EastendHomes as a registered social landlord and a not-for-profit organisation will provide high quality homes and housing services to those living on its estates.  EastendHomes will be accountable to residents.

EastendHomes expects to own and manage up to 5,000 homes in Tower Hamlets.

All properties owned by EastendHomes will be brought up to the governments Decent Homes Standard by 2010.  In additional work will be carried out to refurbish estates to improve security and communal areas, and increase energy efficiency.

Asset management is an essential business process.  The performance of the asset base is crucial to the viability of the organisation.  It is therefore vital that range of activities are in place to ensure that the assets owned by EastendHomes meet needs and standards now and in the future and continue to generate the income required to satisfy funders and to operate the business.

Asset management can be summarised as two key activities:

Monitoring a range of data which provides information on two crucial factors:

• Assets continue to meet current need and in the future (and will therefore continue to generate income)
• Costs of management, maintenance, and investment are not disproportionate to the income generated.

Informed decision making on management, maintenance and investment issues, which may be in turn affect the future value of the assets; and on any expansion of the asset base.  This includes:

• Assessment of the market
• Access policies
• Services offered
• Charging (where flexibility exists)
• Repair and investment decisions
• Development/expansion opportunities

In short, asset management is an activity which provides information on the viability of existing assets, allowing the impact of policies which affect this to be assessed, informing investment and expansion decisions, and supporting and being supported by the risk management activity undertaken within the organisation.

Asset Management in EastendHomes

What are the company’s assets?

• Social housing stock
• Garages
• Shops and other ancillary buildings

Social Housing Stock

Monitoring

Sustainability

This is defined as people continuing to want to live in the same community, both now and in the future, and people choosing to live in particular property types both now and in the future.

A range of factors contribute to sustainability, and it is the product of a complex set of interactions between social, economic and environmental factors.

It is therefore suggested that a range of indicators are monitored which will identify any areas of concern.

The data will be analysed on an estate and neighbourhood basis, as well as by property type, irrespective of area.

Data will also be kept separately on any new development schemes, to inform decisions on future development.

In addition to the indicators general tenant satisfaction surveys, new tenant surveys and surveys of tenants moving into newly developed properties will also contain questions on satisfaction with the neighbourhood and the environment.

Repair and investment

It is important to measure the cost of maintaining and improving the asset base to identify if certain construction or design types are costing more than others.  They will inform decisions about materials and specifications and to enable analysis of maintenance costs against sustainability.

Data will again be analysed by geographical district as well as property type, and separate data will be kept on new development schemes.

Tenant surveys will also include questions about general satisfaction with the maintenance, repair and amenities provided within the home, as well as satisfaction with improvement works.

Decision making

Decision making will be informed by the collection and analysis of the above data.

Decisions will be prompted by one or more of the following:

• Analysis of data

The continual review of data may prompt a need to review policy, or procedures eg changes in demand may affect lettings policies, high repair costs may affect specifications or planned maintenance programmes etc

If a group of properties appear to have questionable viability, even after policies relating to their management have been reviewed, then decisions about their long term future may be required, eg sale, change of use, demolition etc.

• Expansion opportunities

The board will set parameters for any new development.  Decisions within these parameters (or a future recommendation to change them) will be informed by the above data.  Individual opportunities will be the subject of a full sustainability analysis.

• External factors

Changes in government policy, eg funding regimes, statutory duties placed on local authorities, can impact on the viability of the asset base.  In this context, strong partnerships with strategic housing authorities will be important, as well as joint asset management planning locally, with housing authorities and other providers.

Garages

A range of indicators will establish to monitor the viability of the garage stock.  These will relate to turnover, demand and repair costs.

Any sites which do not appear to have long term viability based on these indicators will also be viewed in the light of the wider sustainability indicators or the neighbourhood in which the site is situated.

Shops

EastendHomes will have a number of shops on its estates.  Data collected about neighbourhoods will inform decisions on sustainability when leases terminate.

The process

The process of asset management is continuous.  The board will receive an annual review of the activity during the year.  This will provide:

• A picture of the viability of the assets, with comparisons to previous reports
• A summary of changes in procedures and processes which have been made during the year as a result of the ongoing analysis.
• In addition, future reports assessing expansion and development opportunities, or proposing policy changes, will be presented in the context of the ongoing activity of asset management.

Maintenance/Repairs/Future Use

Wherever feasible EastendHomes will use low maintenance materials in the construction, improvement and repair of its homes.

EastendHomes will comply with the latest building regulations and appropriate advice in terms of construction, improvement and repair.

Monitoring

The key indicator for the social housing business is occupancy.  The business plan target will be monitored closely in order to trigger early corrective action, if requested.

There are a range of other indicators that will be monitored regularly:

• Fee rates
• Staffing levels
• Complaints and compliments
• Performance against budgets
• Accidents in the Homes
• Inspection reports from regulators
• Internal quality control reports

This information will be reviewed by the Management Team for action if required.  It will also be reported to the Board of EastendHomes.