Performance 365
2024
Welcome to our 2023-24 Performance 365 report. Each year we publish our performance figures, so you can see how well (or poorly) we are performing against the standards laid out in the Scottish Social Housing Charter. Last year, our performance was better than the national average in all but one of these standards - and of course we are working to improve on that one!
With the pandemic well behind us now, our services ran as normal last year, but, just like our tenants, we still faced challenges from high inflation and the cost of living crisis. Our rent arrears remain low, and we were delighted with another huge response to our annual rent increase consultation, with over 30% of tenants completing the survey. We understand the need to keep our rents as low as possible, and our Key Tenant Scheme, which remains unique in UK housing and now has even bigger monthly Rent Discounts, saw 85% of our tenants claim theirs last year.
Outcome 01 Equalities
Social landlords perform all aspects of their housing services so that:
- They support the right to adequate housing
- Every tenant and other customer has their individual needs and rights recognised, is treated fairly and with respect, and receives fair access to housing and housing services.
Our new equalities monitoring tool is now anonymously recording equalities for tenants. This allows us to plan for tenant needs, while still respecting the tenant's privacy if they prefer not to share certain details with staff.
We are: Happy to Translate
Our Offices are: Wheelchair Accessible and have Induction Loop technology
elha.com and My Home are: ReadSpeaker enabled and My Home can be customised for High Contrast.
Ethnic breakdown of new tenants
- Percentage of new tenants with a disability 18%
- Medical adaptations completed 32
- Medical transfers 5
Outcome 02 Communication
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We also overhauled our telephony systems, and introduced new live help software during 2023-24.
Social landlords manage their businesses so that:
"Tenants and other customers find it easy to communicate with their landlord and get the information they need about their landlord, how and why it makes decisions and the services it provides."
- Tenants with a My Home account 1216
- Paper Free tenants 1169
- Visits to My Home & elha.com 134,522
- Complaints received 103
- Praise received 589
"Tenants and other customers are offered a range of opportunities that make it easy for them to participate in, and influence their landlords decisions at a level they feel comfortable with."
This year:
- Our TIG completed a scrutiny project, looking at satisfaction with new build homes, and the defects process.
- 31.5% of our tenants took part in the annual Rent Increase consultation, and we received over 1,000 repair satisfaction surveys over the year.
- Our TIG tenants took two site visits to the new build developments at Hardgate Court in Haddington and Pikemen Crescent in Dunbar.
- TIG-Web are testing new Rent Collector features.
Outcome 04 Quality of Housing
Social landlords manage their businesses so that:
"Tenants homes, as a minimum, when they are allocated are always clean, tidy and in a good state of repair, meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS), and any other building quality standard in place throughout the tenancy; and also meet the relevant Energy Efficiency and Zero Emission Heat Standard."
- New tenants satisfied with the condition of their home 81%
- Number of applicants who refused a property after viewing it 1
- Number of properties with a gas supply 1005
- Percentage of gas supplies serviced 100%
- Number of forced entries for gas serving 119
- Percentage of homes which meet the SHQS 97%
- Percentage of homes which meet the EESSH 99%
Outcome 05 Repairs, Maintenance & Improvements
Repairs and maintenance staff have worked hard to catch up with work delayed by pandemic restrictions.
"Social landlords manage their businesses so that tenants homes are well maintained, with repairs and improvements carried out when required, and tenants are given reasonable choices about when work is done."
- Number of emergency repairs completed 248
- Number of non-emergency repairs completed 2,735
- Average time to complete repairs 5.74 days
- Average time to complete emergency repairs 1h 25min
- Repairs completed right first time 94%
- New kitchens installed 66
- New bathrooms installed 27
- New heating systems installed 25
- Repainted properties 130
Outcome 06 Estate Management, Antisocial Behaviour, Neighbour Nuisance & Tenancy Disputes
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On the whole, tenants are very satisfied with where they live. We offer transfer priority to our tenants and manage a joint exchange list with East Lothian Council for tenants who would like to move somewhere else.
"Social landlords, working in partnership with other agencies, help to ensure as far as reasonably possible that tenants and other customers live in well-maintained neighbourhoods where they feel safe."
How satisfied are you with where you live?
| Percentage very or fairly satisfied | |
|---|---|
| Athelstaneford | 100% |
| Bolton | 100% |
| Cockenzie | 100% |
| Dirleton | 100% |
| Dunbar | 95% |
| East Linton | 100% |
| East Saltoun | 100% |
| Garvald | 100% |
| Gifford | 93% |
| Gullane | 90% |
| Haddington | 90% |
| Musselburgh | 94% |
| North Berwick | 100% |
| Ormiston | 97% |
| Pencaitland | 100% |
| Port Seton | 100% |
| Prestonpans | 97% |
| Stenton | 100% |
| Tranent | 94% |
| Wallyford | 100% |
| Whitecraig | 82% |
- Number of Neighbour Complaints resolved 146
- Neighbour Complaint cases resolved in target 72%
- Number of ELHA tenants with an ASBO 1
Outcome 07, 08 & 09 Housing Options
Social landlords work together to ensure that:
- People looking for housing get information that helps them make informed choices and decisions about the range of housing options available to them.
- Tenants and people on housing lists can review their housing options.
We offered 51% of our available properties (54) to applicants on East Lothian Council's homelessness list. In 6 cases, ELC did not have any suitable applicants and the home went to a household with another level of priority.
"Social landlords have a role to prevent homelessness and should ensure that people at risk of losing their homes get advice and information on preventing homelessness."
- Number of households registered for housing 3669
- Number of new tenancies from relets 78
- Number of new tenancies from new builds 27
- Homeless families housed 48
| 1 Bedroom | 2 Bedrooms | 3 Bedrooms | 4+ Bedrooms | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2 | 21 | 14 | 2 |
| Flats | 11 | 39 | 1 | 0 |
| Sheltered / Amenity | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wheelchair / Medically Adapted | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Outcome 10 Access to Social Housing
The other new tenancy is a Short Scottish Secure Tenancy given to a tenant who ended her tenancy, but then experienced a delay in being able to move into her new home. We agreed to allow her to stay in the property for a short period of time to resolve the situation.
"Social landlords ensure that people looking for housing find it easy to apply for the widest choice of social housing available and get the information they need on how the landlord allocates homes and on their prospects of being housed."
New tenants
Outcome 11 Tenancy Sustainment
Our new Money & Home Energy Adviser joined us at the end of the year, so was just getting started at the year end, which is why there were no gains. We are certain 2024-25 will have plenty to report!
"Social landlords ensure that tenants get the information they need on how to obtain support to remain in their home; and ensure suitable support is available, including services provided directly by the landlord and by other organisations."
- Referrals to Money Advice 22
- Gains from Money Advice 0
- Percentage of new tenants still tenants 12 months later 92%
- Number of abandoned properties 0
- Number of decorating packs issued 80
Outcome 13 Value for Money
For much of the year, we did not have an in-house money adviser, and had to refer tenants to external agencies, e.g. CAB, Changeworks, etc. We do now have an Adviser in place, and tenants can get in touch via My Home or by contacting their Housing Officer.
"Social landlords manage all aspects of their businesses so that tenants, owners and other customers receive services that provide continually improving value for the rent and other charges they pay."
- Tenants in arrears helped by the Money Advisor N/A
- Reduction in rent arrears for Money Advice cases N/A
- Average time taken to relet empty homes 18 days
- Rent lost on properties relet this year £36,363
- Percentage of rent lost on empty homes 0.45%
Outcome 14 & 15 Rents & Service Charges
Eviction is always the last resort for us. Our preference is always to work with the tenant to resolve rent arrears, but in some cases it is the only option left to us. We are a non-profit organisation, and we can only continue to provide services if tenants pay their rent.
- Rent arrears £217,366
- Arrears as a percentage of our rental income 2.69%
- Court actions raised for rent arrears 9
- Evictions for rent arrears 2
"Social landlords set rents and service charges in consultation with their tenants and other customers so that a balance is struck between the level of services provided, the cost of the services, and how far current and prospective tenants and service users can afford them "
"Tenants get clear information on how rent and other money is spent, including any details of individual items of expenditure above thresholds agreed between landlords and tenants."