Welcome to Broadland’s Corporate Strategy
Broadland Housing was established in 1963. Our continued enduring purpose is to provide high quality homes in Norfolk and North Suffolk for families and individuals. We continue to fulfil that vision set out by the founding Board of Broadland.
Our Objectives
We will provide affordable homes for people in housing need and work with our partners to help reduce homelessness.
We will invest in our residents’ homes to ensure they are safe and decent places to live.
We will invest in our residents’ homes to improve energy efficiency, helping to reduce utility bills while also lowering our carbon footprint and impact on the environment.
We will provide residents with support to remain in their homes.
We will make sure that residents are involved in making decisions about the future of the Association, and their feedback is taken into account in managing their homes. They will receive prompt responses to any issues raised.
We will run the organisation effectively and efficiently, complying with the applicable regulations.
Our Behaviours
Openness
We are open and transparent with our residents, regulators and stakeholders.
Responsible
We will use our resources efficiently to maximise the benefits for the community. We will never judge our success by the balance sheet, but this must be sustainable for us to be successful.
Collaborative
We will work equally with our partners to reach each of our goals.
Fair
We treat our residents and staff with fairness and impartiality, considering their circumstances and background.
Innovative
We find innovative and creative solutions to benefit our residents and partners, learning from both successes and setbacks to achieve our goals.
Reliable
We take responsibility for issues and fulfil our obligations.
Trustworthy
We will act professionally and with integrity to earn the trust of our residents and stakeholders.
Competency
We ensure that our team members (board members, employees and volunteers, including resident panel members) have the necessary skills and experience to perform their roles effectively.
Being objective
We will use our data effectively to shape our services, identify issues that require improvements and measure our performance.
Being local
We are a local organisation that remains close with our residents and their communities. In 2004, we committed to only building new homes in Norfolk and North Suffolk.
Providing people with affordable homes
Our continued mission is to provide good quality, affordable and safe homes.
Responding to homelessness and housing needs
Work to meet the Homes for Cathy commitments.
Work with local authorities’ partners to provide efficient housing allocations.
Ensure that homes let to homeless and those in adverse circumstances are ready to move into and make a home.
Ensuring our homes are affordable to live in
All homes to have a minimum EPC of C by 2030.
Develop plans to achieve carbon net zero.
Identify grants for energy efficiency upgrades.
Building new energy-efficient, affordable homes
Build low-carbon rent and shared ownership homes. Build open market homes to support the building of new affordable homes.
Selling homes that we cannot make energy efficient
Dispose of homes when they are empty and an EPC C is not financially achievable.
Give residents the opportunity to move when their home cannot be made energy efficient.
Looking after our residents’ homes
We want to ensure that all our homes are places our residents want to call home.
Promoting and responding to reports of damp and mould
Identify homes that are at risk of damp and mould to prioritise and address problems.
Establish a new dedicated Healthy Homes team to enable prompt responses.
Providing an efficient and responsive repairs service
Complete repairs on the first visit.
Reduce timescales for the majority of repairs.
Continue to improve the productivity and efficiency of our repairs team.
Ensuring that all our homes meet the Decent Homes Standard
Regular inspections of our residents’ homes to ensure they are safe.
Ensuring that Home Surveys are up to date to notify improvements.
Responding quickly to health and safety issues
Prioritise repairs with health and safety issues. Ensure that safety tests for electrical, gas, fire, asbestos, water and lifts are compliant.
Investing in our homes to ensure that they are energy efficient
Continue to install smart thermostats to prioritise those in fuel poverty.
Identify grants for energy efficient upgrades.
Helping people living in our homes
We passionately believe in helping our residents to remain in their homes.
Supporting residents to remain in their homes when their tenancy is at risk
Support residents in arrears when they engage with us to minimise failed tenancies and evictions.
Work with those who are in a domestic abuse situation, prioritising the safety and housing of survivors.
Work in partnership with other agencies to ensure safeguarding issues are dealt with swiftly and appropriately.
Supporting residents with benefits and debt
We won’t refuse a tenancy because of affordability concerns; our team will provide support for those that need it.
Invest in smart thermostats to help residents in fuel poverty
Continue to invest and prioritise residents whose homes are likely to experience fuel poverty.
Help create sustainable communities
Respond proactively to anti-social behaviour.
Build more low-carbon homes in high-need communities.
Working with partners to reduce homelessness
Work with partners to reduce homelessness, advocating for change at both local and national level. Continued commitment to Homes for Cathy.
Empowering residents to shape Broadland
By empowering our residents, we can work in partnership with them to improve our services.
Supporting proactive scrutiny by our Tenant Assurance Panel (TAP)
Support the scrutiny reviews that the Panel initiates. Implement their recommendations where suitable. In partnership, meet the expectations of the Regulator.
Welcoming complaints and learning from them
Respond promptly, efficiently and fairly to complaints.
Supporting and listening to residents, panels and forums
Support and listen to our residents to help shape our services.
Support our panels to continue to improve our services.
Learning from the Tenant Perception Survey
Undertake an annual Tenant Perception Survey that is open to all residents to take part in.
Publish an action plan in response to the survey results.
Ensuring that at least three residents are BHA Board members
Continue to have three residents on the Broadland board.
Ensuring the long-term viability of Broadland
To ensure
Broadland’s
viability remains strong, it is vital that we look after the business today to safeguard the future.
Complying with all applicable regulations
Publish annually our compliance with the Sustainability Report Standard for Social Housing.
Be compliant with the Regulator of Social Housing’s Standards.
Reducing the carbon footprint of our operations
Reduce our operational carbon footprint.
Work with suppliers to prioritise sustainability.
Move our business transport to electric vehicles.
Secure freehold space for our offices.
Borrowing money appropriately to facilitate our activities
Be compliant with our funding contracts. Ensure our loans cover decarbonisation expenses.
Managing our finances responsibly
Ensure there are available funds for asset management and approved development. Ensuring borrowing is appropriate and maximise funding.
Running Broadland effectively and efficiently
It is important that the organisation is ran effectively for future generations who will live in our homes.
Having an effective governance structure to deliver our purpose
Be proactive in carrying out internal audits to ensure recommendations are implemented.
Ensuring our Board members have the appropriate skills and experience.
Comply with all appropriate regulations that affect the association.
Proactively managing the risks
Ensure that there is effective business planning and stress testing to protect the associations financial health.
Successful management of the risks that could affect the Association.
Be compliant with the National Housing Federation’s Governance Code.
Learning from benchmarking to improve our services
Benchmark our performance alongside Independent East to identify areas for improvement.
Undertake regular reviews of service areas to ensure our policy and procedures are fit for purpose.
Make the best use of our key performance indicators to enable us to increase the effectiveness of our services.
Ensuring we are getting the best out of our technology
Ensure Broadland Business Services functions successfully for our staff to effectively carry out their roles.
Investigate the potential of artificial intelligence to improve services.
How we will measure our success
There are a variety of measures the Board and Leadership will do to ensure we deliver our strategy. One key approach is the ongoing monitoring of our key performance indicators. These ensure that the targets we set are realistic and achievable, but also to continue improving the services we provide. We publish a snapshot of our performance every month on our website. We do this to be as transparent as possible.
Our compliance commitments
We will comply with:
Regulator of Social Housing standards
Decent Homes standard
Government’s Energy Efficiency and decarbonisation requirements
Awaab’s Law (Social Housing Regulation Act 2023)
Health and safety legislation
Building Safety Act
There may be others that we need to comply with which aren’t listed.
Our terminology explained
EPC
An EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) indicates the energy efficiency of a home. It includes estimated energy costs and energy performance-related features, such as windows, doors, and insulation in the walls or loft.
Government legislation requires Broadland to ensure that all its homes are rated at least EPC C.
Independent East
Independent East is an informal group of 5 local housing associations (Broadland Housing, Saffron Housing, Freebridge, Havebury and Orwell Housing).
The aim is for Independent East members to collaborate, inspire and support each other for the benefit of our staff and residents.
Homes for Cathy
Broadland is a founding member of Homes for Cathy, a national alliance of housing associations dedicated to raising awareness of the needs of homeless people.
The Homes for Cathy group works alongside Shelter, Crisis and the National Housing Federation to campaign for more housing and better support for people experiencing homelessness.
Switchee
Switchee is a smart thermostat for domestic heating systems, which helps residents understand their energy use and save money on their fuel costs.
Broadland Business Systems
This is an online platform we use to carry out transactions and keep our residents’ records, such as rent or anti-social behaviour incidents.
This document is a summary of our Corporate Strategy. The complete strategy can be found at www.broadlandgroup.org/about-us/governance-documents/ corporate-strategy or scan the QR code.
Broadland Housing Association
NCFC
Carrow Road
Norwich
NR1 1HU
Customer Services
T: 0303 303 0003
E: enq@broadlandgroup.org
@BroadlandHsg
@broadlandhousinggroup
Broadland Housing Group
broadlandhousing www.broadlandgroup.org
