Annual Report Overview of 2008
Chairman and Chief Executive's Report
We entered 2008 with a strong sense of optimism. Tenant satisfaction levels remained very high; evidence showed that we were delivering very good services to a diverse range of customers; our new housing developments were making good progress at Shenley, Lightmoor and Lawley; and a growing number of tenants were engaging with us in a variety of ways to influence the way in which we work and the decisions we make. All good stuff, and much of it remains so!
However, early 2008 saw a large number of rented properties fall empty, which led to a lot of void repair costs, putting pressure on that budget. It then became evident that two of our Care Homes were not capable of being adapted to meet modern day requirements and reluctantly a decision was taken to close them, subject to a long period of consultation with partner agencies to secure the future well-being of our residents. That painful decision led to a few staff redundancies, though we were able to redeploy some colleagues elsewhere within the Trust.
We then found ourselves wrestling with the implications of the economic recession, the credit crunch and the collapse of the “housing for sale” market.
However, we remain in good shape as we move into 2009. Our plans at Lightmoor and Lawley, in particular, are running behind schedule as the house builders batten down the hatches and wait for the housing market to pick up. Our £25 million project at Shenley is proceeding well, delivering 167 new homes. Our original plan was to offer 34 of them for outright sale but in a difficult property market, we have adopted a revised policy to offer these at market rents instead. The other 133 homes will still be affordable rented homes. Good progress is being made on site by Kier Partnership Homes and it is already clear, as the new homes come out of the ground, that we are working to an exciting new design concept to provide contemporary, popular new housing in that area.
Elsewhere at BVT we remain extremely committed to tenant participation and a wider resident involvement with our work. We welcome Tessa Mitchell as Head of Community Services in Birmingham, and Tessa now has responsibility for all of our work on the Bournville Estate to involve residents, irrespective of tenure. The work we have done on engaging residents on our Planned Maintenance Panel has just secured a National Award and many congratulations are due to all involved.
In 2008 we said goodbye to three senior members of staff. Gloria Gain will be well known to many of you in her role as Director of Community Services. We wish her a long and happy retirement and indeed the same to Rodney Smith (Bournville Propertycare Services) and Colin Wright (Bournville Architects). As well as Tessa replacing Gloria, we also welcome Steve Rose and Ian Tipton, who succeed Rodney and Colin respectively. Also, we have a new Trustee in the form of John Dowell, who replaced Candia Carolan, albeit John has served BVT for many years as a co-optee.
We remain optimistic and in good heart as we look ahead. Our strength, as ever, lies in the commitment and support we receive from our Trustees and committee members, staff, partner organisations and, not least, those residents who so willingly work with us to influence the decisions we make, thereby making a valuable contribution to our overall aim to create and sustain flourishing communities where people choose to live.
