Registered No. IP000306 Charity Registration No. NIC 104547
ARK HOUSING ASSOCIATION NORTHERN IRELAND LIMITED
ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
ARK HOUSING ASSOCIATION NORTHERN IRELAND LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
|CONTENTS|Page|
|---|---|
|Board of Management and Advisors|1|
|Report of Board of Management|2–4|
|Strategic Report of the Board of Management|5–16|
|Independent Auditors Report to the Members of Ark Housing Association NI Limited|17–21|
|Statement of Comprehensive Income|22|
|Statement of Changes in Reserves|23|
|Statement of Financial Position|24|
|Statement of Cash Flows|25|
|Notes to the Financial Statements|26–42|
## ARK HOUSING ASSOCIATION NORTHERN IRELAND LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
## BOARD OF MANAGEMENT & ADVISORS
Board of Management Mr Tom Doran (Chair) Mr Ian McAvoy (Vice-Chair) Ms Nicole Mulholland Ms Deborah Reynolds Ms Sara McClintock Ms Denise Burns Ms Catherine Blackbourne Mr Ward Erwin (Resigned 26[th] February 2024) Mr Robert Hutchinson Ms Chi Ting Yip
Chief Executive & Company Secretary Mr James P McShane
Registered Office Unit 1, Hawthorn Office Park 43 Stockmans Way Belfast BT9 7ET
Registered under the Co-Operative and Community Benefit Societies Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 No IP00306 Registered with the Department for Communities (NI) R50 Registered with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland NIC104547
Solicitors Edwards & Co 28 Hill Street Belfast BT1 3LR
Independent Auditors GMCG Belfast 19 Alfred Street Belfast BT2 8EQ
Bankers Danske Bank Donegall Square West Belfast BT1 6JS
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ARK HOUSING ASSOCIATION NORTHERN IRELAND LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
## REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT
The Board of Management presents their strategic report and the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024 for Ark Housing Association Northern Ireland Limited (the “Association”).
## Principle Activities
The Association is a non-profit making Housing Association providing a range of social housing and support services across Northern Ireland for those in need. Our principal activities include:
- Developing new build social housing in response to identified need;
- Providing housing management and tenancy support services;
- Undertaking response, cyclical and planned maintenance works;
- Assisting people to stay in their own homes through home adaptation services;
- Providing temporary accommodation and support services to homeless families;
- Providing a Floating Support Service to the wider community;
- Partnering others in the delivery of specialist housing & support provision.
## Vision, Mission and Values
Our vision is ‘Making a positive difference by empowering people and communities’ and its mission is ‘In partnership, provide quality homes and support services to meet housing need and contribute to the well-being of communities”.
Our core values, which have the acronym PRIDE, are:
– Progressive Forward thinking, supporting change and transformational Respect - Treat everyone with dignity & esteem Integrity - Maintain the highest professional and personal standards Diversity & Equality - Value diversity and equality in everything we do Excellence - Strive to deliver the highest standards of quality and customer care
– We currently own 814 homes (2023 717 homes) across a wide geographical area providing housing and associated services across a diverse spectrum including:
- General needs homes;
- Mobility and wheelchair bungalows;
- Sheltered Housing;
- Temporary Accommodation;
- Specialist homes for those living with mild to moderate dementia, learning difficulties and mental ill-health.
## Corporate Governance
In the opinion of the Board, the Association is compliant with the Best Practice issued by the NHF Code of Governance.
## Board of Management
The Association is governed by a voluntary Board, which during the year, consisted of 10 persons with a wide range of skills and experience. The gender balance of the Board during 2023-2024 was 60% female, 40% male.
The work of the Board was supported by its committees which include the Audit, Compliance and Risk committee, the Investment committee, the Governance committee and the Remuneration committee.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Board/Committees Number of Meetings during 2023-24
Board 5
Audit, Compliance & Risk Committee 5
Performance & Investment Committee 4
Governance Committee 2
Remuneration Committee 1
**----- End of picture text -----**
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ARK HOUSING ASSOCIATION NORTHERN IRELAND LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
## REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT (CONT’D)
## Going Concern
After making enquiries, the Board has a reasonable expectation that the Association has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason, the Board continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.
## Internal Financial Control
The Board is responsible for the Association’s system of financial control and along with Senior Management is responsible for establishing and operating detailed control and reporting procedures. The systems of internal financial control can only provide reasonable, and not absolute, assurance against material misstatement and loss.
The Board has reviewed the effectiveness of the Association’s system of financial control. The review included consideration of the business risks facing the Association and of the existing internal financial control procedures. The key elements of the control system in operation are:
- The Board has adopted a formal schedule of matters reserved for its approval ensuring it maintains responsibility for overall strategy, approval of all property transactions and other major capital expenditure projects.
- There is an organisational structure with clearly defined lines of responsibility and delegation of authority.
- Detailed budgets are prepared covering the Association’s business, which are reviewed and approved by the Board. In the monthly management accounts, the actual results are compared against the budget and appropriate action identified and initiated.
- The Board reviews matters relating to internal control and receives reports on a regular basis from the external and internal auditors and from Senior Management.
- The process for identifying, evaluating and managing the significant risks faced by the Association is ongoing, and is regularly reviewed by the Board.
## Board Responsibilities
The Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 and registered housing association legislation require the members of the Board of Management to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of the Association’s affairs and of its surplus or deficit for that period. In preparing these statements the Board is required to:
- Select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently;
- Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- State whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures, disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
- Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Association will continue to operate.
The members of the Board of Management are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Association and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 and the Registered Housing Associations (Accounting Requirements) Order (Northern Ireland) 1993. They have general responsibility for the taking of reasonable steps to safeguard the assets of the Association and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.
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ARK HOUSING ASSOCIATION NORTHERN IRELAND LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
## REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT (CONT’D)
## Statement of Disclosure of Information to Auditors
So far as each of the members of the Board is aware:
- There is no relevant information of which the Association’s auditors are unaware.
- They have taken all reasonable steps that they ought to have taken, as members of the Board, to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the Association’s auditors are aware of that information.
## Auditors
A resolution to appoint GMcG Group Limited was proposed and agreed at the Annual General Meeting on 26 June 2023.
By order of the Board
Mr. Tom Doran Chair of the Board of Management
Belfast 24 June 2024
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ARK HOUSING ASSOCIATION NORTHERN IRELAND LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
## STRATEGIC REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT
## Financial Performance
Our turnover for the financial year 2023-24 increased to over £6.7m compared to over £5.5m in 2022-23. This represents a 21.8% increase. This substantial increase clearly reflects the Association’s strong growth strategy.
Further indication of our growth can be evidenced in the continual increase in equity.
Our surplus is used to fund loan capital repayments and to fund our long-term home improvement plans. Our budget has been well managed, and the performance this year was strong, exceeding budget expectations. We achieved a gross margin of 43.2% and a net margin of 29.0%, both calculated using the adjusted operating surplus and turnover.
We have a strong Balance Sheet with the cost of property fixed assets increasing by £12m from the 2022/23 financial year to almost £114m at March 2024. This increase is largely due to our investment in new homes and some expenditure on major improvements to our existing homes.
The liquidity position of the Association is closely monitored in line with our Treasury policy, to ensure the availability of cash to meet its short-term liabilities. Although the ratio of current assets to current liabilities (not including short term HAG) is only 0.5:1, the Association has in place a Revolving Credit Facility of £12.5m. The delay of draw down until needed minimises loan interest repayments.
Our bank loan balances increased by £6.5m during the year due to drawdowns from our Revolving Credit Facility (RCF), reflecting the Association’s ambitious growth strategy. This has resulted in our gearing ratio increasing slightly from 19% at March 2023 to 23% at March 2024. This is still an extremely low gearing ratio, well below the bank’s maximum 50% range, allowing the Association capacity for continued growth.
The Association is also in a fortunate position to have 53% of its loans fixed at very competitive rates. In today’s market of high inflation and high interest rates this is very advantageous.
Loan interest is one of our largest areas of expenditure and therefore even small increases can have a significant impact on the Association’s overall performance. We manage this risk in line with our Treasury Management Policy by adhering to a mix of fixed and variable rates in order to balance risk whilst benefiting from more favourable variable rates. Our average loan interest rate for the financial year was 3.3%. In the current economic climate, where the Bank of England base rate, before accounting for the bank’s margin, is 5.25%, an average of 3.3% interest rate is very positive for the Association.
## Risk Management & Assurance
Our corporate risk identification and management process not only considers risks that are unique to Ark Housing but also those risks that affect the wider housing sector due to economic policy and political influences.
Each risk is continually assessed in respect of the likelihood of something happening and the impact it would have on our business if it did happen, as well as the action taken to mitigate those risks.
The Board and Executive Team are committed to embedding risk management throughout the organisation and its systems and controls are designed to ensure that any exposure to significant risk is properly managed.
Our risk management strategy is digitised with the use of the Decisiontime Risk Management software module. We recognise that risks are an intrinsic part of the organisation and risk management, and an organisation’s approach to it can be a matter that may make or break many businesses. This tool encourages scrutiny across the spectrum of risks from day-to-day operational risks to readiness for major global events. The system creates reports that improve the quality of information that is presented and communicated to the board.
Risks identified and monitored throughout 2023/2024 include:
- Macro-Economic Climate
- Counterparty Risk
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ARK HOUSING ASSOCIATION NORTHERN IRELAND LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
## STRATEGIC REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT (CONT’D)
- Compliance – Building and Property Services
- Quality Data Management & Security
- Project Delivery
We completed internal audits throughout the year to provide further assurances on our internal systems, processes and controls and these included Compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Financial Systems (purchasing, income management and payroll) and Housing Management (arrears management and complaints handling). All three internal audit reports returned satisfactory outcomes in the business areas examined and we were pleased to receive a satisfactory annual assurance report from our internal auditors in respect to the same.
## Safeguarding
The welfare of adults and children is of utmost importance to us, and we are committed to practices that reduce risk and promote safeguarding. Our staff recognise their responsibilities and are committed to adhering to the policies and procedures in place. We recognise that staff training and development is important, particularly with regard to safeguarding and our staff participated in Safeguarding training in May 2023. We continue to ensure that all new staff are provided with an overview during induction. The Association’s Adult Safeguarding Champion continues to investigate and report safeguarding issues to the Association’s Board, Charities Commission and Supporting People. During 2023/2024, the Board fully implemented its Safeguarding reporting obligations.
## Fraud
The Board are concerned with ensuring that the assets of the Association are protected from the risk of theft, misappropriation, or other such unauthorised disposal, from wherever the source is, including through fraudulent actions.
The Association’s fraud policy applies to everyone engaged in activities on behalf of the Association, including board members, staff, tenants, members of the public, contractors, agents and others.
This policy sets out the responsibilities of all staff regarding the prevention of fraud and the actions to be taken where a fraud is suspected or detected.
The Association completed the four quarterly DfC Fraud returns for the financial year. We reported 9 tenancy fraud investigations during 2023-24. 5 cases are now closed and 4 remain open.
## Value for Money
We define Value for Money (VFM) as ‘obtaining the maximum benefit from our assets’. It is simply not the cheapest way of doing something. It is about finding the best combination between:
- Keeping the cost to a minimum
- Achieving more with our resources to deliver a greater level of service
- Achieving the best outcomes for our tenants
We are committed to providing the best value for money for services for our tenants. Demand for services is continually increasing and resources are limited, therefore we constantly review our services and how we manage resources to ensure that we can continue to re-invest savings into meeting our tenants’ needs, increasing the number of homes we provide and mitigating risks.
Our strategic approach to achieving VFM is driven by our corporate plan and our other strategies which complement the plan. We continually examine our plans and results across the entire organisation, all of which have the common theme in mind of maximising efficiencies and opportunities to achieve the maximum for our tenants.
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ARK HOUSING ASSOCIATION NORTHERN IRELAND LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
## STRATEGIC REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT (CONT’D)
## Budgetary Control
We produce annually a Financial Long-Term Business Plan, which sets out the following 5 years growth strategy and objectives and then extends for an additional 25 years to ensure the strategy’s long-term financial viability, by confirming that future income streams will be sufficient to meet future expenditure. The plan identifies the financing required and demonstrates the Association’s ability to repay the loans and meet banking covenants as well as measuring other important KPI’s. The model is then re-run several times, testing the impact of changes to the key assumptions. The assumptions which will have the greatest impact on the forecasting are selected for testing.
In addition, we set a detailed annual budget which includes efficiency targets and improvements and acts as a control mechanism for both the Associations’ income and expenditure. Performance is measured against budget throughout the financial year through monthly and quarterly Management Accounts.
## Procurement
The procurement of goods and services is a large expense area and therefore we have robust procurement policy and procedures in place to ensure when awarding supplier contracts, we achieve VFM in every contract. The whole organisation is encouraged to drive value for money improvements, however big or small.
Our head office administration costs had an overall saving of £25k for the financial year, and it is an area where we are constantly striving to reduce the unit cost over the longer term through our growth plans. It is still a challenging time to achieve cost cuts, as we continue to experience price increases in the current economic climate of high inflation and high interest rates. However, we will continue to positively engage in new technologies to ensure VFM through our processes.
Service charges are reviewed annually. Again, with high inflation, it is still a challenging time to achieve savings and lower costs. However, the Association will continually strive for competitive contracts to drive service costs downwards so that we are able to pass these savings on to our tenants as a means of offsetting other increasing costs.
## Our People
Investing in our people is crucial to achieving VFM. One of our five strategic themes is to be a leading employer and that commitment is reflected throughout our personnel policies.
We are committed to recognising, rewarding, and retaining highly motivated staff. Staff feedback is instrumental in striving to continually improve workforce performance leading to service improvement. In our most recent staff survey 92% reported that they were satisfied in their employment with 89% proud to work for us. We also invested over £37k in staff training and development.
We operate a hybrid workplace model, which has been made possible by technological advancements. As a forwardlooking organisation, we wish to embrace the benefits of providing staff with a work-life balance whilst also ensuring that productivity and creativity are maintained, through our Hybrid Working policy.
We continually ensure that we meet our equality statutory requirements under section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. During the year we employed an average of 39 people. The gender balance was 74% female, 26% male and the Senior Executive Team comprised of 25% female, 75% male. Staff retention for the year was 86% at year end, sickness absence levels were measured at an average of 5.6% during the year.
## – Meeting Housing Need New Build Development
This year marked the 2[nd] year of our 2022-2027 Corporate Strategy which aims to achieve 1,300 homes under management by March 2027.
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ARK HOUSING ASSOCIATION NORTHERN IRELAND LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
## STRATEGIC REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT (CONT’D)
By the end of March 2024, the Association had made significant progress towards achieving this strategic objective with 814 homes in management, a further 293 homes on site and under construction, and a further 87 starts under final appraisal and progressing positively towards final approval having been carried over from 2023-24.
Of the 293 homes under construction at year-end, 234 of those carried over as ongoing projects from the previous year, and 59 had newly started during the 12-month reporting period. Our in-year starts figure was lower than expected for various operational reasons, resulting in the 87 as aforementioned starts carrying over.
Of the 814 homes under management at year-end, 99 of those were completed during the reporting period, with an additional 24 not achieving in-year completion as expected. Those 24 completions are expected to finalise within Quarter 1 of 2024-25.
Throughout the year, we invested £12m in providing new properties and component replacements equating to a Property Fixed Asset growth of 12% and a property unit growth of 14%. To fund our development programme, we have an undrawn Revolving Credit Facility balance of £12.5m and loan balances of just over £26.3m, of which £14.1m is fixed, providing protection against the current high interest rates and further potential interest rate increases.
With our continued investment in, and focus on growth, we are not only delivering much needed housing, but making a significant contribution towards the wider economy and ensuring our longer-term financial sustainability and strategic relevance.
Looking forward, there is a very real risk that new build starts for 2024-25 may be significantly impacted as a result of the recently published Northern Ireland Budget which seeks to reduce the capital finance available for social housing new build. Although this situation may well impact our development figures for next year, with a combined total of 1,194 homes either in management, on-site, or awaiting approval, the Association has already secured significant progress towards achieving its overall five-year strategic target.
## Planned Maintenance
An annual budget is agreed for major upgrades to our stock in accordance with our asset management strategy and stock condition surveys. We recognise that it is more cost effective to invest in maintaining our properties through a comprehensive planned component replacement programme, which will not only give our properties a longer life but will over the long-term produce savings in routine maintenance spend.
This year we invested £699k in planned maintenance and component replacements, against a budgeted spend of £700k. This demonstrates that as well as investing in new homes, we are committed to maintaining our current homes to a high quality for the well-being and comfort of our tenants.
The budget was spread across several schemes, with particularly large expenditure for fire safety works in four schemes, for boiler and heating upgrade in three schemes and replacement external doors and windows in another scheme.
We also undertook several home adaptations to enable our residents to live safely and more independently within their homes as their physical needs change. During the year we completed twenty home adaptations at a cost of £60k.
## Health& Safety (Compliance)
We demonstrated compliance in Health & Safety through our Cyclical Servicing Compliance Monitor. Performance was presented quarterly to the Investment Committee and Board in relation to gas servicing, fire protection, lift, legionella testing and other areas. 97.9% of gas service was completed on time, with 100% of all other servicing completed in year with the exception of environmental inspections (96.2%), lift servicing (98.7%) and fixed wire testing (99.8%).
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ARK HOUSING ASSOCIATION NORTHERN IRELAND LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
## STRATEGIC REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT (CONT’D)
## Achieving Affordable Rents & Maximising Rental Income
We aim to set rents that are affordable for our tenants, however it is equally vital that rents are set at an adequate level to cover the costs of maintaining our properties to a high standard and to service debt. During the 2023/24 financial year we applied a rent increase of 7.5%, in line with September CPI plus 1%.
The overall average rent for a self-contained property during 2023/24 was £102.19, compared to the 2022/23 financial year which was £94.49.
We operate in an increasingly challenging financial environment, and so minimising our rental losses through effective arrears management is also vital. Without a reliable income stream, service delivery may be jeopardised, loan commitments may not be met, thus making further funding more difficult and there will be a detrimental effect on the Association’s reputation.
Thus, we have a robust arrears management policy and procedural action plans in place to promote a ‘rent payment culture’. We aim to address losses from arrears and to recover debt as cost effectively as possible. There is continual reporting and monitoring in the monthly finance report and KPI framework to ensure timely reaction to growing arrears. We provide advice and assistance to tenants, promote money advice services and debt reduction strategies and intervene early to avoid unmanageable debts building up.
The total amount of arrears for the 2023/2024 financial year end was 8.1% which was above our KPI target of 5.5%. Of these, 6.8% were attributed to current tenants and 1.3% former tenants. Of the current tenants, 5.5% was identified as technical arrears, meaning those arrears would be payable in time by statutory agencies and the net current rent arrears (i.e. non-technical which are paid directly by tenants) equated to 1.3% at year end.
The Association has been taking measures to ensure that rent arrears are effectively managed, by ensuring early intervention and continual engagement with tenants and statutory agencies.
The turnover of housing stock is an integral part of social housing provision that inevitably results in periods where properties are void. Good void management has a huge economic and social benefit in maximising rental income and meeting housing needs. We continually report and review losses from void properties both in our finance reporting and our KPI framework and constantly aim to reduce void periods in our properties.
Our rental loss through voids was 1.4% against a budget of 1.3%. During the year, we completed a total of 151 permanent social housing allocations, with the net average re-let time of 25 working days.
## Housing Services and Engaged Communities
We continually monitor the quality of services delivered to our tenants. Our repairs service is paramount to achieving high levels of tenant satisfaction and VFM and during the year we completed a total of 3,437 repairs with 2,930 (85.25%) of those being completed within our published timescales.
Our year end repair response times are further broken down below categorised by urgency group:
|Urgency Indicator|% Response Time|
|---|---|
|Emergency|84.30%|
|Urgent|82.00%|
|Routine|83.33%|
We believe that our tenants are entitled to live in peace within their neighbourhood and as a landlord, we aim to provide a proactive service to help effectively deal with instances of anti-social behaviour. We continually work with our Tenants Forum to review how we deal with these issues and during the year, the Forum undertook a fundamental review of our Anti-Social Behaviour policies and procedures. In addition, we have reviewed our website and have enhanced the information made available in respect to anti-social behaviour. During the year, 77% of all anti-social behaviour cases had been closed and when asked about how satisfied they were that their neighbourhood was a safe place to live, 77% of our tenants who completed the tenant satisfaction survey indicated that they were either very satisfied or satisfied.
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ARK HOUSING ASSOCIATION NORTHERN IRELAND LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
## STRATEGIC REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT (CONT’D)
During 2023/2024 significant work was undertaken in developing our tenant engagement options and ensuring that our tenants were offered opportunities to have a say in and shape our services. During the year, we held 72 engagement activities and 84 formal tenant interactions which were attended by 594 adults and 182 children.
The Tenants Forum has played a pivotal role in shaping and improving our services throughout the year. They have met 8 times this year and were involved in:
- Reviewing Policies (Anti-Social Behaviour, Customer Services)
- Reviewing the Tenant Participation Governance Structure
- Developing a Tenant Approved Stamp
- Developing the 2024/2025 Tenant Participation Budget
- Reviewing and approving pre-tenancy presentations for new tenants
- Developing a workflow and procedure for scheme walkabouts
- Attending the All-Ireland Tenant Engagement Conference which was facilitated by Supporting Communities
A key piece of work this year by the Tenants Forum has been the review and development of our Tenant Participation Strategy and 5-year action plan.
In addition to this, the Tenants Forum and Ark Housing Board held a joint strategic meeting in November as a means of discussing and agreeing key priorities and actions in relation to service delivery.
Ark Housing are committed to the promotion and provision of shared housing and have been supported by the Department for Communities and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive’s ‘Housing For All Programme’. With a shared housing programme of seven developments, and a total budget of over £1.8m over 5 years, we continue to develop and deliver on our good relations plans across each of these developments. During the year, we engaged in working in partnership with several organisations to deliver on these good relations plans and because of our work, we delivered 59 projects and held 20 advisory group meetings.
We continually use feedback from our tenants to increase levels of satisfaction, and in 2023/2024 we appointed an independent consultant (Service Insights) to undertake the tenant satisfaction surveys. As part of this, Service Insights worked alongside our Tenants Forum to develop survey questions and to agree methods of engagement.
The results from the survey show that:
- 73% of tenants satisfied with the overall service provided by the Association;
- 77% of tenants were satisfied with the safety and security of their home;
- 73% of tenants were satisfied that their home was well maintained;
- 77% of tenants were satisfied of the safety and security of the area they live in;
- 71% of tenants felt that the rent and service charges are value for money;
- 79% of tenants were satisfied with the ease of contacting Ark staff;
- 79% of tenants were satisfied with the ease of reporting a repair.
## Complaints
We welcome complaints as a means of learning and being able to continuously improve. In 2023/2024, 12 formal complaints were received, with 5 (42%) upheld. 100% of these complaints were investigated and responded to within our published timescales.
## Homeless Services
During 2023/2024 demand for the Floating Support service increased exponentially, with the team supporting 212 active clients at the end of March 2024. In addition to this, there were 143 support cases closed, with 114 of these being closed successfully (80%).
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ARK HOUSING ASSOCIATION NORTHERN IRELAND LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
## STRATEGIC REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT (CONT’D)
Along with the Floating Support service, we have also facilitated a number of resident and community engagement activities which has positively improved cohesion between the families we support and the wider community. To compliment this work, £15,469 of funding was secured from various funding sources such as the National lottery Awards for All, PPR Take Back the City, Public Health Agency, NI Community Relations, Barclays Football Fund and Eden Communities Sharing Table. These funding sources have allowed for the successful delivery of a programme of activities that directly impacts the lives of families who are engaging with the floating support service. This diverse programme has promoted mental health, social integration, and community development.
## Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
We measure key performance throughout all areas of the Association with a range of indicators which are deemed to be the most essential to organisational success and which link directly to our corporate themes.
We use the traffic light system to demonstrate those areas where we are meeting our targets and to alert us to those areas of underperformance that require our attention. Key Performance Indicators are reported quarterly to the Board and Investment Committee so that they can be reviewed and monitored, thus embedding our VFM strategy into our processes. This framework ensures that performance improvement is a priority.
Our KPI’s link directly to our strategic themes and quarter 4 results, i.e. March 2024, are set out below:
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ARK HOUSING ASSOCIATION NORTHERN IRELAND LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
## STRATEGIC REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT (CONT’D)
– Corporate Theme 1 Leading Employer
|CORPORATE STRATEGY THEME 1:
LEADING EMPLOYER|REPORTING
FREQUENCY|KPI DESCRIPTOR|KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR
RANGE|KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR
RANGE|KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR
RANGE|Mar-24|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||Red|Amber|Green||
|Learning & Development Expenditure|Annual|budget spent / approved budget|<75%|75% - 84%|>85%|117%|
|Employee Learning & Development|Annual|total staff received L&D / total
staff|<90%|90% - 94%|>95%|100%|
|Employee Performance Coaching|Annual|total staff coached / total staff|<90%|90% - 94%|>95%|100%|
|Employee Retention|Quarterly|total staff voluntarily resigned /
total staff|<80%|80% - 89%|>90%|86.0%|
|Employee Sickness Absence|Quarterly|total days lost to illness / total
working days|>6%|5% - 6%|<5%|5.6%|
|Staff feel satisfied with Ark Housing as
a place to work|Annual|total % staff reporting from
attitudes survey 2023|<70%|70% - 75%|>75%|92.0%|
|Staff feel recognised and rewarded|Annual|total % staff reporting from
attitudes survey 2023|<70%|70% - 75%|>75%|78.0%|
|Staff enjoy a healthy work-life balance|Annual|total % staff reporting from
attitudes survey 2023|<70%|70% - 75%|>75%|78.0%|
|Staff feel highly motivated, engaged &
satisfied|Annual|total % staff reporting from
attitudes survey 2023|<70%|70% - 75%|>75%|78.0%|
|Staff feel empowered and valued|Annual|total % staff reporting from
attitudes survey 2023|<70%|70% - 75%|>75%|78.0%|
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ARK HOUSING ASSOCIATION NORTHERN IRELAND LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
## STRATEGIC REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT (CONT’D)
– Corporate theme 2 Better Homes, Greater Diversity
|CORPORATE STRATEGY THEME 2:
BETTER HOMES, GREATER
DIVERSITY|REPORTING
FREQUENCY|
KPI DESCRIPTOR|KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR
RANGE|KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR
RANGE|KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR
RANGE|Mar-24|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||Red|Amber|Green||
|Number of Units Started|Quarterly|starts against target(accumulative)|<80|80-100|>100|59|
|Number of Units Completed|Quarterly|completions(accumulative)|<81|80-101|>101|99|
|Stock Growth Rate|Quarterly|completions / total stock at start of year
(accumulative)|<10%|10% - 12%|>12%|13.8%|
|Fire Alarm Servicing|Quarterly|valid service records / total eligible schemes|<90%|90% - 99%|100%|100%|
|Gas Safety|Quarterly|valid service records / total eligible properties|<95%|95% - 99%|100%|97.9%|
|Carbon Monoxide Alarms|Quarterly|properties with CM alarms / total properties|<95%|95% - 99%|100%|100%|
|Boiler Servicing (excludes gas)|Quarterly|valid service records / total eligible properties|<80%|80% - 89%|>90%|96.3%|
|Fire Risk Assessments|Quarterly|schemes with valid FRA / total eligible
schemes|<95%|95% - 99%|100%|100%|
|Legionella|Quarterly|schemes with valid test / total eligible
schemes|<95%|95% - 99%|100%|100%|
|Environmental Inspections|Quarterly|schemes with up-to-date inspection / total
schemes|<95%|95% - 99%|100%|96.2%|
|Lift Servicing|Quarterly|schemes with valid record / total eligible
schemes|<90%|90% - 99%|100%|98.7%|
|Fixed Wire Testing|Quarterly|properties with valid certificate / total
properties|<80%|80% - 99%|100%|99.8%|
|Adaptations Contractor
Performance|Quarterly|jobs completed on time / adaptation jobs
raised|<70%|70% - 79%|>80%|89.0%|
|Adaptations Association
Performance(DfC)|Quarterly|jobs processed within DfC times / adaptation
jobs raised|<70%|70% - 79%|>80%|72.2%|
|Energy Performance Certification|Annual|average EPC rating|C75C78|78.8|
|Adaptations Satisfaction|Annual|tenants satisfied with works / number of
tenants surveyed|<70%|70% - 79%|>80%|100%|
|Adaptation Grant Claims|Annual|grant claims submitted on time / number of
jobs completed|<100%|-|100%|68.0%|
|Planned & Cyclical Performance|Annual|schemes completed on time / programmed
for completion|<80%|80% - 90%|>90%|60.0%|
|Planned Maintenance Satisfaction|Annual|tenants satisfied with works / number of
tenants surveyed|<70%|70% - 79%|>80%|89%|
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ARK HOUSING ASSOCIATION NORTHERN IRELAND LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
## STRATEGIC REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT (CONT’D)
– Corporate Theme 3 Engaged Communities, Greater Impact
|CORPORATE STRATEGY THEME 3:
ENGAGED COMMUNITIES, GREATER
IMPACT|REPORTING
FREQUENCY|
KPI DESCRIPTOR|KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR
RANGE|KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR
RANGE|KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR
RANGE|Mar-24|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||Red|Amber|Green||
|No of Interagency & Community
Forum Meetings Attended|Quarterly|Number of Meetings attended(accumulative)|<=5|6 to 8|>9|12|
|No of general tenant & resident
meetings held|Quarterly|Number of Meetings held(accumulative)|<=5|6 to 8|>9|31|
|% of eligible tenants attending
tenant & resident meetings|Quarterly|Average of eligible tenants attending tenant &
resident meetings(accumulative)|<=6%|6.1% - 9.9%|>10%|9.0%|
|No of Official Tenant Forum
Meetings Held|Quarterly|Meetings held(accumulative)|<2%|3|>=4|6|
|% of tenants signed up to tenant
participation register|Quarterly|Total number of tenants on register / total number
of tenancies|<6%|6% - 9%|>10%|15|
|No of "estate walkabouts"
undertaken|Annual|Number of events undertaken|<3|4 to 6|>=7|11|
|No of planned maintenance
consultation meetings held|Annual|no. of unique tenants engaged / total number of
eligible tenants|<3|4|>5|6|
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ARK HOUSING ASSOCIATION NORTHERN IRELAND LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
## STRATEGIC REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT (CONT’D)
– Corporate Theme 4 Service Excellence, Satisfied Customers
|CORPORATE STRATEGY THEME 4:
SERVICE EXCELLENCE, SATISFIED
CUSTOMERS|
REPORTING
FREQUENCY|
KPI DESCRIPTOR|KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR
RANGE|KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR
RANGE|KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR
RANGE|Mar-24|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||Red|Amber|Green||
|Overall Repairs Performance|Quarterly|repairs completed on time / all repairs completed|<70%|70% - 79%|>80%|84.3%|
|Emergency Repairs Performance
(24 Hours)|
Quarterly|emergency jobs completed on time / emergency
repairs completed|<75%|75% - 84%|>85%|84.3%|
|Urgent Repairs Performance
(4 Working Days)|
Quarterly|urgent jobs completed on time / urgent repairs
completed|<70%|70% - 79%|>80%|82.0%|
|Routine Repairs Performance
(20 working Days)|
Quarterly|routine jobs completed on time / routine repairs
completed|<70%|70% - 79%|>80%|83.3%|
|Average Repair Time|Quarterly|no. of completed jobs x total days taken / no. of
completed jobs|>10 days|8 - 10 days|<8 days|14|
|Occupancy Rate|Quarterly|occupied days / number of available days|<94%|94% - 95%|>96%|99.0%|
|Void Stock|Quarterly|void properties / total stock(quarter-end snapshot)|>4%|3% - 4%|<3%|1.6%|
|Average Relet Time|Quarterly|relets x days void / total number of relets|>25 days|21 - 25|<20 days|25|
|Relet Performance|Quarterly|relets on time / total number of relets|<70%|70% - 79%|>80%|36.0%|
|Average New Let Time|Quarterly|firstime lettings x total days void / total number of
new lets|>5 days|1 - 5|0 days|4.5|
|First Time Let Performance|Quarterly|firstime lettings on time / total number of new lets|<70%|70% - 79%|>80%|78.0%|
|Allocations (Transfers vs General
Applicants)|Quarterly|number of transfer allocations / all allocations|>5% + / -|5% + / -|15% - 45%|17.8%|
|Tenancy Fraud Prevalence|Quarterly|number of tenancy fraud investigations / total stock|>2%|1% - 2%|<1%|0.1%|
|Anti-social Behaviour Prevalence|Quarterly|number of open ASB investigations / total stock|>4%|3% - 4%|<3%|0.7%|
|Anti-social Behaviour Performance|Quarterly|ASB cases closed / total cases reported|<55%|55% - 69%|>70%|77.0%|
|Anti-social Behaviour Satisfaction|Annual|very or fairly satisfied with ASB case outcome / cases
closed|
<75%|75% - 84%|>85%|51.0%|
|Overall Customer Satisfaction Rate|Annual|no. of tenants fairly or very satisfied / total survey
respondees|<75%|75% - 84%|>85%|73.0%|
|Overall Repairs Satisfaction|Annual|no. of tenants fairly or very satisfied / total survey
respondees|<75%|75% - 84%|>85%|69.1%|
|Overall Quality of Home Satisfaction|Annual|no. of tenants fairly or very satisfied / total survey
respondees|<75%|75% - 84%|>85%|73.4%|
|Rent - Value For Money Satisfaction|Annual|no. of tenants fairly or very satisfied / total survey
respondees|<75%|75% - 84%|>85%|71.0%|
|Service Charge - VFM satisfaction|Annual|no. of tenants fairly or very satisfied / total survey
respondees|<75%|75% - 84%|>85%|87.2%|
|Satisfaction Rate (Homeless
Services)|Annual|no. of service users fairly or very satisfied / total
survey respondees|<75%|75% - 84%|>85%|73.0%|
|Formal Complaints Prevalence|Quarterly|no. of formal complaints received / total stock|>4%|3% - 4%|<3%|1.6%|
|Formal Complaints (1st Stage
Resolution)|Quarterly|no. of complaints resolved at stage 1 / total received|<70%|70% - 79%|>80%|83.0%|
|Formal Complaints (2nd Stage
Resolution)|Quarterly|no. of complaints resolved at stage 2 / total
appealed|<70%|70% - 79%|>80%|100%|
|Formal Complaints (Ombudsman)|Quarterly|no. of complaints referred / total received|>5%|4% - 5%|<4%|0%|
|Formal Complaints Satisfaction|Annual|very or fairly satisfied with outcome / complaints
resolved|<65%|65% - 79%|>80%|52.0%|
|Homeless Services Capacity|Quarterly|no. of current homeless support clients / maximum
capacity (201)|<70%|70% - 79%|>80%|105%|
|Homeless Services Throughput
(Floating Support)|Quarterly|no. of client support cases successfully closed / total
clients|
<30%|30% - 50%|>50%|46.0%|
|Homeless Services Throughput
(Accommodation)|Quarterly|no. of clients in planned move-on / number of
clients (41)|<50%|50% - 100%|>100%|39.0%|
|Supporting People Outcomes|Quarterly|no. of clients where identified needs have been met
at moved on / total clients|<70%|70% - 80%|>80%|80.0%|
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ARK HOUSING ASSOCIATION NORTHERN IRELAND LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
## STRATEGIC REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT (CONT’D)
– Corporate Theme 5 Financial Assurance, Sustainability
**----- Start of picture text -----**
CORPORATE STRATEGY THEME 5: KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR
FINANCIAL ASSURANCE, REPORTING KPI DESCRIPTOR RANGE Mar-24
FREQUENCY
SUSTAINABILITY
Red Amber Green
Interest Cover Quarterly adjusted surplus (surplus+depreciation- <1.4 1.4 >1.4 2.1
amortisation)/net interest payable
Gearing Ratio Quarterly total loans / property fixed assets >50% 50% <50% 23.0%
Average Interest Rate (Loan Portfolio) Quarterly total loans / annual interest payable >4.15% 4% - 4.15% <4% 3.3%
Gross Margin Quarterly adjusted operating surplus / adjusted turnover <42% 42% - 42.9% >43% 43.2%
(turnover-amortisation)
Net Margin Quarterly adjusted surplus / adjusted Turnover <21.5% 21.5% - 22.7% >22.8% 29.0%
Return on Capital Employed Quarterly operating surplus / net assets <1.55% 1.55% - 1.59% >1.6% 2.0%
Management cost per unit Quarterly total management costs / number of units >£855 £828 - £855 <£828 £814
Maintenance cost per unit Quarterly total maintenance costs / number of units >£1290 £1246 -£1290 <£1246 £867
Major Repairs cost per unit Quarterly total cost / number of units <£865 £834-£865 <£834 £0
Rent & Other Charges Collected Quarterly opening rent arrears + rent rec'ble - closing rent <96% 96% - 97% >98% 99.5%
arrears / rent rec'ble
Total Arrears Quarterly total arrears / annual rent receivable >5.75% 5.5% - 5.75% <5.5% 8.1%
Current Tenant Arrears Quarterly current tenant arrears / annual rent receivable >4.5% 4.0% - 4.5% <4% 6.8%
Former Tenant Arrears Quarterly former tenant arrears / annual rent receivable >1.75% 1.5% - 1.75% <1.5% 1.3%
Current Tenant Technical Arrear Quarterly technical arrear (owed by statutory body)/annual rent receivable >2.8% 2.5%-2.8% <2.5% 5.5%
Net Current Tenant Arrears Quarterly non-technical arrear (owed by tenant) / annual rent receivable >1.7% 1.5% - 1.7% <1.5% 1.3%
non-technical arrear / annual non-technical rent
Non-Technical Arrears Quarterly receivable >5% 5% <5% 5.0%
Total Void Loss Quarterly void loss / rent, rates, service charges receivable >1.4% 1.3% - 1.4% <1.3% 1.4%
Total Void Loss (GN) Quarterly GN void loss / GN Rent, rates, service charges receivable >1.2% 1% - 1.2% <1% 1.3%
Total Void Loss (Supported) Quarterly Supported void loss /Supported rent, rates, service >3.5% 3%- 3.5% <3% 2.1%
charges receivable
sheltered void loss / sheltered rent, rates, services
Total Void Loss (Sheltered) Quarterly >3.5% 3% - 3.5% <3% 0.8%
charges receivable
**----- End of picture text -----**
By order of the Board
Mr James McShane Company Secretary
Belfast
24 June 2024
16