OUR ASSETS Responsive and Void Repairs As in the previous year, the Covid-19 pandemic provided a test to our contractors regarding their ability to respond to customer demand. For a time, the service only supported emergency and urgent repairs with day-to-day repairs not being undertaken. Notifications were given to tenants and updates were posted on the website. As we emerged from lockdowns the service returned to a greater degree of normality. Repairs Re-procurement As part of our drive to improve our repairs service offer, we changed our maintenance contractor during the year and have recently undertaken a full repairs re-procurement exercise, utilising our participation in the South-East Consortium, which will bear fruit in 2022/23. As part of improving the resident experience and response of the organisation, we have renewed our gas heating and hot water contract with K&T Heating Services including arranging for resident calls to be taken directly by K&T from 1 June 2022. This gives our residents direct access to the contractor and technical staff to deal with any service issues and book appointments. Planned and Compliance Work Arhag has continued to invest heavily during the year in its health & safety compliance with a concentration on fire, gas and electrical safety works. Stock Condition Survey It was clear from the start of the year that it would be essential to undertake an extensive survey of the condition of our stock of properties to validate the programmes of component replacement. A major stock condition survey, covering all our units excluding those which had recently been surveyed or which potentially may be the subject of regeneration opportunities, was approved by the Board during the year and has been completed through the spring and summer of 2022. This is a vital piece of work for Arhag and will provide the evidence we require to understand better the condition of our homes, the extent of the immediate requirement to invest in some of them and the programme of future investment we will need to plan for in the next revision of our long-term financial plan. Upgrading our existing homes As the outcomes of these surveys will drive our reinvestment priorities, we paused all but priority reinvestment work awaiting the results. Additionally, we were also cognisant of the continuing impact of Covid-19, for which it was important that we did not put our teams, contractors or residents at risk. Consequently, we adjusted our expectations of the volumes of components to be replaced. The resulting total expenditure during the year was focused on heating installations and amounted to £256k. Component Properties Value £’000 Bathrooms 5 £19 Heating 58 £124 Kitchens 9 £45 Windows 15 £68 £256 In addition to these replacements we have also installed a door entry system (£45k) for the safety and security of our residents at The Goodies, one of our estates in Poplar, and instigated a review of our lift installations, starting with Inverness Street in Camden. 22 ARHAG
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