Property Improvement Questionnaire

A very big thank you to all 2,075 of you who took the time and effort to complete and return the property improvement questionnaire, which was highlighted in the Autumn edition of Opendoor. That is a fantastic 35% of you! Thank you very much.

The questionnaire was sent to all residents, and together with the Resident Focus Groups that were held earlier in the year, has three main aims:

• to find out what major improvements you want carried out, in and outside of your home, and by when
• to make sure that our 5-Year Major Repair programme is shaped by you
• to get your help in designing a new Decent Homes ‘Plus’ standard

The tremendous response rate means that we can be very confident of the results. We will now:

• listen and act on what you’ve told us
• look at more ways to consult and involve you in developing the outcomes and proposals
• wherever possible make sure you are shaping the services we provide

There is still a lot of work to do to finalise the plans, and we will continue to work closely with residents, through the resident’s Maintenance Working Group and other forums to do this. If you want to be involved in this, in any way, contact Yogesh Vadgama either by calling 01305 214060 or by email.

Here is some of what we’ve found so far:

• 64% of respondants were female, 36% male
• 40% of respondants considered themselves to have a disability
• 78% of respondants said they had level access into their homes
• 48% of respondants were aged 60 and above
• 1% of respondants were aged 20 or under
• 99% of respondants described themselves as ‘White’ (British and Irish)

What did you think was in the poorest condition:

• 34% said fencing
• 31% said external doors
• 26% said kitchens and bathrooms
• 20% said heating systems
• 18% said thermal insulation, windows, and external decorations
• 9% said chimneys
• 7% said roofs and electrical wiring

What did you think was the highest priority:

• 50% said kitchens
• 46% said bathrooms and external doors
• 36% said heating systems
• 34% said fencing
• 32% said windows
• 28% said thermal insulation
• 21% said external decorations
• 16% said roofs
• 15% said chimneys
• 14% said electrical wiring

You also said we need to attend to:

• providing level communal areas
• resurfacing cracked pathways
• making safe communal steps
• providing more space
• tackling condensation, damp and mould
• decorationing communal areas, and
• soundproofing

So, what now?

We’ll take what you’ve told us and work with the Resident’s Maintenance Working Group to draft a 5-Year Major Repair programme and a new Decent Homes ‘Plus’ standard. We’ll publish these in April 2010.

We’ve already started work on improving garages and communal areas, and in the next financial year April 2010 – March 2011 we will:

• Replace windows to 460 properties
• Replace external doors to 360 properties
• Replacement roofs to 67 properties
• Refurbish kitchens/bathrooms in 480 properties
• Repair/replace boundary fencing
• Improve communal areas

We are on track to meet the Government’s Decent Homes target. This means by December 2010 all of our homes will:

• Meet the current statutory minimum standard for housing
• Be in a reasonable state of repair
• Have reasonably modern facilities and services
• Provide a reasonable degree of thermal comfort

In addition to the above criteria, Magna's Decent Homes ‘Plus’ Standard will aim to:

• create homes that are flexible and can be adapted to reflect changes in your life/ family
• use innovative and energy efficient ways to keep homes warm
• include over-bath showers in bathroom refurbishments
• have boundary walls and fences that are in good condition
• have common areas and garage blocks that are in a reasonable state of repair
• provide reasonable levels of external lighting for communal areas
• provide a reasonable degree of sound insulation

£100 prize draw

The winners of the prize draw of the Property Improvement Questionnaire will be published in the next edition of Opendoor.

See full report from the questionnaire »

Times are changing

Changes are afoot in MHA's technical services, with more to come. We are making the department more efficient, communicating more effectively, and using resources more economically. In turn, more of you will see improvements to your homes, with residents involved in those changes all the way.

We've revised the 2009/10 major repairs programme to target those households most in need and to meet the decent homes standard by 2010. Resident satisfaction remains high, with an average 97% happy with the work we carry out.

Technical services manager Yogesh Vadgama explained: "We'll be feeding back to residents the findings and will use the information to develop our 5-Year major programme - delivering what people want. We have also set up a new resident's Maintenance Working Group, combining both technical services and building services. The first meeting had a very healthy 12 residents attend, with a lively debate on how MHA can improve its repairs and maintenance services.