Making the Difference – how we did
We developed our Making the Difference plan in 2020 and started work on it in 2021. Since then we have all lived in pretty difficult times: we have had to deal with the effects of Brexit, the Covid pandemic, and more recently the cost of living crisis. At the same time, and following the Grenfell tragedy, all social housing providers have rightly been challenged to improve the quality and the safety of their homes.
We wanted to provide easy to use, valued and trusted services
A new Customer Engagement Framework has been created and we have formed the Customer Voice Panel to represent the views of residents to the Board of Raven.
- Board, staff and residents worked together to inform a new approach to engagement with customers on Health and Safety
- We have launched a new website including a new ‘portal’ for customers to access our services at a time that works for them.
- We have launched a new project, ‘Every Interaction Matters’, which gathers all feedback from customers to help us better design and deliver services. Our ‘we hear you’ project reports on our website some of the changes we have made.
- Behind the scenes we have invested in new IT systems so we can make life easier and more efficient both for Raven staff and, most importantly for our customers.
Related information
We have fallen short of the targets we set. Our overall customer satisfaction has fallen to 80%, well short of our target of 90%. We must do better for our residents and it is small consolation that across all Housing Associations satisfaction has fallen to an average of 72.3% (December 2023).
You have told us that we need to improve our repairs service and this is our focus in 2024.
It is heartening that 75% of customers trust Raven to do what is right, but that still means that 25% don’t. We are aiming to do better by better understanding your needs and improving our communications to keep you better informed as we deliver our services. It’s important to us that if our service fails, you find it easy to raise a complaint so we can fix it. A new way of measuring complaint satisfaction was introduced recently that makes it hard to compare to our target, and although we compare favourably to other housing associations, it is not good enough that just 44% of customers are satisfied with the way we handle their complaint.
We wanted to provide more homes
We have started managing homes for other landlords who work in our area which helps us provide services at a lower cost.- We have started work on two development sites where we are using homes partly built in a factory which helps improve quality.
- We have built and sold over £12 million worth of homes for outright sale and shared ownership.
Although we have provided 162 new affordable homes, this is short of our target of 220. There are considerable challenges in obtaining planning permission for building and we have also suffered from rapid inflation in building costs. We are pleased we have taken on 220 new homes to manage for other landlords, but this is short of our target of 450, as those landlords have been affected by the same challenges Raven has in their efforts to build new homes.
We wanted to provide high quality, sustainable and affordable homes
We have started work, building our first new homes that will have zero carbon emissions.- We have started work regenerating our homes that are not fit for the future.
- We have delivered our first four projects to ‘retrofit’ homes with improvements that will reduce their carbon emissions and running costs.
- We have increased the number of Raven vans we run on electric rather than diesel.
- We have made improvements to our high rise block, The Dome in Redhill, to ensure it complies with new safety regulations.
- We have increased the work we do to our properties before we re-let them, improving decoration and where we can, floor coverings.
We have exceeded our targeted spend on our existing homes, investing over £15m during the period. And we have exceeded our target for improving the energy efficiency and carbon emissions of our homes with 86% of our homes meeting the government’s target of ‘EPC C’; a target all social homes must meet by 2030.
We wanted to develop ‘resilient communities’
We have continued to grow highly successful ‘Moneywise’ service to support customers with welfare and benefits advice.- We are committed to only evict residents as a last resort, so are pleased to see a significant reduction in evictions.
- We have continued delivery of our successful employment programmes to help residents and non-residents back into work.
- We have provided cash from our Customer Support Fund to over 500 customers
- We have made sure our policies supporting community safety are the best they can be.
- When we have planned regeneration of our homes we have taken time to consult locally so we make improvements important to the neighbourhood.
For every £1 we have invested we have generated £15 of social value. Although this is a great outcome, we had targeted a £20 return. We know how Raven manages reports of anti-social behaviour is important, and 72% of customers are satisfied with what we do, this is short of our target but still amongst the best for housing associations.
Finally the cost of living crisis has had a significant impact on our residents and the number of people who tell us they never struggle with their rent fell to 54%. Our Moneywise service and Customer Support Fund are there for all our customers to provide help when they need it, and only in rare and exceptional circumstances has Raven evicted a resident for rent arrears.
Finally we wanted to improve the value for money of the work we do, and ensure Raven is a good employer
Our new IT systems have helped improved efficiency and reduce costs.- We have taken advantage of the economic position and rearranged staff pensions to get a better outcome at lower cost and lower risk.
- We have borrowed more money at very good rates, to invest in new and existing homes.
- We have undertaken commercial activity (homes for outright sale) which as generated profit to help fund Raven’s services, and invested in other activities (Raven Renewables) that we expect to generate profits in future years.
- We have introduced more flexible working for Raven staff so they can work where they are most productive.
- We have worked with staff to make sure Raven’s culture has a stronger customer focus.
- We have invested in promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion amongst Raven’s staff and ensuring this is practised in the design and delivery of our services.
Staff engagement at Raven is at 93%, exceeding our target of 83% and we remain accredited as a Gold member of Investors in people. 95% of staff feel leaders at Raven value different perspectives which is really important for equality, diversity, and inclusion.
In terms of value for money our costs are higher than we wanted (£6,500 per home compared to our target of £5,500). We made good progress reducing costs but have had to spend more as inflation has affected us.