback system through which you can help us to shape what our services look and feel like. We want to continuously improve and your input really supports that. The world around us still remains uncertain due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these new challenges, our focus remains on homes and services in our communities. We are committed to delivering great services, creating positive impact and enabling local communities to flourish.
£ 2,714,559
of additional income secured for customer
16,029
customer support calls
392
people supported into good jobs
1,782
people supported into training
5,076
home visits to help people stay safe and independent
1,433
people supported to improve their wellbeing through community investment projects
20
young people recruited to our apprenticeship programme
118
young people supported into other apprenticeships, employment and education opportunities
244
people supported to access education
869
people supported with digital access skills
43
young people supported to improve their well being
1,103
customers supported to resolve problems with anti-social behaviours
£ 6,000
donated to local charitable organisations
107
businesses supported to start up / grow
2,853
customers supported with benefit advice
421
hours of employee volunteering
290
young people involved in social action projects
46
community activities delivered
68
weekly activities in community centres
2,860
food hampers delivered
360
fruit and veg boxes delivered
105
people supported into their home from hospital
1,834
hours of volunteering
880
customers received tailored advice and support
1,302
welfare calls made to our vulnerable customers
£ 5,000
grant for Knowsley Kitchen
Our commitment to you:
Investing
£ 70m
into our homes
Delivering
300*
new homes every year over the next three years
Spent
£ 5,471,000
on major repairs in our properties
Built
55
new homes and have 203 new homes in construction
Invested
£ 4.8m
on existing properties
£ 15,065,000
on routine maintenance in our homes
£ 793,000
in our supported housing and housing for older people
Invested
£ 11.7m
in new properties
£ 288,000
on repairs in our supported housing and housing for older people
269
furniture packages provided
1,575
metres of new fencing installed
294
customers benefitting from the installation of home adaptations
197
customers provided with specialist tenancy support
245
electrical wires provided
925
boilers replaced/ updated
953
homes let to new customers
310
front doors installed
Over
13,000
Gas safety checks 100% compliant as of 31st March 2020
Almost
3,000
Electrical installation safety checks
Completed over
31,000
Compliance safety visits to residential and communal properties
97.8%
Customer satisfaction with housing services
403
Formal customer complaints – we welcome feedback and your input helps us to improve our service
39,172
Calls to our contact centre
8,105
Live chats through our website
Your feedback is helping shape our services. Check out the “You Said, We Did” section of our website.
Falling behind on payments
In this session, customers gave us feedback on what it’s like to fall behind on payments, and offered their thoughts on our processes.
We changed the terminology from arrears to debt, as you said it could be intimidating. We cancelled the service for automated voice calls; our own income team now make calls and send text messages directly to customers. We amended our letters, broadened the types of support we offer and changed the time our teams get in touch to match customers’ availability.
Complaints policy
You fedback that our complaints process is too complicated and takes too long. You also wanted the option to speak to our Directors or have a video call with the panel.
We are changing our policy so that it’s easier for our customers and reducing our response time from 15 days to 10 days. As part of this, the complaint stages are being reduced from five to three. We now offer the option to speak with a director or video call with our panel. Once social distancing restrictions are lifted we will add the option for face-to-face meetings.
Accessibility
You told us that parts of our website were unsuitable for customers with sight loss.
We have worked with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) to make improvements to our Livv Housing Group website. These changes mean our site now works better with screen readers, is easier to navigate and displays well when enlarged. We are committed to continually improving the accessibility of our website.
Turnover:
Actual 2018/2019
Actual 2019/2020
£68,231,000
£64,988,000
Operating surplus:
Actual 2018/2019
Actual 2019/2020
£14,440,000
£15,088,000
Surplus after tax:
Actual 2018/2019
Actual 2019/2020
£3,302,000
£7,749,000