BIH Housing Association - Annual Report and Accounts 2006/2007

BIH again met over 95% of its business targets for the year and we remain in the top 25% of UK housing providers. During the year external validation continued with re-accreditation of Chartermark and ISO. The Chartermark assessment is now carried out on annual basis and naturally becomes more challenging as the Association’s threshold is raised. In the assessment in March 2007 two areas were selected as examples of best practice. One of these was the newly created tenants performance report - developed in house in the department and sent out to each tenant at the end of 2006.

The Department continues to carry out the BIH rolling programme of tenant’s surveys on an annual basis and in 2007 carried out the survey for Connswater Homes and BIH Ireland on an agency basis. We also completed the staff survey and for the first time staff were able to complete their returns online - again a programme developed in-house.

The Continuous Improvement Team drew in new members in late 2006 and training was provided for these staff who contribute throughout the organisation to focus on improvements and innovation. We thank those staff who left the team at that time for their contribution throughout their three years service.

As well as Quality the department focuses on the Association’s Equality Duty. This is the first year of the 5 year programme for Equality Impact Assessments and two were completed in year one - Access and Communications and Complaints. We have commenced the assessment for Housing Management and Maintenance. The Association also produced its Disability Action Plan in accordance with the timescales set down by the Equality Commission. The second annual report to the Commission is on target for submission ahead of time.

Overall the Department in all of its activities is an integral part of the organisation and supports the Chief Executive’s corporate monitoring and Planning.