Year in Review: A Look Back at 2023-24
Hello and welcome to our Housing & Neighbourhood Service annual review for 2023/24. Our review looks back on our performance over the last year and highlights our achievements and successes.
Professionalisation of the housing service has been a theme of the year. It is a new requirement of the Regulator for Social Housing (RSH) and is also a great opportunity to focus even more on improving our standards of service. This review has been themed around the four new “consumer standards” and includes our annual Tenant Satisfaction Measure (TSMs) scores for 2023/24, which are a requirement of the Regulator. These are a set of performance measures that we, alongside all social housing landlords, need to report on to let our tenants know how we are performing. Look out for the data symbols under each of the themes below to see how we did!
Along with reviewing achievements and performance, we have also have information about our homes and tenants, how the rent you pay is spent and our priorities for 2024/25.
Councillor Douglas Johnson, Chair of Housing Policy Committee
Safety and Quality
Sheffield housing at Leverton Gardens, Buchanan Green, Darnall and Edward Street
The Safety and Quality standard means that we need to provide safe and good-quality homes for our tenants.
Our Achievements and Successes
Ways in which we are working to help achieve this standard have included:
- Increased tenant satisfaction with the repairs service since last year.
- Over 150,000 repairs completed, with 86% of jobs completed at first visit. Further training to staff has also been delivered to help us get more repairs right first time.
- 100% health and safety compliance scored in most areas (asbestos, legionella, lift safety and fire safety).
- 2,990 homes received electrical upgrades and are now compliant with electrical safety regulations.
- 419 adaptations delivered and 121 installations of stairlifts to properties with vulnerable customers and 18 laundry facility upgrades to Older Persons Independent Living schemes.
- High rise re-roofing work completed on a number of tower blocks across the city.
- New Homes Tenant Panel and High Rise Forum launched.
Kitchen maintenance being completed
How We Performed
Our tenant satisfaction measure scores for 2023-24 that help to support the Safety and Quality standard are shown below:
Case Study - External Wall Insulation Project
This year we successfully completed phase 3 of our External Wall Insulation project. The project has helped to enhance the thermal insulation and appearance to 240 homes . The project has ensured greater warmth and comfort for our tenants as well as well as helping to lower bills. Other benefits as a result of the project include:
- Quieter homes, reducing noise pollution and improving the overall living environment.
- Modernised the appearance of properties, positively impacting the general area and creating a more attractive community.
- Contributed to Sheffield City Council’s 2030 Net Zero Carbon target by lowering the carbon footprint of these homes.
Phase 1, completed in 2020, improved 168 homes in the North and South East areas. Works included replacing external windows and doors along with the replacement of roof coverings.
Phase 2 began in October 2023, improving 116 homes in the North and South East areas and is due to be completed by October 2025. In this phase, works include replacing existing concrete panel walls with insulated and external brick finishing; replacing existing windows and roof tiling.
Transparency, Influence and Accountability
Tenants getting involved in improving their communities
The Transparency, Influence and Accountability standard means we must be open with our tenants, treating them with fairness and respect so tenants can access services, raise complaints, influence decision making and hold us at their landlord to account
Our Achievements and Successes
Ways in which we are working to help achieve this standard have included:
- Over 2,000 tenants surveyed as part of our neighbourhood satisfaction survey, providing an opportunity to capture their feedback and help make improvements.
- 78% of tenants felt they were treated fairly and with respect in 2023-24.
- We launched a new Tenant Satisfaction Measures performance dashboard, meaning tenants can view monthly Tenant Satisfaction Measure information with the click of a button.
- Over 18,000 tenants access Your Home, Your Neighbourhood electronic newsletter.
- More than 5,000 Housing & Neighbourhoods Facebook page followers.
- We have set up a new Communication and Tenant Satisfaction Panel and launched our Mystery Shopping Tenant Group, giving tenants and leaseholders the opportunity to scrutinise.
- We are holding regular complaints surgeries for staff with a focus on improving how we handle complaints. To find out more about how you can make a complaint and how your complaint will be handled click here
How We Performed
Our tenant satisfaction measure scores for 2023-24 that help to support the Transparency, Influence and Accountability standard are shown below:
We also monitor how easy tenants find it to contact us, which relates to one of our Landlord Commitments, which were developed in partnership with tenants.
Case Study - People Are At The Heart Of What We Do
Our Engagement and Development Officers always put our residents at the heart of what we do. They support our local Tenants and Residents Associations (TARAs) and voluntary organisations to empower all communities to organise local community events.
One of this year's events included a multi-generation festival at Lower Wincobank. The event was opened by the Lord Mayor Cllr Jayne Dunn and included the official opening of a new basketball court at Lyons Close. This was attended by representatives from Basketball England and local basketball teams Sheffield Hatters and Sheffield Sharks.
Several agencies were represented at the event, including Friends of Ellesmere Park, Reach Up Youth Charity and various Sheffield City Council services. The occasion was also used to host a focus group for the development of new Housing Advisory Panels (HAPs). HAPs will bring together groups of tenants, councillors and council officers to discuss housing issues in the community and will also award grants to local projects benefitting local people. We will be looking to trial the new approach in the North East area in the new year.
Focus group meeting to discuss the new Housing Advisory Panels
Neighbourhood and Community
Community activities, including at Wincobank and Scraithwood
The Neighbourhood and Community standard means we must keep the neighbourhood and communal areas we own clean and safe, co-operate with relevant partners to promote the well-being of our local areas and help prevent and tackle anti-social behaviour.
Our achievements and successes
- We have contributed and supported the launch of a citywide Anti-social Behaviour (ASB) policy.
- We have developed and published a ASB procedure for how we manage anti-social behaviour in our communities.
- We have also developed our “Being a good neighbour” webpage, which offers guidance on what you can do to be a good neighbour.
- We have started to put extra resources into the cleaning of our communal areas to improve satisfaction.
- Opportunities for tenants to take part in neighbourhood walkabouts, joining our neighbourhood teams to explore the local community, identify. issues and work together help identify issues and work together to for a better neighbourhood.
- Our estate teams have responded to and removed over 3,500 fly-tipping and rubbish left on housing land within 24 hours of being reported
How we performed
Our tenant satisfaction measure scores for 2023-24 that help to support the Neighbourhood and Community standard are shown below:
We also care about what tenants think of our service in the following areas, which match three more of our Landlord Commitments.
Green areas on the Manor and Gleadless Valley estates
Case Study - Improving Public Spaces
Scraithwood Tenants and Residents Association (TARA) transformed a piece of unloved ground on the Scraithwood estate. Sam Penrose, a third year Landscape and Architecture student at the University of Sheffield, redesigned an overgrown plot of land on the estate and, with a group of fellow students, helped residents make his vision a reality. Peter Thornett, chair of Scraithwood TARA, said: "What better communal area than an all-year-round flowered garden capable of producing edible crops? A gathering space and a resource."
Sam said he designed the garden to be durable, low-maintenance and accessible for all local residents. It was funded with £6,000 from the Nature Hubs Fund, a national initiative to create new green spaces for 100 UK communities, funded by environmental charity Hubbub and coffee chain Starbucks. The project was also supported by different departments within the Sheffield Housing and Neighbourhood Service, including the Involvement Team and the North Area Team.
The community garden was opened by The Lord Mayor Cllr Jayne Dunn.
Sam Penrose and Scraithwood residents
Tenancy
Our tenancy focus groups and Gleadless Valley Regeneration Team
The Tenancy standard means we must allocate homes in a fair way that meets the needs of our tenants. We must be clear to our tenants how homes are allocated and if we ends a tenancy, we must offer tenants advice and support.
Our achievements and successes
- We have implemented Introductory Tenancies for all new tenants.
- We have supported over 2,500 new council housing tenancies
- We have made changes the way we manage our homes when they become empty to help improve the time it takes to re-let them.
- Over 50% of our tenants pay their rent by Direct Debit, helping with rent collection
- We have supported families to access grants and additional benefits to help with living costs.
- We have reduced the amount of rent owed to us, providing budgeting and financial advice and support to those tenants struggling to pay their rent.
How we performed
There are no tenant satisfaction measures that relate directly to the Tenancy standard, but we think that the following aspects of our performance are important:
Case Study - Cost of Living support
The cost of living continues to be a struggle for a lot of people and families. Our Neighbourhood and Tenant Involvement Teams have joined forces to organise Cost of Living drop-ins for tenants to provide advice and support. Events have taken place throughout the year across our neighbourhood areas. Income Specialists from our Rents Team joined organisations from across the voluntary sector who provide services in each our neighbourhood areas. They provide help and advice on benefits, saving on energy costs, information about warm spaces and food banks.
Cost of Living event at Zest, Upperthorpe
Our Homes and Tenants
Our housing stock profile
Types of properties
We built 44 new homes and acquired a further 71 homes in 2023-2024.
New houses in Hackenthorpe
New houses on Berners Road
New houses in Owlthorpe
Where our properties are by Neighbourhood Area
Our tenant profile
Tenants' ethnicities
Tenants' disabilities
Tenants' ages and genders
Tenants' religions and faiths
Delivering Value for Money
How tenants' money is spent
Our Priorities 2024-25
Our council housing priorities in 2024-25 include:
Our priorities are updated each year as part of our Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan .You can read more about our 2024-25 priorities as part of our Housing Revenue Account Business Plan 2024-25.
Our achievements and successes over the last 12 months show progress we are making in these areas, but we know there is lots more to do. We have developed an improvement and transformation plan that will help us with this, and over the next 12 months you should start to see further improvements.
Priorities for 2025-26 are currently being refreshed and will be updated as part of the HRA Business Plan 2025-26 in the new year.
How You Can Get Involved
There are several ways in which you can help to improve services for all residents. Click on the links below to see how you can get involved and make a difference.
Sheffield's Housing and Neighbourhoods Service | Facebook
Tenants and Residents Virtual Community
Communication and Tenant Satisfaction Panel (CATS Panel)
Homes Panel: our repairs, quality and improvement tenant forum
Mystery Shopping and Scrutiny of Housing Services
Other Sources of Information
Regulatory standards for landlords - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Our Landlord Commitments | Sheffield City Council
Housing service performance | Sheffield City Council
Viewpoint - Giving your customers a voice (viewpoint-research.co.uk)