Introduction

Despite ongoing inflationary pressures in supply chains over the past twelve months, we effectively manage our homes and strive to provide excellent service. Increased demand for our  services, driven by customer and regulatory expectations regarding repairs and maintenance, has also impacted costs.

We remain committed to our Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) responsibilities. This year’s Sustainability Report, part of our commitment to the Sustainability Reporting  Standard for Social Housing (SRS), incorporates new requirements from SRS v2.0, focusing on net zero commitments, damp and mould management, and equality, diversity, and  inclusion (EDI).

In relation to our environmental efforts, we are reviewing our Carbon Management Strategy to achieve net zero by 2050, with a target for all homes to reach EPC C or better by 2030. Currently, 82% of our customers’ homes meet this standard. Additionally, we are enhancing the Richmond Park local heat network in Sheffield through a £3 million project, partly  funded by the Government’s Heat Network Efficiency Scheme, improving energy efficiency for 299 homes and giving customers better control over heating costs.

Building safety remains a key focus, as we have continued to assess our buildings and carry out works to respond to the changes in legislation. The past year has seen us invest c£3.5m on safety enhancements as well as continuing to develop our long-term plans for remediation works. We have communicated evacuation arrangements to customers in our apartment  blocks, and are developing individual engagement plans for our higher risk high-rise buildings.

Listening to our customers has been a key priority over the past year as we prepared for new regulatory requirements under the Social Housing (Regulation) Act. We have established  robust systems to collect and report on Tenant Satisfaction Measures, ensuring our performance meets customer needs. Our new Customer Committee, alongside the ‘Insight’ Customer Scrutiny Group, will provide valuable insights from customers, enhancing accountability between the Board and our service delivery.

A significant development in the past year has been the rollout of our self-serve repairs feature, allowing customers to book and manage their own repair appointments through the MyPlace portal. This gives them greater choice and autonomy, which we hope will boost satisfaction. Additionally, customer feedback informed our decision to bring all communal caretaking services in-house, following the successful launch of our in-house grounds maintenance service last year, ensuring greater consistency in service.

As a socially responsible organisation, we continue to prioritise our customers’ health and wellbeing through support offered through our nine community centres, financial resilience  offer and tenancy coaching services. Our Hardship and Community Resilience Fund helps individuals and community partners tackle ongoing economic challenges, with affordability remaining a key concern for our Board amid the cost-of-living crisis and government rent caps.

We are also enhancing our Aareon QL housing management system by integrating customer and property data. These improvements will enhance data quality, including its profile information to support us to deliver a better service and meet the diverse needs of our customers and effectively utilise resources to address sector challenges.

We remain committed to addressing the housing crisis through our Affordable Development Programme. In 2023/24, we delivered 490 new affordable homes and sold 214 for shared ownership. We began this financial year with around 2,000 homes on site, the highest in our programme’s history, and have an additional 850 homes in planning, with over 700 more  in the pipeline for the next year.

We retained our G1/V2 status following our recent inspection by the Regulator of Social Housing, receiving a C2 grade against the new Consumer Standards. Our V2 viability rating reflects ongoing risks in our operating environment, and our G1 governance rating demonstrates strong governance and financial management. Our credit ratings from Moody’s (A3)  and Fitch (A+) reaffirm our solid balance sheet and performance despite inflationary pressures.

The C2 grade highlighted strengths in service delivery and areas for improvement. We are using this opportunity to enhance our services, with planned improvements included in our  corporate plan for 2024-27, ‘Here for Our Customers’, which we shared with the Regulator during the inspection.

Our Board has undergone significant changes over the past year,  including the appointment of Mervyn Jones as Chair in January 2024. Mervyn brings extensive housing sector experience, having previously served as Chief Executive at Yorkshire  Housing for over a decade. He joined Great Places’ Board after the merger with Equity in March 2020, succeeding Tony Davison, who led the organisation through substantial growth  and key developments from December 2013.

Emma Mountford became Chair of the Cube Board in September 2023, following David Robinson’s departure. Her background as a Founding Director of the Vesta Group enhances  our expertise in property development. We welcomed seven new board members at the start of the year: Nicki Clegg, Matthew Hemmings, Ted Pearce, Simran Soin, and Keith Ward to  the Group Board, with John-Paul Case and Dean Clegg joining Cube Homes.

In June 2024, we bid farewell to CEO Matt Harrison, who served for 10 years and contributed over 30 years to Great Places. We thank him for his dedication and leadership.

I’m  pleased to share our latest report, reflecting on our achievements and our commitment to addressing sector challenges, investing in our homes and communities, and enhancing services for our customers.

Mike Gerrard