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2023-03-31-annual-report

Annual Report 2022/23

On a journey to become a model of excellence for community-based housing associations

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Contents

1 A word from our Chair Page 3

2 SMHA and Community Page 4

3 Key Performance Data in 2022/23 Page 6

4 SMHA Rents Page 8

5 St Matthew’s HA Accounts 2022/23 Page 9

6 St Matthew’s Housing Management & Staff Page 11

Registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 (No.IP177). Registered with the Department for Communities NI (No.R18).

HMRC registered charitable status (XT28085). Registered with the Charity Commission for NI (NIC 10291).

A word from our Chairperson

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As Chairperson of St Matthew’s Housing Association (SMHA) I am pleased to report yet another year of strong performance SMHA continue to improve, work in partnership with others and manage our costs effectively. In short, we are moving ahead on our journey of being a model of excellence for community-based housing

housing. We have a costed Business Plan that outlines how we can continue to invest in our service and our stock and achieve the growth to make a real impact on local waiting lists.

We remain to committed to growing by working with others. You will notice locally we are on site with Bryson Street Phase 2 (8 elderly apartments) and new offices at the site of the former parish house of St. Matthew’s Church. Additionally, we will soon deliver at McClure Street, lower Ormeau Road (22 houses for families). Both these schemes are progressing with the assistance of APEX Housing Association. We are also working closely with Clanmil HA to deliver 13 apartments at 1-7 Mountpottinger Road. Finally, we have purchased the site of former Strand Bar with a view to delivering some exciting new housing here.

We are pleased to continue to support local initiatives and projects. We were able to continue our grant assistance of local community initiatives and also helped 14 young people avail of £500 education/training bursaries. We hope to recruit a young person locally on a housing apprenticeship programme soon. We remain a community asset with a strong community focus.

SMHA continues to perform well from a regulatory point of view - maintaining our housing service at the highest 1 rating with the Department of Communities. We are a vibrant local community enterprise providing homes and helping support community work - and not just in Short Strand but also to our tenants in Clonard and Poleglass. Once again, my thanks go to the efforts of our Board members, who give of their time freely and remain a credit to this community and our staff who continue to operate an excellent housing service.

Longer term it is our community hope to deliver shared housing at Sirocco and housing and well-being opportunities at Translink site. We are working with the local community representatives on these important objectives. We want to meet the housing demand in our area in the years ahead by realising all the potential of local sites.

Our current properties all meet Decent Homes Standard and we have plans in the coming years to ensure they maintain this standard. We are also conscious of obligations in ensuring we future proof our housing from a green perspective by reducing the carbon footprint and improving the thermal comfort of older

Patrick “Tucker” Devlin SMHA Chairperson

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SMHA and Community 2

SMHA is at the heart of the Short Strand community and we provide an excellent local service to our tenants, including in Clonard and Poleglass for over 40 years

In 2022/23 members introduced a local Bursary Scheme and donations were made in relation to this exercise.

SMHA seeks to:-

By way of support to local community groups, initiatives etc. we expended the following:-

We continue to supply information to tenants through our Annual Report, spring newsletter and our updated website www.smha.co.uk. Many Housing Associations are getting better at supporting communities where they operate and are looking beyond simply the bricks and mortar of the housing they provide to do more in their communities. Often this is done by awarding small grants to local groups whose work benefits the community. SMHA is actively seeking to support the communities we serve – not just Short Strand but also in Clonard and Poleglass.

Final updated total expended on Financial Inclusion and Community Support Initiatives - £10,100 – equal to 0.89% of potential income turnover £1.14M for 2022/23.

£1,000 £100 Donation to Short Strand Community Donation to NIHE and PKM Centre Senior Citizen Project charitable items

£2,000 £7,000 Supported the Onwards and Upwards training programme SMHA Bursary Scheme Awards 2022

£10,100 Towards Financial Inclusion and Community Support Initiatives for 2022/23

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Key Performance Data in 2022/23 3

SMHA has performed well in the last several years We continue to strive to meet performance objectives set for us and also improving the housing service tangibly for all residents We carried out a comprehensive resident satisfaction survey in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and most recently 2019 with excellent results Our 2021 survey was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic until 2022 You will see on the next two pages a summary of some of the recorded key performance data over the last year with some recent comparison years We are doing well but will always want to be better

Total No of units of occupied accommodation

% of emergency repairs completed in 24 hours

% of urgent repairs completed in 4 working days

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24
2020/21 98% HRS
2021/22 95%
2022/23 94%
Target >85%
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4 2020/21 83% DAYS 2021/22 87% 2022/23 91% Target >80%

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2020/21 209
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2021/22 205
2022/23 207
Target -
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% of routine repairs
completed in 20
working days
20
2020/21 81% DAYS
2021/22 91%
2022/23 90%
Target >80%
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% of residents satisfied with value for money of their home

% of residents satisfied with SMHA housing service

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2020/21 100% []
2021/22 -
2022/23 83%
Target >80%
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2020/21 85% []
2021/22 -
2022/23 88%
£
Target >80%
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% of residents satisfied
SUMMARY
with overall quality
of their home OF KEY
2020/21 100% [] PERFORMANCE
2021/22 - DATA IN
2022/23 83%
Target >80% 2022/23
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Number of
new lettings
2020/21 2
2021/22 1
2022/23 2
Target -
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Number of Average Relet Number of complaints
relettings Times (in days) received/resolved prior to
referral to ombudsman
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DAYS
2020/21 3 2020/21 54 2020/21 0/0
2021/22 4 2021/22 126 2021/22 1/1
2022/23 2 4 2022/23 110 2022/23 1/1
Target - Target - Target 100%
Number of anti-social Voids as a % of % of total rent
behaviour complaints rent receivable receivable actually
received/resolved collected
2020/21 9/9 2020/21 0.48% 2020/21 98.81%
2021/22 10/10 2021/22 0.68% 2021/22 99.34%
2022/23 6/6 2022/23 0.96% 2022/23 99.05%
Target 100% Target <1% Target >98%
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*** SURVEYED EVERY 2 YEARS USUALLY, DELAYED BY COVID-19 FOR ONE ADDITIONAL YEAR**

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SMHA Rents 4

SMHA has recorded information on the rents charged for different homes in our management The Association’s rent setting policy is broken into two categories The first is Controlled or Point based rents. Under this system of rent setting, each property is allocated a number of points depending upon the facilities that each property contains Decontrolled rents are used for all mixed funded development property with an element of loan finance built in. They are based on four-factors in total: - sinking fund, loan element, management allowances and maintenance allowances

Our Board balances the need to fund our housing service adequately and maintain affordable rents. Typically, our rents compare well against other HA sector rents. SMHA decided to raise rent by 3 1% in 2022/23, after previously freezing rents in 2021/22

Our overall average weekly rents as a whole are reported annually to the Department for Communities and are recorded below:-

Average Weekly Rent

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GENERAL HOUSING SHELTERED HOUSING
SIZE OF
No Units Average Net Rent No Units Average Net Rent
HOME
1-bedroom 9 £68 98 3 £94 36
2-bedroom 58 £79 72 16 £94 81
3-bedroom 90 £90 70 0 -
4-bedroom 41 £88 50 0 -
Totals 188 19
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St Matthew’s Housing Association 5 Accounts 2022/23

Approved at AGM 27th June 2023

Statement of Income - Year ended 31 March 2023

2023 2022
£ £
Turnover 1,332,005 1,381,813
Operating costs (1,014,403) (1,040,428)
Operating Surplus 317,602 341,385
Interest receivable 22,712 1,919
Interest payable (31,918) (32,406)
Other interest (6,000) (14,000)
Pension additional service cost (44,000) (51,000)
Surplus on Ordinary Activities 258,396 245,898
(no taxation – due to charitable status)
Surplus for the year 258,396 245,898
Actuarial gain (loss) on pension scheme 246,000 527,000
Total recognised gains (losses) since last AR 504,396 772,898

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Statement of Financial Position - Year ended 31 March 2023

2023
£
Tangible Fixed Assets
Cost
20,055,911
Less Depreciation
(5,048,080)
15,007,031
Other Fixed Assets
28,135
15,035,966
Current Assets
Debtors
99,648
Cash & bank balances
1,577,635
1,677,283
Current Liabilities
Creditors
(301,822)
Net Current Assets
1,375,461
Total Assets less Current Liabilities
16,411,427		 2022
£
19,188,477
(4,778,783)
14,409,694
26,922
14,436,616
91,704
2,157,046
2,248,750
(347,916)
1,900,834
16,337,450
Creditors: Amounts Falling Due
After More Than 1 Year
Deferred Grant
9,103,411
Long-term liabilities
1,004,259
Pension fund liability
-
10,107,670
Total Net Assets:
6,303,757
Reserves:
Share Capital
57
Capital Reserves
301
Revenue Reserves
6,303,399
Total Reserves
6,303,757		 9,070,506
1,271,583
196,000
10,538,089
5,799,361
57
301
5,799,003
5,799,361

St Matthew’s Housing Association[6] Management & Staff

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Number attended of
Board of Management
6 Board Meetings in 2022/23
Mr P Devlin – Chairperson (from June 2021) 6
Mr F Woods – Treasurer (from June 2021) 6
Mr P Donnelly 6
Ms L Fegan 1
Mr D Brennan 4
Mr J O’Donnell 2
Mr C Devenny 1
Mrs P Brennan 4
Mr P Ó’Ruanaí 4
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The Board also has two main sub-committees the Finance and Personnel sub-committee and Audit sub-committee Total expenses reimbursed to Board members in 2022/23 - £0 00

(2 Board members are tenants of the Association during 2022/23)

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Position
Staff
Mr Jim Black Chief Executive & Honorary Secretary
Mrs Sandra Wright Housing Officer
Mrs Sarah Jane Murray Acting Finance & Operations Manager
Mr Kieran Donnelly Maintenance Officer
Mr A Curran Maintenance Officer (from May 2022)
Mrs Deirdre Conlon P/T Caretaker/Cleaner
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Tenant Board Members

SMHA has up to two dedicated spaces on our Board of Management reserved for tenants.

Contact details:

St. Matthew’s Housing Association 58 Harper Street Belfast BT5 4EN

Telephone: 028 9045 1070

Out of Hours Emergency Telephone: 0800 731 3081

Email: office@smha.co.uk

Following the retirement of two existing tenant board members, we are seeking interest from tenants who might wish to become involved in the governance of the Association by joining our board.

Any interested tenant should contact either the Chair “Tucker” Devlin or Chief Executive Jim Black at the following email address office@smha.co.uk

Should anyone wish to discuss the opportunity to join our Board, our Chief Executive can be contacted on 028 9046 3601 to discuss what might be involved in the role.

SMHA remains committed to being an example for community based housing associations. If you have a voice, use it for tenants on our Board.

www.smha.co.uk

twitter.com/smhabelfast

Jim Black St Matthew’s Housing Association 58 Harper Street Belfast BT5 4EN

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Direct Line: 028 9046 3601