Annual Report to Tenants 2012

A guide to housing services

KE NS I N GTO N AND CH ELSEA T EN A N T MAN AG EMEN T ORG AN I SATI ON
ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12

Contents
03 Welcome

04 Introduction
About KCTMO
Why do we produce an annual report?
Local Offers
Service Standards
Customer Feedback

06 Tenant Involvement and Empowerment

Customer Services
Communication
Complaints
Involvement and Empowerment
Understanding and responding to the diverse
needs of tenants

11 Your Home
Quality of Accommodation
Planned and Capital Works
Repairs and Maintenance
Empty Properties
Adaptations

13 Your Tenancy
Allocating homes
Your Rent

16 Your Neighbourhood & Community

Neighbourhood Management
Antisocial Behaviour (ASB)

18 Value for Money

What we spent
Business Change Project

19 Glossary
20 Useful Contacts

2 annual report 2011/12

Welcome
CounCIllor tIMotHY ColerIdGe
Cabinet Member for Housing and property
We are now in a new age for social housing
where the Council has more freedom to raise
money and decide its priorities for spending.
There is a lot of important work ahead so
that we can secure the best possible position
and future for the KCTMO and the residents.
We should look upon these changes with
hope and optimism and as an opportunity to
improve the fabric of our homes and estates
in the years to come. To do this we will
need your support and ideas and we will be
working closely with you to make sure this
happens.
robert blaCk
kensington & Chelsea tMo Chief executive
This Annual Report to Tenants aims to tell
the story of our progress this year and give
updates on our commitments to residents
in the Local Oers. Were proud to have
delivered a range of resident engagement
activities throughout the 2011/12 business
year and are committed to continuing to
listen and ensuring your voices are heard.
Weve worked hard to perform well and reach
our targets across all our housing services,
but we know there is still work to do. Thank
you to residents who have given feedback on
this report and we encourage all residents to
share your views.
0800 137 111 WWW.kCtMo.orG.uk 3
ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12

Introduction
about kCtMo
The Kensington and Chelsea
Tenant Management Organisation
(KCTMO) manage 6880 rentable
homes and over 2500 leasehold
properties on behalf of the Royal
Borough of Kensington & Chelsea.
KCTMO is managed by a Board
of Directors made up of eight
elected tenant and homeowner
members, four Councillor Members
appointed by the Council and
three independent members, who
meet on a regular basis to monitor
how well KCTMO is doing, agree
plans for the future and decide
on policies. Board members are
also involved in committees, sub-
committees, working groups and
panels.
KCTMO residents are
encouraged to become Members.
Members can attend and vote
at the Annual General Meeting,
stand for election as resident Board
members, and attend meetings and
contribute to discussing resident
priorities, plus a range of other
activities shown on our involvement
options below.

4 annual report 2011/12


Why do we produce
an annual report?
The requirement to produce an
Annual Report to Tenants is set out
in the regulatory national standards
for social housing. This report
contains our self-assessment of our
performance during 2011/12 and
should be a key tool in allowing our
tenants to hold KCTMO to account.
Where the information is
available we have shown how
we compare in key areas to our
benchmarking group of 15 London
Arms Length Management
Organisations (ALMOs); where
individual ALMOs have not
provided data for specific areas they
are not included on the comparison
tables.
We use the traffic light icons
below to highlight good or poor
performance.
Top 25%
Average performance
Bottom 25%
Local Offers
The National Standards that we
measure our performance against
are supplemented by Local Offers,
agreed between landlords and
tenants on issues that matter at a
local level. Our Local Offers were
agreed in 2011 and you can view a
full report of our progress against
these offers and our plans for the
future on our website.
kctmo.org.uk
Service Standards
In September 2011 we launched a
new set of Service Standards. Our
Service Standards were developed
in consultation with our Resident
Engagement Panel. They are
Customer Feedback
In July 2012 we met with members
of our Resident Communications
Reading Group to review last years
Annual Report to identify what
residents liked about the report and
what they thought could be improved
on. We also looked at examples of
other providers reports to see if there
were ideas we liked that we could
include in this years publication.
Our panel said:-
We should be honest about
performance
0800 137 111 www.kctmo.org.uk
designed to make sure customers
experience a great housing service,
and to help our staff respond
effectively.
We have set targets against
some of our Service Standards
so that we can measure how
we perform against them. Our
performance against these standards
was measured from April 2012
and we are working with resident
groups during 2012 to agree how
and when we should report on our
performance.
The full set of standards is
available in our reception areas and
on our website.
kctmo.org.uk
We should include more
information on benchmarking
and be clearer about where we
were compared to other similar
organisations
We should include more
information on what we spend our
money on
We should highlight opportunities
for residents to get involved
We should include more
photographs and residents stories.
KCTMOs
involvement
options
5
ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12
tenant Involvement
and empowerment
CustoMer serVICes
The past year has seen a number
of changes that have led to
improvements in customer service
and access.
In early 2011 we implemented a
new telephone system to manage
calls to the call centre to enable us to
more closely monitor call levels and
staffing requirements. As a result our
average call waiting time for the year
fell to 34 seconds, an improvement
on the average 73 seconds customers
were kept waiting in 2010/11. We
also increased the percentage of calls
we answered during the year, 94.8%
compared to 82.7% in the previous
12 months. During the year our call
centre answered 70,523 calls.
As part of the Customer Services
Change programme we carried out a
consultation exercise with you, to find
out more about your experiences of
contacting KCTMO. We did this by
including surveys in the Link, and in
reception areas, at the Get on Board
road shows and at Area Resident
How we compare: average time to
answer an inbound telephone call
(in seconds)
Redbridge Homes 9
Lewisham Homes 11
Sutton Housing Partnership 16
Homes for Islington 19
Brent Housing Partnership 20
KCTMO 34
Tower Hamlets 36
Homes in Havering 37
Barnet Homes 37
Ascham Homes 56
6 annual report 2011/12
Boards. We also held a series of CoMMunICatIon
focus groups to discuss the emerging In the spring of 2012 we launched GO
themes in more depth and these ON UK, our commitment to provide
discussions will inform our key areas 100 hours of training to 100 residents
of development for the coming year. to help them get online. Members
In early 2012 we opened a new of KCTMO staff have volunteered to
office in the south of the borough undertake one to one training with
as part of our plan to improve residents to help them experience the
accessibility and customer service benefits of being online.
to residents who live or work in the During 2011 we refreshed the look
area. Mayor of the Royal Borough of of our Link magazine with the help
Kensington and Chelsea (2011/12), of our Resident Communications
Councillor Julie Mills, officially opened Reading Panel, and joined up with
the new Blantyre Office on 20 March the social networking sites Twitter,
2012. The office provides modern LinkedIn and Flickr.
facilities for residents and staff,
including private interview rooms,
a meeting
room, and
reception
facilities for
residents
to get
advice, book
appointments
and make
enquiries.
Average waiting time (secs): 2010 to 2012
CoMplaInts
In 2010 we undertook a review of
our complaints service following
customer feedback where you said
that we needed to be more responsive
in listening and responding. You said
that our complaints procedure was
not customer focused, the quality
of responses was poor and that we
could be defensive when responding
to complaints. We also identified that
we were not learning from complaints
and that a high number of complaints
were being escalated to Stage 2 due
to customer dissatisfaction with our
initial responses.
In April 2011, following
consultation with the Resident
Engagement Panel, a new complaints
policy and procedure were launched.
All staff dealing with complaints were
fully trained in the new procedure that
focused on fully investigating each
complaint and identifying trends and
underlying reasons for failures.
During the year we answered
284 complaints, an increase of 15
on the previous year. The number
of complaints escalated to Stage 2
decreased by two, with numbers
dropping as the year progressed.
Only one complaint reached the
Appeal stage, compared to 11 in the
previous year, reflecting higher quality
investigations and responses at Stage
Complaints answered per year
1 and 2.
The increase in the number of
Stage 1 complaints can be linked to a
number of factors, including:-
Concerns about the performance of
our repairs service
Communication difficulties
regarding a number of communal
heating failures on our large estates
The requirement on staff to log
all complaints centrally with the
Complaints Team
The new complaints system being
more accessible and transparent,
encouraging residents to use the
service
An increase in complaints about
parking due to the introduction of a
new ticketing contract in advance
of government legislation which
prevents clamping.
The introduction of the new
complaints procedure, whilst
improving the quality of responses,
impacted on the speed of responses.
Our target for the year was to
answer 90% of complaints within
the target of 10 working days (28
days for Appeals) but overall we only
managed to answer 77.2% within
target. This continues to be addressed
through additional staff training and
highlighting specific failures with line
managers.
Stage 1 complaints received per service area
Service Area
Responsive Repairs
Assets and Regeneration (gas, heating, lifts,
engineering and capital works)
Customer Services
Neighbourhoods team - South
Landscape and Environment
Neighbourhoods team - North
Home Ownership
Rents
Strategy and Resident Engagement
Finance
People and Organisational Development
Lancaster West Estate Management Board
Chief Executives Office and Company Secretary
0800 137 111 WWW.kCtMo.orG.uk
Reflecting our
YOU
SAID WE DID
commitment
to listen to our
residents and
learn from our mistakes we made
a number of service improvements
following customer complaints and
feedback. Some are listed below:-
The introduction of a new system
to enable over the telephone rent
payments
An improvement in the
timescales for responding to door
entry system failures
Increases in the number of
gas valves our contractors are
required to store in order to
reduce delays in fixing system
breakdowns
Replacement of the main roofing
and drainage contractor following
persistent service failures
Technical improvements to aid
the reporting of lift breakdowns
The table below shows
the number of new Stage 1
complaints during the year
answered by each team. The
most frequent complaints were
for repairs and maintenance and
customer services. This reflects
the general trend across all
housing providers.
Number %
81 32.9%
51 20.7%
40 16.3%
18 7.3%
15 6.1%
9 3.7%
9 3.7%
7 2.8%
7 2.8%
3 1.2%
3 1.2%
2 0.8%
1 0.4%
7
ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12

InVolVeMent and
eMpoWerMent
Keeping residents at the heart of
what we do is a key objective of
at KCTMO, and for the Resident
Engagement Team this translated
into a key priority of increasing
resident engagement for the year
and ensuring that our involvement
forums reflected the diversity of our
residents.
After working through ideas and

730
suggestions with the KCTMO Board
and the Resident Engagement
Panel, the Get On Board campaign Residents, including
was launched in 2011. The Get On children, attended
Board campaign aims to educate the Get on Board
and encourage residents about the road-shows
various opportunities they have
for getting involved in shaping and
influencing KCTMOs services,
(some of which are shown on the
graphic on page 4).
A major part of the Get On
Board initiative was the programme
of roadshows that were held across
the borough. Sixteen roadshows
were held between July 2011 and
July 2012. These roadshows were
an opportunity for KCTMO to get

114
out into the community and meet
our residents, and to encourage
them to be part of their housing Residents signed
service and show them that their up to become
voice can make a difference. KCTMO members
Weve also been encouraging during the year
all residents to become KCTMO
members and vote in our annual
Board elections or even consider
standing for election themselves in
the future!
Throughout this very busy
year the team also found the time
to support the setting up of four
new Residents Associations and
Compacts at Jean Darling House,
Trellick Tower, Ingelow House
and Burgess Fields. Expressions
of interest for a further 11 groups
are due to be followed up during
summer 2012.

8 annual report 2011/12

 84 Teenagers and children
completed surveys
expressing an interest in
taking part in local youth
activities

200
Residents attended
the Senior Citizens
Annual Party in
January

100 Residents
attended our
annual Residents
Conference

86 Residents took part in

training events, including
DIY repairs, Cook & Taste
and Committee Skills

SEE MORE PHOTOS ONLINE

VIisit us at our Flickr site!
ickr.com/kctmo 88 Residents came to the
AGM held after the
Residents Conference in
September

0800 137 111 WWW.kCtMo.orG.uk 9

 ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12
Understanding and responding to the diverse needs of tenants
During 2010 we carried out the TMO
in Touch survey which, as well as
supplying us with information on how
our customers felt about the services
they were receiving, also increased the
levels of resident profile information
that we held. This data enables us to
ensure that our services are accessible
to all and that our priorities reflect the
needs of our diverse customer base.
We have continued to build on
this database throughout the year,
encouraging residents to provide
this information to us at various
contact points. As a result we have
increased the percentage of tenants
with profile data held by almost 10%
during the year; however, we still have
a way to go to ensure we have a full
understanding of who our tenants are
and this work will continue into 2012,
led by our Equality & Diversity Officer,
David Noble.
David has also become
involved with a number of external
organisations including the Councils
Corporate Equality Group where he
works with Council representatives
to inform and influence the strategic
approach to equality and diversity
across the borough.
Following the publication of
KCTMOs Equality Strategy, a set
Knowing our residents
2010/11
52% resident data on age 61.4% resident data on age
54% resident data on ethnicity 62.3% resident data on ethnicity
Male Female Under 25
41.70% 58.30% 3.2%
* Data relates to the named tenant, not necessarily all people living in the property
10 annual report 2011/12
of performance measures have
been introduced for 2012/13. These
measures include satisfaction with
services, the level of rent arrears,
and residents experiencing antisocial
behaviour. Performance will be
reviewed across the diversity strands
to identify any areas where specific
groups may need additional help and
support.
Supporting the work led by the
Equality & Diversity Officer, during the
year the Resident Engagement Team
also established links with a number
of organisations aimed at specific
resident groups.
Pathways to Progress Youth Project,
offering youth training activities,
mentoring and confidence building
initiatives. 10 young KCTMO residents
are currently taking part in this
project.
The Midaye Project, operating
weekly drop in advice sessions and an
advocacy project. The project provides
advice, support and information to
local Somali residents.
The Al-Hasaniya Moroccan
Womens Project, providing weekly
advocacy services to local residents.
David and the Resident
Engagement Team will be working
jointly with the the Councils
2011/12
25-65 65-85 Over 85 White White
72.3% 21.1% 3.4% British Other
34.5% 19.2%
Worklessness Coordinator during
2012/13 on a project between the
Council and a number of other
housing providers in the borough,
providing advice and support into
training and employment for residents
wanting to get into work.
Our older residents can access the
TMO2YOU Over 50s drop-in service
at our Sheltered Housing Schemes.
The service aims to help residents
remain active and independent
and provides help with identifying
things that our residents may need
assistance with, now or in the future.
We offer residents with language
or communication difficulties help
with accessing our services, such as
translating important documents into
other languages or formats, such as
Braille and audio for residents with
sensory disabilities. In 2011/12 we
spent 2570 providing this kind of
assistance.
To help reduce costs we also
have in-house translators, staff who
are fluent in other languages, who
can attend one to one meetings to
translate for residents. Some of our
staff have also attended courses such
as Deaf Awareness to help them
communicate more effectively with
residents.
Black or Languages Gay,
minority spoken lesbian
ethnic 45 or bisexual
groups 2.5%
46.3%
Your Home
QualItY of
aCCoMModatIon
At March 2012, 370 of our
properties did not meet the
Governments Decent Homes
Standard. The Standard sets out
the minimum housing conditions
that landlords of social housing
should meet it covers areas such
as thermal comfort and the age
and condition of facilities including
bathrooms and kitchens. It is
anticipated that the numbers of
homes becoming non-decent
may increase as maintaining or
achieving decency is dependent
upon the availability of capital
funding investment. We are working
to increase our knowledge of
our homes by carrying out more
property condition surveys. This will
ensure that future capital funding is
spent on areas of need and priority.
A number of our homes fail to reach
the standard as the current residents
have refused to have works done.
the shower has made
a huge dierence to my
life. Its one of those
little things that just
makes life easier. I
am delighted with my
kitchen.
Mary Dean, Resident
planned and CapItal Works
8.5 million was invested in our completed to 36 homes at Nursery
properties during the year through Lane. All residents in the sheltered
our capital programme. This housing scheme had the chance to
work included new kitchens and have their kitchen and bathroom
bathrooms, fire resistant doors, lift improved as part of the six month
refurbishments, external repairs, project. They were given a choice of
communal and individual heating the colours and designs, and their
boilers, electrical rewiring, water new bathrooms were fitted with level
tanks and structural repairs. access showers. The residents were
Included in the programme were so pleased with the results they held
improvements to 200 homes on the a thank-you lunch for the contractors
Silchester Estate and a number of who carried out the work.
other properties included in Phase Throughout the year we
1 of an on-going project. The 1.4 successfully undertook work to
million project has included works prepare residents for the digital
to install 154 new bathrooms, 145 switchover, providing access for
kitchens, 66 toilets, and 110 rewires. digital TV across the homes we
A 375,000 project was also manage.
How we compare: % of homes adaptatIons
not meeting the Decent Homes Working jointly with the Councils
Standard Occupational Therapy team,
we spent 268,000 during the
Barnet Homes 0.0 year installing adaptations and
Hounslow Homes 0.0 equipment to our homes to
CityWest Homes 0.0 enable people with disabilities and
long term illnesses to live more
Brent Housing Partnership 1.0
independently and remain in their
Homes for Islington 1.0 homes.
KCTMO 5.0 The 244 jobs that were
Ascham Homes 16.0 completed in the year included
Homes for Haringey 20.6 level access showers, stairlifts,
LB of Newham 21.0 ceiling hoists, access ramps, the
widening of doorways to allow for
Hackney Homes 29.2
wheelchair access and a property
Redbridge Homes 32.9 extension to allow for an adapted
Sutton Housing Partnership 35.2 kitchen installation. The budget also
Tower Hamlets Homes 52.4 contained costs for the maintenance
and repair of existing specialist
Lewisham Homes 55.0
equipment used by our residents.
Enfield Homes 57.7
Homes in Havering 62.7
0800 137 111 WWW.kCtMo.orG.uk 11
ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12

repaIrs and MaIntenanCe eMptY propertIes

A new contract was awarded to As part of their approach to We carried out works to more than
deliver our Repairs Service after our partnership working, Willmott 200 hundred empty properties
previous providers contract came to Dixon will be supporting the local during the year. By streamlining our
an end in March 2012. community over the coming year by processes and working jointly with
Following the end of the contract developing their Opening Doors our contractors, we reduced the
with Morrison, KCTMO worked hard initiative, providing work experience average number of days it took to
to set up interim arrangements and placements to young people in complete all void works and re-let
in late June 2012 the responsive local schools and supporting local our homes from 26.7 days (2010/11)
repairs contract was taken over by apprentices with on site work to 23.9 days, and in doing so saved
the Willmott Dixon Partnership. This experience. over 17,000 in lost rent.
arrangement is for a period of 11 KCTMO regrets that during the We would like to further reduce
months with the possibility of a six past year our residents have not the time taken to re-let empty
month extension, during this time received the level of service that homes and this will be a priority for
KCTMO will work with the Board we aim for and we will work hard the team in the coming year.
and the Council to discuss options to ensure that both the interim
for the future delivery of the service and future arrangements meet the
and to finalise new arrangements. All expectations of tenants and the How we compare: average time
developments will be reported back targets that we set down. to re-let a general needs empty
to residents, in the Link magazine property (excluding major works)
and through Area Review Boards and
other resident groups. Redbridge Homes 14.10
Homes in Havering 17.07
Lewisham Homes 19.88
How we compare: percentage of
Sutton Housing Partnership 20.30
all repairs carried out within target
Homes for Islington 20.40
(emergency, urgent and routine)
LB of Newham 20.93
99.5 Tower Hamlets Homes 23.11
Lewisham Homes
98.9 CityWest Homes 23.30
Redbridge Homes
98.7 KCTMO 23.95
Ascham Homes
98.5 Enfield Homes 25.80
Sutton Housing Partnership
CityWest Homes 98.4 Brent Housing Partnership 27.00
97.7 Ascham Homes 27.57
Tower Hamlets Homes
96.5 Hackney Homes 29.10
Homes for Islington
96.3 Homes for Haringey 35.05
KCTMO
95.8 Hounslow Homes 47.54
Homes in Havering
95.5 Barnet Homes 58.34
Hackney Homes
LB of Newham 93.7
Hounslow Homes 92.9
Barnet Homes 92.9
Homes for Haringey 91.0
Enfield Homes 88.7

12 annual report 2011/12

Your tenancy
alloCatInG HoMes
The Councils Housing Needs team
runs a Common Housing Register
(CHR) which is a list of all people
applying for social housing. Using
this list the Council can allocate
properties managed by KCTMO or
housing associations in a fair and
transparent way.
In 2011/12 there were more
than 8500 people on the CHR
but only 558 properties were let
borough wide, including to other
social landlords. As the graph below
shows the majority of these were
for smaller properties, with only
247 (44%) of the lettings being in
family sized properties (two bed or
larger).
propertIes let durInG
2011/12
122
Bedsit/studios
One bedroom 189
Two bedroom 169
lettInGs to soCIal HousInG
With such a high demand for housing
in the borough there are a number of
ways that the Council is seeking to
make the most of this limited supply
of housing:
The Council has reviewed its
method of allocating points,
making sure properties go to
those in the greatest need and
so that applicants have a realistic
understanding about their chances
of being re-housed. In the coming
year the Council will be reviewing
who is accepted on the CHR and
how the properties are allocated
Through making sure that all
properties due to be allocated to
the Council are offered by KCTMO
and housing associations (this
must be 50% of studio and one
bed properties and 75% of two bed
and larger)
Carrying out tenancy checks to
prevent sub-letting and fraud
For people wishing to move,
providing a choice through housing
options such as mutual exchange,
renting in the private sector or
moving to out of London. Details
can be found online.
www.rbkc.gov.uk
Developing new homes through
planning agreements and joint
working with other councils. A
total of 80 new units were built
in 2011/12 47 for rent out of the
borough and 33 for rent in the
borough. For 2012/13 the projected
pipeline is 74 units for rent (45 in
borough and 29 out of borough).
The Council is also starting a
programme of Hidden Homes
projects which develops under-
used land on Council sites; these
include a void basement area of
Holmefield House on Hazlewood
Crescent in Golborne Ward, the
lower floors of Grenfell Tower in
Notting Barns, and vacant former
office space in 1-3 Greaves Tower
on the Worlds End estate in
Cremorne Ward. This should result
in 13 new homes.
For people who are eligible for
social housing but who are waiting
for a property, support is also
available. This can include temporary
accommodation, either in or out of
the Borough or access to some of the
housing options mentioned above.

Three bedroom 62
Four bedroom 13
Five bedroom 2
Six bedroom 1

0800 137 111 WWW.kCtMo.orG.uk 13

 ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12

fortHCoMInG CHanGes to soCIal HousInG

The Government has made some
changes to social housing. These
changes relate to how councils
allocate social housing to people and
the types of tenancies landlords of
social housing this applies to.
The Council is currently working
on how to use these changes and
aims to put these in place by the end
of 2012/13. This will mean:
A new way of issuing social housing
tenancies, where not everyone can
join the list, but instead people
wanting social housing must be in
need and have a local connection;
The introduction of fixed term
tenancies for new tenants. Fixed term
tenancies are tenancies which are
set for a certain period of time, for
example five years, and then reviewed
to determine if the tenant or tenants
still need the property.
The Government has also
reformed the benefits system
and these changes will impact on
residents in the borough. If you are
concerned, please go to the Councils
website for further information.
www.rbkc.gov.uk

neW WaY to paY Your rent

There is a new way to pay your rent.
This new method is called Paris, and it
means that KCTMO is now set up to
take rent and service charge payments
over the phone using your debit or
credit card.
In addition, the usual payment options
(Direct Debit, Standing Order, Post
Office, online, in person at the Town
Hall, and by cheque) can also be used
as normal.
To make a payment simply contact
us with your debit or credit card
and ask to make a Paris Payment.
Your Rent Income Officer will take
your details, process your payment
and issue a receipt. This does not
replace the same facility offered by
the Town Hall Cashiers but offers
the advantage of access to an officer
who can give you an up-to-date rent
balance, information about your
rent account, advice about clearing
arrears and access to welfare benefits.
Most importantly it offers you the
convenience of making a payment
from wherever you are! If you wish to
make regular payments on a weekly
or monthly basis we advise you to
set up Direct Debit or Standing Order
payments. Paris Payments are ideal
for one-off or occasional payments,
such as when you are clearing arrears.
If you do get into difficulties
meeting your rent payments, please
contact us as soon as possible to get
free advice and support, or a referral
to another agency. working on a
project to provide tenants and home
owners with online access to their
rent accounts and repairs history. We
will report back in the Link on our
progress with this. How we compare: current tenant
0800 137 111 and press 4 rent arrears as a percentage of the
Lancaster West 020 7727 9464 total rent roll (the rent charged in
the year)

Redbridge Homes 1.39

CityWest Homes 1.79
Enfield Homes 1.95
Homes in Havering 2.09
Sutton Housing Partnership 2.27
Homes for Islington 2.35
Tower Hamlets Homes 2.75
KCTMO 2.84
Ascham Homes 2.93
LB of Newham 2.96
Barnet Homes 3.11
Hackney Homes 3.23
Hounslow Homes 3.38
Brent Housing Partnership 3.83
Lewisham Homes 4.72
Homes for Haringey 6.98

14 annual report 2011/12

Your rent
Your rents are set by the Council,
following Government guidelines that
are designed to ensure rents are fair in
relation to where you live and the size
of your property.
On average, KCTMO tenants
received an 8.73% increase on their
rent and service charges for 2011/12.
This higher than average increase
impacted on rent collection for the
year and at the end of March our
current tenant rent arrears had
increased by 58,000. Overall the
Rent Income Team collected over
41 million in rent and service charge
payments during the year.
We work with a number of
external organisations to provide
support services to tenants who may
be having difficulties with paying their
rent or managing their tenancy.
Tenants can be referred to Staying
First (previously the Housing Advice
Service Kensington & Chelsea),
which can provide legal and Housing
Benefit advice, can help with claiming
Discretionary Housing Payments, and
can assist with agreeing repayment
plans between tenants and KCTMO.
Between October and March we
referred 380 tenants to this service.
As a result of the work undertaken
Rent arrears March 2010 to March 2012 (in millions)
with Staying First, the combined
additional annual income to KCTMO
during this period was over 166,000,
a combination of one-off amounts and
regular payment arrangements.
We also made 13 referrals to
the Nucleus Legal Advice Centre
for tenants whom we identified as
suffering from fuel poverty. Tenants
can work with Nucleus to apply for a
non-repayable grant to reduce or clear
energy debts, enabling them to make
a fresh start.
Where tenants are experiencing
difficulties in managing their tenancy
we can refer them to the Councils
Tenancy Support Service. The service
helps in areas such as:-
Budgeting skills
Addressing rent arrears
Referrals to specialist services
Practical, social and
emotional support
Accessing community
services
Advice and assistance on
re-housing options
We work hard to ensure our
tenants can maintain their
tenancies but sometimes
when tenants have taken
no action and allowed
0800 137 111 WWW.kCtMo.orG.uk 15
their arrears to increase further, we
may apply to the County Court for
possession of their properties and as
a result of this process tenants could
lose their home during the year
16 households were evicted for not
paying their rent.
Tenants can pay their rent by a
range of methods: online, Direct
Debit, Standing Order, Post Office
payment, at the Town Hall, postal,
and by telephone. In previous years,
tenants have only been able to pay
over the telephone by calling the
Council, but this year we introduced
telephone payments direct to
KCTMO. This enables customers to
pay their rent and at the same time
speak directly to an Income Officer for
further advice or to check their rent
balance.
In the coming year we
will be working on a project
to provide tenants and home
owners with online access to
their rent accounts and repairs
history. We will report back in
the Link on our progress with
this.
ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12
Your neighbourhood
& Community
neIGHbourHood ManaGeMent
Following feedback from our resident
groups we agreed a Local Offer to
review our caretaking service during
2011/12. As part of this review, we
consulted with residents on their ideas
for improvements and also met with
other organisations highlighted as
having excellent caretaking services.
The review was concluded at the
end of March 2012 and the changes
agreed will be implemented in 2012/13.
We will report back on the progress
of these changes through our Area
Review Boards (ARB) and on our Local
Offers updates.
Our ARBs also made suggestions
for potential projects to be undertaken
through the Housing Regeneration
fund (HRF), this is a Council fund
of 250,000 per year allocated for
environmental improvements to our
estates.
Their suggestions were reviewed
by the Operations Committee and
a list of five projects were approved
by the Council including, entrance
improvements at Tavistock Crescent,
CCTV installation to Hortensia House,
and landscaping improvements at
New ASB cases per month: 2010 to 2012
16 annual report 2011/12
Nottingwood House and the Allom and
Barlow estates.
We also saw the completion of a
three stage project, funded by the HRF
of landscape and design improvements
at Balfour of Burleigh.
As well as reviewing options for
the HRF projects, the Area Review
Boards are also allocated annual
budgets to spend on environmental
and regeneration projects in their
areas. In 2011/12 each of the boards
had a budget of between 14,500 and
28,400 depending on the size of each
area, to spend on local projects. The
final choices were decided by residents
following bids from Residents
Association representatives, although
other bids from estates with no
resident group can also be presented.
The projects completed in the year
included new benches at Elm Park
Gardens, bicycle racks at Chesterton
Square and improvements to flooring
and tiling at a number of blocks on the
Cremorne Estate.
We undertook a procurement
exercise during the year for our
grounds maintenance service. In order
to encourage and enable small to
medium size businesses to tender the
borough was divided into two separate
contracts, one for the north and one for
the south. As part of the process we
spoke to residents about the service
they currently receive and visited other
organisations to see how they provide
their services and at what cost.
Residents were involved in the
assessment panel reviewing the tender
applications and this process was
completed at the end of March 2012
with the new contracts beginning in
October 2012.
North contract awarded to Tree Wise
Men
South contract awarded to Chris
Edge Tree Care
In August we held our 31st annual
Gardens Competition in conjunction
with the Council. An environmental
award was added in recognition of the
voluntary efforts by Reg Kerr-Bell and
our grounds maintenance contractors
Tree Wise Men, who transformed
a bleak vandalised area of North
Kensington into a riot of colour.
 antIsoCIal beHaVIour (asb)
453 new ASB cases were reported
in the year, 100 fewer compared to
the previous year. There was a steady
decrease in the number of new cases
reported throughout the last nine
months of the financial year.
Cases reported included noise
nuisance, vandalism, rubbish tipping
and incidents of harassment. The
tables below shows how the numbers
and types of new ASB cases reported
compare with other London landlords.
As part of our response to the 2011
Home Office review of ASB which
concluded that services should be
community focused and resident led,
we began a review of our own ASB
service. We agreed a Local Offer to
work with residents to resolve ASB
and during the year we have followed
up this promise by setting up a focus
group to agree resident priorities and
review existing policies.
Residents said that their priorities
were dealing with animal nuisance,
noise nuisance and harassment, and
we have reviewed our procedures for
managing these types of complaints.
We have also introduced a new ASB
software system that ensures cases
are managed efficiently in line with our
procedures.
The review will continue into
2012 and will include signing up to
the Respect Charter, carrying out a
full review of all ASB literature and
assessing whether the service provides
good value for money (VFM). We will
continue to review your responses to
satisfaction questionnaires to identify
areas that need improvement.
As part of our objective to
reduce ASB we are working with the
Community Safety Board, a multi
agency partnership made up of the
Police, Environmental Health, Youth
Offending Team, and other housing
providers. The Board work together
to find solutions to resolve local
problems in the borough.
We have also joined a tri-borough
Troubled Families Initiative a project
that aims to ensure families that
need support are allocated a family
worker who can draw together all
involved agencies to ensure services
are streamlined and can work towards
resolving difficulties being experienced
by families. As members of this
project we will be able to nominate
families living in TMO homes that we
feel could benefit from this assistance.
When reviewing ASB complaints
a range of actions can be undertaken,
including visits, mediation and
legal action. Sometimes, in cases
where individuals continue to cause
nuisance to their neighbours we will
consider legal action. In 2011/12 three
households lost their tenancies as a
result of their behaviour.

How we compare: most frequent types of ASB How we compare: number of new ASB
reported by social housing landlords in London cases reported per 1,000 properties

Type London providers KCTMO LB of Newham 14.53

Noise 33.1% 46.7% Enfield Homes 28.38
Harassment/threats 17.4% 10.1% Barnet Homes 35.03
Garden nuisance 7.5% 0.0% Homes for Haringey 35.86
Pets or animals 6.7% 9.4% Ascham Homes 38.27
Rubbish 6.3% 7.3% CityWest Homes 43.99
Misuse of communal areas 5.5% 2.4% Lewisham Homes 54.42
Drug related 5.2% 5.8% Hounslow Homes 57.16
Vandalism 4.7% 1.8% Hackney Homes 57.42
Other criminal behaviour 3.5% 0.4% Homes for Islington 64.03
Domestic violence/abuse 2.4% 2.1% KCTMO 65.25
Other violence 2.1% 1.6% Redbridge Homes 81.01
Alcohol related 2.0% 0.2% Tower Hamlets Homes 92.57
Vehicles 1.9% 0.0% Sutton Housing Partnership 135.95
Hate crime 1.4% 1.6% Homes in Havering 138.52
Prostitution 0.3% 0.0% Brent Housing Partnership 225.23
Youth ASB * - 10.3%

*Youth ASB is not a category specified by

HouseMark. It is collected locally only and
generally refers to a mixture of ASB types,
including noise and instances of young people
gathering in public spaces causing nuisance or
concern to neighbours

0800 137 111 WWW.kCtMo.orG.uk 17

 ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12

Value for Money

WHat We spent busIness CHanGe proJeCt
The money that is spent on providing housing services for tenants of Since 2011 we have been working
the KCTMO comes from the Councils Housing Revenue Account (the jointly with the Council on a project
rent that you pay) and the management fee we receive for managing the to ensure that we are prepared for
housing stock. changes to how local authority housing
is financed and to ensure our finances
Out of every pound spent on managing and maintaining your homes continue to be viable.
during 2011/12, we spent: Work undertaken in the year has
included working with the Council
2p on: Security to develop a five year Business Plan,
and car parks 10p on: Other costs including an investment plan which
will look at future spending needs. This
2p on: 1p on: Resident plan will be reviewed by the Councils
27p on: Planned
Customer 2p on: engagement Scrutiny Committee in 2012.
maintenance,
Contact Collecting including gas We have also begun work on a
Centre rent servicing and Hidden Homes project to develop 13
maintenance, lifts new homes on three sites across the
2p on:
and engineering borough. The project will start onsite
Works
next year.
to empty
The project group is reviewing how
properties
to make best use of our housing stock
and HRA resources, and to consider
3p on: Office
which areas might benefit from
accommodation,
investment, regeneration or disposal.
rent and rates
As an example, we are looking at using
underused parking areas to generate
5p on: additional income to order to support
Neighbourhood wider investment in our housing stock.
management, Value for Money is one of the key
including ASB areas for Business Change and key
achievements in 2011/12 included:-
Expansion of the Community Alarm
Service (CAS)
9p on:
17p on: Installing an Electronic Document
Environmental
Responsive Management System to manage files
services,
10p on: Financial repairs more efficiently
including grounds
services, Home Undertaking reviews of the Asset,
maintenance and
Ownership, ICT, HR Investment & Engineering and
cleaning
and training Neighbourhood Management
departments
10p on: Heating, hot Procuring new contracts, reflecting
water and electricity resident expectations and
incorporating VFM and performance
criteria
For every 1 spent in 2011/12 an additional 30p was spent on capital Making KCTMOs management fee
investment works, paid for from the Councils HRA Capital fund. go further

18 annual report 2011/12

GlossarY of terMs
ALMO:
Arms Length Management
Organisation, a not-for-profit
company that provides housing
services on behalf of a local authority.
Capital Fund:
Area Review Board (ARB):
The TMO has eight Area Review
Boards across the borough, made of
up representatives of local Residents
Associations and compacts. These
groups meet on a quarterly basis to
discuss areas such as performance,
local issues and concerns, and
projects for the Housing Regeneration
Fund.
Benchmarking:
The process of comparing ones
business processes and performance
against other organisations. We
compare against London ALMOs.
Decent Homes Standard:
Sets out the minimum housing
conditions that landlords of social
housing should meet it covers areas
such as thermal comfort and the age
and condition of facilities including
bathrooms and kitchens.
Fuel Poverty:
Households are considered by the
Government to be in fuel poverty if
they would have to spend more than
10% of their household income on fuel
to keep their home in a satisfactory
condition.
Hidden Homes:
The process of creating homes from
disused spaces on existing local
authority owned buildings.
HouseMark:
Set up in 1999 and jointly owned by
the Chartered Institute of Housing
(CIH) and the National Housing
Federation (NHF). HouseMark is
the social housing sectors leading
provider of performance improvement
services.
Housing Regeneration Fund:
An RBKC fund of 250,000 per
year ring-fenced for environmental
improvements to our estates.
Local Oers:
We have a requirement to consult
residents in developing Local Offers
and to report back to them on the
progress of these offers.
Localism Act 2011:
Act of Parliament that made changes
to the powers of local authorities
in England, specifically around the
allocation of social housing, tenancy
strategy, the financing of local
authority housing, and the handling of
complaints.
Operations Committee:
Made up of representatives from the
TMO Board, the terms of reference for
the group are to review performance
at a closer operational level than the
Board.
Procurement:
Procurement is the process of
awarding contracts for services and
products. During the process we
review both the cost and quality of the
service offered.
Respect Charter:
An initiative led by the CIH,
HouseMark and the Social Landlords
Crime and Nuisance Group. The
Charter sets out good practice for
how ASB should be managed and
responded to.
Regulatory Standards for Social
Housing:
Implements the amendments to the
Housing and Regeneration Act 2008
introduced by the Localism Act 2011.
TMO:
Tenant Management Organisation,
organisations set up under UK law
which allow residents of council
housing or housing association homes
in the United Kingdom to take over
responsibility of the running of their
homes
Value for Money:
Value for money assesses the cost
of a delivering a service against the
quality and outcomes of the service
provided.

In conclusion faY edWards

kensington & Chelsea tMo, board Chair
Residents are the lifeblood of KCTMOs service and its so important for sta and the
Board to work together to deliver great services for all residents. Im grateful for the hard
work of all the sta over this past year, and am pleased to be the Chair of a Board that
is committed to building our relationship with the Council. We are working together on
exciting projects such as Hidden Homes, where 12 new homes will be made available.
This is a great sign of progress for KCTMO and shows that we are a partner which can be
relied on to deliver improvements for our people. Our focus is very much on the future,
and the good things we can achieve together.

19
LINK
ual
Annort
Rep
CONTACT US
0800 137 111
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access our website for
free at the Network
Hub and Blantyre
Oce reception?
YOUR LOCAL
HOUSING OFFICES
contactus@kctmo.org.uk Network Hub
Kensington & Chelsea TMO, 292a Kensal Road
London W10 5BE
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kctmo.org.uk
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